A partner in Curtis' New York office, Mr. Batifort has over a decade of experience representing sovereign states, state-owned entities and private companies in numerous arbitrations conducted under the rules of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). His cases have involved a wide range of sectors, including natural resources, telecommunications, construction, joint ventures, real estate and taxation.

Among other high-profile disputes, he acted for the winning parties in Venezuela Holdings v. Venezuela, in which Curtis secured the largest annulment in ICSID history, and in Içkale v. Turkmenistan and Erhas et al. v. Turkmenistan, obtaining a full dismissal of the claims and costs awards. He is currently representing governments in Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East in several arbitrations arising under bilateral and multilateral investment treaties.

Who’s Who Legal – Arbitration: Future Leaders has recognized him as one of the Most Highly Regarded arbitration attorneys under 45, noting that he "impresses peers with his technical expertise and 'business acumen beyond his years.'" Sources refer to him as a "formidable practitioner when it comes to investment treaty arbitration."

Mr. Batifort publishes and speaks regularly on issues of international arbitration and public international law. He was awarded the 2019 Smit-Lowenfeld Prize for Best Article in International Arbitration for "The New Debate on the Interpretation of MFN Clauses in Investment Treaties: Putting the Brakes on Multilateralization," which was published in the American Journal of International Law and was the subject of an AJIL Unbound symposium. He has spoken at conferences such as the Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) in Washington D.C., the OECD Investment Treaty Conference in Paris, International Law Weekend in New York, and the Investment Treaty Arbitration Conference in Prague.

He is also an Adjunct Professor at Brooklyn Law School, where he teaches investment treaty arbitration. He sits on the Program Committee for the 2020 ASIL Annual Meeting and on the Arbitration Committee of the New York City Bar Association, and co-chairs ASIL’s Dispute Resolution Interest Group.

Dual-qualified in Paris and New York, he holds degrees in public and private international law, civil law, common law and comparative law from Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II), Université de Montpellier and NYU School of Law, where he served as a research assistant to Professor José E. Alvarez and as a graduate editor for the Journal of International Law and Politics. Prior to joining Curtis, he worked as in-house counsel for one of the world’s largest construction companies and interned at both the ICC International Court of Arbitration and the International Court of Justice.

Commentary of Articles 56-58 of the ICSID Convention (Replacement and Disqualification of Conciliators and Arbitrators), in The ICSID Convention, Rules and Regulations: A Commentary (Elgar Publishing, December 2019) (co-author)

The Once and Future Law of Non-Discrimination: Revisiting Most Favored Nation and National Treatment, ASIL Proceedings (March 2019) Link

Third-Party Funding in Investment Disputes, Chapter 16, Business Guide to Trade and Investment, Vol 2 (October 2018) (co-author)

The New Debate on the Interpretation of MFN Clauses in Investment Treaties: Putting the Brakes on Multilateralization, 111(4) American Journal of International Law 873 (2018) (co-author) Link

Third-Party Funding: Security for Costs and Other Key Issues, in The Investment Treaty Arbitration Review (Bart Legum ed., 2^nd Edition, 2017) (co-author) Link

Third-Party Funding: Security for Costs and Other Key Issues, in The Investment Treaty Arbitration Review 97 (Bart Legum ed., 1^st Edition, 2016) (co-author) Link

Investment Arbitration: Jurisdiction and Procedure, in The International Arbitration Review 1 (James H. Carter ed., 6^th Edition, 2015) (co-author) Link

Jurisdiction and Procedure in Investment Arbitration – New Developments, in The International Arbitration Review 1 (James H. Carter ed., 5^th Edition, 2014) (co-author) Link

Recent Trends in Investment Arbitration, in The International Arbitration Review 1 (James H. Carter ed., 4^th Edition, 2013) (co-author) Link