Biography: Arbitration

"Laurie" Craig has over 40 years of experience in international arbitration acting in various capacities in a diversity of complex cases. He acts as an independent arbitrator in international arbitrations held in English and French to resolve international disputes governed by common law or civil law. He has also acted as an expert witness on international arbitration before national courts.

A chartered arbitrator since 2002, he frequently serves as a party appointed arbitrator, sole arbitrator and chairman of arbitral tribunals. He currently acts as arbitrator in several BIT investment cases, in a major Middle-Eastern construction dispute, and in several joint venture disputes involving Eastern European countries.

Presently co-chairman of the ICC committee for the revision of the ICC rules of arbitration, he is a former member of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce and has acted as counsel in more than 150 ICC arbitrations. He has frequent appointments as arbitrator in LCIA and AAA arbitrations as well as in arbitrations before the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), of which he is a member of the panel of arbitrators.

He has acted both as counsel, arbitrator, or expert in numerous international investment disputes involving sovereign states before the International Centre for Investment Disputes (ICSID) (including acting for the successful foreign investor in the Pyramids Plateau case) and in international construction and energy related matters (oil field operating agreements, LNG plant construction, etc). He was lead counsel (2006-2011) for investor in a major BIT arbitration against an Eastern European state (terminated by settlement in 2011).

He is the co-author (with WW Park and Jan Paulsson) of International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration, a leading text book on the subject, and with Michael Reisman, WW Park and Jan Paulsson), International Commercial Arbitration, a law school case book.

Laurie graduated (cum laude) from Harvard Law School in 1957 and received his doctorate from the Université de Paris II - Panthéon-Assas in 1981.

London office:

Essex Court Chambers

24 Lincoln's Inn Fields

London WC2A 3EG

wlc@craigarbitration.com