Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP offers one of the world’s most experienced and accomplished international litigation practices.

The firm’s lawyers have been involved in many of the landmark international disputes in the United States, European Union and elsewhere during the past four decades, and are widely recognized as leading authorities in the field. These matters have raised issues of personal and subject matter jurisdiction, forum selection (including forum non conveniens and anti-suit injunctions), foreign sovereign immunity, choice of law, customary international law and treaty interpretation, act of state, the Alien Tort Statute, confirmation and annulment of international arbitral awards, recognition of foreign judgments, service of process and taking evidence abroad. We have preeminent expertise and experience in disputes involving both commercial and private international law, as well as public international law, in national and international forums around the world.

We have wide-ranging experience in US courts and other tribunals. Groundbreaking international litigations recently handled by our lawyers include the successful representation of:

• Shell Oil Company, Shell Chemical Company and other entities in resisting recognition and execution of purported Nicaraguan product liability judgments totaling approximately $600 million, with our clients succeeding in all forums;
• Deutsche Telekom in RICO litigation brought by a European competitor, with the claims in excess of $7 billion being entirely dismissed on forum non conveniens grounds;
• Deutsche Lufthansa AG and other international aviation companies in connection with industry-wide investigations by antitrust/competition authorities, and related civil class action litigations, in the US, Europe and elsewhere relating to the imposition of fuel and other surcharges on air cargo rates;
• A Middle Eastern individual and related entities in litigation arising out of the 9/11 attacks with our clients obtaining dismissal of all claims against them on jurisdictional and related grounds;
• A European financial institution in litigation regarding alleged wrongdoing in South Africa and claims under the Alien Tort Statute during the apartheid era;
• A leading university's museums in defending against a lawsuit brought to seize historical artifacts to satisfy a judgment against a foreign sovereign;
• BP plc against attempts by plaintiffs to satisfy judgments against state sponsors of terrorism by obtaining writs of garnishment in US courts against third parties allegedly holding assets of the defendant states;
• The Government of Canada in defending the decision of a NAFTA panel before an Extraordinary Challenge Committee, arising out of a dispute over import tariffs on softwood lumber products, and obtaining a judgment from the US Court of International Trade requiring the US to repay over $4 billion in estimated duties;
• A major Middle Eastern university in securing an anti-suit injunction halting foreign litigation brought against the university in Lebanon;
• A coalition of German companies in litigation of international law and other claims arising from alleged involvement in National Socialist activities;
• Credit Suisse and UBS in litigation concerning the handling of bank accounts and other actions during World War II, involving claims under the Alien Tort Statute and customary international law in excess of $5 billion;
• A US high-technology company in litigation against a European competitor, with a jury awarding our client in excess of $500 million;
• A number of non-US companies in US securities class actions; and
• A number of US and non-US companies in litigation under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act.

We have also successfully represented clients in international litigations in Europe (including in both EU proceedings and Member State courts), China and elsewhere. Significant matters that we have recently handled include:

• Representing a leading Austrian bank in its ongoing appeal against the €30 million fine imposed by the European Commission;
• Representing a major industrial company in the largest civil action in the English Commercial Court in 2008, obtaining a complete dismissal of £3 billion in claims and an award of costs (including attorneys’ fees);
• Representing a leading European financial institution in an intervention before the European Court of First Instance in a decision regarding intra-regional interchange fee setting arrangements concerning credit cards;
• Representing a major international flat glass producer in EU price fixing proceedings involving allegations of a worldwide cartel;
• Representing a major US aircraft manufacturer in WTO proceedings involving alleged subsidies;
• Representing a major German chemical company in litigation in German courts involving claims of anticompetitive conduct in the vitamins market;
• Representing a US company in a Chinese copyright action in which a Beijing court ordered the infringing Chinese firm to pay substantial damages and ordered a halt to the infringement of our client's intellectual property rights;
• Representing a major Russian professional services provider in parallel civil and criminal proceedings in Russia; and
• Representing the Association de la Presse Internationale in the Court of First Instance’s Grand Chamber and ECJ.

