Arthur W. Rovine

Summary

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Mr. Rovine has been serving as an arbitrator in international cases under NAFTA, ICSID and AAA/ICDR since his retirement from the law firm of Baker & McKenzie as of July 1, 2005. He is also the Director of the annual Conference on International Arbitration and Mediation at Fordham Law School and is an Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham Law School. He is the Editor of Contemporary Issues in International Arbitration and Mediation: The Fordham Papers, published by Martinus Nijhoff.

Mr. Rovine was President of the American Society of International Law (2000-2002) and the Chairman of the International Law Section of the American Bar Association (1985-1986). He was also a member of the Board of Editors of the American Journal of International Law (1977-1987), and has been a member of the Council on Foreign Relations since 1987. He is currently the Chairman of the International Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (ABCNY), and is a member of the ABCNY International Commercial Disputes Committee. He is a member of the Arbitration Committee of the Center for Public Resources, and a Fellow of the American Bar Foundation. He also represented the ABCNY in the recently-completed revision of the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules.

After joining Baker & McKenzie in 1983, Mr. Rovine represented many major clients in international arbitrations, including a large number of investor/state cases at the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in the Hague and the UN Compensation Commission in Geneva. He also handled cases in international commercial arbitration before the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, the American Arbitration Association in New York, the Stockholm Institute, ad hoc arbitrations, and related international litigations in U.S. Federal Courts.

Mr. Rovine handled as an advocate many claims for and against governments, including investment disputes with Iran and Iraq, and representation of the Government of Egypt in a major case against Iraq at the UN Compensation Commission.

Mr. Rovine's arbitration and litigation private sector clients included Rockwell International, General Dynamics, Fluor Corporation, Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu International, Touche Ross International, Combustion Engineering, John Brown Engineering, Nuclear Electric Insurance, Singer, and many others.

Prior to joining Baker & McKenzie in 1983, Mr. Rovine served in the Office of the Legal Adviser in the U.S. Department of State from 1972 to 1983. He established the Digest of United States Practice in International Law (1972-1974), and was then named Assistant Legal Adviser for Treaty Affairs (1975-1981). In that capacity he was responsible for the international law, constitutional law, and U.S. foreign relations law issues involved in many treaties, agreements, and legislation, including the Algiers Accords with Iran, the termination of the Mutual Defense Treaty with Taiwan, the Taiwan Relations Act, the Panama Canal Treaties, the Egypt-Israel Peace Treaty, several human rights treaties, succession of states with respect to treaties, and the President's treaty powers.

Mr. Rovine was then appointed the first United States Agent to the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal in the Hague from 1981 to 1983. In that capacity, and working with the Iranian Agent, European arbitrators and the Dutch Government, he helped establish the Tribunal, adapt the UNCITRAL Rules for the Tribunal, and helped develop all Tribunal administrative procedures, privileges and immunities, payment mechanisms, etc. Mr. Rovine then argued cases at the Tribunal on behalf of the U.S. Government.

Prior to his government service, Mr. Rovine served as Counsel at the International Court of Justice in the South-West Africa Cases against South Africa (representing Ethiopia and Liberia) and in the Namibia Advisory Opinion (representing the International League for the Rights of Man as amicus curiae). Both of these cases involved apartheid issues and practices in South Africa.

Professional Affiliations

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American Society of International Law
President 2000 - 2002; Executive Council 1997-present;
Board of Editors American Journal of International Law 1977-1987.
American Bar Association
Chairman International Law Section 1985-1986;
Section's Delegate to the ABA House of Delegates 1986-1987.
Council on Foreign Relations
Association of the Bar of the City of New York (Chairman, International Law Committee)
Center for Public Resources (Panel on the Settlement of Transnational Business Disputes)
U.S. Council for International Business (Arbitration Committee).
LCIA member
ICC list of arbitrators
American Arbitration Association/ICDR list of arbitrators
ICSID arbitrator
NAFTA arbitrator

Main CasesIran-United States Claims Tribunal (The Hague)

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Case A/1 (interest on Security Account; payment of settlements; bank fees; holding bank harmless) (1982)
Case A/2 (Tribunal jurisdiction over direct claims against U.S. companies) (1981-1982)
Choice of forum clause cases (Tribunal jurisdiction) (1982)
E Systems (Litigation in Iran Tribunal jurisdiction and powers) (1983)
Weatherford v. Iran (1984-1987)
Borg Warner v. Iran (1984-1985)
Combustion Engineering v. Iran (1985-1990)
Fluor Corp. v. Iran (1986-1989)
Rockwell International v. Iran (1986-1987)
Watkins Johnson v. Iran (1986-1988)
Case A/23 (validity under Algiers Accords of Fluor attachment of NIOC assets in Germany) (1987-1989)
Highlands Insurance Corp. v. Bimeh Melli (1989-1990)
Petrolane v. Iran (1990)
Collins v. Iran (1990)
Gulf Associates v. Iran (1984-1999)
Sabet v. Iran (1991-2000)

