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Aloysius (Louie) Llamzon is a partner at K&S’s Washington, D.C. and New York offices and a member of its International Arbitration group.  Dr. Llamzon represents private and sovereign clients in commercial, investment, and inter-State disputes.  Having practiced in Asia, Europe, and the U.S., Louie is thoroughly familiar with civil and common law systems.  He advocates before tribunals seated throughout the world, involving energy, infrastructure, financial, manufacturing, mining, and construction disputes.  He also acts as arbitrator.

Dr. Llamzon was previously a corporate finance associate at a leading international law firm’s Hong Kong office, and an associate at a large firm in Manila.  He is admitted in the Philippines, New York and D.C.  Louie was also a Senior Legal Counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, The Hague.  There, he was Registrar and Tribunal Secretary in inter-State, treaty, and contract arbitrations involving States.  His public international law experience includes disputes involving land and maritime boundaries, treaty interpretation, the environment, and transnational pipelines.

Louie holds J.S.D. and LL.M. degrees from Yale Law School, and A.B. and J.D. degrees from Ateneo de Manila University.  He publishes widely and is a research professor and former lecturer at law schools in Manila and The Hague.  His book “Corruption in International Investment Arbitration” (Oxford, 2014), is the leading treatise in the subject.  His article “Investor Wrongdoing in Investment Arbitration” won the 2017 Smit-Lowenfeld Prize.  He is a frequent speaker, including at the biennial ICCA Congress and the annual meetings of ASIL and the ICC Institute of World Business Law.  He is a member of ASIL’s Executive Council.

Louie has been recognized annually in Who’s Who Legal Future Leaders – Arbitration since 2017, which has described him as a “star”, “an expert in international corruption matters relating to disputes,” “a top emerging name in the arbitration space”  who “possesses ‘a rare combination of strong theoretical and academic knowledge with top lawyering and advocacy skills”, with a “fantastic Asia practice.”

Select Publications

Book:

  • Corruption in International Investment Arbitration (Oxford University Press, 2014; second edition forthcoming mid-2021)

Reviews include: (i) Judge Joan Donoghue, The Corruption Trump in Investment Arbitration, 30 ICSID Review 756-61 (2015); (ii) Stanimir Alexandrov, Review of “Corruption in International Investment Arbitration by Aloysius P. Llamzon”, 109 American Journal of International Law 702-07 (2015)  

Articles and Book Chapters include (in chronological order):

  • The Due Diligence Expansion in International Investment Arbitration, in Chester Brown and Mahdev Mohan (eds.), Regulation & Investment Disputes: Asian Perspectives (Cambridge University Press, forthcoming 2020) (with Jessica Beess und Chrostin)
  • Proving Corruption in International Arbitration: The Utility of “Red Flags”, in Arbitration Beyond Borders: Essays in Memory of Guillermo Aguilar-Alvarez (W.M. Reisman & N. Blackaby eds., forthcoming 2020)(with Edward Kehoe)
  • Article 18: Influence Peddling, in M. Kubiciel, C. Rose, and O. Landwehr eds., Commentary on the U.N. Convention Against Corruption (Oxford University Press, 2019)
  • Mining Arbitration in the Asia-Pacific, in The Guide to Mining Arbitrations (Global Arbitration Review, J. Fry & LA Bret eds., 2019)(with William Panlilio)
  • Acta Iure Gestionis, Acta Iure Imperii, entry in Max Planck Encyclopedia of Comparative Constitutional Law (2018) (with Charlene Sun)
  • The Juridical Island: From the Island of Palmas to the South China Sea Arbitrations, in Legal Status of Islands and Rocks in International law and Practice in the South China Sea (2016)
  • Investor Wrongdoing in Investment Arbitration: Standards Governing Issues of Corruption, Fraud, Misrepresentation, and other Investor Misconduct, in Legitimacy: Myths, Realities, Challenges, ICCA Congress Series No. 18 (A.J. van den Berg ed., 2015) (with Dr. A. Sinclair)
  • The State of the Unclean Hands Doctrine in International Investment Law: Yukos as Omega and Alpha, 30 ICSID Review 315-25 (2015)
  • On Corruption’s Peremptory Treatment in International Investment Arbitration, in Addressing Issues of Corruption in Commercial and Investment Arbitration, Dossiers of the ICC Institute of World Business Law No. 13 32-50 (D. Baizeau and R. Kreindler eds., 2015) 
  • State Responsibility for Corruption: The Attribution Asymmetry in International Investment Arbitration, Transnational Disp. Mgt., Vol. 10, No. 3, May 2013 (R. Kreindler & C. Lamm eds.)
  • The Final Award in Occidental v. Ecuador, in The Reasons Requirement in International Investment Arbitration 211-30 (G. Aguilar-Alvarez & W.M. Reisman eds., 2008)
  • Jurisdiction and Compliance in Recent Decisions of the International Court of Justice, 18 European Journal of International Law 815 (2007)
  • “The Generally Accepted Principles of International Law” as Philippine Law, 47 Ateneo Law Journal 243 (2002) 

