FLAVIO PONZANO

Flavio specializes in international commercial and investor-State arbitration. He has been involved (as counsel, secretary or assistant to arbitral tribunals and arbitrator) in about 40 arbitrations subject to various rules (ICC, ICSID, LCIA, Swiss Rules, CAM, UNCITRAL), including high-profile matters in the energy sector involving state and state-owned entities.

Flavio’s recent experience as counsel includes representing

• photovoltaic investors of different nationalities in six UNCITRAL arbitrations against the Czech Republic brought under the ECT and various intra-EU BITs;
• an Italian distributor of medical devices in ICC arbitrations against a Japanese manufacturer;
• a Maltese company in ICC arbitration relating to the commercial use of the image rights of one of the world’s leading football players;
• an Italian railway contractor in ICC arbitration arising from a FIDIC contract with a foreign state-owned entity;
• an Italian energy company in ICC arbitration relating to the exercise of a call option in a shareholders’ agreement;
• a foreign company in CAM arbitration on an Italian company law dispute arising from private equity investments.

Flavio’s other recent experience includes

• acting as co-arbitrator in CAM arbitration arising from a distribution agreement;
• acting as tribunal secretary in ICC arbitration relating to a project for the construction of a waste-to-energy plant between a European company and a Middle Eastern State;
• acting as tribunal secretary in ICC arbitration relating to an oil refinery joint venture in Costa Rica;
• acting as tribunal secretary in ICC arbitration between US investors and the national electricity company of West African country relating to a project for the improvement of the electricity sector;
• assisting L. G. Radicati di Brozolo in preparing expert opinions on arbitration law issues (i.e. confidentiality, interim measures, arbitrators’ disclosure and conflicts of interest and res judicata).

Flavio is recognized in Who’s Who Legal rankings “Arbitration Future Leaders” and “Italy: Arbitration” since 2018, as well as in Expert Guides “Rising Stars – Commercial Arbitration” since 2019.

Flavio holds a Ph.D. in International Law from the Catholic University of Milan, with a thesis on the res judicata effects of foreign judgments and international arbitral awards. From 2013 to 2019 he assisted Professor Radicati di Brozolo with his courses of Private International Law and Law of International Arbitration. Flavio is a member of the board of editors of the Italian law review Diritto del Commercio Internazionale. The Law of International Trade.

Flavio is EMEA member of the YSIAC (Young Singapore International Arbitration Centre) Council, and was member of the Executive Committee of AIA-ARBIT-40 (the Italian under 40 arbitration group) from 2019 to 2022.

In 2014, he took part in the International Academy for Arbitration Law held in Paris where he was awarded the runner-up prize for the laureate of the Academy. He graduated summa cum laude from the Law School of the Catholic University of Milan in 2012. Before joining ArbLit, Flavio was a trainee for a year in the corporate and M&A practice group of Bonelli Erede in Milan.

• Member of YSIAC Council
• AIA-ArbIt-40 (membro del Comitato Esecutivo dal 2019 al 2022)
• ArbIt
• ICC YAAF
• Young ICCA
• RAI (Raising Arbitrators Initiative)

• The CJEU judgment London Steam-Ship Owners: from the exclusion to the irrelevance of arbitration under the Brussels jurisdiction and judgments regime, comment to CJEU judgment of June 20, 2022, C-700/20, EU:C:2022:488, in Rivista dell’Arbitrato, 2023, 2, pp 358-377.
• The CJEU judgment in London Steam-Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association Limited v. Kingdom of Spain: a further blow to arbitration?, comment to CJEU judgment of June 20, 2022, C-700/20, EU:C:2022:488, in ICC Dispute Resolution Bulletin, 2022, 3, pp 13-18.
• Treaty shopping according to the Swiss Federal Tribunal: towards greater legal certainty?, comment to Federal Tribunal judgment 4A_398/2021, in Diritto del Commercio Internazionale, 2022, 3, pp 779-801.
• The Need for Arbitration-Specific Rules on Ethics: a Plea for a Collective Effort, in M. S. Abdel Wahab et al. (eds.), Leadership, legitimacy, legacy: a tribute to Alexis Mourre, ICC Publication, 2022, pp 105-119 (with L. G. Radicati di Brozolo).
• The Res Judicata Effects of Foreign Judgments and Awards, Ph.D. thesis, Catholic University of Milan, 2018.
• La res judicata nell’arbitrato commerciale internazionale: note a margine della monografia di Silja Schaffstein, in Rivista dell’Arbitrato, 2017, 1, pp 181-190.

