Maria Pradilla Picas focuses her practice on the arbitration and litigation of complex commercial and investment disputes, with a particular focus on Latin America. She has represented clients in investment treaty and commercial arbitration proceedings under UNCITRAL (United Nations Commission on International Trade Law), ICSID (International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes), and ICC (International Chamber of Commerce) rules.
Maria is currently assisting with two representations, brought under ICSID arbitration rules, against Uzbekistan pursuant to the Energy Charter Treaty and the Kazakhstan-Uzbekistan BIT. She is also representing a Canadian investor in proceedings against Kazakhstan in an UNCITRAL arbitration and a U.S. investor involved in ICC commercial arbitration proceedings against its Indian co-contractor.
Prior to joining Jones Day, Maria was co-chair of International Arbitration Month at Georgetown University Law Center, which brings together international arbitration practitioners and students for a month-long series of seminars and lectures. She was a member of Georgetown's Willem C. Vis International Arbitration Moot team and continues to participate as an arbitrator and volunteer assistant coach. She was born and raised in Venezuela and is a native Spanish speaker.
Experience
Speaking Engagements
- April 23, 2021
La importancia de las instrucciones legales en la actuación pericial y su influencia en la credibilidad del expert. II CONGRESO INTERNACIONAL DE DESTREZAS LEGALES del Instituto Peruano de Arbitraje (The Peruvian Arbitration Institute’s II International Congress on Legal Skills) - May 13, 2020
The Impact of COVID-19 on Foreign Direct Investment - June 15, 2018
De Ida Y Vuelta: Litigios y Arbitraje A Través del Atlántico - 13 junio, 2018
Arbitraje y litigios transnacionales en las nuevas tecnologías: Blockchain y Crytomonedas - April 2, 2018
2018 CIArb Conference: Arbitrating Disputes with Foreign Sovereigns and Sovereign-Owned Entities - "Career Transitions in the Field of International Arbitration" - October 30, 2017
Investment Structuring and Treaty Protection IABA - IIEL Conference - June 21, 2017
Global Disputes: Cross Border Arbitration and Litigation from the Spanish and American Perspectives - May 25, 2017
Judicial Assistance: Hague Service and Evidence Conventions; 28 U.S.C. 1782 - February 10, 2016
Effects of the Hague Convention on Choice of Court Agreements on International Arbitration (Moderator)
- Georgetown University (J.D. magna cum laude 2014; Order of the Coif; Staff Editor, Georgetown Immigration Law Journal); Florida International University (Master of International Business 2010; Beta Gamma Sigma); Loyola University New Orleans (B.S. in Economics and International Business magna cum laude 1996)
- District of Columbia and New York
- Member of the International Arbitration team ranked Band 1 in the 2021 edition of Chambers USA: The World's Leading Lawyers for Business
- Intern to the Honorable Cecilia M. Altonaga, U.S. District, Southern District of Florida (Spring 2012)
- Spanish