Provided by Miguel Virgós
Miguel’s experience spans energy, oil and gas, construction, infrastructure, utilities, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, defense, financial services and investment protection.
Miguel Virgós is an independent arbitrator with a distinguished career in international dispute resolution. He brings deep expertise in both commercial and investor-state arbitration, having worked under civil and common law systems across a broad range of jurisdictions.
He has acted as counsel or arbitrator in domestic and international arbitrations administered by leading arbitral institutions, as well as in ad hoc arbitrations under the UNCITRAL Rules. His experience includes arbitrations with seat in Europe (e.g., Bucharest, Geneva, London, Madrid, París, Zurich), Asia (Singapore) and the Americas (e.g., Havana, Mexico City, Miami, New York, Washington DC).
In 2020 he founded Virgós Arbitration to focus exclusively on his role as an independent arbitrator. Previously, he was a partner at Uria Menendez, one of Spain’s leading firms. Among his most notable cases was the defense of Repsol in the multibillion-dollar expropriation of its affiliate YPF by Argentina. A landmark dispute that earned the firm the European Legal Team of the Year 2014 (The British Legal Awards).
As an arbitrator he has ample experience as chairman, co-arbitrator and sole arbitrator. Having studied law in Spain, Italy and the United States, he has a strong comparative law background, enabling him to navigate complex cross-border legal issues with fluency. He is also familiar with Latin American business practices and legal systems, having participated in arbitrations involving Argentinian, Cuban, Guatemalan, Mexican, Panamanian, Peruvian and Venezuelan law, as well as parties from across the Americas.
Miguel has represented the Kingdom of Spain in the negotiation of international treaties and European legislation.
He has extensive experience in insolvency, having contributed to the drafting of the EU Regulation on insolvency proceedings. He is also the author of the so-called 'Virgós-Smidt Report', a document that is frequently cited by European courts.
Miguel is an Emeritus Professor at the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, as well as a permanent member of the Commercial Law Section of the Spanish Law Commission (Comisión General de Codificacion), contributing to the development of commercial legislation in Spain.
MEMBERSHIPS
Asociación Latinoamericana de arbitraje (ALARB)
Asociación de Profesores de Derecho Internacional y Relaciones Internacionales
Association Suisse de l’Arbitrage (ASA)
Club Españole Iberoamericano del Arbitraje (CEIA)
ICC Institute of World Business Law (ICCWBO)
International Arbitration Institute (iai)
International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA)
International Law Association (ILA)
London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)
PANELS OF ARBITRATORS (examples)
AAA-ICDR (American Arbitration Association – International Center for Dispute Resolution), USA.
AmCham Perú (Camara de Comercio Americana del Perú), Peru
SCIA (Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration), China
SIAC (Singapore International Arbitration Centre), Singapore
CIMA (Corte Civil y Mercantil de Arbitraje), Spain
CANACO, (Centro de mediación y Arbitraje), México
SELECTION OF BOOKS:
Derecho procesal civil internacional, litigación internacional, with F. Garcimartín. Madrid, 2007.
European Communication & Cooperation Guidelines for Cross-border Insolvency, with B. Wessels. Nottingham, 2007.
El Trust y el Derecho Español. Madrid, 2006
The European Insolvency Regulation: Law and Practice, with F. Garcimartín. The Hague, 2004.
El Comercio internacional en el nuevo Derecho español de la competencia desleal. Madrid, 1993.
SELECTION OF ARTICLES:
‘El arbitraje, el Reglamento de Bruselas y la responsabilidad por el Prestige ante el TJUE’, in D. Arias (ed.) Libro Homenaje a M.A. Fernández-Ballesteros, Madrid 2024, pp. 2265 ff.
‘Arbitration in Times of Insolvency. Frames of Reference’, in Aliyev, Breig, Wedde, Recht als Brück zwischen Ost und West (Festschrift für Prof. Dr. Alexander Trunk). Stuttgart, 2022, pp 487 ff.
