David Weiss is in King & Spalding’s International Arbitration Group.

Mr. Weiss concentrates on investor-state arbitration, commercial disputes in Latin America, and disputes in the energy industry.  He also has signficant experience regarding post-M&A disputes. As a partner at King & Spalding, David has participated, and taken a lead role, in several of the largest and most complex international arbitrations in recent years and successfully obtained multiple awards whose value exceeded US$ 1 billion.

International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague (PCA). 

Since 2017, Mr. Weiss has regularly been named to Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration – Future Leaders. In its 2023 Rankings, Legal 500 Latin American designated David Weiss as “Recommended” with the following client testimonial:

“David is an extraordinary professional. He has a very broad knowledge of international law but is also very detailed and incisive in the factual aspects and the singularities of each case, which gives him a depth and overview that is not easy to match.”

Mr. Weiss graduated from The University of Texas School of Law, with honors, where he was a member of the Texas International Law Journal and the International Arbitration Moot Court Team.  Mr. Weiss spent one semester of law school at the Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de São Paulo (USP) in São Paulo, Brazil.  Before law school, Mr. Weiss graduated, with Phi Beta Kappa honors, from the University of Richmond, magna cum laude, with majors in Diplomacy and Political Science.  He spent one semester of his undergraduate studies at the Universidad Torcuato Di Tella in Buenos Aires, Argentina.

Representative Experience

• Representing Chevron Corporation in an UNCITRAL arbitration in which we successfully obtained an award worth over US$ 9 billion against Ecuador for denial of justice, violation of an investment agreement, and breach of the U.S.-Ecuador bilateral investment treaty.
• Representing a subsidiary of Paper Excellence in a multi-billion-dollar ICC arbitration against J&F regarding the sale of pulp producing company named Eldorado. In 2021, we obtained a successful award on liability. Currently, this matter is the most high-profile arbitration in Brazil and regularly received front-page coverage in the Brazilian business media.
• Representing Webuild in an ICSID Arbitration against Argentina for failing to restore the economic equilibrium of a toll-road concession.
• Represented Union Gas Fenosa in an ICSID arbitration in which we successfully obtained an award of over US$ 2 billion against Egypt for improer interference in a natural gas sale purchase agreement.
• Represented a U.S. mining company in an UNCITRAL arbitration against Peru for expropriation a large, smelting complex.
• Represented a Brazilian pharmaceutical company against a major international pharmaceutical company in an ICC arbitration that concerned a post-M&A dispute worth over US$ 100 million.
• Represented a Fortune 100 company in conducting a worldwide review of projects and investments to maximize investment-treaty protection.
• Represented a Brazilian company against a major U.S. private equity fund in an ICC arbitration that concerned post-M&A dispute worth over US$ 500 million regarding a technology company in Brazil.
• Represented a major U.S. energy company in an UNCITRAL arbitration against an Asian country regarding decommissioning liability worth over US$ 1 billion in potential liability.
• Represented Chevron Corporation in an UNCITRAL arbitration in which we successfully obtained an award worth US$ 700 million less taxes against Ecuador for violation of the US-Ecuador bilateral investment treaty as a result of Ecuador’s courts’ undue delay of seven breach-of-contract cases.
• Represented Impregilo in an ICSID arbitration against Argentina and obtained a favorable award for the unlawful termination of a water-and-sewage concession contract.
• Represented Enron Creditors Recovery Corp. Ponderosa Assets, L.P. during the annulment phase of its ICSID case against Argentina for abrogating dollar tariffs and inflationary adjustments in the gas sector.
• Represented Sempra Energy during the annulment phase of its ICSID case against Argentina for abrogating dollar tariffs and inflationary adjustments in the gas sector.
• Represented Exxon in its ICSID case against Argentina for measures taken against gas production companies.
• Represented a major U.S. energy company in an ICC arbitration against a joint-venture partner in a West African, off-shore project.
• Represented a U.S. energy company in an arbitration administered by the ICC against a state-owned, electricity-distribution company in the Dominican Republic.
• Represented an individual in a potential denial-of-justice claim under an investment treaty against a European country. The matter settled on terms favorable to our client.
• Obtained a favorable arbitration award in an ICC Arbitration representing a U.S. company in a commercial dispute with its Brazilian partner concerning a real-estate development project in São Paulo, Brazil.
• Advised a major U.S. energy company on the implications of particular treaties during the course of that company’s negotiations to extend an oil-and-gas concession with a sovereign government.