United Nations Compensation Commission (Geneva)

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Egypt v Iraq (1993-1997)
John Brown E&C v. Iraq (1994-2000)
Bank of New York v. Iraq (1996-2000)
NCR v. Iraq (1997- 2001)
Tetra-Pak v. Iraq (1997-2001)
Borg International v. Iraq (1997- 2001)
Biwater v. Iraq (1997-2001)
Cegelec v. Iraq (1997-2001)
Shanning Int’l v. Iraq (1998-2002)
Broddway v. Iraq (1998-2002)

International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) (Paris)

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Kudremukh Iron Ore Company Ltd. v. Iran (1988-1989)
PhonIran v. General Dynamics (1988- 1989)
International Brokerage & Finance v. Seamar (1990-1992)
Kalantari et al. v. Fritz Werner Industrie (1990-1994)
Recordati & Pharmetrix v. Elan (1992-1994)
Haidar v. John Brown (1993-1995)
Morning Star International v. Gabon (1995-1997)
Esco Corporation v. Svedala Faço Ltda (1996-1998)
Eurotrain v. Taiwan High Speed Rail Corporation (2001 - 2004)

Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce

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Compagnie NOGA d’Importation et d’Exportation S.A. v. The Russian Federation (1993-1994)
Deloitte Touche Tohmatsu International v. L. Joannides & Co. (1997-1998)

Ad Hoc Arbitrations

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Niagara Mohawk v. Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited (1986 1987)
Northeast Utilities v. Nuclear Electric Insurance Limited (1988)
Touche Ross International v. Treuverkehr AG (1990 1991)
Alba Petroleum Corp. v. the United Nations (1996-1997). Party–appointed arbitrator, by the United Nations, in a case involving the sale of oil for the UN peace-keeping operation in Somalia (Gerald Aksen, Chairman).

American Arbitration Association

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Rosseel Corp. v. Oriental Commercial Shipping (1989 1990)
AOT Ltd. v. J. Aron & Co. (1991)
Fabricated Plastics, Inc. v. Plastiflex Company, Inc. (1997-1998)

NAFTA

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U.S. corporations v. United Mexican States (2005). Party-appointed arbitrator, by the U.S. corporations, on the first consolidation panel established under NAFTA, Article 1126 (Bernardo Cremades Chairman).
Archer Daniels Midland/Tate & Lyle v. United Mexican States (2006 - 2008). Party-nominated arbitrator by ADM/T&L. Bernardo Cremades, Chairman. Wrote a Concurring Opinion on the issues of independent investor rights, diplomatic protection, and countermeasures.

ICSID

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EDF Services, Ltd. v. Romania (2006 - 2009). Party-nominated arbitrator by EDF Services, Ltd. Piero Bernardino, Chairman. Wrote a Dissenting Opinion on Costs.

ICDR

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Cases sitting as arbitrator on bonds, banking, and satellite communications.

International Court of Justice (The Hague)

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South West Africa Cases (1963-1965): Namibia Case (1970 1971)

US Federal Courts

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Goldwater v. Carter (1979 - briefs for D.C. Dist. Ct., Ct. of Appeals, Supreme Court)- Dames & Moore v. Regan (1980-1981 briefs for Supreme Court)
Tampa Chamber of Commerce v. Adams (D.C. Dist. Ct. 1978)
E. Boselli v. Boselli Industrie Tessili (S.D.N.Y. 1984)
Exchange National Bank of Chicago v. Empresa Minera de la Centro del Peru, S.A. (S.D.N.Y. 1984)
Gerling Global Reinsurance v. Commissioner of Insurance of Montana (S.D.N.Y. 1985)
Rosseel Corp. v. Oriental Commercial Shipping (S.D.N.Y. l985 1988)
NL Chem Canada v. John Brown Engineers & Constructors, Inc. (S.D.N.Y. 1987-1989)
Lucky Goldstar v. Phibro Asia & Phibro Energy, Inc. (S.D.N.Y. 1988)
American Graphic Equipment Corp. v. Redaelli Tecna Offset, S.P.A. (E.D.N.Y. 1989-1990)
International Brokerage & Finance v. California Steel, et al. (C.D.C. 1990-1992)
Bseirani v. Abou-Khadra, et. al (2nd Circuit Ct. of Appeals 1991-1993)
Deloitte Noraudit Oslo A/S v. Deloitte Haskins & Sells, US, Deloitte & Touche, et al. (S.D.N.Y. 1991 1994)
Gabay v. Mostazafan Foundation, et al. (S.D.N.Y. 1992-1997)
Singer v. Ryobi (D.C.S.C. 1996-1997)
Mitsui v. the Republic of Iraq (S.D.N.Y. 1996)

