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Miriam K. Harwood
Partner
Miriam Harwood is co-head of Investment Arbitration and a partner in the firm’s world-renowned International Dispute Resolution Practice. With a career spanning three decades, she has represented private and governmental entities in a broad array of cases, both in the US and internationally. She is widely known for her representation of sovereign states in international arbitration, in both commercial and investment treaty disputes.
Miriam has handled arbitrations at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the International Court of Arbitration (ICC), the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) and under the rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade and Law (UNCITRAL).
In addition to international arbitration, Miriam has practiced commercial litigation in US courts, including contract disputes, bankruptcy, intellectual property, enforcement of arbitral awards, and matters involving international law and sovereign immunity.
Miriam is recognized as a leading practitioner for International Arbitration in the prestigious Chambers Global and Chambers USA rankings of the world’s most elite counsel in the field. She has also been recognized for her work by Who’s Who Legal, The Legal 500 USA, The Legal 500 Latin America, Global Arbitration Review and many others.
In 2020, Miriam was appointed to the prestigious ICSID Panel of Arbitrators, for a term of six years.
- Represented Turkmenistan in over a dozen ICSID arbitrations and other cases under ICC, SCC and UNCITRAL/PCA rules, involving claims under bilateral investment treaties with Turkey, Russia, Germany and the United Kingdom, and in contract disputes, including billion-dollar claims regarding telecommunications, mining, construction, infrastructure and agriculture projects.
- Represented Venezuela and its state-owned oil company, Petroleós de Venezuela, in over a dozen arbitrations and court proceedings involving disputes in the oil and gas, maritime and telecommunications industries, including a US$30 billion arbitration brought by US oil company ConocoPhillips and a US$16 billion arbitration brought by ExxonMobil subsidiaries relating to oil projects in Venezuela, with the largest-ever ICSID annulment of a US$1 billion award in Mobil v. Venezuela.
- Represented Kazakhstan in connection with cost recovery disputes with international oil companies operating major oil production projects under long-term production sharing agreements.
- Represented the Kingdom of Spain in an ICSID annulment proceeding, winning a historic annulment of a €128 million award in a dispute regarding renewable energy regulations, and in US court proceedings relating to enforcement of arbitral awards.
- Represented Romania in three ICSID arbitrations brought under the Energy Charter Treaty and intra-EU BITs in disputes regarding renewable energy regulations.
- Represented Croatia in an ICSID arbitration brought by a German national in a dispute concerning ownership of real property allegedly purchased during the war of independence in the 1990s.
- Represented Albania and the state-owned oil company in an ICC arbitration brought by a Canadian company in a dispute concerning the operations of Albania’s largest oilfield.
- Represented Kuwait in its first-ever ICSID arbitration regarding a US$1 billion highway and infrastructure construction project in Kuwait City.
- Represented Libya in an ICSID arbitration brought by an Austrian construction company involving highway and infrastructure projects impacted by the 2011 Libyan revolution.
- Represented the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in multiple international arbitrations arising out of the 2017 blockade of Qatar.