Publications

• Overview of Principles Reducing Damages, in Global Arbitration Review - The Guide to Damages in International Arbitration (John A. Trenor, ed., 2016) (co-author with Craig Miles);
• Systematic Advocacy: A Guide to Cross-Examination in International Arbitration, 13 Revista Brasiliera de Arbitragem, Issue 51, pp. 99-132 (2016) (co-author with Harry Burnett);
• Distorted Mirrors: Perceived Disagreements Obfuscate the General Principle of Law that a Heightened Standard of Proof Applies to Corruption Allegations in International Arbitration, in 9 Investment Treaty Arbitration and International Law 291 (Ian A. Laird, Borzu Sabahi, Frederic G. Sourgens, & Todd Weiler, eds., 2016).

Recent Speaking Engagements

• Panelist in a conference hosted by the American Society of International Law titled: “Carving Out a Path Forward? Fossil Fuels, Climate Change, and the Influence of a Revised ECT, Texas A&M University School of Law, Fort Worth, Texas, September 2022.
• Moderator of Hybrid Seminar hosted by the Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce titled: “Hot Topics related to Arbitration Seated in, or related to, Brazil, New York City, New York, November 2021.
• Panelist in a conference hosted by the American-Chile Chamber of Commerce titled: “Investment-Related Dispute Resolution Mechanisms” hosted by Columbia Global Centers and Amcham Chile; Panel: “Dispute Resolution Mechanisms in Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) and Free Trade Agreements (FTAs)”, Virtual Conference, July, 2021.
• Panelist in Webinar hosted by Canal Arbitragem: “Brazil Hard Talk: Expert Evidence in International Arbitration,” Virtual, August 2020.
• Panelist speaking on international arbitration at an Oil & Gas conference organized by the University of Houston School of Law and the Mattos Filho Law Firm, Houston, Texas, August, 2019.
• ICSID International Arbitration Workshop, International Arbitration Energy Conference, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators: Caribbean Branch Conference, Georgetown, Guyana, April 2018.
• Compliance with Local Law Clauses and Original Intent – a Natural or Problematic Evolution?, Twelfth Annual Investment Treaty Arbitration, Washington DC, USA, March 2018.
• Applicable Law in Environmental Counterclaims, Third Annual Houston Conference on Oil and Gas Investment Arbitration, Houston, USA, September 2016.
• Medidas cautelares en el arbitraje de inversión (Interim Measures in Investment Arbitration), Segundo Congreso Centroamericano de Arbitraje de Inversión, San Salvador, El Salvador, February 2016.
• Burdens and Standards of Proof for Corruption – is the allegation of claimant corruption by a state a sufficient basis on which tribunals may deny an investment claim?, Ninth Annual Investment Treaty Arbitration Conference, Washington DC, USA, February 2015.
• La utilización de la cláusula de la nación más favorecida (Use of the Most-Favored-Nation Clause), Primero Congreso Centroamericano de Arbitraje de Inversión, San Salvador, El Salvador, January 2015.
• Papel das Instituições Arbitrais no Fomento ao Desenvolvimento da Arbitragem (The Role of Arbitral Institutions in Fostering the Development of Arbitration), Primeiro Congresso Pan-Americano de Arbitragem, São Paulo, Brasil, October 2014.
• Relevancia del derecho doméstico en la interpretación de los tratados bilaterales de inversión y su rol como ley aplicable en la solución de controversias inversor-Estado (The Relevance of Domestic Law in the Interpretation of Bilateral Investment Treaties and its Role as the applicable law in Investment Disputes), Segundo Seminario Internacional de Arbitraje de Inversión, Instituto Peruano de Arbitraje, Lima, Perú, October 2014

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