Overview | International Litigation | International Arbitration

Overview
Vinson & Elkins lawyers have extensive experience in handling a broad range of international litigation and international arbitration matters. V&E has represented both domestic and foreign parties in international civil litigation in U.S. and foreign courts and in international arbitrations, under leading institutional rules. Vinson & Elkins lawyers also advise on the drafting of international arbitration and dispute resolution mechanisms, and have been selected to serve as arbitrators in international commercial disputes.

International Litigation
Complex, high-stakes international lawsuits are familiar territory for V&E. We understand the important international principles of establishing jurisdiction in the federal courts, establishing or defeating personal jurisdiction over foreign corporations, securing stays of litigation based on international arbitration agreements and applying the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act in litigation involving foreign states and state-owned companies. Some of our recent international litigation matters are described below. Results obtained depend upon the facts of each case.

• Defended a European gas marketer against a $1.2 billion suit brought by Texas-based oil companies filed in Texas state court arising from a gas exploration and production project in the Norwegian North Sea. The case involved issues of removal jurisdiction to federal court, personal jurisdiction, arbitrability of alleged tort claims asserted by non-signatories to the underlying contract and principles of forum non conveniens. V&E ultimately secured dismissal of the case for lack of personal jurisdiction, following panel and en banc proceedings before the United States Court of Appeals for the Fifth Circuit and a favorable, landmark decision of the Supreme Court of the United States.
• Defended a lawsuit in federal court brought by a French energy company alleging breach of contract, fraud and negligent misrepresentation relating to the proposed sale of certain interests in oil producing properties in Nigeria, claiming damages in excess of $300 million. V&E secured summary judgment on all counts in favor of its clients.
• Secured dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction of a lawsuit that a Texas oil company filed in federal court in Texas against an Australian energy company seeking to recover $100 million actual damages plus exemplary damages for alleged breach of contract and tortious interference with contract arising from a claimed agreement for the sale of a gas field and a power project located in India.
• Secured dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction of a lawsuit filed in Texas state court arising out of the bidding for the purchase of interests in an oil and gas exploration prospect in Argentina.
• Defended a lawsuit in Texas state court involving claims over the ownership of massive oil fields purchased from the Republic of Kazakhstan as part of the Republic's privatization program.
• Represented a Canadian energy company sued in a commercial dispute in Texas state court; after removal to federal court, secured the dismissal of the lawsuit against our client for lack of personal jurisdiction.
• Defended an action filed in Texas state court involving drilling operations and oil field services in Kuwait.
• Secured dismissal for lack of jurisdiction of patent infringement claims relating to a 3D seismic program asserted against a non-U.S. company in the Southern District of Texas.
• Secured dismissal for lack of jurisdiction of patent infringement claims filed in the Eastern District of Texas against a UK company holding a UK patent relating to a testing kit for on-site hydrocarbon contamination.
• Defended a Korean corporation sued in federal court in Houston for enforcement of a Nigerian arbitration award relating to the construction of a drilling rig offshore of Nigeria.  After the assertion of a personal jurisdiction defense and the suggestion that parallel Nigerian court proceedings relating to challenges to the award were pending, the federal court in Houston deferred action in the case pending the outcome of the Nigerian proceedings, and the Plaintiff ultimately voluntarily dismissed the federal court action.

• Represented an instrumentality of a foreign state and other non-U.S. companies in connection with a lawsuit filed in Texas arising out of a well fire in the Middle East.  The court dismissed the claims against the instrumentality of the foreign state for lack of subject matter jurisdiction under the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act and dismissed the claims against the non-U.S. companies for lack of personal jurisdiction.
• Defended U.S. oil companies in garnishment proceedings filed by judgment creditors of an African foreign state seeking garnishment of royalty obligations owed to the foreign state under a concession agreement for the exploration and production of oil in the foreign state.
• Defended a foreign state-owned company in litigation filed in Texas by U.S. plaintiffs arising out of a joint venture involving the creation and operation of a pipeline service company in the foreign state.
• Defended claims in federal court against a state-owned oil company involving the rights and obligations under a joint operating agreement and exploration program in South America.

