Sophie Nappert

Avocat, Bar of Quebec, Canada; Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales
Email: snappert@3vb.com

Sophie is a dual-qualified lawyer in Canada and in the UK. She is an arbitrator in independent practice, based in London. Before becoming a full-time arbitrator, she was Head of International Arbitration at a global law firm.

Sophie is trained and has practised in both civil law and common law jurisdictions. She is ranked in Global Arbitration Review's Top 30 List of Female Arbitrators Worldwide and is listed in the International Who's Who of Commercial Arbitration. She is described in the legal directories as ‘a first-rate lawyer and one of the top new-generation arbitrators'. She was peer-nominated as Moderator of OGEMID, the online discussion forum on current issues of international investment law and arbitration.

Areas of expertise include: energy and natural resources, infrastructure, hotel and leisure, pharmaceuticals, telecoms, joint ventures, concession agreements, emerging economies and notably Russia, Kazakhstan and the Caspian region, the Energy Charter Treaty, investment treaty disputes, investment law and EU law, and disputes against State parties.

Sophie is a regular speaker at conferences and seminars on issues of arbitration and international law. She is also a guest lecturer at Columbia Law School, Harvard Law School and McGill University Faculty of Law.

Representative matters

• Chair: A dispute between the parties to a JOA concerning the drilling of offshore wells in an African country, and issues of unlawful cash calls, under the ICC Rules, pursuant to English law. Sum in dispute: USD 25 million.
• Chair: A dispute between the parties to a Shareholders' Agreement in relation to the development of an energy project in Africa, under the ICC Rules. Injunctive relief is claimed.
• Party-appointed arbitrator: A joint venture dispute between two US public companies in the pharmaceutical industry, under the UNCITRAL Rules, pursuant to French law. Sum in dispute: USD 33 million.
• Party-appointed arbitrator: A dispute between an oil company and a State under a Concession Agreement, under the SCC Rules. Sum in dispute: USD 3 billion.
• Party-appointed arbitrator: A joint venture project in Turkey between an international oil company and a local company, including complex issues of multi-party arbitration, consolidation and inter-linked agreements. ICC arbitration Rules, pursuant to Swiss law. Sum in dispute: USD 25 million.
• Party-appointed arbitrator: An LCIA arbitration concerning an advisory agreement on the restructuring of a CIS country's external debt. Sum in dispute: USD 6 million.
• Party-appointed arbitrator: An ad hoc arbitration concerning a BOT agreement between a Chinese company and an English company. Sum in dispute: GBP 15 million.
• Party-appointed arbitrator: An LCIA arbitration concerning the supply of pipelines, between a German company and a French comnpany. Sum in dispute: US 8 million.
• Sole arbitrator: An LCIA arbitration concerning allegations of misconduct against the director of a Russian company. 
•  Sole arbitrator: An ICC arbitration in relation to an aircraft supply agreement. Sum in dispute: USD 5 million.
• Sole arbitrator: An LCIA arbitration concerning the supply of military equipment in Pakistan. Sum in dispute: USD 10 million.
• Sole arbitrator: An ad hoc arbitration concerning a shipbuilding contract between a Lithuanian shipping Company and a Russian company, pursuant to Russian law. Sum in dispute: USD 2 million. 
• Sole arbitrator: A number of related LCIA arbitrations between Russian parties to a military supply agreement, and the guarantors thereto, pursuant to English law. Sum in dispute: USD 4 million.
• Sole arbitrator: An LCIA arbitration between a US distributor and UK supplier of children's books, pursuant to English law. Sum in dispute: USD15 million.

Membership of Rosters, Professional Bodies and Committees

• The Law Society of England and Wales
• The Bar of Quebec
• The Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), Dispute Board Member
• The International Center for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), Roster of Arbitrators - Commercial and Energy Disputes
• The Lewiathan Court of Arbitration - Poland
• The International Bar Association
• The London Court of International Arbitration
• The International Chamber of Commerce
• The International Law Association
  o UNCITRAL Working Group on International Arbitration, member of the observer delegation sent by the Forum  for International Conciliation and Arbitration
  o ICC, Canadian delegate to the Commission on Arbitration
  o International Arbitration Club, London, Treasurer and Committee Member
  o International Law Association, Member, Committees on International Investment Law and on International Arbitration
  o Various task forces on arbitration for the ICC and the IBA

Talks and Publications

Forthcoming publications:

• Commentary on the 2010 UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, with John Fellas, Juris, forthcoming.

