Blair is an associate in the Paris office. He has experience in a variety of international commercial arbitrations under several institutional rules in industries including energy, concessions, automotive, and construction. He also has experience in investor-State arbitration, as well as in advising States and non-governmental organisations on matters of public international law, with a focus on human rights and national security.
Blair has made numerous appearances in the New Zealand courts, including the High Court, and was the sole solicitor acting on a two-year bifurcated commercial arbitration, with favourable awards upheld on appeal. His note, “Cutting Submarine Cables: The Legality of the Use of Force in Self-Defense” was published in the Duke Journal of Comparative & International Law, and he has been a recurring New Zealand contributor to the World Bank’s “Women, Business and the Law” reports.
Blair holds an LLM from Duke University School of Law in the U.S., where he graduated magna cum laude, was a Staff Editor for the Duke Journal of Comparative and International Law, and contributed to submissions to the U.S. Department of State’s Commission on Unalienable Rights as part of the International Human Rights Clinic. He also graduated from the University of Otago in New Zealand with an LLB and a BA. Whilst there he won the SDS International Business Case Competition with the Otago Business School team and spent time studying at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen in Germany. Blair is admitted to practise in New Zealand and New York.
Bar and court admissions
Languages
English
Advising a European subsidiary of a significant Asian LNG trader in respect of a variety of issues arising under back-to-back LNG supply and purchase agreements and representing it in ICC and LCIA price-review arbitrations, with English law applying
Representing an international energy company in a multibillion-dollar ad hoc commercial arbitration arising out of a national oil company’s failure to supply gas under a long-term contract
Representing a Middle Eastern company in an LCIA arbitration brought against it by a major Japanese automotive manufacturer following termination of a distribution agreement
Representing a European gambling operator in an ad hoc investor-State arbitration against the Czech Republic
Successfully defending a major Middle Eastern natural gas company’s termination of a sale and purchase agreement in an expedited LCIA arbitration
Defending a Balkan State in an LCIA arbitration regarding the termination of a long-term lease and development agreement
Advising a European State-owned gas corporation in respect of various legal issues arising under a long-term gas supply agreement following Russia’s invasion of Ukraine
- LLM, Duke University School of Law
- LLB, University of Otago
- BA, University of Otago