Wordstone Dispute Resolution

Managing partners: Eduardo Silva Romero, José-Manuel García Represa

Number of partners: 3

Number of other fee-earners: 14

Offices and desks: Paris, London, Bogotá

Languages: English, Spanish, French, Portuguese, Arabic, Russian, Turkish, Romanian, German, Catalan, Turkmen and Iranian Farsi

Wordstone Dispute Resolution AARPI is a specialist law firm dedicated to international arbitration.

Led by founding partners Eduardo Silva Romero José Manuel García Represa and partner Catalina Echeverri Gallego, Wordstone delivers legal representation of the highest quality in complex international disputes, including commercial arbitrations, investor-State arbitrations and arbitration-related litigation before a wide-range of institutions, including ICC, ICSID, PCA, LCIA, ICDR and SCC as well as ad hoc arbitration.

Eduardo Silva Romero and José-Manuel García Represa, together with partner Catalina Echeverri Gallego, Of Counsel Audrey Caminades and a team of 13 lawyers, represent sovereign States and State-owned enterprises, investors and businesses of every size, in treaty and contract-based arbitrations as well as related litigation around the world.

With main office in Paris, and additional desks in London and Bogotá, Wordstone lawyers operate globally, spanning diverse jurisdictions, arbitral institutions, and industry sectors, providing specialised services in multiple languages.

Wordstone’s diverse and technically gifted legal team represents private individuals, businesses of all sizes, and States/State-owned entities in commercial arbitrations, including with a nexus to Europe.

Current or recent cases include representing notably:

• A French pharmaceutical company against a Swiss pharmaceutical company in four ICC arbitrations arising from license and distribution agreements. In the first concluded arbitration, Wordstone lawyers obtained the rejection of all the Claimant’s monetary claims, and the Tribunal ordered it to reimburse 80% of our client’s defence costs.
• A leading French construction company in a possible ICC arbitration and an ICC emergency procedure against a Colombian company concerning the construction of a port in Colombia.
• A French company against a Central American state-owned company in an ICC arbitration arising from the construction of a hydroelectric power station.
• A French company against a Swiss company, a Monegasque company and a Dutch company in two ICC arbitrations arising from the termination of a contract for the decoration of bottles.
• A French company against Finnish, Hungarian, and Chinese companies in an ICC arbitration arising from the development of a high-tech cellular phone.
• The Spanish subsidiary of an American energy company against a Spanish electric utility company in an ICC arbitration arising from a supply agreement for a GCB in a nuclear plant.
• A Spanish company in the renewable energy sector in a highly complex, multi-jurisdictional dispute concerning the construction and operation of a solar photovoltaic power plant in the Middle East.
• An Italian company against a Central American state-owned company in an ICC arbitration arising from a contract for cruise services.
• A national gas distribution company from an Eastern European country against a Russian supplier in an ICC arbitration arising from the suspension of gas deliveries.
• An Algeria-based joint-venture of three major French, Spanish and Algerian oil & gas companies against a Lebanese and Algerian construction JV in an ICC arbitration arising from delays and costs related to the construction of the base camp of a gas field.
• Two telecommunications companies from the Middle East in an ICC arbitration against the public authorities of the Republic of South Sudan in a dispute involving contractual breaches of a telecoms license and obtaining the dismissal of the Respondent’s jurisdictional objections.
• Two Brazilian companies specialising in the manufacturing and distribution of plastic products against a French banking institution in two ICC arbitrations arising out of a Credit Agreement and a First Demand Guarantee.
• A Brazilian investment holding company against another Brazilian investment holding company in three arbitrations arising out of a share purchase agreement and a shareholders’ agreement regarding a Brazilian company.
• An international shipping company in a dispute arising from a trust agreement concluded with a Latin American commercial bank.
• The Republic of Ecuador or the Ecuadorian national company in six arbitrations relating to several industry sectors.
• The Republic of Paraguay and the Ministerio de Obras Públicas y Comunicaciones against Mota-Engil Ingeniería y Construcción S.A. – Sucursal in a dispute arising from a FIDIC design and construction contract involving a new bus rapid transit corridor in Paraguay. The team obtained the dismissal of most of the claimants’ claims.

