Arbitration & Alternative Dispute Resolution

In today's world global business disputes require global solutions. Pillsbury's focus is not simply on the international arbitral process and its rules, but on solving international business problems efficiently and effectively in a global business context through the application of strategic international thinking. Doing so, we often combine international arbitration with litigation and ADR processes such as mediation and mini-trials to obtain the necessary leverage and the expeditious outcomes that international business seeks.

We advise clients in international disputes before virtually every major international arbitration institution, ranging from the ICC, the ICDR and LCIA to ICSID as well as regional center institutions such as Geneva and Stockholm. We have been involved in ad hoc proceedings under UNCITRAL and we have created pure ad hoc proceedings. We have also advised clients in industry specific arbitral proceedings involving railroads, commodities and the WTO. We also help Governments resolve their disputes in bilateral and multilateral investment treaty matters.

Pillsbury's attorneys are also often called upon as arbitrators in complex commercial disputes. We have helped in resolving disputes both within the United States and across the globe on various topics and across different industries, ranging from energy and construction to sports and life sciences.

Our International Arbitration Practice

Pillsbury's International Arbitration practice comprises lawyers from the United States, the UK, India and China who possess exceptional knowledge of international arbitration and provide international perspectives on resolving disputes in global markets. Our lawyers have appeared before arbitral tribunals for Governments, investors and others in disputes involving international energy and power projects, construction and infrastructure disputes, defense industry procurements, intellectual property disputes, environmental remediation disputes, international supplier-distributor disputes, international trade disputes, and international commercial disputes covering computer hardware and software, aerospace, financial products, agriculture, chemicals, commodities, automotive, and electronics. We have extensive international arbitration experience involving matters in places as diverse as the Baltic, Russia, Turkey, the Middle East, Eastern Europe, Latin America and Asia. And also we have significant investor-state dispute resolution and arbitration experience. For example, we have served for years as U.S. counsel to the Mexican Commerce Department for NAFTA and other trade-related disputes. Several of our lawyers have served as arbitrators in international arbitrations under ICC and ICDR rules.

Our in-depth understanding of our clients' industries and technologies allows us to deliver effective solutions that reflect client goals. For example, we were closely involved in the first dispute settlement case arising under the WTO Telecommunications Agreement, which involved the regulatory framework for international telephone calls. Our work in the area of international environmental regulation has included such matters as advising on whether government regulation of the waste disposal industry can constitute an "expropriation" under international law; whether regulations to protect endangered species (dolphins and sea turtles) violate international trade obligations; and whether noise restrictions on aircraft engines are consistent with WTO agreements.