Law360 has named Squire Patton Boggs as International Arbitration Group of the Year. Squire Patton Boggs was selected out of 800 applicants.
Stephen Anway, global co-chair of the International Dispute Resolution (IDR) Practice, said, “We are delighted to receive this important recognition. Our practice continues to earn its reputation as one of the preeminent and fastest-growing international arbitration practices in the world. I am extremely proud of our outstanding team and their unwavering commitment to our clients.”
Co-chair George von Mehren, who founded the practice nearly 20 years ago, added, “As one of the few firms with a truly global footprint, it is gratifying to see our capabilities and victories recognized among the best in the world. I am honored to be part of this talented team and look forward to their future successes.”
The firm’s IDR Practice includes more than 140 practitioners across 20 countries, with experience practicing before virtually every major international dispute resolution body in the world. The team has 125 ongoing international arbitrations involving more than US$45 billion in claims.
Law360 recognized the IDR group for its significant growth and for its high-profile, first-of-its-kind victories in the field of international arbitration. One notable win in 2020 was the successful defense of Turkmenistan in an arbitration at ICSID, a subdivision of the World Bank, obtaining dismissal of all claims in Lotus Holding Anonim Sirketi v. Turkmenistan. Commenting on the victory, partner Ali Gursel said, “We are encouraged to see the safeguards designed to protect our sovereign clients from having to litigate in full non-meritorious claims work as intended and result in the dismissal of these arbitrations early on in the process. Our IDR team did a tremendous job.”
The IDR group also achieved one of the year’s largest international victories for long-term client, the Slovak Republic, in Muszynianka v. Slovakia under the United Nations arbitration rules. The IDR team convinced a three-member international tribunal to dismiss a EUR 166.3 million claim brought by a Polish investor under the Polish-Slovak Bilateral Investment Treaty. In so doing, the firm successfully defended a Slovak constitutional amendment that significantly limited the exportation of the nation’s drinking water in the age of climate change. This victory was the result of more than four years of work and involved lawyers from 10 different Squire Patton Boggs offices. Co-lead counsel in the arbitration and Co-Head of Investment Arbitration, partner Rostislav Pekař, explains, “We are delighted our inter-office team could help our long-standing client, the Slovak Republic, to vindicate its right to protect drinking water as a strategic resource.”
The firm has received numerous individual and firm accolades for its IDR practice, including its ranking by Global Arbitration Review to its prestigious GAR 30 report and listings in Chambers Global, The Legal500 United States, Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration, and The American Lawyer’s Arbitration Scorecard, among others.