Select Speaking Engagements (chronological)

  • De Brauw Blackstone Westbroek, New York, March 2, 2020, Panelist, Seminar on “The Hague Court of Appeal’s Yukos Judgment”
  • Basel University, Basel Institute of Governance, Switzerland, January 10, 2020, Panelist, “Legal Consequences of Corruption on an Arbitral Award in Investment Arbitration”
  • Energy Charter Secretariat, Energy Charter Treaty Forum 2019, Singapore, November 20, 2019, Panelist, “Stakeholder Participation in Energy & Natural Resources Disputes: Forms and Forums of Participation”
  • Keio University, Tokyo, November 11-12, 2019, Speaker, “Corruption in Investment Treaty Arbitration”
  • King & Spalding Seminar, Manila, May 15, 2020, Speaker, “Anatomy of a Finance Deal: From Global Transactions to Dispute Resolution”
  • UNCITRAL Working Group III, New York, April 3, 2019, Side Event: Building Blocks for a New ISDS System
  • ILA American Branch Investment Law Committee and the Georgetown International Arbitration Society, Washington, D.C., February 19, 2019, Panelist, “What To Do About Corruption Allegations? Debating the Options for Investment Law”
  • American University Washington College of Law, Washington, D.C., February 13, 2019, Panelist, “Handling Allegations of Corruption in Arbitration and Judicial Dispute Resolution”
  • Basel University, Basel Institute of Governance, Switzerland, January 10-11, 2019, Panelist, “Legal Consequences of the Establishment of Corruption in Arbitration”
  • Dutch Arbitration Association, October 18, 2018 (Dutch Arbitration Day) Amsterdam, Panelist, “Artificial Intelligence and Calculating Your Chances of Success”
  • FTI Consulting, King & Spalding, and RPA Inc., Toronto, March 5, 2018, Speaker, “Trends in Mining”
  • ICC Young Arbitrators Forum, Washington, D.C., Feb. 8, 2018, Panelist, “So You Want To Be an Arbitrator”
  • Freshfields/ASIL Debate Series, Washington, D.C., Nov. 21, 2017, Debater, “This House Believes that States May Not Rely on their Own Acts of Corruption to Object to the Jurisdiction of International Tribunals”
  • International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), 3rd ICC Asia Conference on International Arbitration, Singapore, June 29, 2017, Lecturer, ICC Institute Training for Tribunal Secretaries
  • Georgetown International Arbitration Society, Washington, D.C., April 2017, Speaker, “Corruption in Investment Arbitration”
  • Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), October 2016, Speaker ADR in Asia Conference, “Corruption: Arbitrators Beware”
  • International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), Hong Kong, October 2016, Speaker, “International Arbitration in Rising Asia: Philippines”
  • Pham Van Dong University and Nha Trang University, Vietnam, August 2016, Speaker, International Workshop on the “Legal Status of Islands and Rocks in International Law and Practice”
  • American University Washington College of Law, Washington, D.C., June 2016, Speaker, 12th International Arbitration Summer Program
  • New York University Arbitration Lecture Series, New York City, April 11, 2016, Speaker, “Investor Misconduct in International Investment Arbitration”
  • New York International Arbitration Center, New York City, April 7, 2016, Speaker, “Corruption and International Arbitration: A 360 Degree View”
  • Institute of Transnational Arbitration (ITA) Americas Workshop, Mexico City, Nov. 30-Dec. 1, 2015, Speaker, “State Responsibility for Corruption: the Attribution Asymmetry”
  • Harvard Law School, Transnational Corruption Seminar (Fall 2015), Cambridge, MA, Oct. 23, 2015, Guest Lecturer, “International Arbitration as a tool for Combating Transnational Corruption”
  • University of Toronto Faculty of Law, International Courts and Tribunals Seminar, Oct. 22, 2015, Guest Lecturer, “Inter-State Arbitration: Dipsutes under the UNCLOS and Other Treaties”
  • ICC Young Arbitrators Forum, New York, Sept. 29, 2015, Speaker, “Addressing Corruption Issues in International Commercial Arbitration”
  • Young ICCA, Skills Training Workshop, New York, March 5, 2015, Speaker, “Practical Ethical Dilemmas in International Arbitration”
  • Juris Conference on Investment Treaty Arbitration, 9th Annual Meeting, Washington, D.C., Feb. 26, 2015, Panelist, “Burdens and Standards of Proof for Corruption”
  • International Arbitration Club of New York, New York, Feb. 19, 2015, Main Speaker, “Investor Wrongdoing in International Investment Arbitration”
  • International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) 34th Annual Meeting of the ICC Institute of World Business Law, Paris, Nov. 24, 2014, Speaker, “The Impact of Corruption on Gateway Issues of Arbitrability, Jurisdiction, Admissibility and Procedural Issues”
  • International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) 22nd Congress, Biennial meeting, Miami, April 6-9, 2014, Speaker, “Treaty Arbitration: Pleading and Proof of Fraud and Comparable Forms of Abuse”
  • International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Young Arbitrator’s Forum, Paris, Jan. 20, 2014, Speaker, “Standards for Disqualifying Arbitrators in Commercial and Investment Arbitration: Convergence or Divergence?”
  • Asian Strategy and Leadership Institute, Kuala Lumpur, Dec 5, 2013, Speaker, Public Forum on International Courts and Tribunals in The Hague
  • International Human Rights Day, Erasmus House, Jakarta Dec. 2, 2013, Panelist, “Challenges facing the ASEAN Charter on Human Rights”
  • Water Diplomacy Consortium, Water Security and Peace Conference, The Hague, Nov 14-15, 2013, Speaker, “Water and Peace from the Perspective of the Permanent Court of Arbitration: The Indus, The Rhine, and Beyond”
  • Viet Nam Ministry of Foreign Affairs, 1st Annual Inter-Ministry Seminar on International Law and Dispute Settlement, Ha Long, Vietnam, Sept 10-12, 2013, Lecturer, “Inter-State Arbitration”
  • National University of Singapore, International Law Week, Singapore, Aug 27, 2013, Singapore, Speaker, “International Dispute Settlement and the Permanent Court of Arbitration”
  • United Nations International Law Fellowship Programme, The Hague, June 26-27, 2013, Lecturer, “Inter-State Arbitration: Past and Present”
  • UNCTAD-City University of Hong Kong, Hong Kong, Nov. 21-22, 2011, Speaker, “Revision of Arbitration Rules and Procedural Issues Arising in Investor-State Disputes”, Conference on “Contemporary Issues in Investment Arbitration”
  • APEC-UNCTAD, Workshop on Investor-State Dispute Settlement, Manila, June 22-24, 2011, Speaker, “Investment Arbitration Procedure under the UNCITRAL and ICSID Rules”
  • Philippine Department of Foreign Affairs, Philippine Judicial Academy, and the University of the Philippines Law Center, Manila, March 2, 2011, Speaker, Forum on Philippine Membership to the PCA, Manila (with Justice F.P. Feliciano and Dean M. Magallona) 
  • Society of International Economic Law, 2nd Biennial Global Conference, Barcelona, July 8-10, 2010, Panelist, “Contemporary Jurisdictional Problems in Investor-State Arbitration”
  • American Society of International Law, 102nd Annual Meeting Washington, D.C., April 9-12, 2008, Panelist, “International Law and the Fight Against Corruption”
Full Bio

