How to prepare for arbitration proceedings?

Following major political events, a company is forced to suspend the execution of its contract

A State initiates arbitration proceedings against a company operating in the oil industry

Arbitration proceedings initiated before the ICC by a State due to the non-performance of a contract for the installation of a pipeline by a company.

Our client's challenge

Being exonerated from liability and obtaining compensation for its own harm

Due to major political events, a company had to flee the country and suspend the performance of its contract for the installation of an oil pipeline.

Its partner raised the company’s liability due to the breach of its contractual obligations. Our client was therefore seeking exoneration of its liability and compensation for a portion of the contract that remained unpaid by its partner. The stakes were high both in terms of costs and in terms of reputation for this world leader operating in many politically unstable countries.

It was necessary to master the procedural stages of the arbitration and to develop factual and legal arguments on the basis of local law, applicable to the contract. The political and security situation, the lack of a continued presence in the country and the fact that the events happened many years before increased the difficulties in administering this dispute and building a solid case.

Our way

Working collectively to build a solid legal argument

Our priority is to work jointly with our clients in order to provide them with the most appropriate options. In that case, the complexity of the logistical and evidentiary situation made it all the more crucial working side by side with our client.

Taking into account the procedural stages of the arbitration, we set up internal processes in order to build a strategy, anticipate difficulties and prepare our defense. Our experience in investigations and evidence gathering allows us to deal with issues in document management, which are frequent in complex arbitrations.

In addition, our procedural expertise and our global network of judicial and technical experts allowed us to build a strong legal position under the local law and to implement the best conditions for success.

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