News & Insights Three Crowns announces new Counsel...

Three Crowns announces new Counsel in London and Paris, and Of Counsel appointment in Washington, DC

News 20th March 2024

Three Crowns announces today: the promotions of Richard Trinick and Ryan Manton to Counsel, in its London and Paris offices respectively. The firm also announces the appointment of Charles (Chuck) T. Kotuby, Jr, who joins the firm as of Counsel.

Richard Trinick joined Three Crowns’ London office as an associate in 2018. Over the previous 5 years he has acted as counsel in many complex, high-value commercial and investment treaty arbitrations, with a particular focus on energy, financial services, and joint venture disputes across a variety of jurisdictions. He has also been appointed as sole arbitrator in a financial services dispute. Richard is a solicitor-advocate qualified in England and Wales.

Amanda Schreiber, Executive Vice President, General Counsel of ContourGlobal said “Richard was a member of the 3C team that acted for us in a significant commercial arbitration involving a suite of interlocking and complex project agreements. Richard’s total command of the agreements and factual record, exhaustive preparation, and calm and unflappable on-his-feet advocacy helped the team achieve a decisive victory for which the company and our stakeholders are extremely gratified”.

Ryan Manton joined Three Crowns’ Paris office as an associate in 2016 after completing a doctorate at the University of Oxford. His experience extends across cases before a wide range of international tribunals, including as counsel for the Kingdom of Bahrain in a dispute with Qatar before the International Court of Justice and for Italy in a dispute with Panama before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea. He has also acted for private parties and States before numerous arbitral tribunals. He was a member of the counsel team that secured a US$2.4 billion award for Crescent Petroleum in its long-running dispute with the National Iranian Oil Company, and is a member of Crescent’s counsel team in a second multi-billion-dollar dispute against the same party. Ryan is qualified in New Zealand.

Drazen Petkovich, Executive Director, Legal, at Crescent Petroleum said “Ryan is, without doubt, one of the finest young arbitration lawyers of his generation. He has that much sought-after combination of formidable intellect with hard-nosed commercial practical nous, and appreciates the strategic as well as the technical elements of the case from the client’s perspective.”

Georgios Petrochilos KC, the firm’s executive partner, commented: “Richard and Ryan hold the respect and admiration of colleagues across the firm, and we are so pleased to welcome them into their richly deserved counsel roles.  Clients regularly seek both out for their strategic insights and practice excellence. We look forward to watching their careers develop at 3C.”

Charles (“Chuck”) T. Kotuby, Jr is a Professor of Practice at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law, an Honorary Professor at Durham Law School and a visiting Professor of Law at the Kyiv School of Economics. Formerly partner in the Global Disputes Practice at Jones Day in Washington DC, he has spent over 20 years representing multinational corporations and sovereign states in complex international disputes. He has been counsel to clients with treaty-based claims in Central Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East, and has appeared as counsel in international matters before the U.S. Supreme Court, the Court of Justice of the European Union, ICSID, UNCITRAL and ad hoc arbitral tribunals. He has published extensively on international arbitration and international law, including General Principles of Law and International Due Process, which he co-authored with Luke Sobota, a founding partner of Three Crowns. Chuck is qualified in Pennsylvania and the District of Columbia

Andres R. Romero-Delmastro, Chief Counsel, Chevron, said: “Chuck is a first-class arbitration and litigation advocate, who I’ve known for a number of years. Not only is he an established thought-leader in international law, but he also combines this with superb intellect and a genuine understanding of a client’s needs, making him a fantastic addition to the Three Crowns team”.

Ambassador David Lee Carden, former US Representative to the Association of Southeast Asian Nations and Jones Day partner, said: “I have had the opportunity to work with Chuck and can attest to his creativity in formulating real world solutions under international law. He sees the field, and knows how to move forward to achieve the goals of his clients.”

Commenting on Chuck, Georgios said: “We are similarly delighted to welcome Chuck to the firm as of counsel. As both an experienced practitioner and highly regarded academic, Chuck possesses a unique and highly valuable set of skills. His addition deepens our US offering, following the recent election Simon Consedine to the partnership.”

Across its five offices, Three Crowns has 18 partners. With these appointments Richard, Ryan and Chuck, join 5 existing Counsel and of Counsel that include Hamid Abdulkareem and Jonathan Fernandes (London), Penny Martin and Shaun Pereira (Singapore) and Donald (Trey) Childress III (Washington, DC).

Contact: Anish Patel, [email protected]

About Three Crowns

Three Crowns is a law firm dedicated to providing excellence in international arbitration and international law. With offices in London, Madrid, Paris, Singapore, and Washington, DC, the firm’s lawyers has been at the forefront of many of the most significant commercial, investment, and inter-State arbitral cases of the past decades. Three Crowns’ “one firm, one team” approach ensures that clients receive a seamless service and dedicated lawyers on every mandate. Visit www.threecrownsllp.com.