IACNY Smit-Lowenfeld Prize Awarded to Aloysius Llamzon, Anthony Sinclair

New York, January 30, 2017 – The International Arbitration Club of New York (IACNY) announced today that Aloysius Llamzon and Anthony Sinclair are the recipients of the 2017 Smit-Lowenfeld Prize for the best article in the field of international arbitration. The prize is being awarded for the article, “Investor Wrongdoing in Investment Arbitration: Standards Governing Issues of Corruption, Fraud, Misrepresentation and Other Investor Misconduct,” which was published in Legitimacy: Myths, Realities, Challenges, ICCA Congress Series No. 18 (A.J. van den Berg ed., 2015). The article explores the impact of bribery and fraud-related allegations on international investment arbitration, and seeks to provide clarity around the standards that govern the presentation and resolution of such allegations, which may impugn an investor’s claims or the investment itself in investor-state arbitration.

The prize was presented to Dr. Llamzon and Dr. Sinclair on Friday, January 27, 2017, at a dinner and program held in their honor in New York City. The article was chosen by an IACNY selection committee chaired by Rory O. Millson, a retired partner at Cravath, Swaine & Moore LLP.  “Dr. Llamzon and Dr. Sinclair have provided a comprehensive review of how investment arbitration tribunals deal with corruption allegations, which have become increasingly common in recent years,” said Mr. Millson. “We are thrilled to welcome them to the canon of Smit-Lowenfeld award recipients.” The selection committee for the prize also included George A. Davidson of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, James P. Duffy IV of Baker & McKenzie LLP, Commercial Arbitrator, Mediator & Counsel James M. Rhodes and Fred Sherman of Jones Day.

This is the sixth year the IACNY has awarded this prize, selecting one article annually. Prior honorees include Gary Born for his article “A New Generation of International Adjudication;” Professor Charles H. Brower II for his article “Arbitration and Antitrust: Navigating the Contours of Mandatory Law;” Stephen Fietta and James Upcher for their article “Public International Law, Investment Treaties and Commercial Arbitration: An Emerging System of Complementarity?;” Catharine Titi for her article “Investment Arbitration in Latin America: The Uncertain Veracity of Preconceived Ideas;” and Nicolas Ulmer  for his article “The Cost Conundrum.”

The annual Smit-Lowenfeld prize honors the late professors Hans Smit, former Stanley H. Fuld Professor Emeritus at Columbia Law School, and Andreas Lowenfeld, former Rubin Professor Emeritus at the New York University School of Law, for their distinguished careers in the field of international arbitration, both as scholars and as arbitrators. Article selection is based on originality, quality, significance and scholarship, among other factors. Honorees are selected annually by the IACNY and are awarded an honorarium of $2,500.

The prize was presented at the January event by Lawrence W. Newman, Presiding Member of the IACNY and Of Counsel at Baker & McKenzie LLP.  “This article takes the varied concepts of corruption, fraud and illegality, as well as their respective burdens of proof, and distills guiding principles for tribunals around the world to consider in investigations of investor wrongdoing,” said Mr. Newman. “It is an important contribution to the field of international investment arbitration.”

The International Arbitration Club of New York

The International Arbitration Club of New York was formed on June 25, 2010, by 70 founding members as a not-for-profit association. The Club now comprises approximately 115 leading practitioners and scholars in the field of international arbitration who reside and/or work in the New York City area. The Club is governed by a steering committee that includes James H. Carter of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP; John Fellas of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP; David Lindsey of Chaffetz Lindsey LLP; Lawrence W. Newman (Chair) of Baker & McKenzie LLP; David W. Rivkin of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP; and Robert H. Smit of Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP. The purpose of the Club is to promote best practices in arbitration as a means of settling international commercial disputes, and the Club holds regular meetings to hear speakers from both within and outside of its membership.

The 2017 Award Recipients

Aloysius Llamzon 

Dr. Aloysius Llamzon is a senior associate at the international arbitration practice group of King & Spalding, based in its New York and Washington, D.C. offices.  He represents corporate and sovereign clients in commercial, investment, and inter-State arbitrations. He has appeared before tribunals under the ICC, ICSID, UNCITRAL, and SIAC rules in cases seated throughout the world, involving natural resources, energy, infrastructure, manufacturing, and shareholder disputes in Southeast and South Asia, the Middle East, Latin America, Africa, and Europe.

Prior to joining King & Spalding, Dr. Llamzon was Senior Legal Counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the Peace Palace, The Hague.  His duties included acting as Registrar and Tribunal Secretary in various inter-State cases, as well as investment treaty and commercial arbitrations involving States.  His considerable experience with cases in public international law include the Abyei Arbitration (Gov’t of Sudan/Sudan People’s Liberation Movement/Army), the Indus Waters Kishenganga Arbitration (Pakistan v. India), and the Bay of Bengal Maritime Boundary Arbitration (Bangladesh v. India).  He has advised numerous States Parties to the 1899 and 1907 Hague Conventions on the procedural aspects of international dispute settlement, including under the UN Convention on the Law of the Sea, various bilateral and multilateral investment treaties, and the UNCITRAL and PCA Arbitration Rules.  He also assisted the former Chief Justice of the Netherlands in his capacity as Appointing Authority to the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal.  He began his career practicing at a leading law firm in Manila, and then as a U.S. corporate associate at a leading international law firm based in Hong Kong.

Dr. Llamzon holds A.B. and J.D. degrees from the Ateneo de Manila University and LL.M. and J.S.D. degrees from Yale Law School. His doctoral dissertation won the Ambrose Gherini Prize at Yale, and became the book Corruption in International Investment Arbitration(Oxford, 2014). He has published widely on international law and arbitration, and is a former faculty member and adjunct lecturer at various law schools in Manila and The Hague.  He is also a frequent speaker on international dispute settlement and public international law matters.

Anthony Sinclair

Dr. Anthony Sinclair is a partner in the London office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan, LLP, where he specializes in international commercial arbitration, investment treaty arbitration, and public international law. His work has a particular focus on the oil and gas, energy and mining, telecommunications, infrastructure and utilities sectors, especially in emerging markets.  He acts both as counsel and arbitrator.

Dr. Sinclair’s experience includes handling disputes under ICC, LCIA, ICSID and UNCITRAL arbitration rules arising out of concession agreements, licences, production sharing and operating agreements, joint ventures, EPC and other construction agreements, host government and inter-governmental agreements, management and service agreements, distributorships, investment agreements, financing agreements and derivatives and post-M&A matters. He also has extensive experience as counsel for both private investors and States handling disputes under bilateral investment treaties and the Energy Charter Treaty, and has also been counsel in several ICSID annulment proceedings. He has advised States on the negotiation and drafting of treaties, headquarters agreements and intergovernmental agreements.

Dr. Sinclair holds an LL.B. (First Class Hons.) and a B.A. from the University of Canterbury, New Zealand, and an LL.M. (First Class Hons.) and a Ph.D. in international law from the University of Cambridge, England.  His Ph.D. was on the subject of “State Contracts in Investment Treaty Arbitration.” He is a frequent speaker and widely published in the field of international investment law and international arbitration.