International Arbitration and Enforcement

Blank Rome’s International Arbitration and Enforcement practice stands at the intersection of commercial sophistication and courtroom-tested advocacy. Our team comprises seasoned international arbitration counsel, former government officials, and recognized thought leaders who have handled some of the most consequential arbitration matters in the United States and around the world. We bring a distinctive combination of deep subject-matter knowledge—particularly in maritime, energy, infrastructure, and investment disputes—with the full-service resources of a major international law firm.

What sets Blank Rome apart from other international arbitration practices is the breadth and integration of our capabilities. While many firms offer arbitration as an adjunct to their litigation practices, our team operates as a dedicated, globally oriented practice group with direct access to the firm’s nationally ranked Maritime, White Collar Defense & Investigations, International Trade, Government Contracts, Corporate, Mergers & Acquisitions, and Intellectual Property groups. This integration allows us to staff complex, multi-jurisdictional disputes with practitioners who understand not only the procedural intricacies of international arbitration but also the substantive law, regulatory landscape, and business realities that drive outcomes.

Our attorneys have served as both counsel and arbitrators in proceedings before the world’s leading arbitration institutions, including:

• Permanent Court of Arbitration (“PCA”)
• International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (“ICSID”)
• International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”)
• London Court of International Arbitration (“LCIA”)
• International Centre for Dispute Resolution (“ICDR”)
• Society of Maritime Arbitrators (“SMA”)
• Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services (“JAMS”)
• American Arbitration Association (“AAA”)
• Houston Maritime Arbitrators Association (“HMAA”)

How We Can Help

International Commercial Arbitration

Blank Rome’s international commercial arbitration practice handles complex, high-value disputes arising from cross-border transactions, joint ventures, licensing agreements, supply chain disruptions, construction and infrastructure projects, and corporate transactions. Our attorneys have represented multinational corporations, sovereign entities, state-owned enterprises, and private equity-backed businesses in arbitrations governed by the rules of the ICC, LCIA, ICDR, AAA, and JAMS, among others.

We bring particular depth in industries where the financial exposure is significant and the legal and regulatory landscape is intricate, including energy, construction, defense and aerospace, financial services, pharmaceuticals, consumer products, automotive, aviation, and logistics. Our team regularly handles disputes involving breach of contract, fraud and misrepresentation, Racketeer Influenced and Corrupt Organizations Act (“RICO”) claims, joint venture dissolution, earn-out and purchase price disputes, tortious interference, and trade secret misappropriation.

What distinguishes our commercial arbitration practice is our ability to manage disputes that intersect with regulatory and compliance obligations. Many of the matters we handle involve parallel government investigations, sanctions exposure, or anti-corruption concerns, and our seamless coordination with Blank Rome’s White Collar Defense & Investigations and International Compliance teams allows us to address these overlapping risks in a unified, strategically coherent manner.

Investment Treaty Arbitration

Blank Rome represents sovereign states, state-owned enterprises, and private investors in disputes arising under bilateral investment treaties (“BITs”), multilateral investment agreements, free trade agreements, and investment contracts. Our attorneys have appeared before ICSID, the PCA, and in ad hoc arbitrations under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (“UNCITRAL”) Arbitration Rules, handling claims involving expropriation, fair and equitable treatment, most-favored-nation treatment, full protection and security, and denial of justice.

Our investment treaty practice draws on the firm’s deep experience in the sectors most frequently implicated in investor-state disputes, including oil and gas, mining, construction, port and maritime infrastructure, real estate development, and manufacturing. We understand the unique dynamics of disputes involving sovereign parties, including issues of sovereign immunity, state responsibility, treaty interpretation, and the enforcement of arbitral awards against sovereign assets.

In an era of increasing scrutiny of the investor-state dispute resolution system, our attorneys remain at the forefront of developments in investment arbitration law and policy. We advise clients not only on the prosecution and defense of treaty claims but also on investment structuring and treaty planning designed to preserve and optimize access to international dispute resolution protections.

Maritime Arbitration

Blank Rome is one of the premier maritime law firms in the world, and our maritime arbitration capabilities are unmatched by any international arbitration competitor. While other firms may field large international arbitration teams, none of them possess the experienced maritime bench strength, institutional knowledge, or depth of industry relationships that Blank Rome brings to maritime disputes.

