Mr Lee Rovinescu > Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP > New York, United States > Lawyer Profile
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP Offices
601 LEXINGTON AVENUE
31ST FLOOR
NEW YORK, NY 10022
NEW YORK
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Mr Lee Rovinescu
Work Department
International Arbitration
Position
Partner
Career
Lee Rovinescu is a partner in Freshfields’ international arbitration group and is based in New York. He serves as counsel in commercial and investment treaty arbitrations and has handled construction and energy arbitrations before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) and the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Recently, Lee was one of the lead attorneys representing ConocoPhillips in three mega arbitrations against Venezuela, which led to a landmark US$8.5 ICSID award in favor of ConocoPhillips (the largest ICSID award on record), a US$2 billion ICC award, and a US$55 million ICC award.
Lee has degrees in Quebec civil law (B.C.L.) and Canadian common law (LL.B.) from McGill University in Montreal and is admitted to the New York bar. He speaks English and French.
Languages
English, French
Lawyer Rankings
Latin America: International firms > International arbitration
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP’s global standing in international arbitration is very much in evidence in Latin America, where it has an unrivalled record in investor-state arbitrations over recent years; it typically represents investors against states and state-owned entities. It has represented parties in some of the largest and most high-profile cases to involve the region, notably expropriation and nationalisation-related cases, including representing ConocoPhillips in a series of cases relating to the 2007 expropriation of three major oil investments in Venezuela under then-President Chávez. The firm is active in cases involving parties from across the region and has an array of native Spanish and Portuguese speakers in the team. ‘Brilliant senior practitioner’ Nigel Blackaby KC (in Washington DC) is co-head of the Latin America group alongside Noiana Marigo, who ‘directs the practice in Lat Am in an exceptional way’. Also in Washington DC, Caroline Richard (‘an outstanding international arbitration expert’) is another notable name in investor-state disputes, as is Lee Rovinescu, who was promoted to the partnership in 2020, and is highlighted for mining, energy and natural resources cases, as well as his expertise in damages. Blackaby and Richard (along with Americas practice head Elliot Friedman) are currently co-leading advice to Glencore in the first ever ICSID case against Colombia; while Marigo is acting for the same client in an UNCITRAL case against the Plurinational State of Bolivia. Counsel Natalia Zibibbo (an ‘excellent professional’); DC-based special legal consultant Maria Julia Milesi (who was promoted to counsel in May 2023); and senior associates Santiago Gatica (‘remarkable intelligence, legal knowledge and great capacity for work’), Hinda Rabkin and Madeline Snider (in Madrid), are also noted and further illustrate the practice group’s strength-in-depth. All named individuals are based in New York unless stated otherwise. Former counsel Alex Wilbraham has left the firm to become an independent arbitrator in January 2023.
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Tax > International tax
- Tax > Financial products
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Tax > Financial products
Firm Rankings
- Tax > Financial products
- Dispute resolution > International litigation
- Dispute resolution > M&A litigation: defense
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: large deals ($1bn+)
- Antitrust > Merger control
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Shareholder activism
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- International Trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense
- Transport > Aviation and air travel: litigation and regulation