COURTNEY HIKAWA focuses her practice on international dispute settlement, with an emphasis on investor-state arbitration. She represents both cross-border investors as well as respondent governments in proceedings before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and its Additional Facility, as well as in arbitrations under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. She has experience in arbitrations under investment treaties (BITs), government contracts, and free trade agreements, including NAFTA and CAFTA-DR. Courtney has also represented clients in commercial arbitrations, such as under the auspices of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC).
Representative matters include:
- Representing a South American government against a consortium of international LNG importers over the fulfillment of a concession contract
- Representing a company in the energy sector in a multi-billion dollar NAFTA claim against a North American government
- Representing a private equity fund in an investment treaty claim against an Asian government regarding investments in the banking and financial services sector
- Defending a Latin American government in a high-profile DR-CAFTA dispute brought by several North American individuals over the government’s protection of the nesting grounds of leatherback turtles
- Representing a multi-national energy services company in investment treaty and commercial arbitrations against an Eastern European government arising from a 15-year public utilities (heating and electricity) lease agreement in the capital city
Courtney was invited to speak on diversity and inclusion in relation to international arbitration at the 2015 conference of the Canadian Council on International Law / Conseil canadien de droit international. She has also served as an arbitrator in the Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot Competition and as a judge at the international finals of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition.
Before joining Sidley, Courtney worked in the Chicago office of another major international law firm, where her practice focused on Latin American finance. Courtney has experience analyzing and negotiating finance transactions with companies in Latin America. She has advised clients on credit agreements, and drafted contracts and collateral documents.
Courtney speaks French, Spanish and Japanese.