Emilie has considerable expertise in investment treaty arbitration, on which she has been lecturing for six years at Sciences Po Paris.  Her recent instructions include:

• Acting for an Indian investor in the construction sector in Patel Engineering Limited v The Republic of Mozambique (PCA Case No. 2020-21), an UNCITRAL investment treaty arbitration commenced under the India-Mozambique BIT relating to the construction of a railway and harbour in Mozambique.
• Acting for two Cypriot investors in the real estate sector in Alverley Investments Limited, Germen Properties Ltd v Romania (ICSID Case No. ARB/18/30), an arbitration commenced under the Cyprus-Romania BIT involving the confiscation of assets through criminal proceedings.
• Acting for a Dutch investor in the banking sector in Jochem Bernard Buse v Panama (ICSID Case No. ARB/17/12), an arbitration commenced under the Netherlands-Panama BIT relating to the conduct of the banking regulator in the context of allegations of misconduct by the investor.
• Acting for a British investor in the real estate sector in Shokat Mohammed Dalal v United Arab Emirates (ICSID Case No. ARB/19/10), an arbitration commenced under the UK-UAE BIT relating to an investment in a man-made island real estate project offshore from Dubai.
• Advising an Australian mining company in the context of an arbitration against a Francophone African government regarding a gold mine (details not public).
• Providing an expert opinion in relation to a challenge against two UNCITRAL investment treaty awards on jurisdiction brought by an Eastern European Government at the seat of arbitration (details not public).

Emilie has extensive experience in international commercial arbitration in the sectors of hospitality, energy, mining, shipping and banking. Her notable instructions include:

• Acting for a hospitality company in an ICC Arbitration seated in London arising out of a hotel management dispute in Turkey (details not public)
• Acting for the minority shareholders in an UNCITRAL arbitration seated in the Bahamas arising out the sale of a bank and advising on a potential proceeding before the Privy Council (details not public).
• Acting for a French producer of malt in an LMAA arbitration seated in London in a dispute arising out of a charterparty with a Belgian shipowner (details not public).
• Acting for a Cameroonian high net worth individual in an ICC arbitration seated in London arising out of a multimillion-dollar contract (details not public).
• Advising an Irish infrastructure company in its dispute with a francophone African government regarding the revocation of a concession (details not public).
• Acting for two financial institutions in their successful claim against the Government of Belize in an LCIA arbitration seated in London arising out of a multimillion-dollar loan (details not public).
• Acting for an oil company in an ICC arbitration seated in London arising out of a joint venture agreement with two other oil companies (details not public).
• Acting for a bank and its holding company in an UNCITRAL arbitration seated in London relating to a settlement agreement with a state entity, in particular concerning the legality of certain tax treatment (details not public).

Emilie has experience in a broad range of commercial matters, including insurance, aircraft leasing, general contractual disputes as well as Commercial Court matters relating to international arbitration. Most recent instructions include:

• Defending an ongoing s. 68 challenge against a 60 million ICC arbitral award rendered in a London seated arbitration.
• Bringing a s. 69 challenge (led by Mark Howard QC) on behalf of the National Oil Iranian Company against a 2 billion arbitral award:
  National Iranian Oil Company v Crescent Petroleum Company International Limited et al. [2022] EWHC 1645 (Comm)
• Acting for a Romanian aircraft leasing company in a dispute relating to the consequences of Covid-19 on a wet-lease: Fibula Air Travel s.r.l. v Just-Us Air s.r.l. [2020] EWHC 3048 (successfully resisted freezing injunction) and Fibula Air Travel s.r.l. v Just-Us Air s.r.l. [2022] EWHC 731 (Comm) (successfully obtained summary judgment against the claimant)
• Acting for an individual claimant against his insurance company in a s. 67 to an arbitral award. The challenge related to the scope of the arbitration agreement in the template insurance contract (settled)

• Acting for the African Union in its intervention before the ICJ in the matter of Legal consequences of the separation of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius in 1965 (Request for Advisory Opinion).
• Acting for Wallonia and Brussels in the context of Belgium’s request for an opinion of the CJEU on the dispute resolution mechanism in the CETA between the EU and Canada (Opinion 1/17).
• Advising the Hungarian Helsinki Committee in the context of the ECtHR Grand Chamber case of Ilias and Ahmed v Hungary (Application no. 47287/15).
• Advising the UK Ministry of Defence on applicable law and dispute resolution mechanism in respect of the “drone project” with the French Ministry of Defence.
• Advising a Middle Eastern government on the strength of its position, as a matter of international law, in the context of a high-profile dispute with neighbouring countries (details not public).
• Advising the Government of Somalia on international remedies available in relation to Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported fishing by foreign vessels in the territorial waters of Somalia and on the redrafting of its domestic fisheries law.
• Advising the Government of Senegal on international remedies available in relation to Illegal, Unregulated and Unreported fishing by foreign vessels in the territorial waters of Senegal.
• Acting for Fininvest, an Italian media company in its claim against Italy before the ECtHR, the company belongs to Silvio Berlusconi and is bringing a claim in relation to judgment of the Italian Supreme Court which affects Fininvest’s shareholding in several media groups.

