Laura Franca Pereira

Laura França Pereira

Associate

Madrid

Laura is a senior associate in the Madrid office. She specialises in international commercial and investor-State arbitration and has extensive experience acting in complex and high-value disputes across a range of sectors, including banking & finance, energy, oil & gas, infrastructure, aerospace, and food & beverages. Laura has acted in proceedings under several arbitration rules, including ICC, ICSID, UNCITRAL, LCIA, AAA-ICDR, and CAM-CCBC.

Laura has been ranked as a “Future Leader” for arbitration by Who’s Who Legal and as a “Recommended Lawyer” for International Arbitration by Legal 500 in its Latin America ranking.

Laura holds an LLM from Harvard Law School and an LLB from University of São Paulo, where she graduated first in her class. She studied at Sciences Po Paris, as part of her Bachelor’s degree program, where she graduated summa cum laude.

Laura also maintains an active pro bono practice focused on the defence of human rights. She is representing the owners of a media group against a Latin American State in a claim filed before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights arising from alleged violations of the American Convention on Human Rights in relation to, inter alia, freedom of expression and the right to property. She also worked with REDRESS on a pro bono project promoting balanced gender representation in UN human rights organs and mechanisms.

Laura has held roles in several organisations, including co-chair of the CPR International Mediation Competition, events commissioner at the Harvard International Arbitration Law Students Association, and president of the Brazilian Association of Arbitration Students. She also regularly publishes and speaks on a range of topics including arbitration, dispute resolution, contracts, and commercial law.

Laura speaks English, Portuguese, French, and Spanish, and is dual-qualified in civil law and common law, being admitted to practice in New York, Washington, DC (Special Legal Consultant), and Brazil.

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Bar and court admissions

New York

Brazil

Approved to be licensed as a Special Legal Consultant in the District of Columbia

Languages

English

French

Portuguese

Spanish

  • Representing a US aerospace multinational in a billion-dollar ICDR arbitration against a Latin American aerospace company arising out of the termination of agreements to establish and operate joint ventures in the commercial and defence aviation sectors

  • Representing a leading US private equity firm in two parallel ICC arbitrations involving claims of fraud and breach of warranty arising from a share purchase agreement for the acquisition of a Latin American company

  • Representing the Republic of Chile in its ICSID arbitration with a Colombian construction and power distribution company under the Chile-Colombia Free Trade Agreement

  • Representing Sacyr in its UNCITRAL investment arbitration against the Republic of Panama arising from the Expansion of the Panama Canal

  • Representing a Latin-American oil & gas and petrochemical company in its UNCITRAL investment treaty dispute with Ecuador

  • Representing a consortium of leading oil and gas companies in its UNCITRAL arbitration against a South American State arising out of tax liabilities and threats to take control of an oil pipeline

  • Representing a Spanish bank in an ICC arbitration against an American bank relating to post-acquisition claims under a business transfer agreement

  • Representing an Asia-based investment manager in an AAA arbitration against an US-based asset manager relating to a seed investment

  • Representing Naturgy in its billion-dollar investment treaty claim against Colombia relating to the regulatory framework for the supply of electricity

  • Representing the Kingdom of Bahrain in an investment treaty dispute arising out of the alleged expropriation of an Iranian-owned bank and involving questions of international sanctions and banking regulations

  • LL.M., Harvard Law School - Person of the Year Fellowship, Brazilian-American Chamber of Commerce
  • LL.B., University of São Paulo - First in Class (Best Student Prize)