Charles Kotuby is an international law counsel who represents multinational corporations and sovereign states in complex global disputes. He has acted in arbitrations and litigations across a range of sectors and industries, including oil and gas, aviation, and mining.
His practice is focused on investment arbitration and litigation involving foreign sovereigns and on novel issues of public and private international law. He has appeared as counsel in international matters before the United States Supreme Court, Court of Justice of the European Union, International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), and United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) tribunals. Charles has been counsel to Chevron in its multibillion dollar dispute in Ecuador and is currently both prosecuting and defending treaty-based claims in Central Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East. He also advises clients on political risk, investment protections, international border, and maritime issues.
According to Judge Stephen Schwebel, arbitrator and former president of the International Court of Justice, Charles is one of the world's "leading international counsel and advocates" (foreword to Kotuby & Sobota, General Principles of Law and International Due Process [Oxford 2017]). Charles's book on international law has been called "astute" (Judge James Crawford), "brilliant" (Pierre-Marie Dupuy), and a "signal contribution" (Judge Schwebel).
Charles is a Fellow in the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, an adjunct professor of law at the University of Pittsburgh and American University Washington College of Law, and a member of the United States Government Delegation to UNCITRAL Working Group III on Reforms to Investor-State Dispute Settlement and the U.S. State Department Advisory Committee on Private International Law.
Experience
Speaking Engagements
- October 12, 2019
ABILA International Law Week, "The Resilience of Judgments Recognition Initiatives" - March 8, 2019
ITF Meeting: General Principles of Law in Investment Arbitration, and the Hierarchy of Norms under International Law - March 1, 2018
"Applying 'General Principles of Law' to International Disputes," A CIArb Event - February 24, 2016
Why Major International Disputes Can Often Be Better Resolved in Arbitration - February 22, 2016
Commercial, Political, and Regulatory Risks in Foreign Operations - November 2, 2015
50th Anniversary of the 1965 Hague Service Convention and the 45th Anniversary of the 1970 Hague Evidence Convention - "What's Coming Next? Critical Challenges Facing the Conventions" - October 29, 2015
The SID-Washington Asia Pacific Workgroup: Rule of Law and Development: The Case for Myanmar - October 24, 2015
International Law Weekend: International Law in a Time of Chaos - Private International Law: Year in Review - October 6, 2015
Strategic Considerations in Negotiating and Drafting Arbitration Clauses in International Contracts, Jones Day/Pittsburgh and the Western Pennsylvania Chapter of the Association of Corporate Counsel - April 22, 2015
2015 Speakers Series: Commercial, Political, and Regulatory Risks: Bringing the Rule of Law to Your Foreign Investments - February 25, 2015
Executive Roundtable Series - Commercial, Political, and Regulatory Risks: Bringing the Rule of Law to Your Foreign Investments - February 2, 2015
Center for International Legal Education (20th Anniversary), University of Pittsburgh School of Law - "The Role of the Global Lawyer in Promoting the Rule of Law" - October 15, 2014
Oil & Gas Arbitration: A Primer on Dispute Resolution Clauses for Transactional Lawyers, YCAP, ICDR and AIPN event - February 4, 2014
Current Developments in Commercial Arbitration, panelist, Georgetown University Law Center, International Arbitration Month - October 24-26, 2013
Current Developments in International Law, ABILA International Law Weekend 2013: Internationalization of Law and Legal Practice - September 19-20, 2013
International Law Weekend, Midwest - The Legal Challenges of Globalization, Washington University School of Law - November 2, 2012
What is Private International Law? Duke Law School - 9/17/2012
The Future of International Aviation: Conflict or Cooperation?, International Aviation Law Conference, American University - October 25-26, 2007
Significant Education Law Developments, 2007 ABA Administrative Law Conference - June 27-28, 2007
First Annual Conference for the Journal of Private International Law, University of Birmingham
- University of Pittsburgh (J.D. cum laude 2001; Notes & Comments Editor, Journal of Law & Commerce; Winner of the 2000 Albert S. Pergam National Writing Competition and the 2001 University of Pittsburgh Faculty Award for Excellence in Legal Writing and Scholarship; B.A. cum laude 1997; Schenker Economics Prize winner); University of Durham (LL.M. in International and European Union Law with first class honours 2000; Rotary International Ambassadorial Scholar, 1999-2000)
- Pennsylvania; District of Columbia; U.S. Courts of Appeals for the Third, Fifth, Sixth, Ninth, and D.C. Circuits; and U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia
- Fellow, Max Planck Institute on Foreign and Private International Law, Hamburg, Germany (2002); Stagiaire attorney, Permanent Bureau of the Hague Conference on Private International Law, Netherlands (2000)
- Member of an arbitration team recognized by Global Arbitration Review as one of the leading international arbitration law firms in the 2020 edition of the GAR 30
- Law Clerk to the Honorable Joseph F. Weis, U.S. Court of Appeals, Third Circuit (2002-2004)