Sir David Williams KC

• LLB, University of Auckland
• LLM, Harvard Law School
• Visiting Scholar University of Virginia Law School (2002)
• Fellow of Wolfson College, Cambridge University (1978)

Sir David is an Associate Member of Bankside Chambers, Auckland, New Zealand. He is the co-author of the leading text Williams and Kawharu on Arbitration (LexisNexis 2011 – Second Edition 2017). He is a former Justice of the High Court of New Zealand, the High Court of the Cook Islands, and the Court of the Dubai International Financial Centre.

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As to his work as an international arbitrator, as long ago as 2005 Who’s Who Legal 2005 listed Sir David Williams KC as "one of the world’s outstanding commercial arbitrators”. Since then there have been many similar comments. Chambers UK Bar (2013) stated that “David Williams [KC] of Essex Court Chambers but based in New Zealand, offers significant expertise in investment treaty and commercial arbitration. Market commentators are quick to praise his capabilities as arbitrator, with one source commenting that ‘he controls proceedings brilliantly as chairman’.” David's arbitral practice also includes sports arbitration and he has been involved in several major cases including the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) case where Floyd Landis was disqualified as the winner of the Tour de France for drug offences.

In 2017 he was awarded a Knighthood by the Queen in recognition of his outstanding contribution to the development of arbitration law and practice in New Zealand and internationally.

In recent years he has been involved in several heavy ICC, LCIA and SIAC arbitrations including two major international construction arbitrations where the amounts claimed exceeded US$1 billion and another ICC case involving an oil pipeline contract dispute, which is still in progress, where the sum claimed is US$35 billion.

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Sir David now confines his practice to giving opinions and advising parties in domestic or international arbitrations.

In recent years Sir David has been involved in four major international arbitration cases where the amounts claimed exceeded US$1 Billion dollars. A selection of his cases is set out below:

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Pacific China Holdings Ltd (in liq) v Grand Pacific Holdings Ltd CACV 136/2011

Chairman of the HKIAC arbitration in Grand Pacific Holdings Limited v Pacific China Holdings Limited (British Virgin Islands), where an award of US$34 million was made to Claimants. The award was upheld by the Hong Kong Court of Appeal in June 2012.

Member of the ICSID Tribunal in Occidental Petroleum Corporation v Republic of Ecuador. In October 2012 the Tribunal issued an award in favour of Occidental for US1.9 billion, which was at the time the largest sum ever awarded in an ICSID arbitration. In February 2013 at the Global Arbitration Review Awards in Bogotá, the award for the most important published decision in 2012 in jurisprudential terms went to this decision.

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Member of the ICSID Tribunal in Deutsche Bank v Sri Lanka. In November 2012, the Tribunal issued an award in favour of Deutsche Bank for US$65 million, finding Sri Lanka had breached the investor protection provisions of the Germany-Sri Lanka Bilateral Investment Treaty.

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Sir David Williams KC was a member of an ICSID (World Bank) arbitral tribunal which in September 2014, issued a unanimous Award in favour of Canadian listed company Gold Reserve Inc. The Tribunal found that Venezuela had violated the Canada-Venezuela bilateral investment treaty in its treatment of Gold Reserve in relation to its Brisas gold and copper mining project. The Tribunal held the state liable under the treaty’s Fair and Equitable treatment clause and ordered it to pay US$713 million for the fair market value of the project, plus US$23.3 million in interest and US$5 million in legal and technical costs incurred by the claimant.

The President of the New Zealand Court of Appeal said: "Williams and Kawharu on Arbitration deservedly stands among the great New Zealand legal texts. Its vivid scholarship is the direct product of profound knowledge and experience of the daily practice of arbitration not only in New Zealand but in other jursidictions."

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Who’s Who Legal 2019 said: “David A R Williams QC is widely regarded as one of the shining stars of the industry. Peers are constantly impressed by his excellent management of hearings and describe him as ‘one of the best arbitrators out there’ ”.

• Williams and Kawharu on Arbitration 2nd Edition, 2017
• Williams on Environmental and Resource Management Law 1997