Credentials

J.S.D., Yale Law School

LL.M., Yale Law School

J.D., Ateneo de Manila University

A.B. Economics, Ateneo de Manila University

District of Columbia

Hong Kong Registered Foreign Lawyer

New York

Phillippines

American Society of International Law

Integrated Bar of the Philippines

International Chamber of Commerce Young Arbitrators Forum (ICC YAF)

International Council for Commercial Arbitration; Young ICCA

Filipino

Smit-Lowenfeld Prize for Best International Arbitration Article (2017)

Yale Law School: Ambrose Gherini Prize (“best paper upon a subject of international law, either public or private”); Howard M. Holtzmann Fellow in International Dispute Settlement; John M. Olin Fellow in Law, Economics and Public Policy

Ateneo de Manila Law School: St. Thomas More Award, Dean’s Award for Best Thesis

Close

Recognition

Smit-Lowenfeld Prize for Best International Arbitration Article (2017)

Yale Law School: Ambrose Gherini Prize (“best paper upon a subject of international law, either public or private”); Howard M. Holtzmann Fellow in International Dispute Settlement; John M. Olin Fellow in Law, Economics and Public Policy

Ateneo de Manila Law School: St. Thomas More Award, Dean’s Award for Best Thesis

Matters

Representation of the Republic of Turkey in a multi-billion dollar inter-State ICC arbitration initiated by the Republic of Iraq in relation to a crude oil pipeline system between Iraq and Turkey

Representation of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. in a multi-billion dollar ICSID arbitration against the Republic of the Philippines under the Netherlands-Philippines bilateral investment treaty in relation to the Malampaya gas-to-power project, the largest foreign investment in Philippine history

