Flavio Ponzano

Practice Areas

Flavio specializes in international commercial and investor-State arbitration. He has been involved (as counsel, arbitrator, secretary or assistant to arbitral tribunals) in more than 40 arbitrations subject to various rules (ICC, ICSID, LCIA, Swiss Rules, Milan Chamber, UNCITRAL), including high-profile matters in the energy sector involving state and state-owned entities. Flavio's areas of expertise include conflict of laws and EU law.

Career

Flavio graduated cum laude from the Catholic University of Milan in 2012 and then was a trainee in the corporate and M&A practice group of Bonelli Erede. Flavio joined ArbLit in 2013 upon its foundation. He earned a Ph.D. in international law from the Catholic University of Milan in 2018. Flavio was made partner at ArbLit in 2023.

Professional Memberships

EMEA Member of YSIAC Council; Member of the Advisory Board of Arbit; Former Member of the Executive Committee of AA40.

Publications

How to assess the res judicata effects of international arbitral awards: giving concreteness to an autonomous approach, in Arbitration International, 2024, vol. 40, issue 4, pp 409-444 (with Luca G. Radicati di Brozolo);

The CJEU judgment London Steam-Ship Owners: from the exclusion to the irrelevance of arbitration under the Brussels jurisdiction and judgments regime, comment to CJEU judgment of 20 June 2022, C-700/20, EU:C:2022:488, in Rivista dell’Arbitrato, 2023, 2, pp 358-377;

The CJEU judgment in London Steam-Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Limited v. Kingdom of Spain: a further blow to arbitration?, comment to CJEU judgment of 20 June 2022, C-700/20, EU:C:2022:488, in ICC Dispute Resolution Bulletin, 2022, 3, pp 13-18;

Treaty shopping according to the Swiss Federal Tribunal: towards greater legal certainty?, comment to Federal Tribunal judgment 4A_398/2021, in Diritto del Commercio Internazionale, 2022, 3, pp 779-801;

The Need for Arbitration-Specific Rules on Ethics: a Plea for a Collective Effort, in M. S. Abdel Wahab et al. (eds.), Leadership, legitimacy, legacy: a tribute to Alexis Mourre, ICC Publication, 2022, pp 105-119 (with L. G. Radicati di Brozolo);

The Res Judicata Effects of Foreign Judgments and Awards, Ph.D. thesis, Catholic University of Milan, 2018;

La res judicata nell’arbitrato commerciale internazionale: note a margine della monografia di Silja Schaffstein, in Rivista dell’Arbitrato, 2017, 1, pp 181-190;

Representative Aspects of “Mass Claim” Proceedings in Investor-State Arbitration, in B. Hanotiau & E. A. Schwarz (eds.), Class and Group Actions in Arbitration, Dossiers – ICC Institute of World Business Law, 2016, pp 127-145 (with L. G. Radicati di Brozolo);

La giurisdizione ICSID rationae personae: il ritorno della dicotomia forma-sostanza in tema di nazionalità dell’investitore persona giuridica, comment to Venoklim Holding B.V. v. República Bolivariana de Venezuela, ICSID Case No. ARB/12/22, in Diritto del Commercio Internazionale. The Law of International Trade, 2016, 2, pp 513-534;

Confidentiality within Arbitration, in E. Geisinger (ed.), Confidential and Restricted Access Information in International Arbitration, ASA Special Series No. 43, 2016, pp 1-20 (with L. G. Radicati di Brozolo);

Determinazione della legge applicabile alla convenzione arbitrale in assenza di scelta espressa delle parti, comment to FirstLink Investments Corp Ltd v GT Payment Pte Ltd and others [2014] SGHCR 12, in Rivista dell’Arbitrato, 2014, 4, pp 833-852;

Clausole arbitrali e clausole di elezione del foro: un’antinomia solo agli occhi dei ‘non reasonable observers’?, comment to British American Insurance (Kenya) Ltd v (1) Matelec SAL (2) Thika Power Ltd [2013] EWHC 3278 (Comm), in Diritto del Commercio Internazionale, 2014, 2, pp 508-519.

Languages Spoken

English, French, Italian.

Experience

Flavio’s recent experience as counsel includes representing foreign photovoltaic investors in UNCITRAL arbitrations against the Czech Republic brought under the ECT and various intra-EU BITs; a foreign private equity player in Milan Chamber arbitration on a company law dispute; an Italian energy company in a post M&A dispute submitted to ICC arbitration; an Italian railway contractor in ICC arbitration arising from a FIDIC contract with a foreign state-owned entity; a Maltese company in ICC arbitration over the image rights of a famous football player; an Italian distributor of medical devices in ICC arbitrations against a Japanese manufacturer.

Flavio’s other recent experience includes acting as sole arbitrator in foreign-seated ICC arbitration regarding an IP dispute; acting as co-arbitrator in Milan Chamber arbitration arising from a distribution agreement; advising foreign and Italian companies in disputes regarding international transport and international sale; working on expert opinions on various arbitration law issues (confidentiality, interim measures, arbitrators’ disclosure and conflicts of interest and res judicata).

Flavio acted as secretary to distinguished tribunals, including an ICC tribunal deciding a dispute arising from a project for the construction of a waste-to-energy plant between a European company and a Middle Eastern State; an ICC tribunal deciding a dispute relating to an oil refinery joint venture in Costa Rica; an ICC tribunal deciding a dispute between US investors and the national electricity company of West African country relating to a project for the improvement of the electricity sector.