Kamel Aitelaj

Partner | Litigation

About
Credentials
Experience
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About

Kamel Aitelaj is a partner in our International Disputes practice group. Kamel’s practice focuses on complex international dispute resolution and matters of public international law. He has represented sovereigns and multinationals (energy and mining, transportation, space, biosciences) in a wide range of proceedings, including investment treaty-based arbitration and commercial arbitration conducted under most major arbitration rules, and in proceedings before U.S. Federal Courts, as well as Singapore, The Hague and Paris courts.

  • Kamel is a former legal associate at the World Bank who assisted ICSID arbitral tribunals in the landmark cases Pey Casado v. Chile, Fraport v. Philippines, Indorama v. Egypt, Spyridon Roussalis v. Romania, and Al Tamimi v. Qatar.

    Kamel also has substantial experience in matters involving sovereign immunity and award enforcement. He regularly advises on matters of international law issues, including transboundary watercourses and human rights.

    Kamel is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a former member of the Energy Charter Secretariat Legal Advisory Task Force and a former member of the CPR Brazil Advisory Board.

    Kamel is a native French speaker. He is proficient in Portuguese and Spanish.

Practices

  • Arbitration and Mediation

  • International Disputes

Admissions

  • District of Columbia

  • New York

  • Paris

  • England and Wales (called to the Bar, Middle Temple)

  • U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit

  • U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York

  • U.S. Supreme Court

Education

  • University of Pennsylvania, LL.M.

  • Université Panthéon-Assas, LL.M.

  • Université de Paris, LL.B.

Languages

  • French

  • Portuguese

  • Spanish

Experience

  • Milbank LLP

  • The World Bank

Representative Matters

  • Representation of the Government of Mongolia in an arbitration administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration against Chinese state-owned enterprises following the revocation of a license to one of the largest iron-ore mines in the country.

  • Representation of the Government of Mongolia in UNCITRAL arbitration proceedings against Russian investors arising from the passage of a windfall tax following historic increases in the price of gold.

  • Representation of the Government of Mongolia in an arbitration brought under the rules of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce by a British-Australian investor for alleged breached of the Energy Charter Treaty.

  • Advising the Government of Pakistan in connection with a state-to-state dispute.

  • Representation of a satellite company in UNCITRAL arbitration proceedings against the Russian Federation under the UK-Russian bilateral investment treaty involving armed conflict and sanctions issues.

  • Representation of the operator of the Metrorail system in Manila in UNCITRAL arbitration proceedings against the Government of the Philippines, arising under a Build Lease Transfer agreement for the construction, operation and expansion of Line 3 of the Manila Metro Rail Transit System.

  • Representation of a Canadian mining company in a dispute against the Government of Mexico for failure to adhere to its obligations under the North-American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA).

  • Representation of the Canadian owner of a solar power plant in Salta, Argentina in ICC arbitration proceedings against a Chinese EPC contractor regarding delays in construction and responsibility for penalties imposed by the offtaker.

  • Representation of Goldman Sachs Infrastructure Partners and Grupo Bursatil Mexicano as the developers and owners of two wind turbine electric generating facilities in Tamaulipas, Mexico, through investment vehicles called Eolica Tres Mesas, in ICDR arbitration proceedings arising under agreements for the provision of engineering, procurement, construction and related services by Abengoa de Mexico as general contractor.

  • Representation of Bayer CropScience in a dispute administered by the ICC against Dow AgroSciences, who exceeded the terms of its French law-governed license and thus committed acts of infringement by impermissibly using Bayer’s proprietary technology – an herbicide resistant gene.

  • Representation of ABS Global, a satellite services provider, in ICC arbitration proceedings brought against KT Sat, South Korea’s largest telecommunications and satellite company, regarding title and ownership of the disputed satellite.

  • Representation of a Hong-Kong trading company in HKIAC arbitration proceedings against Korean asset managers regarding the transfer of assets onto a blockchain-powered trading platform.

  • Represented the owner of Bloomberry Resorts and Hotels, Inc. and Sureste Properties Inc., one of four licensed casino operators in the Philippines, in a $1 billion breach of contract dispute related to the first integrated casino resort to open in Entertainment City in Manila.

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