Horacio A. Grigera Naón
Professor Horacio Grigera Naón is a Distinguished Practitioner in Residence and Director of the Center on International Commercial Arbitration at American University Washington College of Law where he teaches International Commercial Arbitration and Choice-of-Law Issues in International Commercial Arbitration. He also serves as an independent international arbitrator and consultant on business and international law matters, and is former Secretary General of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce. He has been a practitioner in the field of international commercial arbitration and international business law for over twenty-five years.
Dr. Grigera Naón has published and lectured widely on these topics, including a book on "Choice-of-Law Problems in International Commercial Arbitration" (1992) and lectures at the Hague Academy of International Law (2001) on the same topic. He is also an adviser for the American Law Institute’s new Restatement of the Law (Third) of International Commercial Arbitration, a member of the Advisory Board of The Institute for Transnational Arbitration, a former Special Counsel with White & Case LLP, and a former Senior Counsel with the International Finance Corporation in Washington D.C. Professor Grigera Naón holds LLM and SJD degrees from Harvard Law School, LLB and LLD degrees from the School of Law of the University of Buenos Aires, and is a member of the Argentine Federal, New York, District of Columbia, and United States Supreme Court Bars.
Björn Arp
Dr. Björn Arp is a Fellow and Adjunct Professor at American University Washington College of Law Center on International Commercial Arbitration. He co-teaches International Commercial Arbitration in the online Certificate Program on International Commercial Arbitration, as well as other courses. He is a partner at Aparicio, Arp & Associates LLC, in Washington, D.C., where he represents parties in international investment protection and human rights cases. Bjorn Arp is on the Roster of Experts of the Inter-American Development Bank’s Independent Consultation and Investigation Mechanism.
From 2000 to 2010, he taught Public International Law, European Union Law, and Investment Arbitration at the University of Alcalá, Madrid. In 2007, Arp was a visiting researcher at Harvard Law School. His publications and research have focused on international investment protection and human rights.
Björn Arp holds a J.D. in Law from Alicante University, a Ph.D. in International Law from the University of Alcalá in Madrid, and an LL.M. in International Legal Studies from American University Washington College of Law. He is admitted to practice in New York, and he is a member of the American Society of International Law and the Inter-American Bar Association.
Jonathan C. Hamilton
Jonathan C. Hamilton is a leading international lawyer and longstanding partner with the global law firm of White & Case LLP.
Over more than two decades, he has built a multinational and multilingual practice that is ranked at the top of its field and described by professional guides as "a powerhouse at the forefront of Latin American international arbitration" and "the best law firm for Latin America arbitration." (Legal 500) The practice repeatedly has been ranked number one in the world in international arbitration. (Global Arbitration Review) As one professional guide highlights, "White & Case – led by Jonathan Hamilton, the firm's head of Latin American Arbitration – has cemented its position as the top arbitration firm in Latin America." (Latinvex)
Mr. Hamilton has successfully advised on billions of dollars in international disputes and investment involving landmark legal issues of the era that span sectors and jurisdictions across the Americas and beyond. From Machu Picchu to the Panama Canal, he has deep experience with high stakes disputes before diverse courts and arbitration institutions and rules, and deals involving complex negotiation and crisis management. Accolades for his client matters have included the Most Influential Arbitration Award of the Decade, Latin Lawyer Deal of the Year (twice), Financial Times Innovative Lawyers (twice), Best Arbitration Award (twice), and American Lawyer Global Dispute of the Year/Americas.
Dyalá Jiménez - Figueres
Dyalá Jiménez is a Costa Rican national and specializes in international arbitration. She is frequently appointed as arbitrator in institutional and ad hoc arbitrations, both in commercial and investor-State disputes. She is a member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration and the ICSID panel of conciliators and arbitrators for Costa Rica.
Dyalá worked in Shearman & Sterlin’s Paris office and at the International Chamber of Commerce for seven years. She also worked in two law firms in Santiago, Chile and in 2011 set up DJ Arbitraje. Who’s Who Legal and Chambers & Partners has highlighted her work.
