Aceris Law is pleased to announce that it has assisted another client in resolving another long-running international dispute via ICC mediation, without the need to resort to more costly and time-consuming ICC arbitration. Aceris Law often assists clients in resolving international disputes via mediation, which can be done even if an international arbitration is already in progress. It also recently assisted an American client in resolving a large dispute against a Chinese counterparty in the solar energy industry.
The dispute, subject to New York law, concerned two complex project financing agreements for two eco-tourism projects located in France, provisional measures being sought in the United States, parallel court proceedings taking place in France, banking law issues, and French public financing issues. After assisting our client to terminate the agreements on the basis of repudiation, our client raised EUR 25 million of claims under the agreements and pursuant to New York law. In response, counterclaims of approximately USD 100 million were alleged against our client. Aceris Law faced a large international corporate law firm, and complex valuation and legal issues were in play.
While the need for ICC arbitration to resolve the dispute appeared likely, thanks to the intervention of a skilled mediator the parties were able to paper over their differences and to reach a compromise that preserved both parties’ business interests following numerous exchanges.
While our client was obliged to pursue ICC mediation due to the terms of the project financing agreements, Aceris Law does advise clients to pursue mediation whenever all parties show a willingness to resolve a dispute in an amicable manner. The advantages are manifold: ICC mediation is far less expensive than ICC arbitration, disputes can be resolved in a matter of months via mediation whereas the majority of ICC arbitrations take well over one year, the parties are more likely to preserve their business relationships, and expensive and time-consuming enforcement proceedings before State courts, which can take longer than arbitration depending on the jurisdiction in question, may be avoided.
William Kirtley, Isabela Monnerat Mendes and Anne-Sophie Partaix were the primary lawyers involved in the matter.
Aceris Law’s specificities are that its highly-competent lawyers are constantly accessible to clients, regardless of the client’s jurisdiction, it has a nearly unbeaten track record of success, and it always charges reasonable legal fees to resolve complex international disputes.