• Represented a Brazilian company in Oklahoma federal court in connection with a dispute arising out of the construction of a petro-chemical plant in Brazil.

• Represented the platform owners and underwriters in multiple proceedings in the courts of the United States and in Edinburgh, Scotland relating to the explosion and fires on the Piper Alpha North Sea platform. The total claims, including property damage, exceeded $1.6 billion, one of the largest insured disasters in the 300-year history of Lloyd's of London.
• Defended London and Scandinavian insurers in a Texas state court case seeking massive damages arising out of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.

• Represented a Belgian company sued in Texas state court by a Belgian employee alleging various contract and tort claims relating to stock options in the Belgian company’s U.S. parent.  The Texas Supreme Court reversed lower court rulings that the case could proceed in Texas state court and dismissed the case for lack of personal jurisdiction.
• Represented a company sued in Texas state court by Peruvian employees of the company alleging breach of employment contract.

• Secured the dismissal of an action removed to United States district court filed against a foreign aircraft manufacturer and its affiliates, involving claims of 360 plaintiffs who sought damages on behalf of themselves and 78 passengers who died when an international flight crashed in Nepal.
• Handled litigation in Texas and assisted the client in litigation in the United Kingdom involving multiple death and personal injury claims arising from a helicopter crash in the North Sea.

• Represented the defendants in a lawsuit filed in state court in Texas in connection with an explosion of a vessel berthed in a Malaysian port that resulted in 23 deaths and 6 injuries.  Plaintiffs sought recovery of $300 million.  The case was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
• Represented a defendant in multiple cases involving foreign plaintiffs’ allegations that medical problems were caused by exposure to a chemical.  The cases were dismissed on forum non conveniens grounds.  V&E provided assistance to the company in connection with related cases filed in Saint Lucia, The Philippines, Costa Rica, Guatemala, Panama, Africa, Dominica, Saint Vincent and The Grenadines, Honduras, and Nicaragua.
• Obtained dismissal for lack of personal jurisdiction of claims asserted by employees of Canadian subcontractors in Texas state court for recovery of $30 million in damages allegedly resulting from exposure to hydrocarbons at a Canadian gas plant.
• Represented defendants in a lawsuit filed by a European ship’s engineer in the Eastern District of New York asserting that he had been exposed to various hazardous chemicals resulting in an unspecified occupational disease.  The case was dismissed for lack of jurisdiction.
• Obtained dismissal for lack of jurisdiction of claims by an individual allegedly injured while working on an oil rig in Africa.

International Arbitration
V&E lawyers have represented clients before the Iran-U.S. claims tribunal in Hague, the ICC in Paris, the American Arbitration Association Center (International Rules), the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, and the International Center for Dispute Resolution. We also have represented clients in ad hoc arbitrations in London and in the U.S. The following are illustrative international arbitration engagements in which V&E lawyers have represented or are representing clients.  Results obtained depend upon the facts of each case.

• Secured a favorable award in an ad hoc arbitration in London under the UNCITRAL Rules on behalf of an Ecuadorian engineering company and a Cayman Island oil trading company. The arbitration involved claims by V&E's client against a Russian refinery for breach of an engineering, procurement, and construction contract relating to the production of high-octane, unleaded gasoline and counterclaims for alleged fraud and non-compliance with Russian currency laws.
• Represented a group of U.S. company developers of Latin American natural gas and electric power project in ICC arbitration against the project’s prime contractor regarding liquidated damages for delays in project completion, design and construction defects, and alleged change orders.  The arbitration award in favor of the client was successfully enforced in federal court.
• Represented dual nationals in proceedings before the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in the Hague (under modified UNCITRAL Rules) in connection with Iran's expropriation of their interests in a large construction company. Among the public international law issues involved were treaty interpretations, governmental responsibility for actions taken by formerly privately-owned companies, and compensation standards for expropriations.
• Represented American and English subsidiaries of a French corporation in an AAA international arbitration against four American companies seeking damages due to misrepresentations about the technological capabilities of a next-generation, interferometric sonar system.  V&E secured an award in excess of contractual limits.
• Favorably settled an LCIA arbitration involving allegations of breach of contract and fraud arising from a contract for the fabrication of large pressure vessels to be incorporated in the construction of a massive offshore production platform.