Our lawyers are recognized as leaders in the international litigation field. The firm’s practice is headed by Gary Born, who was recently voted the “World’s Best International Litigator” by Legal Media Group. Mr. Born is also the author of International Civil Litigation in United States Courts (Aspen Publishers 4th ed. 2007), widely acknowledged as the seminal work in the area. In the words of one review, Mr. Born’s book “is defining the law school course of ‘International Civil Litigation’ in much the same way as Henry M. Hart, Jr. and Herbert Wechsler defined the course of ‘Federal Courts.’” Click here for further reviews of Mr. Born’s book.

The firm’s International Litigation team also includes:

• Roger Witten, resident in our New York office, served as lead counsel in the Dormant Accounts and Forced Labor litigations in US courts, and in several major international internal investigations (including Royal Ahold). He is one of the leading authorities in the US on international corruption matters and the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act;
• Claus Dieter Ehlermann, who is resident in our Brussels office and was formerly director-general of competition and legal service of the European Commission, and chairman of the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization;
• Howard Shapiro, resident in our Washington DC office and chair of the firm’s Litigation Department, who served as lead counsel in the IGEN International litigation, securing a $500 million jury verdict against a major European competitor;
• Ethan Shenkman, who is resident in our Washington DC office and has represented US and non-US entities in US courts, particularly in matters involving recognition of foreign judgments, and who is lead counsel for several US multinationals in disputes arising out of Latin America;
• Wendy Miles, resident in our London office, who led our successful defense against the largest civil claim asserted in the English Commercial Court in 2008;
• John Trenor, resident in our London office, who has handled a wide range of international litigation matters and serves as Rapporteur of the ICC Task Force on the Extraterritorial Application of National Law;
• John Pierce, who is resident in our New York office, has represented US and non-US parties in a range of international litigation matters, including the dismissal in 2008 of a $7.5 billion RICO claim brought against several affiliated European companies by a competitor;
• Dr. Hans-Georg Kamann, resident in our Frankfurt office, who has represented parties in a wide range of competition, state aid and other international matters in German and EU courts;
• Reinhart Lange, resident in our Frankfurt office, who has represented parties in a wide range of intellectual property and related matters in German and EU proceedings;
• Christopher Davies, resident in our Washington DC office, who has represented PricewaterhouseCoopers and other parties in a wide range of international and other litigations and investigations;
• Richard Johnston, resident in our Boston office, who represents parties in international disputes and is a member of Harvard Law School’s Trial Advocacy Program;
• David Bowker, resident in our Washington DC office, who has represented US and non-US parties in a range of international disputes, including the dismissal of World War II-era claims against German companies, and who previously served in the Office of the Legal Adviser at the US Department of State; and
• Mark Flanagan, resident in our Palo Alto office, who has represented parties in a wide range of international disputes, including both white collar crime and intellectual property.

The firm’s International Litigation Practice works closely with other practices throughout the firm, including Corporate and Internal Investigations, International Arbitration, Intellectual Property, Trade and Antitrust. We have particular experience in cases involving parallel or multiple proceedings in two or more jurisdictions.

We also have particular experience in international internal investigations, including matters involving the FCPA and other anti-corruption instruments, securities and financial regulatory provisions, competition laws and other matters. We have represented US, European and other parties in some of the most substantial internal investigations in the past decade, including the Japanese affiliates of Credit Suisse, Royal Ahold and a major European pharmaceutical company. For further information, please see our Investigations and Criminal Litigation Practice.

We maintain close working relationships with leading law firms and practitioners around the world. We also maintain an active foreign lawyers and intern program, in which talented young attorneys work in our US and European offices, as well as a Scholar-in-Residence Program that brings distinguished academics from around the world to our offices.

We have particular experience in matters concerning regulatory, public policy and similar issues. A number of our partners have also held senior government positions, including in the US Departments of State, Justice, Treasury and Defense, and as the US trade representative. Our lawyers have also held senior positions in the EU Commission and World Trade Organization.

For more information, visit our Government and Regulatory Litigation, International Trade, Investment and Market Access and European Litigation Practices.