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Christopher Smith helps companies and individuals resolve their international disputes with other businesses and foreign governments. He has experience handling complex commercial and investment treaty arbitrations, as well as arbitration award enforcement litigation in the United States. Chris has represented clients in a variety of industries, including the energy (and particularly renewable energy), pharmaceutical, intellectual property, and insurance sectors.
In the field of commercial arbitration and litigation, Chris represents an Asian electronics manufacturer in a SIAC arbitration against another Asian electronics manufacturer involving a patent cross-license agreement and a U.S. and Swiss-based pharmaceutical company in an ICC arbitration against a Middle Eastern pharmaceutical company involving a dispute arising under a distributorship agreement.
Chris previously successfully represented a U.S. public utility in an ICDR arbitration against a Canadian supplier, involving a dispute arising out of a uranium fuel supply and conversion agreement. Prior to the issuance of an award, the parties settled the dispute on terms very favorable to Chris's client. Chris also successfully represented a pharmaceutical company in a Texas appellate litigation to enforce a partial final award in a dispute related to a joint venture agreement, which the Texas Supreme Court subsequently declined to review after written briefing. The AAA tribunal ultimately awarded Chris's client injunctive relief, after which Chris successfully enforced in a Texas district court the three arbitral awards rendered by the tribunal. Chris also successfully represented a U.S.-based equity fund in an ICDR arbitration against two U.S. and Swiss-based insurers arising out of a political risk insurance policy related to a mining investment in a CIS country.
In the investment treaty arena, Chris has extensive experience representing European investors in the solar, wind, and hydro sectors in over twenty investment treaty arbitrations under the Energy Charter Treaty arising out of several European States’ alterations to and abrogations of their renewable energy incentive regimes. Each of these disputes is administered by either ICSID or the SCC under their respective institutional rules, and involves amounts in dispute of approximately €25 million to €155 million. Tribunals in six of these matters have issued awards in favor of Chris's clients, including:
- An award of approximately €50 million, plus €3.9 million and US $3 million in costs and legal fees and interest at a highly favorable rate in a dispute with Spain;
- An award of approximately €34 million, plus over €1.5 million and a quarter-million US$ in costs and legal fees and interest at a favorable rate in a dispute with Spain;
- An award of approximately €42 million, plus over US $5.1 million and half a million € in costs and legal fees and interest at a favorable rate in a dispute with Spain;
- An award of €16 million, plus €2.2 million in costs and legal fees and interest at a favorable rate in a dispute with Italy;
- An award of approximately €12 million, plus approximately €1.9 in cost and legal fees and interest at a favorable rate in a dispute with Italy;
- An award of approximately €9.6 million, plus €1 million in costs and legal fees and interest at a favorable rate in a dispute with Italy.
Additionally, Chris advises several other investors in the renewable energy, conventional energy, and the mining sectors regarding potential claims against these and other States.
Chris has experience representing clients in arbitrations under the ICSID, SCC, ICDR, AAA, ICC, DIS, CAS, WIPO, SIAC, and ASA Rules.
Chris is currently a Regional Representative for North America to the International Chamber of Commerce's Young Arbitrators Forum. Between 2015 and 2019, Chris coached the University of Georgia School of Law’s Vis international commercial arbitration moot team.
Having worked for over two years in King & Spalding’s Paris office, Chris currently manages his global practice from King & Spalding's headquarters in Atlanta.
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