‘Articles 12 to 18’, with F. Garcimartín, in Reinhard/Bork/Van Zwieten (eds), Commentary on the European Insolvency Regulation, Oxford, 2022, pp. 267 ff.
‘Arbitraje e insolvencia: manual de instrucciones’, Almacén de Derecho, 15 August 2021 (read the article here in Spanish).
‘60 años del Convenio de Nueva York de 1958 desde la perspectiva del Derecho español’, Spain Arbitration Review, Madrid, 2019, pp. 27 ff.
‘Close-out netting, Insolvency and Resolution of Financial Institutions in the EU: A Conflict of Laws Analysis’, with F. Garcimartín, in Perspectives on International Insolvency Law: A Tribute to Bob Wessels, The Hague, 2014, pp. 151 ff.
‘Las reglas de Derecho internacional privado en el anteproyecto de Código Mercantil’, in Bercovitz (ed.), Hacia un nuevo Código Mercantil, Cizur Menor (Navarre), 2014, pp. 655 ff.
‘La eficacia de la protección internacional de las inversiones extranjeras’, Revista de Arbitraje Comercial y de Inversiones, Madrid, 2014, pp. 655 ff.
‘Claims against Foreign States in the Courts of the Kingdom of Spain: a Roadmap’, in González Beilfuss / Forner / Viñas (eds.), Entre Bruselas y La Haya. Estudios sobre la unificación internacional y regional del Derecho internacional privado, Madrid, 2013, pp. 857 ff.
‘Una propuesta de ley de cooperación jurídica internacional en materia civil’, in Díaz Fraile / Garcimartín / Heredia / Virgós, Boletín Oficial de Información del Ministerio de Justicia, no. 2143, Madrid, June 2012, pp. 1 ff.
‘El reconocimiento y ejecución de laudos arbitrales extranjeros’, Spain Arbitration Review, Madrid, 2009, pp. 79 ff.
‘La mediación como alternativa’, Actualidad Jurídica Uría Menéndez, no. 20, Madrid, 2008, pp. 21 ff.
‘Procedimientos alternativos de resolución de controversias y comercio internacional’, Anuario de la Facultad de Derecho de la Universidad Autónoma de Madrid, no. 11, Madrid, 2007, pp. 70 ff.
Spoken: Spanish, English, Italian
Read: French, German, Portuguese
Read a full summary of Miguel’s career on the website virgosarbitration.com
Miguel’s experience spans energy, oil and gas, construction, infrastructure, utilities, mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, defense, financial services and investment protection.
His experience includes arbitrations with seat in Europe (e.g., Bucharest, Geneva, London, Madrid, París, Zurich), Asia (Singapore) and the Americas (e.g., Havana, Mexico City, Miami, New York, Washington DC).
Miguel has extensive experience previously as a lawyer, and as arbitrator in resolving commercial and investment protection disputes in a wide range of sectors such as:
Agency
Concessions
Construction
Defence
Financial services
Joint ventures
M&A
Oil and Gas
Corporate disputes
Power and energy
Telecommunications
Utilities
University of Oviedo in Spain
Bachelor of Laws
1972 - 1977
University of Bologna in Italy
Doctor in Law
1978 - 1980
Columbia University in New York, USA
Master of Laws
1981 - 1982
Provided by Chambers
Miguel Virgós of Virgós Arbitration has longstanding expertise in investment disputes, offering additional experience in complex arbitration proceedings. He has significant experience in international issues involving the Americas.
Provided by Chambers
Miguel is very dedicated, serious, independent and works hard.
Miguel Virgós has intellectual authority and well-rounded opinions. He is an excellent arbitrator.
Miguel is very dedicated, serious, independent and works hard.
Miguel Virgós has intellectual authority and well-rounded opinions. He is an excellent arbitrator.
Provided by Virgós Arbitration
Energy and Utilities
Property, Construction and Infrastructure
Government and Public Sector
Financial Investors
Financial Services