Justin R. Rassi is a counsel in the firm’s International Dispute Resolution Group. His practice centers on high-stakes international arbitration and cross-border commercial litigation, representing corporations and sovereigns in complex disputes that cross borders, sectors, and legal systems.
An experienced and versatile oral advocate, Mr. Rassi has appeared for clients before arbitral tribunals and domestic courts at both the trial and appellate levels. He has extensive experience in mining, natural resources, construction, and M&A disputes, and applies his training in corporate finance to present sophisticated damages analyses. Mr. Rassi is recognized in Lexology Index: Arbitration (2025, 2026) as a Future Leader, identifying him as one of the pre-eminent advocates of his generation.
Beyond his commercial practice, Mr. Rassi maintains a robust pro bono docket advancing constitutional and civil rights through impact litigation in U.S. courts, with a particular emphasis on LGBTQ+ rights. He also sits on the Advisory Board of the Free to Be YOUth Project, a nonprofit advancing the rights and wellbeing of at-risk LGBTQ+ youth.
Mr. Rassi is active in professional organizations. He served on the Young Singapore International Arbitration Centre (YSIAC) Committee from 2021 to 2024, including as the inaugural lead of its Americas Subcommittee, and was rapporteur to the ICCA–ASIL Task Force on Damages in International Arbitration.
Before joining Debevoise in 2016, Mr. Rassi clerked for the Hon. Justice V.M. Bell AC of the High Court of Australia (the nation’s supreme court), practiced at an elite law firm in Australia, and taught tort law at the Australian National University.
Mr. Rassi received an LL.M. from the New York University School of Law in 2016, specializing in International Business Regulation, Litigation and Arbitration (“IBRLA”), where he was an Arthur T. Vanderbilt scholar and graduated at the top of his specialization, receiving the IBRLA Award for Academic Merit. Mr. Rassi earned an LL.B. with First Class Honors and a B.Com degree in finance with Distinction from the University of New South Wales in 2012, where he served as an editor of the University of New South Wales Law Journal.
Mr. Rassi is admitted in New York and New South Wales. He is also admitted to practice before the Supreme Court of the United States, the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit, the U.S. District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York and the District of Colorado, the High Court of Australia, and all courts exercising federal jurisdiction in Australia.