International Commercial Arbitration

Sidley’s International Arbitration team represents and advises clients with global reach in arbitration proceedings concerning a wide variety of commercial disputes in key jurisdictions around the world such as mainland China, Geneva, Hong Kong, Japan, London and Singapore. We provide cost-effective and efficient representation and support through all stages of the arbitration process and, when necessary, in court proceedings touching on jurisdictional issues, interim remedies in support of arbitral proceedings and to recognize and enforce the arbitral awards we have obtained on behalf of our clients. When the circumstances warrant it, we represent our clients in mediations of their commercial disputes. A sampling of our current and recent international commercial arbitration engagements is provided below.

Sidley’s International Arbitration team has experience representing clients before all the major international arbitral institutions, including the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the American Arbitration Association (AAA), the International Center for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the Swiss Chambers’ Court of Arbitration and Mediation, and the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC). Our lawyers also frequently serve as arbitrators and mediators to resolve international commercial disputes. See below for a more complete list of the institutions before which Sidley practices and a selection of our lawyers’ recent arbitral appointments.

Our international commercial arbitration lawyers also have extensive experience handling ad hoc arbitration proceedings (i.e., non-administered cases) under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Rules, the CPR Institute Rules for Non-Administered Cases, the U.S. Federal Arbitration Act, the English Arbitration Act 1996, the Swiss Private International Law Act and party-determined rules.

In addition, we have substantial experience representing our clients in arbitration proceedings involving specific subject matters and industries, for example arbitration involving film licensing and distribution rights under the American Film Market Association (AFMA) Rules of Arbitration, and wet flue gas desulfurization technology and patents.

We represent clients in arbitrations involving all nature of international business disputes, including complex contract, distribution, manufacturing, sales, fraud, insurance and reinsurance, products liability, securities and construction and infrastructure disputes, as well as M&A disputes and intellectual property matters, including those arising out of licensing and technology transfer and co-development agreements. We also counsel clients on a wide variety of international commercial matters and have extensive experience in the drafting and negotiation of international commercial agreements.

In addition to serving as lead trial counsel on international arbitrations, our lawyers also act, where appropriate, as advisors and liaison counsel for our clients in domestic arbitrations and court proceedings in foreign jurisdictions, in tandem with qualified co-counsel who are admitted locally in the jurisdiction of the law governing the dispute in question.

We frequently consult with, and provide transactional advice to, our clients on negotiating and structuring arbitration clauses and other dispute resolution provisions in their deal documentation. In addition, we have extensive experience in enforcing international arbitration awards (or seeking to set aside or resist enforcement), under the Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards (New York Convention).

Sidley also has a preeminent practice in international treaty arbitration, or “investor-state” arbitration.

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