Biography: Arbitration

Martin Valasek specialises in international arbitration, regularly acting as lead counsel in investor-state and commercial contract disputes, and also serving as arbitrator. He also practices corporate and commercial litigation with a particular focus on cross-border disputes. He is frequently called upon to advise clients on the drafting of dispute resolution provisions for complex transactions, and to counsel them on how to avoid costly disputes once issues have arisen.

He has participated in many international arbitrations, covering a wide range of legal systems and industries, including aerospace, airport development, banking, construction, mining, energy, environmental remediation, IT outsourcing, lotteries and steel manufacturing. He has extensive experience with arbitrations conducted under the ICC, LCIA, ICSID and UNCITRAL Rules, and has also handled matters under various other ad hoc and institutional rules. He also has extensive experience with investment disputes under BITs, NAFTA and the Energy Charter Treaty.

In 2011, Mr Valasek was named to Global Arbitration Review's "45 under 45" list of leading practitioners in the field of international arbitration under the age of 45. He has also been recognised in the Guide to the World's Leading Experts in Commercial Arbitration, The International Who's Who of Commercial Arbitration and Global Arbitration Review 100. In 2007, he was named one of Lexpert's 'Top 40 Lawyers Under 40' for Canada.

Mr Valasek is a member of the bars of Québec, Ontario and New York. He is a member of the Canadian Bar Association, the International Bar Association (IBA) and the Canadian national committee of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). He is a member of the IBA's investment arbitration subcommittee. He served as president of the Young Canadian Arbitration Practitioners (YCAP) from 2007-2010, as Canadian representative of the ICC's Young Arbitrators' Forum (YAF) from 2008-2010, and as regional representative for North America (Canada) of the Young International Arbitration Group (YIAG) of the LCIA from 2006 to 2009. He is president of the the Bach Académie de Montréal, a director of the Andover Canadian Fund Inc, and a member of the advisory board of the McGill International Journal of Sustainable Development Law and Policy. Martin was educated at Harvard College and McGill University's Faculty of Law, where he obtained degrees in both common law and civil law. He was editor in chief of the McGill Law Journal/Revue de droit de McGill, and clerked for Mr Justice Gonthier of the Supreme Court of Canada.

He is fluent in English, French and Czech, and has a working knowledge of Spanish.

On 1 January 2012, Norton Rose OR merges with Macleod Dixon to become Norton Rose Canada.