Overview
(July 15, 2016, Washington, DC) — Steptoe & Johnson LLP has been selected by The American Lawyer as the winner of a 2016 Global Legal Award. The awards, described by the magazine as its “marquee global contest,” aim to honor all law offices that played a substantial role in the most distinguished international work performed between January 1, 2015 and April 15, 2016 across a wide range of disciplines. Steptoe won in the category “Global Legal Dispute: Investment Arbitration (Africa)” for its work for the von Pezold family in a successful claim before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) against the government of Zimbabwe over its racially discriminatory land reform program.
In July 2015, Steptoe successfully concluded two investment treaty arbitrations against Zimbabwe that had been running at the ICSID since 2010. The cases were commenced pursuant to the bilateral investment treaties that Zimbabwe had concluded with Germany and Switzerland.
The cases arose out of Zimbabwe’s widely reported land reform program and foreign exchange policy which resulted in the expropriation of the farms of 4,500 people (including those of Steptoe’s Swiss and German clients) because of the color of their skin and the taking of foreign exchange.
In what were described by The Times of London as “landmark” awards, the ICSID tribunals concluded that Zimbabwe’s land reform program was discriminatory and held that it, together with the foreign exchange policy, breached public international law. The tribunals awarded the return of property (a first for an ICSID tribunal), and, in the alternative, damages of $195 million and $125 million respectively for the two cases. The damages awarded were among the highest ever awarded by an ICSID tribunal and represent about 80 percent of the damages claimed, which is a very high ratio for ICSID arbitrations.
The cases were particularly complex. They involved a close examination of the actions of Zimbabwe over 30 years and the review of many historical, government and diplomatic documents. The 1,800 pages of pleadings considered most aspects of public international law concerning the obligations of states in regard to foreign investors.
The atmosphere in which the cases were conducted was, at times, very volatile. At one point it was necessary for the tribunals to grant an order directing Zimbabwe not to kill one of the clients.
The London-based Steptoe team was led by partner Matthew Coleman with associates Helen Aldridge and Tom Innes, and Washington-based of counsel Anthony Rapa.
The winners will be honored on September 26 at the Global Legal Awards dinner at Gotham Hall in New York City.
This is the second major award for the Steptoe team that worked on this matter. In March, Global Arbitration Review awarded the team a GAR Award in the category “International arbitration practice that impressed in the past year.”
About Steptoe
Steptoe & Johnson LLP is an international law firm widely recognized for vigorous advocacy in complex litigation and arbitration, successful representation of clients before governmental agencies, and creative and practical advice in guiding business transactions. The firm has more than 500 lawyers and other professionals in offices in Beijing, Brussels, Chicago, London, Los Angeles, New York, Palo Alto, Phoenix and Washington. For more information, visit www.steptoe.com.