She is author of numerous publications and has taught in Lead University in Costa Rica in 2017, as well as Universidad de Chile and the Heidelberg/Universidad de Chile LLM Programme in Chile, from 2004 to 2013. Dyalá is a founding member of the ICC Latin American Arbitration Group, the International Arbitration Institute (IAI), and the Asociación Latinoamericana de Arbitraje (ALARB). She served as co-editor-in-chief of the ICC Bulletin and Vice President of the ICC ADR and Arbitration Commission briefly before her appointment as Minister in the Costa Rican government.
From July 2018 to August 2020, Dyalá served as Minister of Foreign Trade of Costa Rica and in such capacity was in charge of public policy on exports and foreign direct investment, as well as representing Costa Rica before the World Trade Organization. In that role, she also led the country's efforts to become the 38th member of the Organization for Cooperation and Development OECD, which included passing 14 laws and undertaking a series of administrative and political reforms. In addition, as minister she chaired the Board of Directors of the Foreign Trade Promotion Agency and was a member of the Board of Directors of the Costa Rican Fisheries Institute.
Miguel López Forastier
Miguel López Forastier is a partner at Covington & Burling LLP in Washington, DC, whose practice focuses on international arbitration and litigation. Mr. López Forastier has successfully represented a wide range of clients, including those in the oil and gas, communications, financial services, and mining industries in both investor-State and commercial arbitrations. Recognized by Chambers Global and Chambers Latin America as a leading international arbitration lawyer, Mr. López Forastier's work is praised by clients for his “thorough analysis, insightful advocacy and consistently reliable judgment.” "Both civil and common-law trained, Miguel handles contentious work in English, Spanish and Portuguese."
MAIRÉE URAN BIDEGAIN
Mairée Uran Bidegain is currently the Coordinator of the Foreign Investment Arbitration Defense Program of the Chilean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Before joining the government of Chile, Mairée worked as Team Leader and Legal Counsel for the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, where she leads one of the four ICSID teams in charge of the administration of proceedings. In her capacity as Team Leader, she supervised the administration of proceedings, under the ICSID Convention, the ICSID Additional Facility Rules and the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. Ms. Uran Bidegain also served as Secretary of tribunals, commissions and ad hoc committees in arbitration, conciliation and annulment proceedings brought under investment contracts, investment promotion laws and treaties before ICSID. She also participated in numerous institutional matters, including recently as co-editor of the book, Building International Investment Law: The First 50 years of ICSID, a publication in celebration of ICSID’s 50th Anniversary.
Prior to joining ICSID, Ms. Uran Bidegain worked as an associate in the international arbitration group of an international law firm in Washington DC (2006 – 2011).
She holds a law degree from the Université Panthéon-Assas, Paris II (Maîtrise and J.D. Equivalent), a Master’s degree from the Université Panthéon-Sorbonne, Paris I (D.E.A.), and a Master of Laws degree from the University of Pennsylvania Law School (LL.M.). She is admitted to practice in New York. She has been a guest speaker at numerous conferences and seminars and she has been an adjunct professor at American University, Washington College of Law and at Georgetown University Law Center.
Mairée Uran Bidegain speaks English, French and Spanish and is a national of Colombia, France and Uruguay.
Estefanía San Juan
Ms. San Juan practices in international arbitration and litigation with a particular focus on Latin America. She advises corporate and sovereign clients in commercial and investment disputes and related negotiations.
A national of Colombia and Venezuela, Ms. San Juan is multilingual in English, Spanish and Portuguese. She has lived, studied and worked in Colombia, Costa Rica and the United States.
Ms. San Juan previously served as the senior symposium editor of the American University Law Review. She has additional experience with the chambers of the Honorable Judge Paul L. Friedman of the US District Court for the District of Columbia the Mexican American Legal Defense and Educational Fund (MALDEF) in Washington, DC and Legal Services of Southern Piedmont Immigrant Justice Program in Charlotte, NC. She is also active in pro bono and social responsibility activities.
Francisco Jijón
Francisco X. Jijón is an associate in the Commercial Litigation and International Arbitration Groups with the global law firm of White & Case. Mr. Jijón has experience in international dispute resolution and transnational disputes involving sovereign states and Latin America.
His experience includes investment arbitrations before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and under the UNCITRAL rules, as well as in commercial arbitration and litigation in various forums and arbitrations before U.S. courts. These cases have spanned various substantive areas, including infrastructure, energy, cultural heritage, sovereign debt, environment and construction, among others.