José Feris is a partner in the firm’s International Dispute Resolution Practice Group based in our Paris office. He represents private and public entities as well as sovereign states in commercial and investment arbitration proceedings. He also sits regularly as arbitrator in international arbitration proceedings and teaches international arbitration at SciencesPo in Paris.
Before joining the firm, José served as deputy secretary general of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, where he also served as acting secretary general, managing counsel, counsel and deputy counsel. During the course of his career, he has supervised thousands of international arbitration cases and reviewed an equal number of arbitral awards in a wide range of jurisdictions and economic sectors, including energy, construction, telecommunications, transportation, banking and finance, information technology and general commerce and trade.
José also played an important role in key strategic initiatives at the ICC, such as the 2012 and 2017 revision of the ICC Rules of Arbitration, and the drafting of the revised 2017 Rules of ICC as appointing authority. He was also instrumental in designing and implementing the ICC Court’s new policies to increase efficiency, transparency and diversity in international arbitration. José assisted in the establishment of the ICC Court case management offices in New York City and Sao Paulo, the ICC Arab Arbitration Group, and the opening of an ICC Court representative office in Shanghai.
José has been recognised as a Global Elite Thought Leader by Who’s Who Legal 2023. The Legal 500 2023 says that “José excels in preparing cases as well as advising clients on the way forward”, and the GAR 100 2022 describes him as “an excellent cross-examiner, with clear objectives and remarkable poise”.
Previously in his career, José served as law clerk to Judges Kooijmans and Rezek at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, where he worked on diverse questions of public international law, including issues relating to the use of force, consular assistance, international humanitarian law, expropriation, procedural burdens before the court and boundary disputes. He also worked for the Legal Advisor to the President of the Dominican Republic and represented the Dominican Republic during the negotiations of the Free Trade Agreement of the Americas.
As Counsel and Legal Expert
As Arbitrator
Listed in the Arbitrators’ Rosters of: