Profile: José I Astigarraga

Commercial Litigation

Biography: Commercial Litigation

José Astigarraga focuses his practice on international litigation and arbitration. Chambers Global Guide to the World's Leading Lawyers describes him as "a major figure for Latin American litigation and arbitration [who] represents large US, European and South American corporations". According to Chambers and Partners, "peers view [him] as the nation's leading Spanish-speaking arbitration practitioner."

In his 29 years of practice, Astigarraga has handled a variety of commercial and international litigation cases. He has defended and prosecuted substantial international business disputes in state and federal courts in the US, and he has lectured extensively on litigation and arbitration issues. He has served as an officer of the Civil Procedure Rules Committee of the Florida Bar. Recently, he achieved an award of over US$52 million on behalf of his client in a dispute arising out of a licensing dispute in the Mercosur region. With his intimate knowledge of the local language, rules and culture, he frequently also handles complex business disputes in the region that have sensitive political, criminal and regulatory ramifications.

Astigarraga was one of the 10 Americans initially appointed by the US government to advise the NAFTA Commission on international arbitration and dispute resolution. He was appointed by the US Department of State to represent the US as an expert delegate at the Inter-American Conference on Private International Law convened by the Organization of American States. He has served as a consultant for the World Bank on Latin American legal issues, the bank having published the assessment he co-authored on Latin American insolvency systems.

In addition to acting as an advocate, he is frequently selected to serve as arbitrator, co-arbitrator or chair before the major international arbitration institutions. He serves as vice president on the 35-member London Court of International Arbitration and is vice chair of the International Bar Association's worldwide International Arbitration Committee. He is vice chair of the board of the National Law Center for Inter-American Free Trade, a research and advisory centre dedicated to the modernisation and harmonisation of commercial laws in the hemisphere.

Most recently recognised in the Best Lawyers in America, his clients include Fortune 500 companies, major US and European banks, government-owned companies as well as Latin American enterprises.