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K&L Gates Wins for Poland in International Investment Treaty Dispute

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K&L Gates has assisted the Republic of Poland in obtaining a costs award of USD 1.2 million and a dismissal of all claims in an investment treaty dispute with U.S. investors David Minnotte and Robert Lewis.

The case -- ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/10/1 -- was initiated in July 2010 under the Poland-U.S. bilateral investment treaty of March 21, 1990.

The dispute arose from a failed investment project in a company that was supposed to build and operate a human blood plasma fractionation plant. The investors alleged that the failure of the project was associated with acts and omissions of the Republic of Poland in breach of applicable international law, such as the rules on fair and equitable treatment, expropriation, and the umbrella clause. The value of the claim pursued in the arbitration was in the range of USD 35 million.

Composed of Professors Maurice Mendelson, QC, Eduardo Romero Silva, and Vaughan Lowe, QC, as President, the Arbitral Tribunal rendered its final award on May 16, 2014, dismissing all claims on the merits and ordering the claimants to bear the costs of the proceedings, including the full costs of the respondent.

The Republic of Poland was represented by Katarzyna Szostak-Tebbens of the State Treasury Solicitors’ Office and Partners Maciej Jamka and Wojciech Sadowski of K&L Gates’ Warsaw office.

Jamka stated: “This win represents a nice step forward for K&L Gates’ global investment treaty practice and another success story in our longterm relationship with the Republic of Poland.” Sadowski added that, “the cost section of the award merits attention, as responding states are seldom awarded reimbursement of costs arising from investment treaty disputes.”