Louise Woods

Louise serves as Co-Head of International Disputes – Europe. She is ranked in the Legal 500 UK in the field of International Arbitration, where she is described by sources as “an excellent lawyer who is very sharp and easily accessible”, and “in a word, brilliant” (2022).

Louise has significant experience in arbitration and litigation of high value, complex international commercial disputes and investor-state arbitration. She also has extensive experience of dealing with fraud and corruption allegations and investigations in the context of large scale, complex international arbitration and litigation. She is admitted in England and Wales as a Solicitor-Advocate and regularly appears as an advocate before international arbitration tribunals.

She represents clients across a wide range of industry sectors, including energy, banking and financial services, construction, infrastructure, technology and real estate development. Of particular note is Louise’s representation of a Saudi investor in Hesham Al-Warraq v. the Republic of Indonesia, an investor-state arbitration which set a precedent under the Investment Agreement of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, allowing foreign investors to take host states to arbitration.

In recent years, Louise’s practice has increasingly focused on international energy disputes, in particular upstream oil and gas disputes across both Africa and Latin America.

Louise also works in support of greater diversity in international arbitration. She recently served as President of ArbitralWomen, a global nonprofit that works to support and promote women in international dispute resolution, through networking, mentoring and profile-raising opportunities. Louise is a regular speaker at international arbitration conferences.