International Arbitration
Our expertise
Woods is the preeminent Canadian dispute resolution firm comprising a dedicated and truly experienced International Arbitration practice. Our team is composed of highly skilled and versatile advocates who act as counsel and as arbitrators in ad hoc and institutional arbitrations, in both commercial and investment treaty cases. Our members serve in complex disputes involving multiple jurisdictions and various laws and legal regimes. Our lawyers are trained in both Civil Law and Common Law, and many members of the firm are qualified in several jurisdictions and are proficient in a number of languages in addition to English and French.
As well as representing parties before arbitral tribunals or serving as arbitrators, we regularly advise clients with respect to the drafting of arbitration agreements, the formation of tribunals and all manner of issues associated with arbitral practice and procedure. Our younger lawyers also serve as assistants to international tribunals.
Our members are active participants in leading professional associations in the field of international arbitration, and are frequent speakers at related events.
Representative Work
Counsel work
Examples of international arbitration proceedings in which our lawyers are currently acting or have acted as counsel include (many of these cases are confidential and so are described here very summarily):
- Counsel to an international neutraceutical company in an UNCITRAL arbitration concerning the supply and distribution of raw krill oil, arising out of multiple contracts governed by the UN Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG).
- Counsel to a State in ICSID proceedings concerning the alleged expropriation of permits and licenses related to shale oil and gas exploration and production.
- Counsel to an international mining company in ICC proceedings concerning a mining dispute.
- Counsel to a multinational pharmaceutical and crop-sciences company in ICC proceedings relating to a licensing and patent dispute under French and New York law.
Arbitrator work
Our lawyers have served as tribunal president or co-arbitrator in a wide range of disputes, both ad hoc and under the auspices of various arbitral institutions, in investor-state disputes and international commercial arbitrations, including:
- Disputes concerning thermal, hydro, solar, wind, biomass and other power generation, transmission and distribution cases in Europe, the Americas, the Middle East, Africa and Asia.
- Numerous proceedings in the fields of construction, infrastructure, mining, fisheries, manufacturing, intellectual property, technology, franchising.
Related expertise
- Arbitration and Alternative Dispute Resolution
- Sport Law and Sport Arbitration
- Complex Commercial Cases
- Contractual Disputes
- Defamation
- Administrative and Regulatory Litigation
- Employment Law
- International Law
- Infrastructure and Construction
- Corporate and Securities Litigation
- Product Liability
- Professional and Directors’ and Officers’ Liability
