Concentration

Summary

Mr. Escobar was previously senior counsel at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) where he handled more than a dozen of the first investor-state arbitration proceedings ever brought under bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and multilateral treaties for the protection of investments, such as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

Mr. Escobar is a visiting professor at University College London, where he teaches the International Law of Foreign Investment.

Mr. Escobar practices fully bilingually in English and Spanish. He also has a working knowledge of French.

Representative Engagements

• International commercial arbitration proceeding under the auspices of the London Court of International Arbitration, acting as co-arbitrator

Investment Treaty Matters

• Helnan International A/S – an ICSID Convention annulment proceeding in a dispute under the Egypt-Denmark BIT
• Eastern European State – an UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules proceeding under the Energy Charter Treaty
• Eastern European State – an SCC Arbitration Institute proceeding under a bilateral investment treaty
• Republic of Ecuador – three ICSID arbitration proceedings, each initiated under the Ecuador-United States BIT, with MCI Power Group LC and New Turbine, Inc.; Duke Energy Electroquil Partners and Electroquil S.A.; and Empresa Eléctrica del Ecuador Inc.
• Republic of Azerbaijan – ICSID arbitration proceeding initiated by Barmek Holding A.S., invoking the Azerbaijan-Turkey BIT and a state contract
• Chilean company Empresas Lucchetti S.A. and its Peruvian subsidiary – ICSID arbitration proceeding initiated under the Chile-Peru BIT against the Republic of Peru, including issues of parallel proceedings initiated by the Republic of Peru
• Telekom Malaysia Berhad – BIT arbitration conducted under the UNCITRAL arbitration rules with the government of the Republic of Ghana
• Leading telecommunications company – investment treaty arbitration in regard to a dispute in Latin America
• Leading petrochemicals company – international investment protection and related restructuring of investments in two Latin American countries
• Major international petroleum company – investment treaty dispute in a Latin American country
• Southeastern European construction company – investment treaty arbitration in regard to a dispute with a Middle Eastern state
• Western European company – investment treaty arbitration in regard to a dispute with a Southeastern European state
• Southeastern European state – investment treaty dispute brought against it by a Central European company
• Leading engineering and construction company – advice on international investment protection in Latin America and Eastern Europe
• Leading energy company – advice on investment protection under NAFTA and other investment treaties
• Intergovernmental financial organisation – advice in regard to the use of investment treaty obligations to facilitate the financing of an energy project in Southeast Asia
• Private equity fund – advice on international investment protection and the enforceability of an ICSID arbitration clause
• International petroleum company – advice on international investment protection for operations in various jurisdictions
• Multinational investor – advice on issues of nationality, merits, and quantum in regard to a potential treaty dispute with a Middle Eastern state
• Multinational European bank – international investment arbitration

Other International Law Matters

• Caspian Region Energy Company – a price review dispute under a contract entered into pursuant to a bilateral treaty arrangement
• Advising a major energy company on international law issues arising from proposed sanctions legislation against a host State concession contract counterpart
• Advising on issues arising from membership in the World Trade Organization and on issues arising under a free trade agreement in regard to the enforcement of intellectual property rights
• European energy company – advice on the U.K. and international legal framework governing aspects of the reprocessing and storage of spent nuclear fuel
• European energy company – contractual conflict of laws issues in the U.K.
• State of Barbados – maritime delimitation arbitration with Trinidad and Tobago under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea
• Republic of Chile – international boundary arbitration with Argentina and advice on compensation issues in a dispute with the United States
• Republic of Croatia – state succession issues in connection with liquidation proceedings of a state-owned bank
• South American state – land and maritime boundary issues
• Nonprofit organization – international law issues concerning claims for artwork

International Commercial Arbitration and Litigation

• A South American state – a IACAC arbitration under a World Bank-funded contract with a local shipbuilding company
• An international environmental remediation company – a dispute with two Latin American petroleum companies
• Irish company – ICC arbitration proceeding against a southern African state concerning a long-term investment project
• State-owned gas company – proceedings for the enforcement of an international arbitration award
• Multinational telecommunications company – advice on arbitration concerning an investment in the Middle East
• Caribbean state – advice on the adoption of legislation based on the UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration and the creation of a regional arbitration centre
• U.S. multinational Internet carrier – advice on worldwide enforcement of U.S. judgments against spammers
• Leading apparel company – obtaining injunctive relief in a dispute with a Latin American distributor

Publications, Speeches, and Presentations

• "Bolivia Exposes 'Critical Date' Ambiguity," Global Arbitration Review, 2007
• "Procedural Issues Raised by Treaty Interpretation in ICSID Proceedings," International Institutional Reform: Proceedings of The 2005 Hague Joint Conference on Contemporary Issues of International Law, 2005, TMC Asser Press, The Hague, 2007 (A. Fijalkowski, ed.) 
• "Argentina's Multiplication of Investor-State Arbitration Proceedings," Le Contentieux arbitral transnational relatif à l'investissement: nouveaux développements, L.G.D.J., Anthemis, 2006 (Charles Leben, dir.)
• Note on "CMS Gas Transmission Company v. Argentine Republic, ICSID Case No. ARB/01/8, Award on the Merits," IBA Legal Practice Committee, Arbitration Committee Newsletter, September 2005
• "The Use of ICSID Precedents by ICSID and ICSID Tribunals," 2005 Annual Meeting British Institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL), June 2005
• "The Waiver of Investor Rights Derived From Investment Treaties," The Relationship Between Local Courts and Investment Treaty Arbitration, BIICL Third Investment Treaty Forum Conference, September 2004; published in Transnational Dispute Management, August 2005
• "Argentina's Deluge of Investor-State Arbitration Proceedings," Transnational Dispute Management, July 2004
• "Investor-State Arbitration Under Mercosur," International Arbitration in Latin America, Kluwer Law International, 2002 (N. Blackaby, C. Lindsey, and A. Spinillo, eds.)
• ICSID Secretariat's Commentary "Conducting Arbitration Proceedings Under the ICSID Convention," Carswell's Handbook of International Dispute Resolution Rules, Carswell, 1999 (B. Barin, ed.)
• "An Overview of the International Legal Framework Governing Investment," ASIL Proceedings, 1997
• "Three Aspects of ICSID's Administration of Arbitration Proceedings," News From ICSID, Summer 1997

Speeches and Presentations

• "Introduction to Investment Contracts: Dispute Settlement" and "Investment and International Financial Institutions" (in Spanish), Seminar on Sustainable Investment in Infrastructure," Lima, January 2009
• "State Entities and International Arbitration" (in Spanish), Seminar on International Arbitration and Administrative Law, Quito, December 2008
• "Negotiating Effective Contractual Agreements for Oil and Gas Investments," Prevention and Settlement of Investment Disputes in Upstream Oil & Gas, London, September 2008
• "The Defense of Necessity under Article 24 of the Energy Charter Treaty", Eleventh Investment Treaty Forum Public Conference, London, September 2008
• Comment on keynote plenary address by Professor G. Kaufmann-Kohler, Inaugural Conference of the Society for International Economic Law, Geneva, July 2008
• "Corporate Nationality after the Decision on Jurisdiction in Aguas del Tunari S.A. v. Bolivia," Inter-Pacific Bar Association Annual Conference, Los Angeles, April 2008