Three Crowns is pleased to announce the promotion of three new counsel: Alexandra van der Meulen (Paris), Penny Martin (London), and Simon Consedine (Washington, DC).
Alexandra has a broad practice covering inter-State, investment, and commercial disputes and practices in both English and French. She is an established specialist in public international law, and most recently represented the Kingdom of Bahrain before the International Court of Justice in two parallel appeals from decisions of the International Civil Aviation Council in cases brought by Qatar against Egypt, Saudi Arabia, the UAE, and Bahrain. Alexandra previously served as counsel to the Republic of Chile in the maritime boundary dispute Peru v. Chile and in the Bolivia v. Chile case. She teaches annual seminars on international dispute settlement at the University of Fribourg and the Paris Bar School. Alexandra is admitted in Paris and New York.
“Alexandra is very knowledgeable in public international law and at the same time has a practical and effective approach to handle cases,” said Mariana Durney, Director-General of Legal Affairs of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile. “She is extremely hard-working, organised, committed, meticulous, diligent, and thoughtful. On top of that, Alexandra is sensitive and attentive, being a pleasure to work with.”
Penny represents clients in both international commercial and investment treaty arbitrations and has expertise in public international law and international human rights law. Her most recent experience includes representing a group of international energy companies in an ICC arbitration with a Middle East State relating to claims arising out of a production sharing contract and representing two Cypriot entities in an investment treaty dispute arising from the cancellation of licences. Penny is co-author of the leading text on the appointment of international judges, “Selecting International Judges: Principle, Process and Politics” (OUP, 2010), with Professor Philippe Sands QC, Professor Kate Malleson, and Ruth Mackenzie. She is admitted to practice in England and Wales and Victoria, Australia.
“Penny has been an integral member of the Three Crowns team providing legal advice to Total on various complex files,” said Maxime Rabilloud, Director of Juridique and Accords at Total. “She always impresses with her proactivity and her client friendly approach. We are delighted to offer our congratulations to Penny on her promotion to counsel.”
Simon has significant experience in both international commercial and investment treaty arbitration, representing clients across a wide range of sectors including the oil and gas, energy, and construction industries. He is currently acting for Elliott Associates in its ongoing $700 million arbitration against the Republic of Korea and is advising a US and other international energy majors on a multibillion-dollar dispute with an African State arising out of production sharing contracts. Previously, Simon represented a Canadian rare earths minerals explorer in its expropriation claim against the Republic of Kyrgyzstan and represented the Governments of Ukraine and Tanzania in energy and construction disputes. He is admitted to practice in Washington, DC, New York, and New Zealand.
“This is an extremely well deserved promotion for a lawyer with formidable analytical skills and great client service,” commented Tom Sikora, Senior Counsel, International Disputes, at American multinational oil and gas corporation ExxonMobil.
Three Crowns executive partner Luke Sobota said, “Alexandra, Simon, and Penny’s promotions are signals of Three Crowns’ strength and commitment to fostering organic growth within the firm. Between them, they have a wealth of experience across our key arbitration offerings and we look forward to continuing to build this expertise.”
Together with Leilah Bruton (London), who joined the firm in November 2019, and Agustin G. Sanz (Washington, DC), Three Crowns now has five counsel across its four offices.