Danielle Morris is a partner in the Litigation/Controversy Department and a member of the International Arbitration Practice. She joined the firm in 2012. Ms. Morris' practice spans both private and public international law. She has 10 years of experience representing clients in both ad hoc and institutional arbitrations, including under the rules of ICSID, the LCIA, the SCC and UNCITRAL. She has represented clients in various sectors, including mining, oil and gas, financial services, construction, pharmaceutical and automotive. Among others, Ms. Morris has recently represented a government in an arbitration seated in London involving disputes under a contract to provide gas processing facilities; leading banks in investment arbitrations against an Eastern European State; a leading construction company in an investment arbitration against a Middle Eastern State; a leading pharmaceutical company in an investment arbitration against a Latin American State; and a leading aerospace and defense technology company in a dispute under a contract to develop and supply military aircraft.

Ms. Morris regularly advises clients on the substantive protections and dispute resolution mechanisms under various investment treaties, both bilateral and multilateral, and has represented both investors and States in investment arbitrations. She has also advised an African State regarding a boundary mediation.

Past Experience 

Prior to joining the firm, Ms. Morris was a litigation associate in the international arbitration practice group at a law firm in Washington DC. In that position, she focused on investor-State arbitration, including an investment dispute under the Spain-Russia bilateral investment treaty. She was also a member of the trial team in a US securities litigation that resulted in a favorable judgment of almost $1 billion.

From 2008–2011, Ms. Morris was an attorney adviser with the United States Department of State, Office of the Legal Adviser, in the Office of International Claims and Investment Disputes. As a member of the NAFTA team, she argued part of the United States' case in Grand River Enterprises Six Nations, Ltd. v. United States. She also worked on Case No. A/15(II:A), a State-to-State arbitration under Paragraph 9 of the Algiers Accords before the Iran-US Claims Tribunal.

Professional Activities

Ms. Morris is a member of the IBA Arbitration Committee's 2019 Newsletter Editorial Board.

Ms. Morris has taught both international commercial arbitration and investment arbitration at the University of Pennsylvania Law School. She has also lectured at Cambridge University, Duke University School of Law, Georgetown University Law Center and University of Michigan Law School.

Recognition

  • Recommended by The Legal 500 United States for her international arbitration practice.
  • Recognized in the 2022 and 2023 editions of Chambers USA for International Arbitration: Counsel nationwide.
  • Named in the 2023 edition of Lawdragon's Global Litigation 500, which recognizes lawyers who specialize in international arbitration, public international litigation and global controversies.

Insights & News

Credentials

  • Education

    • JD, Yale Law School, 2007

      Editor, Yale Law Journal, Editor, Yale Law & Policy Review
    • BA, Humanities, Yale University, 2002

      summa cum laude Phi Beta Kappa
  • Admissions

    • District of Columbia

    • New York

  • Clerkships

    • The Hon. Mark R. Kravitz, US District Court for the District of Connecticut, 2007 - 2008

Credentials