Squire Patton Boggs has been highly commended in the category of Transatlantic Dispute Resolution Team of the Year at The American Lawyer and Legal Week’s 2018 Transatlantic Legal Awards. The Transatlantic Legal Awards recognize excellence in handling transatlantic matters across the key areas of corporate, finance and disputes. Winners were unveiled at an awards ceremony held in London last night.
The firm was recognized for achieving a 100% victory for the Slovak Republic, reportedly worth US$1.65 billion, EuroGas Inc. et al. v. Slovak Republic. The cross-border team that represented the Slovak Republic comprised Stephen Anway, David Alexander, Rostislav Pekař, Raúl Mañón, Tatiana Prokopová, Maria Polakova, Eva Cibulková, Nick Zalany and Matej Pustay.
The case, brought by alleged investors in the US and Canada under the US-Slovak Bilateral Investment Treaty and the Canada-Slovak Bilateral Investment Treaty, claimed that the Slovak Republic wrongfully terminated their rights to the world’s largest talc mine. The tribunal, constituted under the purview of the prestigious International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), concluded it had no jurisdiction over the claimants’ claims and issued an award in favor of our client.
This case is now the leading authority on when a “dispute” arises within the meaning of an investment treaty. It was also the first case where a tribunal ordered the disclosure of the third-party funder and was the most transparent ICSID case in history.
Global chair of the Squire Patton Boggs International Dispute Resolution Practice, George von Mehren, commented: “We are pleased that our team has been highly commended for its work on this case for the Slovak Republic, the kind of instruction that only a few global firms are equipped to handle.”
Stephen Anway, the firm’s co-head of Investment Arbitration who led the case, added: “Our victory for the Slovak Republic was the result of the outstanding work of lawyers from six different offices working seamlessly with an incredibly talented and dedicated client team at the Slovak Ministry of Finance.”
This is the second major investment treaty arbitration in which Squire Patton Boggs has successfully represented the Slovak Republic. The earlier case, Achmea B.V. v. The Slovak Republic (ICSID), also resulted in a complete dismissal of claims against the Slovak Republic. The firm is now representing the client in a third major investment treaty arbitration in Spółdzielnia Pracy “Muszynianka” v. The Slovak Republic (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law).
Squire Patton Boggs has been repeatedly recognized as one of the leading international arbitration firms in the world by Global Arbitration Review (GAR). The firm was ranked 23rd in its annual rankings of the top 30 international arbitration firms at the GAR 2018 Awards.
With a team of more than 100 lawyers with arbitration experience, the firm is a leader in energy industry and bilateral investment treaty arbitrations and has participated in many high-profile cases.