Sophie's latest publications include:

• "Beyond Fragmentation", with Prof. Andrea K Bjorklund, in T Weiler and F Baetens, eds., New Directions in International Economic Law: In Memoriam Thomas Wålde, Nijhoff 2011, also available on SSRN at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1739997.
• ‘A Psychological Perspective on the Facilitation of Settlement in International Arbitration - Examining the CEDR Rules', with Prof. Dieter Flader, Journal of International Dispute Settlement 2011, full text at http://jids.oxfordjournals.org/cgi/content/full/idr008?ijkey=XFmwWneBvsjzWio&keytype=ref, also available on SSRN at http://ssrn.com/abstract=1863843.
• ‘La composition du tribunal arbitral dans l'arbitrage d'investissement comportant l'Union européenne comme partie' in C Kessedjian et C Leben, éditeurs, Le droit européen et l'investissement, Editions Panthéon-Assas Paris 2011.
• "International Resolution of Energy Trade and Investment Disputes", with Dr Federico Ortino, in Y Selivanova, ed., Energy in the WTO: Current Trade Rules and Future Challenges, Kluwer 2011.
• "Modernizing the Energy Charter Process? The Energy Charter Conference Road Map and Russia's Draft Convention on Energy Security", Oil, Gas and Energy Law and Transnational Dispute Management, 2011 and on SSRN http://ssrn.com/abstract=1792699.
• "Creeping Expropriation", in A Trunk and A Aliyev, eds, The Relationship Between Foreign Investment Law and Environmental Law, MV-Wissenschaft, 2011.
• "The Psychology of Persuasion in International Arbitration ", with Prof Dieter Flader, in D Bishop and E Kehoe, eds, The Art of Advocacy in International Arbitration, 2nd edition, Juris Publishing, 2010. Runner-Up, Article of the Year, 2010, OGEMID Awards.
• "'My Learned Friend Has Put to You ...": The English Approach to Cross-Examination In International Arbitration", with Dr Christopher Harris, in B Sheppard and L Newman, eds, Take the Witness: Cross-Examination in International Arbitration, 2010.
• "The EU-Russia Relations in the Energy Field: The Continuing Role of International Law", Oil, Gas and Energy Law, 2009.
• "Russia's Proposal for a 'new' Energy Charter Treaty", Transnational Dispute Management and Global Arbitration Review, 2009.
• "Protection des investissements et droit dérivé communautaire", C Kessedjian et C Leben, éditeurs, Le droit européen et l'investissement, Editions Panthéon-Assas Paris, 2009.
• "'By Wit or Fortune Led': Thoughts on a Role for Precedent in International Commercial Arbitration", TDM Special Issue on Precedent, June 2008.
• Guest Editor, TDM Special Issue on Arbitrator Bias, July 2008.

Recent talks include:

• President of the Tribunal, Final Round of the Foreign Direct Investment Mooting Competition 2011, and author of the moot problem, King's College London, November 2011.
• Co-Chair, Panel on Arbitration as an Emblem of Civil Society, European Forum of New Ideas on the occasion of the Polish Presidency of the European Council of the EU, Sopot, Poland, September 2011.
• Recent Cases Involving States and National Oil Companies, 3rd IEL/SEERIL International Oil and Gas Conference, London, June 2011.
• Co-Chair, Ten Years of the Energy Charter Treaty, ICSID/SCC Conference, Stockholm, June 2011.
• The EU as an Actor in Investment Arbitration, Arbitral Women Roundtable Panel, ICCA Conference, Geneva, May 2011.
• Ethics Panel, Juris' Leading Arbitrators Conference, Vienna, April 2011.
• Interface between the Brussels I review and EU law: What direction for arbitration in Europe?, Vienna Arbitration Days, Vienna, March 2011.
• The place of arbitration, USCIB Arbitration Users' Committee, New York City, January 2011.
• La composition des tribunaux arbitraux, Deuxième Journée d'étude sur le droit communautaire et droit des investissements, Université Panthéon-Assas, Paris, December 2010.
• The Art and Science of Persuasion, IBA Annual Conference, Vancouver, October 2010.
• New York v London as a Place of Arbitration: A Transatlantic Debate, New York City Bar, June 2010.
• Public Interest In Arbitration, Arbitration in M&A Disputes, Warsaw, May 2010.
• Kompetenz-Kompetenz and the Brussels Regulation Reform, YAAP-ICC Young Arbitrators Conference, Vienna, April 2010.
• Energy arbitration, A talk to the ICC Secretariat, Paris, April 2010.
• Presiding judge, JESSUP Russia Mooting Competition, 2010 final, Moscow, February 2010.
• From Revision to Reform? Roundtable Discussion on Revising the 1976 UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules to Meet New Demands, New York, February 2010.
• Interim Measures in Investment Arbitration, International Conference on Investment in Transition Countries, Moscow, November 2009.
• Chair, Panel on Arbitration on Technical Issues: the Users' Perspective, Cross Border Arbitration and Dispute Resolution Conference, Londion, November 2009.
• IBA New York Convention Workshop: Jura Novit Curia, IBA Annual Conference, Madrid, October 2009.
• International Arbitration and the European Union: Indifference or Schizophrenia?, CIArb/LCIA Annual Conference, London, September 2009.
• Arbitrator Bias in Investment and Commercial Arbitration: Is there a different standard? Should there be?, Fordham Conference on International Arbitration and Mediation, New York City, June 2009.
• Indirect Expropriation: Fifty-Two Words for Snow, International Conference on Investment in Transition Countries, Almaty, May 2009.
• Potential EU Competence on Investment: Challenges for Investment Arbitration, AIA/CEPMLP Joint Conference, Brussels, May 2009.
• Protection des investissements par le droit dérivé communautaire, Journée d'étude sur le droit communautaire et droit des investissements, Université Panthéon-Assas, Paris, April 2009.
• The Energy Charter Treaty: Why bother?, Talk to the International Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York, New York City, March 2009.
• Comparaison critique et stratégique des principaux règlements d'arbitrage international: Ce qu'il faut savoir pour bien choisir, Canadian Bar Association, Montreal, March 2009.
• Drafting Submissions, Pre-Hearing Issues in ICC Arbitration, Vilnius, March 2009.
• Fifteen Years of NAFTA: A Debate, Universidad IberoAmericana, Mexico City, February 2009.
• The EU-Russia Energy Dialogue: Assistance from International Law?, ECIPE seminar on EU-Russia commercial relationships, Brussels, November 2008.
• Russia and the Provisional Application of the Energy Charter Treaty, BIICL's 11th Investment Treaty Forum, London, September 2008.

Sophie is a member of the Editorial Board of Sweet & Maxwell's International Arbitration Law Review. She is an Associate Editor for Transnational Dispute Management (TDM), a Maris Internet publication.

Languages

Native French, fluent English, good Spanish, good Russian (reading).

Nationality

Canadian

Education

• University of London: LL.M. (Masters Degree in Law) with Merit, King's College London. 
• McGill University (Canada): Bachelor of Laws (Common Law), (LL.B.), Bachelor of Civil Law (B.C.L.). 
• Institute of International and Comparative Law (Magdalen College, Oxford): Diploma in Public International Law.
  Employment history
• 2007-present: Arbitrator in independent practice at 3 Verulam Buildings, Gray's Inn, London.
• 2000-2007: Head of International Arbitration, Denton Wilde Sapte LLP, London.
• 1997-2000: Solicitor, Masons LLP, London.
• 1992-1996: Solicitor, Norton Rose LLP, London and Paris.