Emilie is increasingly appointed as arbitrator.  Her recent appointments include:

• Sole Arbitrator in an ICC arbitration seated in London relating to an international commodity sale.

• Claimant’s appointee in an ICC arbitration seated in Oman arising out of a contract for the sale of hydrocarbons.

• Respondent’s appointee in an UNCITRAL arbitration seated in Geneva arising out of a contract between a French blue-chip company and an African State.

• Sole Arbitrator in a Swiss Arbitration Centre arbitration seated in Geneva relating to an international commodity sale.

CAREER

2011:

• Paris Bar Avocate à la Cour
• Registered European Lawyer in England & Wales

2015:

• Call in England & Wales
• Lecturer at Sciences Po Paris teaching investment treaty arbitration in the Masters course “Litigation and Arbitration”

EDUCATION

LLM in International Business Law (Hons), London School of Economics and Political Science, 2010

Masters in English and North American Business Law (Hons), La Sorbonne, 2009

Masters in Economic Law with major in Litigation and Arbitration (Hons), Sciences Po Paris, 2009

Masters in Public Affairs (Hons), Sciences Po Paris, 2007

Double degree in German and History (Hons), Jussieu and La Sorbonne Nouvelle, 2005

French (native), Italian (fluent), German (fluent), and Spanish (basic)

Member of ICC YAF, Mute off Thursdays, YIAG, Supporting Member of the LMAA, the COMBAR Africa Committee.

“Intra-EU Investment Protection and the Rule of Law”, in C. Baltag, A. Stanic (eds.), The Future of Investment Treaty Arbitration in the EU: Energy Charter Treaty, Intra-EU BITs and Multilateral Investment Court, Wolters Kluwer, 2020

Commentary of Article 17 of the ICSID Convention, in J. Fouret, R. Gerbay, G.M. Alvarez (eds.), The ICSID Convention, Rules and Regulations: A Practical Commentary, Elgar Commentaries Series, 2019

“ICSID provisional measures v. extradition proceedings – the case of Nova Group Investments v Romania”, Lexis PSL Arbitration, 12 December 2017

“How Effective are ICSID Provisional Measures at Suspending Criminal Proceedings before Domestic Courts: The English Example?”, Kluwer Arbitration Blog, 30 September 2017

“CAFTA tribunal corrects award and terminates arbitration (Berkowitz v Costa Rica)”, Lexis PSL Arbitration, 28 June 2017

“Spotlight on OHADA Arbitration following a Recent Decision of the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration”, YAR, Ed. 21, April 2016

GAR Knowhow: Investment Treaty Arbitration – Rwanda chapter, 2015

“Barristers from the Same Chambers Appearing as Counsel and Arbitrator; Independence Revisited?”, DRI, Volume 5, Issue 2, November 2011

• "Emily is extremely knowledgeable on public international law and international investment disputes. She is very dedicated, diligent and careful in expressing her views, and does this very efficiently." (Chambers & Partners 2024: Public International Law)

• "Emilie is a superb lawyer, tactician and advocate, and is an absolute delight to work with. Her drafting skills are impeccable – she writes with great clarity and force, in both English and French, and is always mindful to take account of negative facts or law in a clever manner.’  (Legal 500: International Arbitration Counsel: 2024)

• "She's a massive intellect and can work equally well in English and French." "She is exceptionally competent in investor-state arbitrations and she works really hard." (Chambers & Partners 2023: Public International Law)

• "Emilie is a rising super-star. She is strong across the board. Her written advocacy is always clear and compelling, and reflects very deep thought and insight into the core issues. Emilie's oral advocacy is truly superb. She is extremely poised, sharp, witty, flexible, charming and impassioned." (Legal 500: International Arbitration Counsel: 2023)

• "Emilie is a tremendous advocate and very knowledgeable, particularly on investment treaty arbitration." (Legal 500: Public International Law: 2023)

• “A brilliant lawyer, thorough in her analysis, precise in her drafting and clear in her thoughts. She is a pleasure to work with under any circumstance, including when faced with the stress of a filing deadline or hearing.” (Legal 500: International Arbitration Counsel: 2022)

• “Emilie is a brilliant lawyer, thorough in her analysis, precise in her drafting and clear in her thoughts. She is a pleasure to work with under any circumstance, including when faced with the stress of a filing deadline or hearing.” (Legal 500: Public International Law: 2022)

• “She is pragmatic and knows the process of investor-state arbitration well.” “She can work comfortably in English, French and Italian on European cases with an international element.” “She is on top of the law and shows great client management.” (Chambers and Partners: Public International Law: 2022)

• “She is an excellent and committed junior who is a great team player and a joy to work with, she works seamlessly across French and English, and fights like a tiger for her clients” (Legal 500, Public International Law, 2021) 

• A barrister whose “enthusiasm is matched with a razor-sharp mind” (Who’s Who Legal, UK Bar: Arbitration, 2019).