Representation of a major Spanish energy company in multi-billion dollar commercial and treaty arbitrations against the Arab Republic of Egypt and its State-owned company

See more

Close

Matters

Representation of the Republic of Turkey in a multi-billion dollar inter-State ICC arbitration initiated by the Republic of Iraq in relation to a crude oil pipeline system between Iraq and Turkey

Representation of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. in a multi-billion dollar ICSID arbitration against the Republic of the Philippines under the Netherlands-Philippines bilateral investment treaty in relation to the Malampaya gas-to-power project, the largest foreign investment in Philippine history

Representation of a major Spanish energy company in multi-billion dollar commercial and treaty arbitrations against the Arab Republic of Egypt and its State-owned company

Representation of claimant in an UNCITRAL/PCA-administered Arbitration against a South American state brought under a bilateral investment treaty in relation to a consumer goods manufacturing enterprise

Representation of two oil majors in a USD3 billion ICC arbitration against an Asian State

Representation of a major Southeast Asian conglomerate in a SIAC contract arbitration involving a USD500 million shareholders dispute over infrastructure projects

Representation of Claimant in an UNCITRAL Arbitration against Peru brought under the U.S. - Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, concerning a copper mining project and poly-metallic smelting operation

Representation of respondent in an ICC arbitration by a multinational technology provider against a Philippine telecom company, including related Philippine court litigation

Representation of a multinational infrastructure company in relation to the recognition and enforcement of an ICC arbitration agreement and eventual award against a Philippine energy company before Philippine courts

Matters

Representation of the Republic of Turkey in a multi-billion dollar inter-State ICC arbitration initiated by the Republic of Iraq in relation to a crude oil pipeline system between Iraq and Turkey

Representation of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. in a multi-billion dollar ICSID arbitration against the Republic of the Philippines under the Netherlands-Philippines bilateral investment treaty in relation to the Malampaya gas-to-power project, the largest foreign investment in Philippine history

Representation of a major Spanish energy company in multi-billion dollar commercial and treaty arbitrations against the Arab Republic of Egypt and its State-owned company

See more

Close

Matters

Representation of the Republic of Turkey in a multi-billion dollar inter-State ICC arbitration initiated by the Republic of Iraq in relation to a crude oil pipeline system between Iraq and Turkey

Representation of Shell Philippines Exploration B.V. in a multi-billion dollar ICSID arbitration against the Republic of the Philippines under the Netherlands-Philippines bilateral investment treaty in relation to the Malampaya gas-to-power project, the largest foreign investment in Philippine history

Representation of a major Spanish energy company in multi-billion dollar commercial and treaty arbitrations against the Arab Republic of Egypt and its State-owned company

Representation of claimant in an UNCITRAL/PCA-administered Arbitration against a South American state brought under a bilateral investment treaty in relation to a consumer goods manufacturing enterprise

Representation of two oil majors in a USD3 billion ICC arbitration against an Asian State

Representation of a major Southeast Asian conglomerate in a SIAC contract arbitration involving a USD500 million shareholders dispute over infrastructure projects

Representation of Claimant in an UNCITRAL Arbitration against Peru brought under the U.S. - Peru Trade Promotion Agreement, concerning a copper mining project and poly-metallic smelting operation

Representation of respondent in an ICC arbitration by a multinational technology provider against a Philippine telecom company, including related Philippine court litigation

Representation of a multinational infrastructure company in relation to the recognition and enforcement of an ICC arbitration agreement and eventual award against a Philippine energy company before Philippine courts

Credentials

J.S.D., Yale Law School

LL.M., Yale Law School

J.D., Ateneo de Manila University

A.B. Economics, Ateneo de Manila University

District of Columbia

Hong Kong Registered Foreign Lawyer

New York

Phillippines

American Society of International Law

Integrated Bar of the Philippines

International Chamber of Commerce Young Arbitrators Forum (ICC YAF)

International Council for Commercial Arbitration; Young ICCA

Filipino

Smit-Lowenfeld Prize for Best International Arbitration Article (2017)

Yale Law School: Ambrose Gherini Prize (“best paper upon a subject of international law, either public or private”); Howard M. Holtzmann Fellow in International Dispute Settlement; John M. Olin Fellow in Law, Economics and Public Policy

Ateneo de Manila Law School: St. Thomas More Award, Dean’s Award for Best Thesis

Close

Recognition

Smit-Lowenfeld Prize for Best International Arbitration Article (2017)

Yale Law School: Ambrose Gherini Prize (“best paper upon a subject of international law, either public or private”); Howard M. Holtzmann Fellow in International Dispute Settlement; John M. Olin Fellow in Law, Economics and Public Policy

Ateneo de Manila Law School: St. Thomas More Award, Dean’s Award for Best Thesis