Selected Publications on International Arbitration

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2010 "Polite Cross-Examination: A Symbolic Step Toward Further Uniformity in International Arbitration," in L. Newman and B. Sheppard, Jr., eds., Take the Witness: Cross-Examination in International Arbitration (Huntington, New York, Juris Publishing, Inc.), Chapter 6, pp. 77-91.
2010 "Introduction: Convergence in International Arbitration," Contemporary Issues in International Arbitration and Mediation: The Fordham Papers 2009, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, June 2010, pp. ix - xxii.
2010 "A Tribute to Aron Broches," Contemporary Issues in International Arbitration and Mediation: The Fordham Papers 2009, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, June 2010, pp. xxiii - xxiv.
2010 "Cost Concerns in the Drafting of Arbitral Awards - An Issue of Ethics," Contemporary Issues in International Arbitration and Mediation: The Fordham Papers 2009, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, June 2010, pp. 133 - 145.
2009 Editor, Contemporary Issues in International Arbitration and Mediation: The Fordham Papers, 2008, Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, June 2009.
2008 "The International Arbitrator's Duty to Investigate Conflicts: the United States Approach," with C.K. Chinn, Transnational Dispute Management, Vol. 5, Issue 4, July 2008, Sophie Nappert, ed.
2008 Editor of Contemporary Issues in International Arbitration and Mediation: The Fordham Papers 2007 Martinus Nijhoff Publishers, June 2008, 336 pages.
2006 Book review of The Leading Arbitrators' Guide to International Arbitration, L. Newman and R. Hill, eds. (Juris Publishing, New York, 2004), Stockholm International Arbitration Review, Vol. 2006:1, pp. 275-286.
2006 “The United Nations Compensation Commission,” International Law News, American Bar Association, Section of International Law, Spring 2006, Vol. 35, No. 2, pp. 10-12.
2005 “Introduction to Session on Issues in Integrated Dispute Resolution Systems,” New Horizons in International Commercial Arbiration and Beyond, ICCA International Arbitration Congress, A.J. van den Berg, Ed. (Kluwer Law International, 2005), pp. 439-45.
2004 "The Dispute Arises – What Next?” chapter in International Arbitration Checklists (Huntington, New York, Juris Publishing, Inc., 2004), pp. 1–8.
2002 “International Law in United States Courts,” Proceedings of the American Branch of the International Law Association, 2001-2002, pp. 26-42.
1997 Gulf War Reporter, ed. (with Grant Hanessian), an on-going two-volume publication devoted to the UNCC claims process and cases resulting from Iraq’s invasion of Kuwait in 1991 (Washington, D.C., International Law Institute, 1997)
1997 “The Scope of Discovery in International Arbitral Proceedings,” 5 Tulane J. of Int’l & Comp. Law 401-06.
1996 “Enforcing Contract Claims Against Iraq in U.S. Courts: The Statute of Limitations” (with Grant Hanessian), Middle East Executive Reports, Vol. 19, No. 5, May 1996, pp. 9-12.
1996 “Iraqi Oil Flows Again: Doing Business with Iraq under Resolution 986, Prospects for Payment of Claims against Iraq” (with Grant Hanessian), Middle East Executive Reports, Vol. 19, No. 12, December 1996, pp. 1-4.
1995 “Toward a Foreseeability Approach to Causation Questions at the United Nations Compensation Commission” (with Grant Hanessian), A Chapter in The United Nations Compensation Commission, Thirteenth Sokol Colloquium, R. Lillich, ed. (Irvington, New York: Transnational Publishers, Inc. 1995), pp. 235-55.
1995 “Making Iraq Pay for Gulf War Losses” (with Grant Hanessian), the New York Law Journal, May 15, 1995, pp. S3-5.
1995 “Enforcement in the United States of Foreign Judgments and Foreign Arbitration Awards,” Chapter 9 of the Proceedings of the Forty-First Annual Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Institute (Denver, Rocky Mountain Mineral Law Foundation, 1995), pp. 9-1–9-32.
1994 ‘Fast-Track’ Arbitration: A Step Away From Judicialization Of International Arbitration,” A Chapter in International Arbitration in The 21st Century: Towards “Judicialization” and Uniformity?, Twelfth Sokol Colloquium, R. Lillich and C. Brower, eds. (Irvington, New York: Transnational Publishers, Inc. 1994), pp. 45-57.
1993 “Arbitration of International Disputes” (with Lawrence W. Newman), Chapter 19 of The Alternative Dispute Resolution Practice Guide, B. Roth, R. Wulff and C. Cooper, Eds. (Lawyers Cooperative Publishing, 1993), pp. 1-29.
1993 “The Role of the United States Agent to the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal, 1981-1983,” chapter in Essays in Honor of Hans Smit, The American Review of International Arbitration, Vol 3, Nos. 1-4 (1992), pp. 223-31.
1992 “Fast Track Arbitration An ICC Breakthrough,” International Arbitration Report, April, 1992, pp. 3-5; reprinted in Arbitration, The Journal of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Vol. 61, No. 4 (1995), pp. 286-88.
1990 “An Iraq Claims Process: Where and How?” The American Review of International Arbitration, Vol. 1, No. 3 (1990), pp. 411-18.
1990 “An Iraq Claims Process: Where and How?” Part II, The American Review of International Arbitration, Vol. 2, No. 1 (1991), pp. 102-09.
1986 “U.S. Public Policy on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards,” International Arbitration Report, January, 1986, pp. 41-43.
1984 “Recent Valuation Decisions of the Iran U.S. Claims Tribunal,” Mealey’s
Litigation Reports – Iranian Claims, February 3, 1984, pp. 18-23.

