Enforcement & Arbitration Adjacent Actions

Winning an award is often just one part of the battle.

At Akin, we are not only focused on winning but on converting awards and judgments into tangible results. All too often the focus is on victory without conversion. For us, enforcement is at the heart of everything that we do. The result is a holistic strategy from tribunal to court, focused on leverage, speed and monetization:

• At the pre-award phase, we leverage our deep network of contacts for global asset identification and tracing. We then act quickly to secure information and evidence through disclosure orders, evidence conservation and world-wide freezing orders with the sole purpose of protecting value for our clients.
• Post-award, our team handles set-aside proceedings, appeals, and are specialists in both pursing and defending award recognition and multi-jurisdictional enforcement. Sovereign immunity and public-policy defences are a particular area of expertise. We spearhead complex enforcement campaigns involving the restoration of assets that have been fraudulently dissipated to avoid enforcement, and unpacking complex structures designed to disguise beneficial ownership of assets.
• Throughout, we leverage the Firm’s best in class political and regulatory strength, targeting award debtors in an intelligent way that places disruptive pressure on them, ensuring successful recoveries. 

Representative Matters

 

• Acting for bondholders of a major Latin American state‑owned oil company in satellite injunctive proceedings over a standby letter of credit in connection with a US$ 200 million UNCITRAL arbitration brought by a Middle-Eastern major over several drilling‑services disputes.
• Acting for a major Kuwaiti conglomerate in DIFC Courts proceedings relating to service and enforcement of a DIFC‑seated arbitration award, successfully overturning court precedent and setting new law on the Riyadh Convention and alternative service.
• Acting for a global alternative investment manager against a prominent Emirati investor in a "battle of the courts" jurisdictional challenge in relation to a misrepresentation dispute, successfully enforcing the jurisdictional clause through a landmark decision by the Court of Cassation of Abu Dhabi and obtaining anti-suit injunctions in the Cayman Islands.
• Acting for a major Chinese online game company in setting aside proceedings before the Singapore International Commercial Court in relation to an ICC partial award on liability.
• Acting for a water services company in successfully collecting a US$ 165 million international investor-state arbitration award, which Argentina had refused to pay in violation of the U.S.-Argentina Bilateral Investment Treaty.