Danielle Morris > WilmerHale > Washington DC, United States > Lawyer Profile
WilmerHale Offices
2100 Pennsylvania Avenue NW
Washington DC 20036
United States
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Danielle Morris
Work Department
Litigation ; International Arbitration ; Latin America
Position
Partner
Career
Danielle Morris is a partner in the Litigation/Controversy Department and a member of the International Arbitration Practice. She joined the firm in 2012. Ms. Morris’ practice spans both private and public international law. She has 10 years of experience representing clients in both ad hoc and institutional arbitrations, including under the rules of ICSID, the LCIA, the SCC and UNCITRAL. She has represented clients in various sectors, including mining, oil and gas, financial services, construction, pharmaceutical and automotive. Among others, Ms. Morris has recently represented a government in an arbitration seated in London involving disputes under a contract to provide gas processing facilities; leading banks in investment arbitrations against an Eastern European State; a leading construction company in an investment arbitration against a Middle Eastern State; a leading pharmaceutical company in an investment arbitration against a Latin American State; and a leading aerospace and defense technology company in a dispute under a contract to develop and supply military aircraft.
Ms. Morris regularly advises clients on the substantive protections and dispute resolution mechanisms under various investment treaties, both bilateral and multilateral, and has represented both investors and States in investment arbitrations. She has also advised an African State regarding a boundary mediation.
Past Experience
Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Morris was a litigation associate in the international arbitration practice group at a law firm in Washington DC. In that position, she focused on investor-State arbitration, including an investment dispute under the Spain-Russia bilateral investment treaty. She was also a member of the trial team in a US securities litigation that resulted in a favorable judgment of almost $1 billion.
From 2008–2011, Ms. Morris was an attorney adviser with the United States Department of State, Office of the Legal Adviser, in the Office of International Claims and Investment Disputes. As a member of the NAFTA team, she argued part of the United States’ case in Grand River Enterprises Six Nations, Ltd. v. United States. She also worked on Case No. A/15(II:A), a State-to-State arbitration under Paragraph 9 of the Algiers Accords before the Iran-US Claims Tribunal.
Professional Activities
Ms. Morris is a member of the IBA Arbitration Committee’s 2019 Newsletter Editorial Board.
Ms. Morris has taught both international commercial arbitration and investment arbitration at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She has also lectured at Cambridge University, Duke University School of Law, Georgetown University Law Center and University of Michigan Law School.
Memberships
- District of Columbia
- New York
Education
JD, Yale Law School, 2007
BA, Humanities, Yale University, 2002
Lawyer Rankings
United States > Dispute resolution > International arbitration
Among WilmerHale’s practice strengths, the international arbitration team stands out for its focus on IP-related matters, where it can work in conjunction with the wider firm’s premier patent litigation offering. Other core areas of expertise include energy, financial services, defense, and M&A-related disputes. Rachael Kent serves as vice chair of the global international arbitration group, where she contributes over 25 years of experience in commercial and investment disputes straddling both common law and civil law jurisdictions. Danielle Morris is noted for her strong recent run of investor-state cases, where she has predominantly represented investors in complex, multi-jurisdictional proceedings. The team also includes John Trenor, whose broad international arbitration experience encompasses commercial, investor-state and state-to-state matters. All named partners are based in Washington DC.
Lawyer Rankings
Top Tier Firm Rankings
- Finance > Financial services regulation
- Antitrust > Cartel
- International trade > CFIUS
- Antitrust > Civil litigation/class actions: defense
- Industry focus > Education
- Industry focus > Education
- Intellectual property > Patents: licensing
- Industry focus > Education
- Industry focus > Native American law
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (full coverage)
- Dispute resolution > Securities litigation: defense
Firm Rankings
- Media, technology and telecoms > Cyber law (including data privacy and data protection)
- Dispute resolution > General commercial disputes
- M&A/corporate and commercial > M&A: middle-market ($500m-999m)
- Media, technology and telecoms > Outsourcing
- Government > State attorneys general
- Media, technology and telecoms > Technology transactions
- International trade > Trade remedies and trade policy
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Venture capital and emerging companies
- Finance > Capital markets: equity offerings
- M&A/corporate and commercial > Corporate governance
- International trade > Customs, export controls and economic sanctions
- Government > Government contracts
- Government > Government relations
- Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- Healthcare > Life sciences
- Labor and employment > Employee benefits, executive compensation and retirement plans: transactional
- Environment > Environment: regulatory
- Dispute resolution > Financial services litigation
- Finance > Fintech
- Media, technology and telecoms > Media and entertainment: litigation
- Antitrust > Merger control
- Intellectual property > Patents: litigation (International Trade Commission)
- Tax > US taxes: non-contentious
- Finance > Commercial lending
- Real estate > Real estate
- Finance > Restructuring (including bankruptcy): corporate
- Dispute resolution > Appellate: courts of appeals / Appellate: supreme courts (states and federal)
- Finance > Capital markets: debt offerings
- Dispute resolution > Corporate investigations and white-collar criminal defense