The Legal 500 puts the Debevoise International Arbitration practice “in a class of its own in the U.S., and among the top 5 internationally.” The American Lawyer ranks it part of the “Litigation Department of the Year.”
Catherine Amirfar
Mark W. Friedman
Lord Goldsmith KC
The Debevoise team has authored various guides and tools to further the practice of international arbitration, including the industry standard setting Efficiency Protocol, and the Protocol to Promote Cybersecurity in International Arbitration.
These resources can be found here.
International Arbitration Law Firm of the Year
—Chambers USA Awards, 2021
Winner in the “International Arbitration Practice that Impressed” category
—GAR Awards, 2020
International Arbitration Firm of the Year
—Benchmark Litigation U.S. Awards 2019
Debevoise named in the top band for International Arbitration and Public International Law. Also named a leading firm for Dispute Resolution.
Debevoise & Plimpton are excellent. They think strategically with a forward-looking perspective.
Debevoise are an exceptionally talented group … the written and oral advocacy is of top quality.
The best of the best.
Absolutely top-rate … the team demonstrates excellent analytical skills, smooth and effortless drafting, as well as impressive advocacy skills.
The Debevoise team is superb. Coordination is entirely seamless and the different jurisdictions are used to the team’s advantage.
It is really an all star team […] each individual is a star. It really is something to see them in action.
—Chambers Global, 2020-2023
The firm is “super responsive” and offers “strategic thinking and advice.”
As a client you “feel extremely well supported and in excellent hands.”
—GAR 100, 2021
Ranked as a leading firm for International Arbitration by Chambers Europe (2023).
They are leaders in the arbitration world and active across many jurisdictions and types of cases and that translates to commercial awareness.
They're one of the strongest outfits in the field.
The international arbitration team is very experienced, talented, smart and responsive.
They set the standard. They just do exceptional work; it’s very complex and very detailed.
—Chambers USA, 2020-2023
Debevoise has the best international arbitration team in the world. [T]hey all handle extremely complex disputes seamlessly.
Debevoise’s international arbitration team is top notch. Strategic thinking and delivery of superb work product are their top qualities. When you go for Debevoise, you do not hire an arbitration star, you hire a star team.
Their knowledge of international arbitration practice and the multi-dimensional chess board it presents is amazing […] They are just a cut above everybody I have seen.
—The Legal 500 US, 2021-2023
In October 2021, Debevoise hosted a UN Sixth Committee side event on international legal proceedings and peace-building. Partner Catherine Amirfar served as moderator. To view the webinar click here
The team is qualified in common law and civil law systems, speaks more than 30 languages, and works in ten offices across three continents. Recently Debevoise has worked on nearly 120 international matters involving 60 countries worth $65 billion.
Our team’s quality, tenacity, skill and experience has allowed us to achieve for our clients some of the largest and most significant awards in international arbitration and public international law. Indeed, Global Arbitration Review has remarked, “If any team has consistently brought home “the big results,” it seems to be Debevoise.”
Lawyers in the practice handle a broad range of matters, including international commercial and treaty arbitration, public international law and complex commercial litigation. Just as diverse is its industry experience, which spans energy, mining, manufacturing, pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, and many others.
Our team invests in each other to encourage an extraordinary degree of teamwork, mentorship, and support for diversity. This investment produces excellence today, and the diverse thought leaders and innovators of tomorrow. It means our team members across generations are recognized as leaders in the major legal directories.
Debevoise lawyers also hold leadership roles with virtually every major arbitration body in the world. They do not just know today’s law; they are shaping tomorrow’s.
Flexible in approach, cost-effective and readily able to adjust resources to changing circumstances, the practice can efficiently meet the full range of client needs in high-stakes matters. Debevoise’s Protocol to Promote Efficiency in International Arbitration, first issued in 2010, has now become an industry benchmark.
Debevoise’s collaborative culture gives clients the benefit of the full firm’s resources. Partners in the International Dispute Resolution Group work closely together on disputes, and seamlessly among offices and other practices inside the firm. In addition, the firm’s network of external contacts includes leading local counsel and other experts in North America, Europe, Latin America, Africa and Asia.
The Debevoise International Arbitration Clause Handbook provides a standard framework for drafting arbitration clauses in international contracts to help reduce the possibility of disagreements regarding jurisdiction, provide greater clarity in enforcement, promote greater efficiency and preserve the business relationship between parties if a conflict arises. The Handbook suggests language, and underlying strategic considerations, for a range of special circumstances—including multi-party and multi-contract transactions, confidentiality, and state-owned counterparties—to allow the parties to tailor their arbitration clause to their specific commercial goals.
View Debevoise International Arbitration Clause Handbook
The Debevoise Efficiency Protocol (2018) offers more than 25 specific practices to help streamline and focus arbitration proceedings, from the formation of the tribunal to the hearing and potential settlement. First published in 2010 and recognized as a benchmark in the field, the updated Debevoise Efficiency Protocol (2018) reflects the firm’s experience and evolving insights into how parties can take advantage of arbitration’s inherent flexibility, and thus control costs and duration, to achieve their strategic goals without compromising the fairness of the process.
View Debevoise Efficiency Protocol (2018)
Protocolo de Eficiencia de Debevoise (2018)
The Debevoise Protocol to Promote Cybersecurity in International Arbitration was created to address the threat cyberattacks can pose to the integrity of the international arbitration process. Recognized by The Financial Times as a leading example of legal innovation, the Cybersecurity Protocol identifies specific procedures for establishing secure protocols for transfer of sensitive information at the outset of proceedings, limiting disclosure and use of sensitive information, and developing procedures for disclosing data breaches if they do happen.
View Debevoise Protocol to Promote Cybersecurity in International Arbitration