Geoffrey Sant Shortlisted for Litigator of the Year by Asia Legal Awards

Winners will be announced on March 14, 2024, at a ceremony hosted by the Fullerton Hotel in Singapore. Click here to view the full list of nominees.

The ALA’s Litigator of the Year award requires nominees to demonstrate their market-leading position by outlining their role in three career highlights that had a significant Asian element and set new standards in the delivery of high-level services and solutions.

Among his most notable career highlights, Sant led a team in successfully obtaining a summary judgment for three Chinese investment companies in the Southern District of New York. The judgment enforced a $470 million China International Economic Trade Arbitration Commission, or CIETAC, award against Chinese billionaire Hui Qin. The award is regarded as the largest Chinese arbitration award ever confirmed in the U.S.

Additionally, in 2023, Sant led a team that won appellate confirmation of a judgment of $46 million for his Chinese client against a group of U.S. defendants. Sant had won the judgment after a four-day trial. The defendants then appealed the judgment to the Eighth Circuit Court of Appeals. Sant argued the appeal and won an order recognizing all aspects of the judgment.

Recently winning a series of victories to recover $133 million for Chinese clients in a bankruptcy litigation, Sant settled with one group of defendants and brought an adversary complaint against two groups of U.S. defendants. Sant’s team defeated the defendants’ motion to dismiss several claims on statute of limitations grounds, then brought a motion for partial summary judgment for $56 million. The bankruptcy court awarded summary judgment for the entire amount requested.

Sant serves as the co-leader of Pillsbury’s China practice and advises clients on complex litigation with an emphasis on commercial, corporate and financial litigation and transactions. Known for his extensive experience in representing both Chinese and U.S. financial entities, Sant represents some of the world’s largest banks, investment companies and businesses in both litigation and transactions. He has won judgments totaling over $1 billion for international clients and successfully obtained dismissal with prejudice of lawsuits against his client seeking in excess of $1 billion in damages.