International Arbitration & Litigation Cases

Fitch Law Partners has successfully represented clients from around the world in complex, high-stakes international litigation and international arbitration. With attorneys fluent in Spanish, French, German, Russian and Italian, we have represented clients from across the globe, including Brazil, China, Columbia, Dubai, France, Germany, Hong Kong, Israel, South Africa, Sweden and the United Kingdom.

Our clients’ complex disputes frequently involve issues under both common law and civil law systems, and we work closely with local lawyers and legal experts to ensure successful application of governing substantive and procedural laws.

Our highly experienced attorneys assist our international clients to develop winning strategies for cases in an environment that is both unfamiliar and seemingly inaccessible to the outsider. They have particular experience in a number of focused areas of concentration, including:

• Commercial Contracts
• Intellectual Property
• Patent Licensing
• Construction
• Energy
• Power Plants
• Telecommunications
• Medical Devices
• Admiralty and Maritime Disputes
• Business-related Torts
• Close Corporation Disputes
• Executive Employment Disputes
• International Divorce and Child Custody

The lawyers who lead our international litigation and arbitration practice are Partners Jonathan W. Fitch and Carlos A. Maycotte. Please also visit our International Litigation and Arbitration Blog, where our attorneys regularly post about important issues in the field.

Please contact partners Jonathan W. Fitch for assistance, or more information, with respect to any international arbitration or international litigation matter.

International Commercial Arbitration

Our attorneys are experienced as both arbitrators and as counsel in international commercial arbitrations, and appear before the leading international arbitral institutions. We have handled disputes under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and its international division, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), as well as under the UNCITRAL Arbitral Rules.

In addition to advocacy, Jonathan W. Fitch is a highly experienced arbitrator for domestic and international commercial cases. He is a member of the panel of arbitrators of ICDR, a member of the AAA’s panel for large, complex cases, an arbitrator on the Tech List of the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center, and an arbitrator for the APAC Arbitration Center in Silicon Valley. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He has extensive experience as an emergency arbitrator, sole arbitrator, panelist and panel chair in commercial arbitrations.

International Litigation

Our complex litigation practice extends beyond the borders of the United States, and we regularly represent U.S. and foreign individuals and corporations in civil litigation arising from activities in foreign jurisdictions. We represent our international clients in both federal and state courts in the United States, and also coordinate with local counsel in foreign jurisdictions to advise on foreign trials that have potential U.S. repercussions. Our attorneys have experience litigating issues of foreign service of process, U.S. discovery in support of foreign litigation and arbitration under Section 1782, and foreign sovereign immunity. We also regularly address issues of enforcement of foreign judgments in the United States.

Investment Treaty Arbitration

Our attorneys are experienced representing both international investors and foreign states in international treaty arbitrations, with a focus on international investment disputes, including those before the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) in Washington, D.C. We have advised clients on their investment rights under such treaties as the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), and numerous bilateral investment treaties (BITs).

International Divorce and Child Custody

As part of our divorce and family law practice, our attorneys have extensive experience representing individuals dealing with complicated international issues. We handle international jurisdictional disputes over divorce, property division, custody and support. We also litigate international removal cases and negotiate cross-border parenting plans. When one parent has wrongfully removed a child from their home country, or wrongfully retained a child in a foreign country, we have used the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction to help reunite families.

Similarly, we have worked on issues involving custody and cross-border parenting plans that provide protections in non-Hague Convention countries, including navigating issues in foreign religious courts.

We also negotiate, draft and enforce prenuptial and postnuptial agreements for migratory couples that live and work across national borders.

In representative matters from our international arbitration and litigation practice:

• We obtained a settlement of $18,250,000 for a client based in Hong Kong in arbitration proceedings before International Centre for Dispute Resolution. The settlement of this commercial contract case was reached after we won the liability phase but before the damages phase of the arbitration commenced.
• We successfully represented a group of Dutch entrepreneurs who brought suit regarding a failed joint venture with a Fortune 500 company in the U.S.
• We brought suit in federal court in Massachusetts and successfully gained recognition and enforcement of a judgment in Belgium.
• We obtained a very favorable settlement for a group of American portfolio managers seeking to break off from a U.K.-based corporation.
• We won an award of damages for an American company in an action arising from a failed business venture with a Swedish corporation.
• We represented the interests of a Swedish Credit Union that was defrauded by its former president in an elaborate Ponzi Scheme.
• We have advised a business based in Dubai with claims against two American companies for violations of joint venture agreements.
• We represent the interests of a Brazilian company in an action for breach of contract against a U.S. Corporation.
• In the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, we filed claims on behalf of a Brazilian company for damages caused by the failure of a Massachusetts company to maintain patent protection for certain technology products, as required under a license agreement.
• We represented a Japanese corporation, which is one of the world’s largest general contractors, in federal court action in Massachusetts, concerning the installation of a defective roof at a manufacturing facility in Malaysia.
• We successfully represented a foreign exchange trading company seeking damages in a federal court action against a manufacturer of high frequency trading software on claims for breach of warranties and violations of a state statute outlawing unfair and deceptive trade practices.
• We counsel a Brazilian company with an action pending in Court in Sao Paulo against a U.S. supplier of automotive equipment for wrongful failure to maintain patent protections.
• In a matter before the International Centre for Dispute Resolution, we represented the former Chairman of a large investment company based in London, Hong Kong and Boston, in a multi-count action against numerous defendants for wrongful termination of his employment contract. We negotiated a favorable settlement for him before the matter reached the hearing stage.