Practice Areas
Christian Albanesi is a Partner in Simpson Thacher’s International Disputes and Arbitration Practice, based in the Firm’s Washington, D.C. office. With over 20 years of experience, Christian is widely recognized as one of the leading international arbitration practitioners focused on Latin America. He regularly acts as both counsel and arbitrator in high-stakes, cross-border disputes—including investment treaty arbitrations and complex commercial matters—before all major international arbitral institutions, including the ICC, ICSID, LCIA, PCA, SIAC, AAA/ICDR, UNCITRAL, the Lima Chamber of Commerce, AmCham Peru, the Bogota Chamber of Commerce, and in DAB proceedings. His practice spans the energy, infrastructure, mining, construction, and financial services sectors, with particular depth in disputes involving sovereign states, state-owned entities, and multinational corporations across Latin America. Christian is fluent in Spanish (native), English, and French, with full comprehension of Portuguese and upper-intermediate Russian—linguistic capabilities that enable him to lead proceedings and manage teams across multiple jurisdictions with exceptional efficiency.
Christian brings a distinctive institutional perspective to his practice. Earlier in his career, he served as Managing Counsel at the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris, where he supervised all nine case management teams of the ICC Secretariat to ensure uniformity of practices and decisions of the Court. He previously held the position of Counsel in charge of the Latin America, Spain and Portugal case management team.
Christian is recognized by Chambers & Partners in the category of International Counsel in International Arbitration (Band 4, Latin America-wide) and as a "Most in Demand Arbitrator" (Band 1, Latin America-wide). He is further recognized as a Recommended Global Leader by Who’s Who Legal Arbitration. As Chambers & Partners has noted: "Christian Albanesi is a brilliant lawyer. He is a great strategist and draws from his extensive experience at the ICC to serve his clients with sound legal advice in complex, hard-fought disputes." He has also been described as "a team leader with a lot of experience" who "knows the arbitration procedures well and anticipates how arbitrators feel or will react to certain positions."
Notable Counsel Matters
Christian's recent experience, including prior to joining Simpson Thacher, as counsel includes representation of clients in some of the most significant arbitrations in Latin America and globally. Representative matters include:
• Counsel for Enagás in two parallel ICSID arbitrations against Peru—one arising from the termination of the concession for the largest pipeline in South America (USD 510 million in dispute) and one related to government restrictions on the transfer of dividends abroad (USD 600 million in dispute).
• Counsel for HSBC in an ICSID case against El Salvador related to a claim for denial of justice (USD 50 million in dispute).
• Counsel for the Republic of Colombia in an ICSID arbitration arising out of an investment treaty relative to the construction and maintenance of toll roads (USD 200 million in dispute), and in separate ICSID annulment proceedings related to a mining concession.
• Counsel for the Dominican Republic in an ICSID arbitration arising out of DR-CAFTA in relation to a contract for the supply of asphalt cement (USD 80 million in dispute) and in a PCA arbitration arising out of an investment treaty relative to bus services in the capital city (USD 20 million in dispute).
• Counsel for a major US corporation in three ICC arbitrations, one Emergency Arbitration, and related New York court litigation in connection with the construction of a USD 3 billion hydropower complex in Chile (USD 260 million in dispute).
• Counsel for a major French company in an ICC arbitration and state court proceedings related to the termination of an EPC contract for an LNG terminal in Uruguay (USD 450 million in dispute).
• Counsel for a Brazilian oil company in an ICC arbitration seated in New York, arising out of a joint operation agreement for the exploration, development, and production of oil and natural gas in Brazil (USD 500 million in dispute).
• Counsel for the Colombian National Agency of Infrastructure related to the construction of the roadway Ruta del Sol II (USD 600 million in dispute).
• Counsel for a subsidiary of a French energy company in a UNCITRAL arbitration in Stockholm brought by two Regions of the Russian Federation relating to an oil exploration agreement, including related court litigation in France and Sweden (USD 24 billion in dispute).
Arbitrator Appointments
In addition to his work as counsel, Christian sits regularly as arbitrator in complex international disputes. He has served as President, Sole Arbitrator, Co-Arbitrator, and Emergency Arbitrator in ICC, LCIA, ICSID, AmCham Peru, Lima Chamber of Commerce, and Canadian Commercial Arbitration Centre proceedings. His arbitrator appointments span the construction, energy, mining, infrastructure, M&A, financial services, and healthcare sectors across Latin America, Africa, and the Middle East.
