Tom Villalon

Associate

Washington, DC

Tom is an associate in the Washington, DC office. He has significant experience representing clients in a wide range of international arbitrations under most major institutional rules, with a particular focus on disputes across Asia and Latin America. Tom has represented and advised clients from an array of industries, including construction, mining & metals, post-M&A, biotech, and pharmaceuticals.

Tom holds a J.D., cum laude, from the University of Hawaii School of Law, and a B.A with Honors from Dartmouth College. While in law school, he won first-place individual oralist for the global International Environmental Law Moot Court competition. He is the host of The China Arbitrator, a Mandarin language arbitration podcast dedicated to understanding Asian views of the practice of international arbitration. He is also the co-founder of Rescue Afghan Women Now, an organization dedicated to rescuing high-risk Afghan women from Taliban capture and execution.

Tom is admitted to practice in California, New York, and Washington DC. He speaks English, Spanish, Chinese, and Korean, and is conversant in Arabic (Egyptian dialect) and Farsi.

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Bar and court admissions

California

New York

Washington, DC

Languages

English

Chinese (Mandarin)

Spanish

Korean

  • Representing a global gold company in a UNCITRAL arbitration in connection with a South American bi-national mega mining project

  • Representing the subsidiary of a Chinese State-Owned entity in an ICC arbitration concerning a mega mining project in Latin America

  • Representing a US non-profit company in a dispute arising from the faulty construction of a women’s hospital in rural Burundi, prevailing on 100% of the client’s claims and awarding 100% of the client’s costs

  • Representing a major Korean construction conglomerate in a Hanoi-seated arbitration under VIAC rules

  • Representing a Chinese bio-tech company in a post-M&A dispute against a Korean private equity fund in a Hong-Kong seated arbitration under HKIAC rules

  • Representing a Korean pharmaceutical company against a German competitor in a Tokyo-seated arbitration under ICC rules

  • Representing a Korean client in a nuclear construction dispute against a North American supplier for an arbitration seated in Seoul under KCAB Rules

  • J.D, University of Hawaii
  • B.A, Dartmouth College