Other Publications

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1980 “Congressional-Executive Relations and United States Foreign Policy,”Willamette Law Review (1980), pp. 41-55).
1977 “Separation of Powers and International Executive Agreements,” Indiana Law Journal, Vol. 52, No. 2. (1977), pp. 397-31.
1977 Book review of Cordier and Foote, eds., Public Papers of the Secretaries General of the United Nations. Vol. 4: 1958-1960, Dag Hammarskjold. The American Political Science Review, Vol. LXXI, No. 4, December 1977, pp. 1744-45.
1976 “The National Interest and the World Court,” a chapter in Gross, ed. The Future of the International Court of Justice (American Society of International Law; Oceana, 1976), pp. 313-35.
1976 The Case Law of the International Court. Vol. VIII (Leiden: Sijthoff, 1976) with Edvard Hambro
1975 Digest of United States Practice in International Law 1974 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1974)
1974 The Case Law of the International Court, Vol. VII (Leiden: Sijthoff, 1974) with Edvard Hambro
1974 “The Secretary General in World Politics: A Historical Review,” The Journal of International Law and Economics, Vol. 9, No. 1, April 1974, pp. 113-48.
1974 Digest of United States Practice in International Law, 1973 (Washington: Government Printing Office, 1974)
1974 “The Contemporary International Legal Attack on Terrorism,” 1973 Israel Yearbook on Human Rights, May 1974, pp. 1- 39.
1974 Commentary on paper by Thomas M. Franck and Edward Weisband, “Regional Interventionism by the Superpowers: A Study of Words and Acts as Inchoate Law Making,” in International Law in the Western Hemisphere. (the Hague, Nijhoff, 1974), pp. 126-29.
1974 Review essay on Paxman and Boggs, eds., The United Nations: A Reassessment Sanctions, Peacekeeping, and Humanitarian Assistance. Virginia Journal of International Law, Vol. 15, No. 1, Fall 1974, pp. 242-47.
1974 Book Notes in the American Journal of International Law, Vol. 68, No. 4, October 1974, pp. 781-83.
1973 “U.S. International Law Digests — Some History and a New Approach,” Note for the American Journal of International Law. Vol. 67, No. 2, April, 1973, pp. 314-19.
1972 The Case Law of the International Court, Vol. VI (Leiden: Sijthoff, 1972) with Edvard Hambro
1972 “The World Court Opinion on Namibia,” Columbia University Journal of Transnational Law, Vol. 11, No. 2, Spring 1972, pp. 203-39.
1972 Book review of Frank Dawson and Ivan Head, International Law, National Tribunals and the Rights of Aliens. Cornell Law Review, Vol. 57, No. 6, July 1972, pp. 998-1001.
1972 “A More Powerful Secretary General for the United Nations?” Remarks to the Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law, American Journal of International Law, Vol. 66, No. 4 (September 1972), pp. 78-81.
1971 The brief for the International League for the Rights of Man in the Namibia Case before the I.C.J. The New York University Journal of International Law and Politics, Vol. 4, No. 2, Summer 1971, pp. 335-402.
1971 “Le départ du sécrétaire général de l’ONU,” Le Monde Diplomatique (Paris), December 1971, p.5.
1970 The First Fifty Years: The Secretary General in World Politics 1920- 1970. (Leiden: Sijthoff, 1970, 498 pp.)
1969 Review essay on Richard Falk’s Legal Order in a Violent World. Cornell Law Review, Vol. 54, No. 6, July 1969, pp. 970-79.
1969 Book review of Ernst Haas’ Beyond the Nation State. Administrative Science Quarterly, Vol. 14, No. 2, June 1969, pp. 310-13.
1968 La Jurisprudence de la Cour Internationalef
The Case Law of the International Court, Vol. V (Leiden: Sijthoff, 1968) with Edvard Hambro
1963—1965 Several portions of the briefs and oral arguments in the South West Africa Cases before the I.C.J.