Education
- Fordham University School of Law, J.D., Fordham International Law Journal, Research and Writing Editor
- Barnard College, Columbia University, B.A., cum laude
Admissions
- New York
- U.S. Dist. Ct., S. Dist. of New York
Memberships and Affiliations
- Panel of Arbitrators, International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes
- New York International Arbitration Center, Board of Directors and Executive Committee
- Advisory Board, American Review of International Arbitration, Columbia Law School
- Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration – USA: Arbitrator and Counsel, Global Leader, Recommended (2021-2023)
- Chambers Global: International Arbitration (2021-2023)
- Chambers USA: International Arbitration (2019-2023)
- The Legal 500 USA: Dispute Resolution/International Arbitration (2018-2023)
- Benchmark Litigation, Litigation Star, Top 250 Women in Litigation (2023)
- Crain’s New York Business, Notable Women in Law (2022)
- Global Guide to Women Arbitrators Compendium of Unicorns (2022)
- Women in Business Law, Expert Guides, Commercial Arbitration (2022)
- New York Law Journal Distinguished Leaders (2020)
- Latinvex – Top 100 Female Lawyers for Latin America (2016-2020)
- Global Arbitration Review
Client Comments and Testimonials
- “Miriam Harwood is my favorite lawyer of all time. She has the WOW factor and with her brilliant legal mind, when she talks, people stop and listen immediately.” (The Legal 500 USA 2022)
- "Miriam is fantastic and a leading light in international arbitration.” “Very knowledgeable and on top of the details.” (Chambers Global 2022)
- “Miriam is extremely intelligent and understands complex arguments with ease. She is an outstanding legal thinker and provides insightful legal strategies.” (Chambers USA 2021)
- “Miriam is a formidable practitioner and is a lawyer that you will be afraid of when you have her on the other side.” “She is very well respected.” (Chambers USA 2021)
- “She was absolutely outstanding under fire from the other side and she had a mastery of the facts." (Chambers USA 2020)
- “Words don’t do justice to the ability of Miriam Harwood – she continually delivers and has an ethic that strives for excellence.” (The Legal 500 USA 2020)
- “Thorough and careful, as well as forceful in pursuing issues she judges of merit…excellent ability to cut through challenges and make a case clearly and concisely while under great pressure.” (Lawyers of Distinction, The Legal 500)
Miriam regularly lectures at professional conferences and training programs around the world about topics of international law and arbitration, including:
- Faculty, Columbia University Law School Executive Training Program for Government Officials on International Arbitration and Investment Treaties: Taught courses on international law and arbitration, investment treaties, and quantification of damages, 2017-2020.
- Faculty, International Law Institute: Taught courses for government officials on expropriation, damages and international standards of liability, Washington DC, 2011-2015.
- Speaker, “Economic Harm: Advanced Topics for Lost Profit and Lost Business Value,” Paris Arbitration Week, France, March 2023.
- Speaker, “News from Across the Pond: Recent Vital Developments in US Arbitration,” Paris Arbitration Week, France, March 2023.
- Speaker, “Navigating Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration: Benefits, Implications and the Future,” Columbia International Arbitration Association, New York, March 2023.
- Speaker, “Damages and Quantum Experts in International Arbitration,” New York International Arbitration Center, New York, January 2023.
- Speaker, “UNCITRAL Working Group Proposals on Arbitrator Conflict Rules,” Juris Conferences, 16th Annual Conference on Investment Treaty Arbitration, Washington DC, October 2022.
- Speaker, “Attribution of Harm,” 10th Annual Investment Treaty Arbitration Conference, hosted by the Czech Republic Ministry of Finance, Prague, October 2020.
- Speaker, “Security for Costs,” Juris Conferences, 14th Annual Conference on Investment Treaty Arbitration, Washington DC, June 2020.
- Speaker, “The Perennial Problem of Legitimate Expectations,” 9th Annual Investment Treaty Arbitration Conference, hosted by the Czech Republic Ministry of Finance, Prague, October 2019.
- Speaker, “Energy Charter Treaty Arbitrations after Achmea,” Juris Conferences, 13th Annual Conference on Investment Treaty Arbitration, Washington DC, May 2019.
- Speaker, “Issues Faced by Respondent States,” 8th Annual Investment Treaty Arbitration Conference, hosted by the Czech Republic Ministry of Finance, Prague, October 2018.
- Speaker, “New Trends in Expropriation – Do Tribunals Interpret Treaties Too Extensively?” 7th Annual Investment Treaty Arbitration Conference, hosted by the Czech Republic Ministry of Finance, Prague, October 2017
- Speaker, “The Year in Review: Developments in International Arbitration,” Global Arbitration Review GAR Live, New York, September 2017.
- Speaker, “International Investment Agreements: Treaty Protections and Domestic Law,” Columbia Law School, Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI), New York, February 2017.
- Speaker, “Role and Effects of Local Law and Court Decisions,” 6th Annual Investment Treaty Arbitration Conference, hosted by the Czech Republic Ministry of Finance, Prague, October 2016.
- Speaker, “Skills Training Workshop,” Young ICCA, Tirana Albania, September 2016.
- Speaker, “Transnational Law of Environmental Liability,” University of Houston Law Center, Third Annual Houston Conference on Oil and Gas Investment, Houston, Texas, September 2016.
- Speaker, “Law and the American Bar Association Finance in Investment Arbitration Awards,” Juris Conferences, Fifth Annual Conference on Damages in International Arbitration, Washington DC, September 2016.
- Speaker, “Post-Brexit Opportunities for International Arbitration,” Global Arbitration Review GAR Live, New York, September 2016.
