Partner Simon Batifort wins Eighth Annual Smit-Lowenfeld Prize

New York partner Simon Batifort and co-author J. Benton Heath were awarded the prestigious 2019 Smit-Lowenfeld prize by the International Arbitration Club of New York (IACNY) for their article, “The New Debate on the Interpretation of MFN Clauses in Investment Treaties: Putting the Brakes on Multilateralization,” at a dinner and program held in their honor on Tuesday, January 22 in New York. The article was published by the American Journal of International Law and was the subject of an AJIL Unbound symposium in May 2018.

The article was chosen by an IACNY committee chaired by Rory O. Millson, who said, “Mr. Batifort and Mr. Heath have challenged longstanding assumptions around Most-Favored-Nation clauses in a thoughtful and substantive manner. They are deserving recipients of this year’s Smit-Lowenfeld Prize.”

Lawrence W. Newman, Presiding Member of the IACNY said, “The winning article approaches a topic, the evolution of MFN clauses in investment treaties, that is ripe for reassessment. Its conclusions merit the consideration of all practitioners in the field, and could lead to new approaches in the future.”

Click here to read The International Arbitration Club of New York’s official press release.

Click here to read “The New Debate on the Interpretation of MFN Clauses in Investment Treaties: Putting the Brakes on Multilateralization”