Fluent in English, French and Spanish, María Beatriz Burghetto has over 20 years of experience in international arbitration and litigation and previously practised in the international arbitration group at Hughes Hubbard & Reed, a leading international law firm, as well as in other leading and highly regarded law firms in Buenos Aires, London and Paris. Initially trained in Argentina and admitted in Paris, María Beatriz is experienced in civil and common law systems.
María Beatriz has represented clients in arbitration proceedings conducted under the ICC, UNCITRAL and ICSID rules, connected with England, France, other European countries, and some emerging markets in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, in sectors such as energy, construction, mining, and technology/pharmaceutical, and on international commercial contracts and corporate matters. She is an expert in and advises clients on international contracts in various sectors, including IT, supply chain and sanctions aspects. She is also a specialist in complex private international law issues relating to advice on and dispute resolution in complex contracts.
She acts as arbitrator and is listed by the EU Commission as arbitrator for bilateral disputes arising out of trade agreements between the EU and third countries, and is a CEDR accredited mediator specialising in commercial matters.
María Beatriz regularly contributes articles to prestigious publications and also takes part as speaker/moderator or organiser at conferences on different aspects of (comparative) law and arbitration.
She has been a Board member of ArbitralWomen since 2018, is a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, and co-chairs the Paris Bar Latin American Commission and the Wake up (with) arbitration! round tables. She has also been a consultant and case selection counsel and analyst for a third-party funder.
María Beatriz has represented clients in arbitration proceedings conducted under the ICC, UNCITRAL and ICSID rules, connected with England, France, other European countries, and some emerging markets in Africa, Asia, Latin America, and Eastern Europe, in sectors such as energy, construction, mining, and technology/pharmaceutical, and on international commercial contracts and corporate matters. She is an expert in and advises clients on international contracts in various sectors, including IT, supply chain and sanctions aspects. She is also a specialist in complex private international law issues relating to advice on and dispute resolution in complex contracts.
She acts as arbitrator and is listed by the EU Commission as arbitrator for bilateral disputes arising out of trade agreements between the EU and third countries, and is a CEDR accredited mediator specialising in commercial matters.
María Beatriz regularly contributes articles to prestigious publications and also takes part as speaker/moderator or organiser at conferences on different aspects of (comparative) law and arbitration.
She has been a Board member of ArbitralWomen since 2018, is a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, and co-chairs the Paris Bar Latin American Commission and the Wake up (with) arbitration! round tables. She has also been a consultant and case selection counsel and analyst for a third-party funder.
Selected Matters
International Arbitration (Supply Chain, Construction, Energy, Corporate, Pharmaceuticals.)
- Represented as co-counsel two Chinese automotive manufacturers in an ICC arbitration against a Brazilian company over agreements for the manufacture and distribution of cars and trademark license (amount in dispute: approximately 10 M USD).
- Advised and represented EPC contractors in the pre-arbitration stage and in arbitrations over the design and construction of power plants and an oil refinery in Europe, Latin America and Africa (amounts in dispute ranging from 20 to 200 M€).
- Represented as co-counsel a South American company in an ICC arbitration over an international consulting agreement with a multinational in the Middle East oil and gas sector (amount in dispute: 100 M USD).
- Represented a Brazilian mining company in an ICC arbitration over an international sale of mineral products (amount in dispute: 9 M USD).
- Represented a French-based multinational in an ICC arbitration over an energy-related international supply agreement (amount in dispute: 53 M€).
- Represented a US global biopharmaceutical company in an ICC arbitration with the patent holder of a medicine arising out of damages caused by the premature lapse of the French patent rights on such medicine, sold by the US company under a license agreement in France (amount in dispute: 18.6 M€).
- Represented an Argentinean pharmaceutical company in an ICC arbitration over the registration of a drug and breach of a supply agreement (amount in dispute: 4 M USD).
- Represented a French-based multinational in an ICC arbitration over the purchase of an industrial business in Argentina (amount in dispute: 580 M USD).
- Represented a French company in an arbitration conducted by the Barcelona Arbitration Tribunal over the breach of a set of contracts related to an international sale of goods and lease-management of going- concern (amount in dispute: 10.7 M€).
