Thomas Innes

Investment Treaty Arbitration – ICSID and ad hoc

• Joint lead counsel to investors in a dispute with The Republic of Zimbabwe arising from breaches of a bilateral investment treaty. Concerned investments in agriculture projects. Our clients were awarded restitution and damages (alternatively $196 million in damages), plus their full legal costs and interest. Bernhard von Pezold & Ors v. The Republic of Zimbabwe. ICSID arbitration. ICSID Case No. ARB/10/15. We successfully resisted Zimbabwe's application for the award to be annulled. Currently leading a multi-jurisdictional enforcement process. 
• Lead counsel (since April 2023) to a US telecommunications company in an arbitration against Colombia arising from Colombia's termination of the investor's concession. The proceeding is being brought pursuant to the US-Colombia Trade Promotion Agreement. Vercara, LLC (formerly Security Services, LLC, formerly Neustar, Inc.) v. Republic of Colombia. ICSID arbitration. ICSID Case No. ARB/20/7. Ongoing.
• Joint lead counsel to a State in respect of an investment dispute arising from its alleged breaches of a bilateral investment treaty. A v. State B, ad hoc
• Counsel to investors in a NAFTA Chapter Eleven arbitration arising out of the summary termination without compensation of Ontario's greenhouse gas emissions control cap-and-trade program. Koch Industries, Inc. and Koch Supply & Trading, LP v. Government of Canada.ICSID arbitration. ICSID Case No. ARB/20/52. Concluded, claims dismissed on jurisdictional grounds.
• Counsel to investors in an ICSID arbitration against an African State relating to the expropriation of a substantial aquaculture enterprise by The Gambia. West African Aquaculture Ltd v. The Republic of The Gambia. ICSID arbitration. ICSID Case No. ARB/18/10. Tribunal upheld our client's claims and awarded 94% of damages claimed.
• Counsel to investors in respect of an investment dispute with an Eastern European State arising from alleged breaches of a bilateral investment treaty. Concerns investment in a coal mine. A v. State B. UNCITRAL arbitration. VIAC Case No. OTH-3002. Ongoing.
• Counsel to the State in regard to the alleged breach of the US-Trinidad & Tobago bilateral investment treaty. Concerns a gas-to-liquids plant. NiQuan Energy LLC v The Republic of Trinidad & Tobago. ICSID Arbitration. ICSID Case No. ARB/24/17. Ongoing. 
• Counsel to the Republic of Armenia in an ICSID arbitration arising from a property investment in Yerevan. The claimants alleged that Armenia failed to protect their investment from fraud and bankruptcy issues. Edmond Khudyan and Arin Capital & Investment Corp. v. Republic of Armenia. ICSID arbitration. ICSID Case No. ARB/17/36. The tribunal upheld our client’s position, dismissing the claimants’ case on jurisdictional grounds. The award has since been partially annulled. 
• Counsel to Italian investors in respect of an investment dispute with the Tanzanian Government arising from breaches of a bilateral investment treaty. Concerned investment in an agriculture project. Sunlodges Ltd and Sunlodges (T) Limited v. The United Republic of Tanzania. UNCITRAL arbitration. PCA Case No. 2018-9. Award in favor of our clients, and paid following Steptoe-led enforcement action. 
• Counsel to Indian investors in an ad hoc arbitration against Bosnia and Herzegovina. The arbitration concerned an insurance company in which the claimants had invested. Aggarwal, et al v. Bosnia and Herzegovina. Ad hocPCA Case No. 2018-03. The outcome is confidential. 
• Counsel to a UK investor in respect of an investment dispute with Montenegro arising from alleged breaches of a bilateral investment treaty and domestic foreign investment legislation. Concerned investment in an upstream oil and gas project. Medusa (Montenegro) Ltd v. The State of Montenegro. UNCITRAL arbitration. PCA Case No. 2015-39. The outcome is confidential. 
• Acted for a Canadian investor in relation to a multibillion-dollar dispute with the United States under the NAFTA. This was part of a broad litigation strategy, which encompassed other Steptoe teams. The matter was resolved in our client’s favor.
• Counsel to investors in a dispute with The Republic of Zimbabwe arising from breaches of a bilateral investment treaty. Concerned investments in agriculture projects. Border Timbers Ltd & Ors v. The Republic of Zimbabwe.ICSID arbitration. ICSID Case No. ARB/10/25. Our clients were awarded restitution and damages (alternatively $125 million in damages), plus their full legal costs and interest. We successfully resisted Zimbabwe's application for the award to be annulled.

