International Commercial Arbitration
International commercial arbitration resolves disputes between parties in different countries without the procedural complexity, discovery burden, and enforcement difficulty of cross-border litigation. For companies doing business across borders — particularly between the U.S. and Latin America — arbitration is often the only realistic path to a binding and enforceable resolution.
We represent parties in international commercial arbitration proceedings and advise clients from contract negotiation through enforcement. Our work spans institutional proceedings under ICC, ICDR, JAMS, and other rules, as well as ad hoc arbitrations governed by the UNCITRAL Rules or by agreement.
We represent parties in arbitration proceedings under the leading institutional rules: ICC, ICDR (the international division of the AAA), JAMS International, and LCIA. We also handle ad hoc proceedings under UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules and arbitrations before regional institutions including those in Latin America. We advise on institution selection at the contract stage — before a dispute arises — and manage the full proceeding when one does.
The arbitration clause is where disputes are won or lost before they start. A poorly drafted clause can make arbitration non-binding, expose a party to parallel court proceedings, or put the dispute in a seat that disfavors enforcement. We draft and review arbitration provisions for commercial contracts, investment agreements, joint ventures, shareholders' agreements, and cross-border transactions — with particular attention to seat, governing law, institution selection, number of arbitrators, language, and confidentiality.
When a dispute requires immediate action before a tribunal is constituted, the ICC and ICDR emergency arbitrator procedures allow parties to seek binding interim relief within days. We advise on when emergency arbitration is available and appropriate versus seeking interim relief from a court, and we manage emergency proceedings including the preparation of urgent applications and hearings.
The New York Convention (ratified by 172 countries) provides a treaty framework for enforcing foreign arbitral awards in U.S. federal court. Miami's federal courts — the Southern District of Florida — are an established enforcement jurisdiction for awards against LATAM parties with U.S. assets. We handle award enforcement proceedings from petition through execution, including addressing Article V defenses raised by the award debtor.
A party who believes an award was obtained through arbitrator misconduct, procedural irregularity, or a decision on issues outside the scope of the submission may petition a court to vacate or modify the award. We advise on the limited grounds available under the FAA and the New York Convention, and represent parties in vacatur proceedings in U.S. federal court.
Many significant disputes are resolved — or avoided — before arbitration is filed. We advise companies on the legal landscape of their cross-border contracts, assess the strength of potential claims and defenses, analyze arbitration clauses, identify procedural strategy, and conduct pre-filing negotiations. When settlement is achievable without arbitration, we help clients get there.
For parties with cross-border contracts, arbitration provides what litigation cannot: a neutral forum that neither party controls, a process not governed by the local court rules of the opposing party's home country, an award enforceable in 172 countries under the New York Convention, and a level of confidentiality that court proceedings do not provide. These advantages are particularly significant for U.S.-Latin America commercial disputes, where differences in procedural law, judicial efficiency, and enforcement infrastructure make arbitration the practical choice for serious commercial matters.
Miami's position as the commercial hub for U.S.-LATAM business makes it a natural seat for international arbitration involving parties from both regions. The Southern District of Florida has an established body of case law on New York Convention enforcement — including cases involving Article V defenses frequently raised by LATAM award debtors — and the court's jurisdiction over assets held by LATAM parties in Florida makes it an effective enforcement venue even when the arbitration itself took place in Miami, New York, or abroad.
We bring particular experience to arbitrations involving Latin American parties, contracts, or assets. Rafael Recalde's background — including legal work coordinating across 24 Latin American jurisdictions at Citigroup and regulatory experience at the SEC — informs his approach to disputes that require navigating both U.S. and LATAM legal frameworks. We work in English and Spanish at equal depth.
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