Steven K. Davidson

Partner

• sdavidson@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Washington Office

Steve Davidson is a partner with the Washington office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he is a member of the Litigation and International Departments. His practice focuses on the litigation, negotiation, arbitration, and mediation of a wide range of complex commercial disputes and torts (particularly cross-border disputes), as well as bankruptcy matters, legal malpractice cases, and white collar criminal defense. He is head of Steptoe’s commercial litigation group.

He has handled numerous jury and bench trials in district, state, and bankruptcy courts and appears frequently in these courts.

He has also handled various proceedings before arbitral bodies organized by, among others, the International Centre for Resolution of Investment Disputes, the International Chamber of Commerce ("ICC"), the Zurich Chamber of Commerce, the American Arbitration Association, and JAMS. Mr. Davidson has been appointed as an arbitrator in matters before the ICC.

He has particular experience in seeking the recognition and enforcement of judgments and arbitral awards in courts around the world, and in seeking pre-judgment remedies in these cases. As part of this practice, he has also appeared frequently on behalf of creditors in bankruptcy courts throughout the United States.

In addition, he has been involved in numerous cases involving disputes over technology (including patents), licenses, and access to and/or misappropriation of trade secrets/confidential information.

He has also served as an expert witness in numerous attorneys’ fee disputes.

In particular, Mr. Davidson has represented Motorola in its claims against the Uzan family, which formerly owned the Turkish telecom company Telsim, concerning fraudulent conduct in connection with a $2 billion loan. He and the Steptoe team obtained a world-wide freezing order in the London commercial courts, which was affirmed by the English Court of Appeals; froze and liquidated assets worldwide; and obtained a fully-contested fraud judgment for $2.13 billion in compensatory damages and a punitive damages judgment for $1 billion in federal court in New York City. These judgments were affirmed by the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. In addition, Mr. Davidson led the Steptoe arbitration team which obtained a $2 billion award in favor of Motorola and against Telsim following contested evidentiary proceedings before the Zurich Chamber of Commerce. The Steptoe team then successfully enforced the arbitral award in various countries in Europe and in the United States.

Mr. Davidson also represents multi-national oil companies in their worldwide efforts to obtain pre-award, interim measures against state-owned oil companies, and in their efforts to recognize and enforce their arbitral awards. In particular, he represents ExxonMobil in its efforts to collect on sums owed to it by PDVSA, the state-owned oil company of Venezuela, and its subsidiaries. Since 2008, he has been the lead counsel acting on behalf of ExxonMobil in obtaining a series of pre-award, attachment and freezing orders world-wide, including attaching over $300 million in cash in a proceeding in the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Noteworthy

• Euromoney's Expert Guide to the World's Leading Litigation Lawyers (2010)

Select News & Events

• "Protecting Your Company Against The Evaporating Attorney-Client Privilege," WMACCA Global Issues Forum, October 19, 2011
• How to Handle Distribution and Agency Issues in International Commercial Arbitration, American University Washington College of Law’s Eighth Annual Seminar
• Speaker, "Testimonial Evidence: Examination-In-Chief, Cross-Examination, and Re-Examination," June 16, 2011, 22nd Annual ITA Workshop – The Merits Hearing: Getting the Message to the Tribunal, Dallas, TX
• Steven Davidson on IBA/Institute for Energy Law, International Oil and Gas Law Conference Panel, November 2008
• Steven Davidson on IBA Panel, IBA Annual Meeting, October 15, 2008
• Judge Says Exxon Mobil Likely to Win Dispute

Selected Publications

• Focus Europe: Turkish Bath
  Winter 2007, American Lawyer