Simon Batifort

Partner, Managing Partner, Brussels

Brussels

Simon Batifort is recognized globally as a top practitioner and thought leader in international arbitration and public international law. He is a partner in Curtis’ New York headquarters and also acts as Managing Partner of the Brussels office. A dual French-U.S. national, he works across New York, Brussels, and Paris.

International Arbitration and Public International Law

Mr. Batifort has acted as counsel and advocate in over forty high-profile commercial and investment treaty arbitrations under various rules, including those 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). He has represented clients in Africa, Asia, Europe, Latin America and the Middle East in cases involving a wide range of sectors, including oil and gas, mining, telecommunications, construction, joint ventures, real estate and taxation. He also represents and advises States in inter-State disputes and other public international law matters.

Who’s Who Legal – Arbitration has recognized him as a Global Leader in international arbitration and as a Global Elite Thought Leader under 45, referring to him as a “household name” and a “formidable practitioner when it comes to investment treaty arbitration.” Clients and peers highlight his “first-rate strategy and legal expertise” as well as his “‘exceptional diplomatic skills and cultural understanding’ in high-stakes international investor-state disputes.” He is recognized as a Rising Star in International Arbitration by Law360, as a Rising Star in Commercial Arbitration by Euromoney Legal Media Group’s Expert Guides, and as a Next Generation Partner by Legal 500 USA. Legal 500 Latin America praises his “encyclopedic knowledge of international arbitration cases and great advocacy skills.”

Thought Leadership

Alongside his practice, Mr. Batifort is an Adjunct Professor at Brooklyn Law School and at Université Paris Cité where he teaches advanced courses on Investment Treaty Arbitration, and at Université Paris Nanterre where he lectures on Investor-State Dispute Settlement and Climate Change. A frequent author and speaker 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 (AJIL) and was the subject of an AJIL Unbound symposium.

An active member of leading professional organizations, he is currently Vice President of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) and previously served as an officer of the Arbitration Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA). As co-chair of the IBA Arbitration Committee’s Insolvency and Arbitration Working Group, he co-led the elaboration of the IBA Report on Insolvency and Investment Arbitration. He frequently participates as a delegate to UNCITRAL Working Group III on the reform of Investor-State Dispute Settlement.

Admitted to the bar in New York, Paris and Brussels, Mr. Batifort holds degrees in public and private international law, civil law, common law and comparative law from Université Panthéon-Assas (Paris II) (First in Class), Université de Montpellier and NYU School of Law, where he served as 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.