Profile details
About Caroline Richard
Caroline is a partner in our international arbitration group, based in Washington, DC.
Caroline has acted in many international commercial and investor-state arbitrations, focusing on energy and natural resources disputes, among others, in Latin America, the Middle East and North Africa and beyond. She is co-author of A Guide to the ICSID Additional Facility Arbitration Rules, published by Oxford University Press in December 2022.
Caroline was named a “Rising Star” and a 2019 International Arbitration MVP by Law360, recognizing her as one of just ten outstanding arbitration practitioners in the nation under the age of 40.
Prior to joining our Washington, DC office, Caroline was part of the international arbitration group in the firm’s London and Paris offices. Caroline speaks English, French and Spanish.
Recent work
- Advising Crystallex International Corporation in obtaining a record-setting $1.4bn award in compensation for Venezuela’s expropriation of one of the world’s largest untapped gold mines. This is the largest ever ICSID (Additional Facility) awards.
- Advising Tenaris and its subsidiary in obtaining a total of $386m from two awards against Venezuela for the expropriation of its investments in three companies in Venezuela’s steel sector.
- Advising Total and Repsol in a Geneva-seated ICC arbitration in a contractual dispute against Sonatrach, the Algerian state oil company, based on the failure by the contractual partner to ensure the stability of a production sharing agreement after the enforcement by the government of a tax legislation targeting foreign investors. The value of the claim is over $400m.
- Advising Glencore International AG in the first ICSID arbitration against Colombia in relation to adverse measures affecting its investment in one of the largest coal mines in Colombia.
- Advising the Karachaganak consortium, composed of UK, Russian, Italian and US international oil companies, in multibillion-dollar UNCITRAL arbitrations initiated pursuant to a PSC and several investment treaties, which arose from Kazakhstan’s imposition of various tax, regulatory and environmental measures impacting the consortium’s investments.
Qualifications
Education
- LLM, Harvard Law School 2006.
- LLM in international law, first class, Cambridge University 2004.
- LLB, DESS, Université de Montréal 2003.
Professional
- Admitted to the bar in the State of New York, the District of Columbia and Ontario, Canada.
- Law Clerk to Justice Marie Deschamps, Supreme Court of Canada 2004–2005.
- Adjunct professor, American University’s Washington College of Law, co-teaches an investment arbitration course.
- Member of the Academic Council and Advisory Board of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA).
- Advisory board member of Young Canadian Arbitration Practitioners’ group.