Three Crowns LLP > London, England > Firm Profile

Three Crowns LLP > The Legal 500 Rankings

Dispute resolution > International arbitration Tier 1

'The leading international arbitration boutique by far, Three Crowns LLP only accepts instructions for international disputes. The firm's current commercial and investor-state caseload covers some of the highest-profile disputes in the world; and its industry expertise incorporates aerospace, energy, construction, telecoms, financial services, and Pharma. Experienced in obtaining multi-billion-dollar awards, Constantine Partasides KC has a growing arbitration-related litigation practice; and Gaëtan Verhoosel KC acts in commercial and treaty arbitrations across the power, banking, infrastructure, renewables, and oil and gas sectors. Also integral to the group, Reza Mohtashami KC is a Middle East disputes expert; Carmen Martinez Lopez is triple-qualified in England, New York and Spain; and Manish Aggarwal and Leilah Bruton act in investor-state and commercial cases. At counsel level, Hamid Abdulkareem is 'an excellent lawyer' and Jonathan Fernandes acts under all major arbitration rules. Maanas Jain, Richard Trinick, Farouk El-Hosseny and Vee Vian Thien are experienced senior associates.

Dispute resolution > Public international law Tier 2

Three Crowns LLP‘s esteemed track record includes representing both states and corporations in business-critical investor-state disputes, including a sizeable number of treaty cases. The London group is also increasingly active in state-to-state cases and related disputes that feature challenging international law points. Constantine Partasides KC‘s recent experience comprises the attainment of mega-value awards, and has a growing arbitration-related litigation practice; and Gaëtan Verhoosel acts in high-value treaty arbitrations across all continents, in relation to the power, oil and gas, renewables, banking and infrastructure sectors. Other key practitioners are Middle Eastern and African disputes expert Reza Mohtashami KC; Carmen Martinez Lopez, who routinely acts in heavyweight Latin American investor-state cases; investor-state arbitration specialist Manish Aggarwal; and Leilah Bruton, who acts in treaty disputes. Counsel Hamid Abdulkareem leads the firm's African practice, while senior associate Farouk El-Hosseny's practice incorporates telecoms and oil and gas sector-related investor-state claims.

Latin America: International firms > International arbitration Tier 1

Three Crowns LLP is the largest specialist international arbitration firm in the world and has an outstanding record in Latin America. In April it announced the launch of a Madrid office (in autumn 2023) to further expand its handling of Spanish (and more generally European) clients. Leading Latin America international arbitration expert, the tri-qualified (England & Wales; New York and Spain) Carmen Martinez Lopez, is relocating from London, as is prominent Argentine-qualified special legal consultant, Agustin Sanz, from Washington DC. The firm has deep civil law credentials, language capabilities and cultural links to the region, which provide the basis for a thriving practice in both investor-state and commercial cases. Clients note that the team ‘understands the reality of the market’ and has a ‘pedigree that is second to none’. Indeed, Martínez is currently representing Chile in a $200m+ ICSID case filed by ISA under the Chile-Colombia FTA (related to the construction of the Cardones-Polpaico electricity transmission line in Chile); and co-leading advice to Sacyr on its $1bn+ investment treaty claim against Panama relating to the expansion of the Panama Canal, alongside the London-based Gaëtan Verhoosel KC (and Singapore's Simon Elliot). Verhoosel is a leading arbitral practitioner with a first class track record in the region, a standing reflected by his selection as chair in a $500m ICSID case brought by B-Mex (and others) against the United Mexican States. Tri-qualified (California, New York & Washington DC) Luke Sobota, a founding partner of the firm, is currently handling Chevron's long-running $9.5bn Permanent Court of Arbitration case against Ecuador, which as of late 2022 had reached the quantification of damages stage; and is also co-lead on the defence of ConocoPhillips' $8bn ICSID award against Venezuela in the face of the latter's attempts to annul or otherwise stay the decision. As the foregoing suggests, the firm has represented various oil and gas majors in headline cases against Latin American states, and has also been engaged by sovereign entities themselves. It is now experiencing further growth in intra-regional cases and disputes conducted solely in Spanish, and is also gaining  prominence in environmental disputes and cases related to sovereign states’ efforts to capture windfall profits from the mining sector. Multilingual and dual-qualified (Brazil/New York) special legal consultant Laura França Pereira (Washington DC) is also noted.