People

Thomas R. Snider

Counsel

Snider, Thomas R.

Thomas Snider is a counsel in the Litigation/Controversy Department, and a member of the International Arbitration Practice Group. He joined the firm in 2009.

Practice

Mr. Snider represents clients in a wide range of matters involving international law and dispute resolution. He has represented foreign states and corporate entities in international arbitrations and in US court litigation involving the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act (FSIA) and other matters raising questions of international law in the domestic context. Prior to joining the firm, Mr. Snider was a member of the legal team representing the Government of Ethiopia before the Eritrea Ethiopia Claims Commission (EECC), an international tribunal adjudicating state-to-state claims for loss, damage, and injury arising during an international armed conflict. In this context, he worked as a resident attorney in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, from 2002 to 2004 managing several aspects of the representation.

Mr. Snider is admitted to practice in the District of Columbia and the Commonwealth of Massachusetts, as well as before the United States Supreme Court, US Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia, and the US District Court for the District of Columbia.

Recent Highlights

Mr. Snider's experience also includes:

  • Representing a European-based multinational corporation in multiple related Vienna International Arbitration Center (VIAC) arbitrations involving a multi-billion-euro dispute over telecommunications assets in Poland.
  • Representing a US-based multinational corporation in an International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) arbitration relating to the sale of its business operations in South America, resulting in the successful dismissal of all claims against the client.
  • Representing a foreign state and its state-owned commercial bank in litigation involving the successful dismissal of a suit under the FSIA alleging expropriation of bank accounts and other property of expelled foreign nationals.
  • Representing a foreign state-owned enterprise in the successful dismissal of a petition to confirm a multi-million-dollar foreign arbitral award in a US court on the basis of forum non conveniens.
  • Advising Dubai-based companies on disputes related to investments in the oil and gas sector in the Middle East.
  • Representing a foreign state before an ad hoc international arbitral tribunal established to delimit and demarcate the international boundary between the state and a neighboring state.
  • Conducting an overseas internal corporate investigation for an international financial institution in response to inquiries by various US Government entities into offshore accounts and the institution’s cross-border practices and procedures.

Mr. Snider also provides pro bono representation of the International Business Council, a non-profit organization that provides consulting services to entrepreneurs in developing countries.

Publications & News

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May 20, 2013

Partner Gary Born and Counsel Tom Snider Speak at the Addis Ababa University School of Law

Partner Gary Born and Counsel Tom Snider of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP’s International Arbitration Group spoke to an audience of government officials, private practitioners, professors and students on “International Claims Tribunals: Lessons Learned from the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission” at the Addis Ababa University School of Law on April 26.

November 19, 2012

Thomas Snider Discusses the Role of International Arbitral Tribunals in Post-Conflict Dispute Resolution

On November 14, Thomas Snider, counsel in WilmerHale’s International Arbitration Group, delivered a presentation on the topic of the role of international arbitral tribunals in post-conflict dispute resolution to an attentive crowd at Penn State Law.

September 28, 2007

African Boundaries: Resolving Uncertainty for Oil & Gas Projects

Co-Author, The Africa Journal 38 (Fall 2007).

June 4, 2007

Combating Corruption Through International Law in Africa: A Comparative Analysis

Co-Author, 40 Cornell Int’l L.J. 691 (2007).

June 14, 2006

Doing Business in Africa: Navigating the Anti-Corruption Rules

Co-Author, The Africa Journal 23 (Summer 2006).

Professional Activities

Mr. Snider is a member of the American Bar Association (Section of International Law and Practice) and the American Society of International Law.

Practices

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Education

JD, Harvard Law School, 2000, Executive Editor, Harvard Journal of Law and Public Policy

BA, Government and International Studies, summa cum laude, University of Notre Dame, 1997

Bar Admissions

District of Columbia

Massachusetts

United States Supreme Court