- Represented Lithuanian investors in an investment arbitration against the Republic of Serbia, related to the purchase of a fertilizer production facility (amount in dispute: 49 M€).
Litigation (Group actions, International, Oil and Gas, Supply Chain, Environmental, Financial Fraud and Parallel Arbitration Proceedings).
- Represented clients in high value supply chain disputes under international contracts over 150 M€.
- Represented claimants in an international mass litigation matter on behalf of victims of an oil spill (as lead co-counsel).
- Represented a Latin American State in a cross-border securities and commodities fraud litigation (amount claimed: 150 M USD).
Selected Publications
- ‘Are Investment Treaties “Zombies”, Unfit for Decarbonization Purpose?’ - Kluwer Arbitration Blog (1st August 2022 – co-author).
- Book chapter on ‘Risk assessment and third-party funding in investment arbitration with a focus on developing countries’ (Private Actors in International Investment Law: Beyond Claimants, Respondents and Arbitrators – European Yearbook on International Economic Law – Special Issue – 2021 - Editor: Springer).
- Country report (Argentina) on ‘Judicial Control over Arbitral Awards: Scope, Vacation and Public Policy’ in The Cambridge Handbook of Judicial Control of Arbitral Awards (Cambridge University Press, October 2020).
- Articles (2017-2018) on (i) comparative judicial incentives for parties to use ADR (England-France) (Newsletter of the French Arbitration Association – October 2017); (ii) ‘The applicable law in international arbitration’ (co-authored) (Collective publication by a Peruvian law firm and a law professor); (iii) ‘The evolution and current status of the concept of indirect expropriation in investment treaties and arbitration’ (co- authored) (Indian Journal of Arbitration Law, volume 6, number 2, February 2018); (iv) on ‘Argentina’s new law on international arbitration’, Les Cahiers de l’arbitrage (The Paris Journal of international arbitration) 2018- 4, pp. 861-873, Lextenso, Paris.
Selected Presentations and Lectures
- Panellist at ‘International Congress: A Century of ICC Arbitration’ on a panel on disputes and climate change (in Spanish) (Mexico City, 6 July 2023).
- Moderator ‘Constitutional reforms in Latin America: environmental and social challenges’ (webinar), Latin America open commission of the Paris Bar Association (8 June 2023).
- Visiting lecturer on ‘Introduction to commercial arbitration’ (in English), in Conflict and Dispute Management, Washington and Jefferson College (2020-2022).
- Guest lecturer on International Commercial Arbitration (CIArb-certified). University of Reading (2022).
- Speaker at two webinars on ‘Force Majeure, Hardship, Frustration and Related Doctrines: Comparative Views from Europe, the Middle East and the Americas’, co-organised with the CREDIMI (University of Burgundy) (3 September 2020) and with the University of Nanterre, France (26 November 2020).
- Speaker at Paris Arbitration Week webinar on ‘Arbitration Reform I: Unilateral Party Appointment & The Investment Court Project’, at a panel with Jan Paulsson, Nigel Blackaby QC & Salim Moolan QC (Moderator: Gustavo Laborde) (10 July 2020).
- Moderator at the XIth edition of the ‘Franco-Spanish Cross Looks’ colloquium, organised by the Spanish Arbitration Club (28 February 2020, Paris, France).
- Panellist on third-party funding at the Colloquium on ‘Actors in International Investment Law: Beyond Claimants, Respondents and Arbitrators’, Paris, 26-27 September 2019, jointly organised by the CERSA (CNRS - University Paris II Panthéon-Assas, France; the University of Zaragoza, Spain and the National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, Greece.
- Visiting Professorial Lecturer in International Dispute Resolution (Master/Digital Law & Management, in English), Catholic University of Lyon (UCLy) & ESDES (UCLy’s Business School) (academic year 2019- 2020).
Bar Admissions / Education
- Paris Bar (2005) and Buenos Aires Bar (1994).
- University of London (Queen Mary College) - LL.M. on International Business Transactions, 1996 (with Merit).
- University of Buenos Aires (Argentina) - LL.B., 1992.