Our maritime arbitration attorneys represent shipowners, operators, charterers, cargo interests, marine insurers and underwriters, port authorities, terminal operators, energy companies, and commodity traders in disputes arising under charter parties, bills of lading, marine insurance policies, shipbuilding and ship repair contracts, salvage and general average claims, vessel purchase and sale agreements, and maritime joint ventures. We handle matters before the SMA in New York, the London Maritime Arbitrators Association (“LMAA”), the HMAA, and in ad hoc arbitrations worldwide.

Our team has deep knowledge of the special legal frameworks governing maritime disputes, including the Carriage of Goods by Sea Act (“COGSA”), the Hague-Visby Rules, the Hamburg Rules, the Rotterdam Rules, general maritime law, and the law of admiralty. We routinely handle disputes involving demurrage, laytime, hull and cargo damage, vessel performance claims, off-hire disputes, freight and hire claims, marine pollution liability, maritime liens and arrest, and collisions and allisions.

Blank Rome’s maritime arbitration practice is further strengthened by our nationally recognized Maritime practice group, which provides clients with an integrated platform spanning regulatory compliance, transactional work, environmental response, and dispute resolution. This integration—connecting arbitration counsel with skilled maritime regulatory attorneys, Jones Act practitioners, and environmental response attorneys—is a capability that no other international arbitration practice can replicate.

Award Enforcement and Asset Tracing & Recovery

An arbitral award is only as valuable as a party’s ability to enforce it. Blank Rome’s International Arbitration and Enforcement practice treats post-award enforcement not as an afterthought but as a core competency, integrating it into our case strategy from the earliest stages of a dispute. Our enforcement team has extensive experience seeking recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards under the New York Convention, the Panama Convention, the ICSID Convention, and applicable domestic enforcement statutes, including Chapters 2 and 3 of the Federal Arbitration Act. We regularly appear before U.S. federal and state courts to confirm, enforce, and defend arbitral awards, and we coordinate with local counsel in foreign jurisdictions to pursue parallel enforcement proceedings where necessary.

One thing that distinguishes Blank Rome is our asset tracing and recovery capability. We work with forensic accountants, investigators, and intelligence specialists to locate and reach the assets of award debtors, whether it is real property, bank accounts, vessels, cargo, equity interests, or receivables spread across multiple countries. Our strategies encompass pre-award attachment and provisional measures, third-party discovery, fraudulent transfer claims, alter ego and veil-piercing theories, and receivership proceedings. For sovereign debtors, our team brings deep familiarity with the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (“FSIA”) and its exceptions to immunity from execution, enabling us to coordinate multi-jurisdictional enforcement campaigns against noncompliant sovereign states. Our maritime practice provides a particular advantage: the ability to arrest vessels and assert maritime liens offers a powerful enforcement mechanism that few international arbitration competitors can deploy.

Blank Rome’s integrated approach—combining arbitration experience with enforcement, asset tracing, compliance, and maritime capabilities under one roof—means our clients never face a gap between winning an award and collecting on it. We plan for enforcement from the outset, structuring arbitration strategy with an eye toward the assets that will ultimately satisfy the award.

International Compliance and Enforcement

Cross-border disputes rarely exist in isolation. Companies engaged in international commerce frequently face parallel compliance challenges, from government investigations and sanctions exposure to anti-corruption inquiries and data privacy obligations. Blank Rome’s International Arbitration practice is designed to address these overlapping risks comprehensively.

Our compliance and enforcement team advises clients on the design, implementation, and testing of compliance programs; manages responses to regulatory and criminal document requests, subpoenas, and government investigations; conducts internal investigations; and defends clients in enforcement actions. We bring particular experience in matters involving the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (“FCPA”), anti-money laundering (“AML”) regulations, economic sanctions administered by the Office of Foreign Asset Control (“OFAC”), export controls, and Federal Maritime Commission (“FMC”) licensing and jurisdictional requirements.

This compliance capability is not merely an adjacent service, it is a strategic component of our arbitration practice. When a commercial arbitration or investment treaty dispute intersects with government scrutiny, our clients benefit from counsel that can navigate both proceedings simultaneously, ensuring that positions taken in one forum do not create exposure in another.