• Representative Aspects of “Mass Claim” Proceedings in Investor-State Arbitration, in B. Hanotiau & E. A. Schwarz (eds.), Class and Group Actions in Arbitration, Dossiers – ICC Institute of World Business Law, 2016, pp 127-145 (with L. G. Radicati di Brozolo).

• La giurisdizione ICSID rationae personae: il ritorno della dicotomia forma-sostanza in tema di nazionalità dell’investitore persona giuridica, comment to Venoklim Holding B.V. v. República Bolivariana de Venezuela, ICSID Case No. ARB/12/22, in Diritto del Commercio Internazionale. The Law of International Trade, 2016, 2, pp 513-534.

• Confidentiality within Arbitration, in E. Geisinger (ed.), Confidential and Restricted Access Information in International Arbitration, ASA Special Series No. 43, 2016, pp 1-20 (with L. G. Radicati di Brozolo).

• Determinazione della legge applicabile alla convenzione arbitrale in assenza di scelta espressa delle parti, comment to FirstLink Investments Corp Ltd v GT Payment Pte Ltd and others [2014] SGHCR 12, in Rivista dell’Arbitrato, 2014, 4, pp 833-852.

• Clausole arbitrali e clausole di elezione del foro: un’antinomia solo agli occhi dei ‘non reasonable observers’?, comment to British American Insurance (Kenya) Ltd v (1) Matelec SAL (2) Thika Power Ltd [2013] EWHC 3278 (Comm), in Diritto del Commercio Internazionale, 2014, 2, pp 508-519.

• AIA-ArbIt-40 / YSIAC, Milan, March 27, 2024, “Res judicata in international arbitration: a no man’s land?”
• Novara Bar, November 27, 2023, “La patologia del contratto di trasporto internazionale tra giudizio ordinario ed ADR”
• ICC YAAF, Catholic University, Milan, May 12, 2023, “Ethical issues in international arbitration”
• CAM (Milan Chamber of Arbitration) – AIA-ArbIt-40, Milan, April 14, 2023, “La convenzione di arbitrato” (lecture within the course “L’arbitrato, da vicino”)
• ASA below 40, Spring Event, Genève, June 10, 2022, “What Co-operation Is Expected Between Counsel and the Expert?” (moderator)
• ICC YAF – AIA-ArbIt-40 webinar, October 21, 2020, “Selection of factual witnesses and drafting of witness statements” (moderator)
• Delos-Y, webinar, October 2, 2020, “Hearings – the Ultimate Test for an Arbitration Associate”
• Catholic University, Milan, November 29, 2019, “Il diritto internazionale privato nell’esperienza dell’avvocato d’affari”
• Bonelli Erede, Milan, February 20, 2019, “The Prague Rules: wind of change?”
• ICC YAF, CFA-40, PVYAP, Paris, July 5, 2018, “Career opportunities in International Arbitration”
• ARBLIT, Milan, November 10, 2017, “Res Judicata in International Arbitration”
• ICC YAF, Milan, April 8, 2016, “International Energy Investments and the ECT – a Focus on Investments in Renewables”

Who’s Who Legal 2022 says: https://whoswholegal.com/flavio-ponzano

“Flavio has an impressive academic background”

“He is a very convincing advocate”

“He has the ability to tackle any legal issue his clients may encounter with knowledge and audacity”