• Secured a favorable decision after a month-long hearing in an ad hoc arbitration proceeding involving disputes between international oil and gas companies over the operator’s charges to the joint account on operations on off-shore properties in the Gulf of Mexico.  The unanimous decision of the three-member arbitration panel precluded the adversary’s exceptions to millions of dollars of rig rate expenses that V&E’s client had charged to the joint account.
• Secured a favorable award in an AAA-administered arbitration involving a dispute over a two million acre hydrocarbon exploration concession located on the eastern slope of the Andes in Peru. After successfully abating a lawsuit and securing an order compelling arbitration, and following a three week arbitration proceeding, the three member arbitration panel rejected all adverse claims to the hydrocarbon exploration concession and awarded the entire interest to V&E's clients.
• Represented energy companies in arbitration proceedings before the American Arbitration Association/International Center for Dispute Resolution (AAA/ICDR), involving claims of $9 million in damages asserted by a drilling contractor against an international exploration and production company involving allegations of breach of contract and defenses of force majeure and contract frustration resulting from the alleged expropriation of interests in certain Nigerian oil producing properties by the Nigerian Oil Minister.
• Secured a favorable award in an ICC arbitration, administered in London, involving a dispute over a claimed interest in an oil and gas license off the coast of Trinidad and Tobago.
• Defended foreign state-owned oil company in ad hoc arbitration proceeding with American oil company asserting claims for $600 million involving dispute over ownership interests and the determination of rights and obligations under exploration and development agreements with respect to properties located in Peru and Venezuela; settled on very favorable terms to our client.
• Obtained take-nothing award in the defense of an AAA International arbitration of a $1.3 billion claim against V&E’s client arising out of the ownership and operation of an international gas and power trading and marketing company.
• Defended an ICC arbitration pending in Geneva against multiple affiliated companies, both international and domestic, involving claimed breach of fiduciary duty and breach of a joint operating agreement involving exploration activities in Nigeria.
• Handled an arbitration against the Libyan government on behalf of a major oil company in a dispute over the operation of Libyan oil and gas concessions.

• Successfully defended a major Asian steel company in a Stockholm Chamber of Commerce arbitration filed by a European corporation alleging that the steel company misappropriated technology in connection with a sale made in India.
• Represented major U.S. software manufacturer in dispute with former Argentina distributor over claimed commissions and money due the manufacturer, which involved both an ICC arbitration initiated by our client and an Argentina lawsuit brought by the former distributor.  We prevailed in both matters on jurisdictional issues, resulting in termination of the Argentina proceeding and the presentation of issues to the arbitral tribunal.
• Represented a major computer company in an ICC arbitration against a German supplier involving claims that components provided by the supplier were defective and failed to comply with specifications.
• Prosecuted a Stockholm Chamber of Commerce arbitration for a major Asian steel company asserting claims that products purchased from a European supplier were defective.
• Represented a major Asian aerospace company in an ICC arbitration arising out of an industrial collaboration with a U.S. company, in which the disputed claims exceeded $100 million.
• Represented London and Scandinavian insurers in an arbitration proceeding under the CPR Arbitration Rules for Non-Administered Arbitration of International Disputes involving over $300 million in claims arising out of the Exxon Valdez oil spill.
• Secured a favorable award in an ICC arbitration held in New York, involving defense of claims by a former distributor of computer software in Taiwan.
• Handled a six-week arbitration under the AAA Rules in connection with breach of contract claims brought against an American corporation by a Japanese corporation relating to a dredging project in Ecuador.
• Handled an arbitration before the Singapore International Arbitration Centre on behalf of a partner in a joint venture in Asia involving a dispute over the alleged failure of another partner to contribute certain land-use rights to the joint venture.

V&E has demonstrated its extensive knowledge, experience, and capabilities in meeting the litigation and arbitration needs of its clients around the world.