Technical Assistance to States on Public International Law Matters

• Acted for the Caribbean Regional Fisheries Mechanism (an inter-governmental organization) with respect to their submissions to the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, in Case No. 21, Request for an advisory opinion submitted by the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission.
• Engaged by several states to advise on their investment treaty negotiations.
• Serves as a member of the Steptoe team appointed by the Government of the People’s Republic of China to the panel of law firms that will be instructed to defend it in investor-state disputes.

Commercial Arbitration and Court Litigation

• Joint lead counsel in an LCIA arbitration relating to the management of an investment fund.
• Lead counsel in multiple arbitrations arising from a complex, multi-part financing transaction.
• Counsel to the claimants in an ICC arbitration against an Eastern European State and one of its State-Owned Entities. The dispute concerned the alleged non-delivery of mined ore, in breach of contract. ICC arbitration.
• Counsel to an African bank in a dispute with its former Chief Executive over the alleged breach of an arbitration agreement: ad hoc arbitration under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. Also acted on the bank's related application for an anti-enforcement injunction in respect of the alleged breaches: High Court and Court of Appeal in England.
• Advised an airline in relation to a dispute under an IT services agreement.
• Counsel to investors on the enforcement of various ICSID awards in England.
• Advising ExxonMobil Corp. on public international law issues in US litigation brought against certain Cuban state-owned entities under the Helms-Burton Act.

• Moderator, "ITA Forum," 36th Annual ITA Workshop and Annual Meeting, Austin, TX, June 21, 2024

• "Reform in International Arbitration: New Approaches to Old Problems", GW - International Arbitration Students Association webinar, April 14, 2023
• Moderator, DRIG-Steptoe Oral Argument Workshop, American Society of International Law, October 6, 2020

• Counsel, Mock Pre-Hearing Conference, Young ITA Roundtable Virtual Conference, June 17, 2020

• "The Role of Investor-State Arbitral Tribunals in the Development of Terms of Art also Existing in Customary International Law," McCoubrey Centre for International Law's "Making International Custom More Tangible" Conference, Hull, UK, July 3, 2015
• "The Adoption of Terms of Art in Bilateral Investment Treaties and its Consequences," ASIL Conference, Denver, CO, November 14, 2014
• "Curing Textual Indeterminacy in International Investment Treaties," International Institute for Academic Development Conference, Batumi, Georgia, August 23, 2014

• Chambers Global, Dispute Resolution: International Arbitration, UK (2025)
• Chambers UK, International Arbitration (2019-2025)
• Legal 500 UK, "Next Generation Partner," Public International Law (2023-2025)
• Legal 500 UK, "Rising Star," Public International Law (2021-2022)
• Legal 500 UK, Public International Law (2018-2025)
• Legal 500 UK, International Arbitration (2021-2025)
• Lexology Index, "Future Leader", Arbitration (2025)
• Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in the United Kingdom, International Arbitration (2025)
• Lord Denning Scholarship, Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn
• Hardwicke Entrance Award, Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn
• Richard R. Baxter and Hardy C. Dillard Memorial Awards (Jessup Moot 2009, KCL team)   

• Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA), Young ITA Programs Co-Chair (2023-present)
• Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA), Young ITA Mentorship Co-Chair (2021-2023)
• Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA), Young ITA Thought Leadership Chair (2019-2021)
• The Honourable Society of Lincoln's Inn
• Denning Society