Steven Finizio > WilmerHale > London, England > Lawyer Profile
WilmerHale Offices
49 Park Lane
LONDON
W1K 1PS
England
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Steven Finizio
Work Department
Commercial Litigation; International Arbitration; Litigation; Securities Enforcement; Securities Litigation; United Kingdom
Position
Partner
Career
Steven Finizio’s practice focuses on international dispute resolution. Mr. Finizio also serves as an arbitrator. He has particular experience with energy, financial services, shareholder, joint venture and M&A, and manufacturing issues. He has advised clients regarding disputes under the rules of most of the well-recognized international arbitration institutions and governed by the laws of jurisdictions in Europe, Asia, Africa and the US, as well as under bilateral and regional investment treaties. His pro bono work has included assisting a Central European government to draft new arbitration legislation and he was part of a team that won a landmark decision in the first freedom of expression case in the African Court on Human and Peoples’ Rights in Issa Loha Konaté v Burkina Faso.
Professional Activities
Mr. Finizio speaks regularly on international arbitration at conferences and seminars. He also teaches classes on arbitration at law schools, including as an Adjunct Professor at SOAS University of London and at Pepperdine University Law School in London. He is a founding member of the International Dispute Resolution Academy (IDRA) and is on the faculty at the Cologne Academy of Arbitration. He also has been on the faculty for the Foundation for International Arbitration Advocacy (FIAA) and the Africa International Legal Awareness (AILA) International Treaty Law and Arbitration Programme.
Mr. Finizio is a member of the LCIA Court and a member of the GIAC Advisory Council. He also is a member of the Global Arbitration Review Editorial Board, the Lexis®PSL Arbitration Consulting Editorial Board, and the arbitration.ru Editorial Board, as well as a member of the Advisory Committee of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA).
He is a member of a number of arbitration and international law institutions and related associations, including the International Bar Association (IBA), Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA), American Society of International Law (ASIL), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA). In addition, Mr. Finizio is a Member of the Board of Trustees for the Media Defence Legal Initiative and the Advisory Board of the Institute of Small and Micro States.
Publications
Mr. Finizio publishes extensively on issues relating to international dispute resolution. He is the co-author of “A Practical Guide to International Commercial Arbitration: Assessment, Planning and Strategy,” (Sweet & Maxwell 2010) (second edition forthcoming), and “International Commercial Arbitration,” in The Law of Transnational Business Transactions (Nanda, ed. Thomson Reuters updated 2020). See “Publications” under “Insights & News” for a full list of Mr. Finizio’s publications and articles.
Memberships
California
District of Columbia
England and Wales, Registered Foreign Lawyer
Education
JD, University of Chicago Law School, 1992
AB, Georgetown University, 1988
Lawyer Rankings
London > Dispute resolution > International arbitration
(Hall of Fame)The ‘truly specialist international arbitration practice group‘ within WilmerHale‘s London office has a leading market reputation for both commercial and investor-state arbitration work. With a track record of serving as counsel in over 675 arbitrations, practice chair Gary Born is ‘well known as the preeminent expert in international arbitration‘; Charlie Caher has particular experience in energy, construction, telecoms, insurance, joint venture and M&A-related disputes; Steven Finizio is an ‘incredibly knowledgeable and talented partner‘, who specialises in investment treaty and public international law issues; and Franz Schwarz has enviable experience in winning high-profile arbitration cases. The second line of key practitioners features ‘extraordinarily gifted lawyer and forceful advocate‘, Jonathan Lim, a triple-qualified English solicitor, Singapore advocate and New York lawyer, who was elevated from counsel to partner in January 2023.
London > Dispute resolution > Public international law
The London group at ‘outstanding firm‘ WilmerHale has longstanding experience in heavyweight PIL disputes. Its coverage encompasses territorial boundary issues, PIL matters that arise in national courts, sovereign immunity, and foreign judgment enforcements. The team also handles legal proceedings before international and national tribunals, particularly in relation to freedom of speech and belief. With decades of experience as lead counsel in PIL-related cases, Gary Born is ‘an encyclopaedia of international arbitration‘; and Steven Finizio is particularly focused on cases involving freedom of expression issues. Raised to partner in January 2023, Jonathan Lim is a complex international disputes specialist.
Lawyer Rankings
- Hall of Fame London > Dispute resolution > International arbitration
- International arbitration London > Dispute resolution
- Public international law London > Dispute resolution
Top Tier Firm Rankings
Firm Rankings
- Crime, fraud and licensing > Fraud: white-collar crime (advice to individuals)
- TMT (technology, media and telecoms) > Intellectual property: patents (contentious and non-contentious)
- Dispute resolution > Public international law
- Risk advisory > Regulatory investigations and corporate crime (advice to corporates)
- Corporate and commercial > Financial services: contentious