Wordstone lawyers also act as counsel for investors in investment disputes. The team recently acted or acts for, inter alia:

• The Italian members of a joint venture in ICSID Case No. ARB/17/8, Rizzani De Eccher S.p.A., Obrascón Huarte Lain S.A. and Trévi S.p.A. v. the State of Kuwait, concerning the construction of an expressway.
• The Greek company AVAX S.A. in the annulment proceedings of the award in ICSID Case No. ARB/16/29, AVAX S.A. v. the Republic of Lebanon.
• A European construction company in ICSID Case No. ARB/18/17 Autopista del Norte S.A.C. v. the Republic of Peru, arising from the breach of a concession contract for the construction of a highway.The Tribunal declared that the State had breached the concession contract and awarded damages to our client.
• Interconexión Eléctrica S.A. E.S.P., one of the largest power transmission companies in Latin America, against Chile, in an ICSID arbitration arising from the construction and operation of the largest power transmission line in the country (ICSID Case No. No. ARB/21/27).
• An Argentinean construction group CCI Compañía de Concesiones de Infraestructura S.A. and its local subsidiary in Peru (Convial Callao S.A.) against the Republic of Peru in an ICSID arbitration arising from the latter’s wrongful termination of a highway construction and concession contract involving the Via Expresa del Callao connecting Lima to its international airport (ICSID Case No. ARB/10/02).
• Colombian investors against the Republic of Chile in an ICSID arbitration arising from, among other things, the expropriation of investments in the bus transportation industry (ICSID Case No. ARB/17/16).
• Two telecommunications companies from the Middle East in an ICC arbitration against the public authorities of the Republic of South Sudan in a dispute involving the investment law of South Sudan and pertaining to the telecoms sector.

Wordstone’s team is also renowned for representing States and State-owned entities in investment dispute. Over the years, Wordstone lawyers have played a pivotal role in securing landmark awards, including in Europe. They acted or act as counsel for, inter alia:

• The Czech Republic in four investment disputes and two ICSID annulment proceedings. Wordstone lawyers secured four great victories in Pawlowski v. Czech Republic, both in the arbitration and in the subsequent annulment proceedings before an ICSID ad hoc committee; in WCV v. Capital Ventures v. Czech Republic in the main arbitration (annulment proceedings ongoing); and A.M.F. Aircraftleasing Meier & Fischer GmbH & Co. KG v. Czech Republic. Wordstone lawyers recently secured a new mandate representing the Czech Republic in an UNCITRAL arbitration arising from a dispute related to a telecommunications network project using aeronautical technologies.
• The Republic of Poland in two parallel UNCITRAL arbitrations under the Energy Charter Treaty and the Poland-Australia BIT, in a dispute concerning investments in the coal industry.
• The Republic of Georgia in two investment disputes related to the Georgian banking and telecommunications’ sectors respectively.
• The Arab Republic of Egypt against 13 Kuwaiti claimants in an ICSID arbitration related to a desert land development project for urban and agricultural purposes. In its final award, the arbitral tribunal ordered Egypt to pay less than 0.01% of the US$8 billion claimed. Wordstone lawyers currently act in the annulment proceedings before an ICSID annulment committee.
• The Republic of Ecuador in several investment arbitrations with foreign oil & gas, mining and telecommunications companies. Wordstone lawyers obtained unprecedented victories in the Oxy, Burlington and Perenco Ecuador, by prevailing on their environmental counterclaims and obtaining substantial reductions of the damages claimed at the stage of the arbitration and annulment. The team continues to act in the Chevron case, arising from judgments rendered by Ecuadorian courts ordering Chevron to pay US$9.5 billion to a group of indigenous Ecuadorean plaintiffs in compensation for environmental pollution caused by the claimants in the Amazonian rainforest.
• The Republic of Colombia in various investment disputes in the telecommunications and mining sectors. Wordstone lawyers obtained three great victories in Glencore (I), where the Tribunal dismissed most claims on the merits and awarded only 3% of the amount claimed; in America Movil, where all claims were rejected, with a favorable decision on costs for Colombia; and in Glencore II, where the damages claimed were reduced by 85. The team also recently acted for Colombia against Telefónica and is currently representing the State in the annulment proceedings before an ICSID annulment committee.
• The Republic of Guatemala in various investment disputes. Wordstone lawyers obtained two great victories in Iberdrola (II) and IC Power where the Tribunal respectively dismissed the Claimants’ claims for lack of jurisdiction and lack of merits. The team is currently acting for Guatemala is two related ongoing investment claims against Grupo Energía Bogotá S.A. E.S.P. and Transportadora de Energía de Centroamérica S.A.
• The Republic of Paraguay in an investment dispute in the transport infrastructure sector.
• The Republic of Panama in an investment dispute in the mining sector.
• The Argentine Republic against AES (ICSID Case No. ARB/02/17) in a dispute relating to regulatory changes to the electricity generation sector during the crisis of the early 2000s.

Overall, Wordstone’s practice extends to major industry sectors, including energy, oil & gas, mining, construction, engineering, real estate, financial services, pharmaceutical/life sciences and telecom.

• France - Head office

Paris 80, rue Jouffroy d'Abbans, Paris, Paris, France, 75017

Web: www.wordstone.com

• Desks in London and Bogotá