- Speaker, “Presentation on Legal and Economic Principles for Quantification of Damages,” 5th Annual Investment Treaty Arbitration Conference, hosted by the Czech Republic Ministry of Finance, Prague, October 2015.
- Faculty, “Expropriation and Compensation in International Arbitration,” International Law Institute, Washington DC, December 2014.
- Speaker, “Burden of Proof and Evidentiary Standards for Damages,” Juris Conferences, Third Annual Damages in International Arbitration, New York, October 2014.
- Speaker, 4th Annual Investment Treaty Arbitration Conference, hosted by the Czech Republic Ministry of Finance, Prague, October 2014.
- Speaker, “The Year in Review: Developments in International Arbitration,” Global Arbitration Review GAR Live, New York, September 2014.
- Speaker, “Energy Arbitrations with State Enterprises,” Institute for Transnational Arbitration, ITA-IEL Joint Winter Forum, International Energy Arbitration, Houston, Texas, February 2014.
- Faculty, “Expropriation and Compensation in International Arbitration,” International Law Institute, Washington DC, December 2013.
- Speaker, “Perspectives on Advocacy,” Juris Conferences, Second Annual Conference on Damages in International Arbitration, Washington DC, November 2013.
- Speaker, 3rd Annual Investment Treaty Arbitration Conference, hosted by the Czech Republic Ministry of Finance, Prague, October 2013.
- Speaker, “Calculating Damages in Energy Disputes,” Juris Conferences, 7th Annual Conference on Investment Treaty Arbitration, Washington DC, April 2013.
- Speaker, “Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration,” Global Arbitration Review GAR Live, London, November 2012.
- Speaker, “Legal Principles and Burden of Proof for Damages,” Juris Conferences, Damages in International Arbitration, New York, October 2012.
- Speaker, “Fair and Equitable Treatment Standards under Bilateral Investment Treaties,” 2nd Annual Investment Treaty Arbitration Conference, hosted by the Czech Republic Ministry of Finance, Prague, October 2012.
- Faculty, “Program on Investment Treaties and Investor State Arbitration,” International Law Institute, Washington DC, November 2011.
- Speaker, “States and State Entities as Parties to Arbitration,” ABA Third Annual Conference on the Resolution of CIS-Related Business Disputes, Moscow, Russia, September 2011.
- Speaker, “The Future of ICSID Arbitrations,” Juris Conferences, 5th Annual Conference on Investment Treaty Arbitration, Washington DC, April 2011.
- Speaker, “Foreign Investors vs. Host States: Shifting Trends in Investment Arbitration,” Columbia Law School, November 2010.
- Speaker, “How to Handle Competition Issues,” American University Washington College of Law’s Seventh Annual Seminar on International Commercial Arbitration, Washington DC, October 2010.
Publications
- Author, “Advisory Board Manual on Universal Citation in International Arbitration,” Global Arbitration Review.
- Co-author, “Papers and Proceedings of the 14th Annual Juris Conference on Investment Treaty Arbitration,” Investment Treaty Arbitration and International Law, Volume 14, 2021.
- Co-author, “Papers and Proceedings of the 13th Annual Juris Conference on Investment Treaty Arbitration,” Investment Treaty Arbitration and International Law, Volume 13, 2019.
- Author, “Handbook on Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration,” Conflicts of Interest, November 2018.
- Author, “Third-Party Funding in Investment Disputes,” Business Guide to Trade and Investment, Volume 2, October 2018.
- Co-author, “Third-Party Funding: Security for Costs and Other Key Issues,” The Investment Treaty Arbitration Review, 2nd Edition, 2017.
- Co-author, “Third-Party Funding: Security for Costs and Other Key Issues,” The Investment Treaty Arbitration Review, 1st Edition, 2016.
- Co-author, “Investment Arbitration: Jurisdiction and Procedure,” The International Arbitration Review 1, 6th Edition, 2015.
- Author, “Calculating Damages in Energy Disputes,” Investment Treaty Arbitration and International Law, Volume 7, 2014.
- Co-author, “Jurisdiction and Procedure in Investment Arbitration – New Developments,” The International Arbitration Review 1, 5th Edition, 2014.
- Co-author, “Recent Trends in Investment Arbitration,” The International Arbitration Review 1, 4th Edition, 2013.