Arnold & Porter Significantly Expands International Practice
Washington, D.C., June 4, 2007 - Arnold & Porter LLP announced today that a group of highly regarded international arbitration and transactional practitioners has joined the firm's Washington, D.C. office. Paolo Di Rosa, who joins as partner, will head the firm's international arbitration practice. He works closely with Gaela Gehring Flores, who also joins as partner. Rounding out the arbitration team are associates Dmitri Evseev, Bonard Molina-Garcia, and several paralegals and secretaries. The group is well-known in the international arbitration bar for its expertise in Latin America-related arbitration, as well as its representation of claimants and sovereign governments, including Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela, in investor-state disputes before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington, D.C.
Raul Herrera joins as a partner in the corporate and securities practice group. His practice concentrates on international corporate transactions and international arbitration, and he has extensive experience throughout Latin America and the Caribbean.
Mr. Di Rosa, Ms. Gehring Flores and Mr. Herrera are fluent in Spanish, and have close personal and cultural ties to Latin America, as do other members of the team.
Commenting on the group's arrival, Chair Thomas Milch said, "Paolo, Gaela and Raul bring a wealth of experience to our premier international practice. They will add substantive depth and geographic breadth to our international arbitration practice, and expand our international transactional expertise, areas of longstanding importance to our clients."
Mr. Di Rosa underscored his group's and the firm's common areas of experience as one of the main reasons for joining the firm, saying: "Arnold & Porter's highly regarded international practice, in particular its longstanding ties to Latin America and its broad experience in the representation of sovereigns, presented an especially appealing prospect and a natural fit for our group. We hope to further broaden the firm's international arbitration and public international law practices on a global level, as well as to continue to deepen its ties in Latin America."
Mr. Herrera added, "I greatly look forward to joining my colleagues at Arnold & Porter. The firm's prominent platform in international transactions, especially its sovereign finance practice in Latin America, parallels my own background in international business and multilateral financing transactions, as well as in international arbitration matters."
International Arbitration Partners
Mr. Di Rosa's practice focuses on international arbitration matters, including disputes under bilateral investment treaties and other investment instruments. He has recently represented the governments of Chile, Ecuador and Venezuela in ICSID proceedings, and has also served as lead counsel in ICSID cases against the Government of Argentina involving claims totaling over $1.5 billion. Di Rosa's practice also centers on public international law matters. He worked for many years during the Clinton Administration at the U.S. State Department, where he headed the Office of the Legal Adviser for Western Hemisphere Affairs and was promoted to the Senior Executive Service. Before and after his government service, he worked at prominent U.S. law firms. He is a magna cum laude graduate of Harvard College and a cum laude graduate of Harvard Law School.
Ms. Gehring Flores has been in private practice for almost ten years. She has been involved in international arbitration matters on behalf of the governments of Chile and Venezuela, as well as in claims against Argentina. She has been instrumental in the defense of Venezuela in legal proceedings related to promissory notes allegedly issued by a Venezuelan state-owned bank. She is a cum laude graduate of Georgetown University Law Center, where she was Managing Articles Editor of the Georgetown Law Journal.
Mr. Di Rosa and Ms. Gehring Flores are known as key players in cases before ICSID, which has become the predominant global forum for resolving disputes between investors and states, and have significant experience in disputes brought under bilateral investment treaties, which typically involve complex issues of jurisdiction, state responsibility and the intersection of national and international law.
The new arbitration team will strengthen Arnold & Porter's already well-established presence in the area of investor-state arbitration. For example, the firm garnered high-profile victories in the fall of 2006 for the Republics of Hungary and El Salvador, respectively, in arbitrations conducted at ICSID. Arnold & Porter also has a wide range of expertise in international arbitration matters in other arbitral fora, including in the area of international commercial arbitration, as well as in ad hoc arbitrations conducted under the UNCITRAL Rules.
International Transactional Partner
Mr. Herrera led the Latin American Practice Group at his former firm. He concentrates his Latin American practice on international arbitrations having represented Ecuador in an ICSID proceeding, cross-border financing, banking, private equity, and other international business transactions, and also focuses on representing sovereigns, multilateral development banks and bilateral agencies. His transactional experience covers a wide variety of industry sectors in emerging markets. Mr. Herrera joined the Inter-American Investment Corporation in its first year of operations and rose to the position of General Counsel after serving in various legal capacities (1990-2003). He is a graduate of The George Washington University School of Law and the Elliott School of International Affairs, Latin American Studies Program.
Mr. Herrera expands the international transactions practice of Arnold & Porter, which is already a recognized leader in representing sovereigns and central banks in their international financial affairs. In 2006, Arnold & Porter represented governments on three continents, including Colombia, Israel, Turkey, Brazil, Panama, El Salvador and Pakistan in over 20 transactions, aggregating well over $15 billion. The firm advises both domestic and international financial institutions on a wide variety of financing opportunities, such as securities offerings, leveraged buyouts, lending activities and debt restructuring.
Recent Lateral, Latin American Focus
The arrival of Mr. Di Rosa's international arbitration group and Mr. Herrera follows another recent high-profile acquisition by the firm, Gregory Harrington. Mr. Harrington advises clients in the areas of capital markets, sovereign debt and project finance. He is currently working in São Paulo, Brazil and will be based in the firm's Washington, D.C. and New York offices starting on July 2, 2007.