Steven Finizio is a partner in the firm's Litigation/Controversy and Securities Departments, and a member of the International Arbitration and Securities Litigation and Enforcement Practice Groups. Prior to joining the London office in 2000, Mr. Finizio practiced in the firm's Washington, DC office. He joined the firm in 1993.
Practice
Mr. Finizio's practice focuses on complex commercial and regulatory disputes, and concentrates primarily on international arbitration and alternative dispute resolution and internal investigations. Mr. Finizio also serves as an arbitrator in international commercial arbitrations.
Mr. Finizio has advised clients on matters arising under the rules of all the major international arbitration institutions, and in disputes sited in both common law and civil law jurisdictions and governed by the laws of jurisdictions in Europe, Asia and the US. Mr. Finizio also frequently advises on the drafting of dispute resolution clauses for commercial agreements.
In addition to international arbitration matters, Mr. Finizio has advised clients on matters in US federal and state courts and before a variety of regulatory and law enforcement agencies, including the US Securities and Exchange Commission, US Attorneys Offices and the UK Financial Services Authority. He also has been involved in responding to a number of government investigations on behalf of US and European clients, and has conducted internal investigations for clients in Europe, Asia and the US.
Mr. Finizio speaks regularly on international arbitration at conferences and seminars, including at the 21st ICC/AAA/ICSID Joint Colloquium on International Arbitration, the International Chamber of Commerce, the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, the German Arbitration Institute (DIS), ASA Below 40 and the Cairo Regional International Commercial Arbitration Centre. In the past several years, he has spoken on the topic of international dispute resolution in Paris, London, Stuttgart, Bern, Zurich, New York, Beijing, Tokyo, Cairo and Riga.
Mr. Finizio is co-author of A Practical Guide to International Commercial Arbitration: Assessment, Planning and Strategy (Sweet & Maxwell) and also of "International Commercial Arbitration" in The Law of Transnational Business Transactions (West 2004) and is a contributing editor to the International Comparative Legal Guide to International Arbitration (Global Legal Group 2004, 2005, 2006 and 2007). Topics of recent articles include the taking of evidence, revision of the UNCITRAL rules, anti-suit injunctions, arbitrator conflicts, revisions to the ICSID rules, provisional measures in investor-state arbitration, a comparative law discussion of the "plain meaning" rule of contract interpretation, and expert determination clauses.