The Global Arbitration Review has included Pillsbury’s International Arbitration practice in its current GAR 100 – 16th edition, which lists leading arbitration practices spanning the globe. Indeed, Pillsbury was considered for a “top 30” spot, with GAR noting that “[i]n any other year they would have been at least runners up.”

Pillsbury’s arbitration team began to flourish in the late 1990s upon the arrival of partner Stephan Becker, who has and continues to advise Mexico in numerous investor-state arbitrations. The progression of the practice has now led to the representations of well-known clients such as Yahoo, Chevron, Duke Energy and Hyundai, among many others.

The group continued to expand with the 2008 arrival of Michael Jaffe and his team, which focused on construction disputes; the arrival of a construction team featuring John Heisse and Dave Dekker in 2011; Deborah Ruff, who now serves as global head of the group, and focuses on energy, infrastructure and MENA region disputes in 2017; Robert Sills, the former co-head of the international practice at Orrick, in New York in 2018; and June Yeum, who divides her time between New York and Seoul, in 2019. Further additions Richard Deutsch in Houston in 2020; Derek Soller in New York in 2021; and Willie Wood in Houston in 2022 continued to strengthen the group, and in particular the energy and Latin American international arbitration practices.

These additions directly led to Pillsbury’s engagement in important ICSID, UNCITRAL, HKIAC, ICC and LCIA arbitrations involving disputes across Asia and Latin America. They have also been busy sitting as arbitrators, with Heisse, Deutsch and Yeum serving as arbitrators in complex construction and energy disputes. 

Notably, the GAR 100 cited the international arbitration group’s success in representing Mitsubishi when the company was confronted with allegations about faulty steam generators for the San Onofre nuclear power plant in California, and the team’s work for Mexico, which defeated a NAFTA claim by a motorcycle manufacturer over customs duties.

Most recently, the practice group has several pending treaty cases in Mexico including a $2.8 billion claim over a concession to install digital taximeters in Mexico City’s taxis; a $2.3 billion claim over mining of deep-sea phosphate deposits; a $1.5 billion claim over environmental permits to develop quarries; and enforcement of a close to $1 billion MENA region award.

Additional ongoing treaty claims include the continuing representation of Amec Foster Wheeler USA Corporation, et al., in a $1 billion ICSID claim against the Government of Colombia arising from the expansion of an oil refinery in Cartagena; representation of claimant Smart City Solutions in a significant ICSID claim against the Government of Guyana for the government’s interference in a large transportation concession; and an UNCITRAL claim against an Asian government for its interference in claimants’ investment in the energy sector. Pending commercial cases include LCIA, HKIAC, ICC and ICDR arbitrations related to construction, energy and finance.

In its profile of Pillsbury, GAR recognized that the international arbitration group’s current value of pending work totals $18 billion.

To read the full Pillsbury GAR 100 profile, click here.