Mark A. Moran

Partner

• mmoran@steptoe.com
• vCard
• Washington Office

Mark A. Moran is a partner in the Washington office of Steptoe & Johnson LLP, where he is a part of the firm's international practice group. His practice centers on international trade and investment litigation and international arbitration.

For nearly 25 years, Mr. Moran has successfully litigated numerous high−profile trade and investment disputes in a variety of national and international fora, including U.S. courts, NAFTA dispute settlement panels, and panels convened before the World Trade Organization (WTO), where he has advised governments and private sector clients in more than 15 proceedings, and is among the few private lawyers to have argued (successfully) before the WTO Appellate Body.

Mr. Moran acted as lead counsel to the Canadian industry in the U.S.-Canada dispute over trade in softwood lumber, the most commercially significant and complex case ever filed under the US trade laws. Mr. Moran was the architect of a multi-forum litigation strategy that led to repeated victories against the United States and paved the way for a settlement that returned over $4 billion in duties to his clients.

Mr. Moran’s international arbitration experience has its roots in one of the largest and most complex cases litigated before the US-Iran Claims Tribunal, where the firm prosecuted claims in excess of $1 billion on behalf of a consortium of US oil companies. Since then, he has advised and represented clients in connection with arbitrations under the leading institution rules, including the International Chamber of Commerce, the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, the American Arbitration Association, the London Court of International Arbitration, and the ICSID. He also has acted as counsel in ad hoc arbitrations under the UNCITRAL Rules, including before the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration. Mr. Moran also has advised on investor-state dispute settlement issues arising under Bilateral Investment Treaties and NAFTA Chapter 11.

Recently, Mr. Moran was part of the Steptoe team that successfully obtained a pre-judgment attachment of over $300 million belonging to a subsidiary of the Venezuelan state-owned oil company in connection with an ICC arbitration arising from the expropriation of ExxonMobil’s assets in Venezuela.

Mr. Moran’s arbitration cases have involved claims stemming from turn-key construction projects, oil and gas concession agreements, aircraft services agreements, real estate development projects, telecommunications joint ventures, large-scale electric power projects, and international commodity trading.

Noteworthy

• Noted in Band 1, Chambers Global 2007-2011, The World's Leading Lawyers for Business, International Trade/WTO: Global
• Received a #1 Ranking in Chambers USA 2007-2011, America's Leading Business Lawyers; International Trade: Trade Remedies & Trade Policy
• Listed in Who's Who Legal for Trade & Customs in 2007-2011
• Listed in Best Lawyers of America 2008-2010 for International Trade and Finance Law
• Named a Leading Lawyer in International Trade by the Legal Times in 2007

Select News & Events

• Legal 500 US Honors Seven Practices and 23 Attorneys from Steptoe
• Chambers USA Honors 18 Steptoe Practices and 41 Attorneys
• Chambers Global Honors Nine Steptoe Practice Areas and 20 Attorneys
• Super Lawyers Honors 24 Steptoe Attorneys
• Six Steptoe Attorneys Named Top Lawyers by Washingtonian
• Best Lawyers in America Honors 43 Steptoe Attorneys

Selected Publications

• Claims Under the Administration Procedure Act Before the Court of International Trade
  A General Overview and Analysis of Significant Recent Jurisprudence
  March 15, 2007, University of Pennsylvania Journal of Economic Law

Professional Affiliations

• United States Council for International Business, Committee on Arbitration