Dr. Frutos-Peterson’s practice focuses on arbitration, international law and international investment law, where she works primarily with governments and state entities. She has represented foreign states in investor-state arbitrations under the arbitration rules of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). She has also acted for private companies in international commercial arbitration administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and the ICC International Court of Arbitration. 

Her work across these areas has earned consistent recognition by the world’s leading legal directories. In recent years, Legal 500 has named her a Leading Partner on multiple occasions in both its Latin America and USA rankings, while Chambers & Partners has ranked her in its Latin America, USA and Global guides for several years running. Dr. Frutos-Peterson has also been recognized as a Leading Global Litigator in the 2026 Lawdragon 500, ranked by Latin Lawyer 250 and Lexology Index (formerly Who’s Who Legal) and named by Latinvex as one of Latin America’s Top 100 Female Lawyers.

Alongside her practice as counsel, Dr. Frutos-Peterson has served as an arbitrator in proceedings conducted under the arbitration rules of the ICC, the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), the Centro de Conciliación y Arbitraje de Panamá (CeCAP) and the Centro de Arbitraje y Conciliación de la Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá (CCAB). She has also been appointed to the rosters of several arbitral institutions, including ICSID (nominated by Mexico), ICDR, CeCAP, CCAB, AmCham Peru and the Inter-American Commercial Arbitration Commission (IACAC/CIAC).

Beyond her work on individual matters, Dr. Frutos-Peterson plays an active role in the international arbitration community through her involvement in institutional initiatives and her work as an educator, speaker and author. Among these activities, she currently co-chairs the International Bar Association’s (IBA) Privilege Project, which is developing the forthcoming IBA Guidelines on Privilege and Attorney Secrecy in International Arbitration — set to be the first widely adopted international soft law instrument to establish uniform standards for resolving privilege disputes in international arbitration. She also recently acted as a co-chair of the Revision Committee in charge of revising the IACAC Rules of Procedure.

Dr. Frutos-Peterson is also active in legal education and has taught for over 15 years as an adjunct professor at the American University Washington College of Law in Washington D.C., where she lectures on international commercial arbitration and investor-state arbitration. She is also a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars in the United States and abroad and the author of the book L’émergence de l’arbitrage commercial international en Amérique latine: l’efficacité de son droit, published by L’Harmattan.

Publications

“Comentarios al artículo 51 de la Ley de Arbitraje Peruana” (co-author), Editorial LP – Pasión por el Derecho (expected publication in fall 2026).

The Role of Tribunal Secretaries in the Drafting of Investment Awards, in THE AWARD IN INTERNATIONAL INVESTMENT ARBITRATION, Oxford University Press (2024)

“El Arbitraje Deportivo en México: ¿Una Opción Viable Para Los Deportistas?” Claudia Frutos-Peterson and Ricardo Mier y Terán; published in la Revista Jurídica del Centro de Arbitraje de México (CAM) Perspectiva Iberoamericana (1st Ed.: August 15, 2023)

“Retos jurídicos de la defensa de los Estados en controversias de inversión (co-author) in Alfredo Fuentes et al. (Eds) “Tratados Internacionales y El Arbitraje de Inversión: Experiencia Colombiana,” Colección Arbitraje 360°, Editorial Ibaflez y Centro de Arbitraje y Conciliación de la Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá, Colombia (2019)

The ICSID Convention, Rules and Regulations: A Commentary, Chapter on the ICSID Administrative and Financial Regulations (co-author), Gloria Alvarez et al., eds. (2019)

Substantive Protection, Chapter 8, The Business Guide to Trade and Investment (co-author); Macrory et al., eds., ICC, Vol 2, October 2018.

Building International Investment Law: The First 50 Years of ICSID, ICSID Review-Foreign Investment Law Journal, Vol. 31 No. 3, Fall 2016.

Provisional Measures in ICSID Arbitration – the Irreparable Harm Requirement (co-author), Interim and Emergency Relief in International Arbitration; published as part of the International Law Institute Series on International Law, Arbitration, and Practice, Vol. 1, Juris Publishing, April 2015

Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards in Mexico (co-author), Recognition and Enforcement of International Arbitral Awards; Brill/Nijhoff, April 2015

NAFTA Chapter 11, World Arbitration Reporter (Second Edition), Vol. 4, Treaties and Bilateral and Regional Agreements, October 2010

El Impacto de la Participación de los Estados Latinoamericanos en el Arbitraje de Inversión, Revista Internacional de Arbitraje, Legis, April-May 2010

“El Arbitraje del CIADI y su Impacto en el Arbitraje Internacional Latinoamericano en Materia de Inversión,” Revista de Arbitragem e Mediação, July 2004

“L’émergence de l’arbitrage commercial international en Amérique latine: l’efficacité de son droit, ” L’Harmattan, May 2003

International Commercial Arbitration in Latin America: As Healthy As It Could Be? Alternative Resolutions, State Bar of Texas, Vol. 12, No. 3, Feb. 2001

Various Introductory Notes regarding ICSID awards and decisions, ICSID Review-Foreign Investment Law Journal, 2001-2009

"El reconocimiento del Arbitraje Comercial Internacional en América Latina,”d Revista de Derecho Privado, Instituto de Investigaciones Jurídicas UNAM, No. 28, March-April, 1999

Lectures

Dr. Frutos-Peterson also regularly speaks at conferences and delivers training courses for institutions in the United States and abroad, including:

AAA/UCC/ICSID Joint Colloquium on International Arbitration

American University, Washington College of Law, International Arbitration Program

Cámara de Comercio de Bogotá, Colombia

Center of Arbitration and Mediation, International Chamber of Commerce – Ecuador

Center of Arbitration and Mediation, International Chamber of Commerce – Panama

Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI)

Institute for Transnational Arbitration

International Law Institute

The National Chamber of Commerce of Mexico

The New York International Arbitration Center

United Nations Commission on International Trade Law

Universidad Autónomo de Nuevo León, Mexico

Universidad de Externado, Colombia

Universidad de Guayaquil, Ecuador