14th ITA-IEL-ICC Joint Conference on International Energy Arbitration - Houston

Overview

The Joint Conference is presented by The Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA), The Institute for Energy Law (IEL) (both subsidiaries of The Center for American and International Law (CAIL)) and The International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC).

The 1½-day ITA-IEL-ICC Joint Conference is presented annually in Houston with the support of other leading regional and global arbitration organizations. The Joint Conference traditionally includes a year-in-review analysis of key developments in international energy arbitration practice during the preceding year, panels and debates concerning these developments, a Young Arbitrators Roundtable and a variety of social networking activities.

Conference Co-Chairs

Julie Bedard
Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP
New York, New York, USA/ São Paulo, Brazil

Rafael Boza
Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman
Houston, Texas, USA

Kevin Feeney
Shell USA, Inc.
Houston, Texas

Young Lawyers Roundtable Co-Chairs

María Carolina Durán
ICC YAAF representative
Baker Botts
Washington, D.C., USA

Harriet Foster
Young ITA representative
Orrick, Herrington & Sutcliffe LLP
London, United Kingdom

M. Imad Khan
IEL YEP Representative
Winston & Strawn LLP
Houston, Texas, USA

Schedule and Faculty

Thursday, January 22

1:45 pm Central Time - Registration

2:30-2:45 pm - Welcome

• Charles “Chip” Brower II, ITA Chair, Of Counsel, Miller Canfield, Professor of Law, Wayne State University, Detroit, Michigan, USA
• Kristi McCarthy, IEL Chair, Chevron North America Exploration & Production Co., Houston, Texas, USA
• Claudia Salomon, President, ICC International Court of Arbitration, Paris, France

Young Lawyers Roundtable

Presented by
ICC Young Arbitration & ADR Forum (YAAF)
IEL Young Energy Professionals (YEP)
Young ITA (YITA)

2:45-2:50 pm - Welcome to the Roundtable

2:50-3:55 pm - Navigating the Shifting Landscape: Regulatory Changes and Energy Policy in the Americas

As regulatory frameworks across the Americas evolve, energy companies face a complex and dynamic landscape. This panel will examine key incoming regulatory changes in the Americas, with a focus on how shifting policies are impacting compliance obligations, permitting processes, and cross-border energy transactions, and present a picture of legal risks and opportunities. Panelists will also discuss potential disputes arising out of the regulatory shifts. The discussion will provide comparative insights into how companies are navigating regulatory uncertainty, mitigating risk, structuring transactions, and managing disputes in a rapidly changing environment. The discussion will focus, in particular, on the U.S., Mexico, Chile, Argentina and Colombia.

Moderator: Angélica Perdomo Luna, Bogotá, Colombia

Panelists:

• Adrian Magallanes, Von Wobeser y Sierra, S.C., Mexico City, Mexico
• E. Dee Martin, Bracewell, Washington, D.C., USA
• Martín Vainstein, Marval O'Farrell Mairal, Buenos Aires, Argentina

3:55-4:55 pm - Enhancing Dispute Resolution in the Energy Sector Through Conciliation and Mediation

Stakeholders in the energy sector (and, in fact, many other sectors) want less adversarial and more cost- and time-efficient methods to address contractual, regulatory, and cross-border disputes. This panel will explore the growing role of conciliation and mediation as effective alternatives to arbitration in resolving energy-related disputes globally. The discussion will address whether conciliation and mediation foster expedited resolution of disputes and avoid the time and expense associated with a full-blown arbitral process. Panelists will also share strategies for structuring effective conciliation and mediation processes. This will include a discussion of tools to encourage early resolution of disputes. The goal of this panel is for participants to gain insight into how these mechanisms may best be leveraged to resolve energy disputes.

Moderator: Mallory Silberman, MS Arbitration/Georgetown University, Washington, D.C., USA

Panelists:

• Frauke Nitschke, ICSID, Washington, D.C., USA
• Alya Ladjimi, ICC International Centre for ADR, Paris, France
• Additional panelists to be invited

4:55-5:00 pm - Roundtable Closing Remarks

• T.L. Cubbage, Institute for Transnational Arbitration, Plano, Texas, USA

5:15-7:30 pm - Joint Conference Social

The Grove -- 1611 Lamar St -- Houston, TX 77010

Friday, January 23

8:00 am - Registration and Continental Breakfast

9:00-9:05 am - Welcome Back

9:05 - 9:35 am - Keynote: Meditations On Counter-Insurgency Techniques in International Arbitration

This keynote will explore different ways of reacting to guerrilla tactics in arbitration, to include (a) the forfeiting of rights; (b) use of costs orders; and (c) more generally, the recognition or development of a concept of contempt of arbitration, so as to empower tribunals to police their proceedings more effectively than presently seems to be the case.

• Constantine Partasides KC, Three Crowns LLP, London, United Kingdom

9:35-10:15 am - 2025 Year in Review: The Top 10 (or Close to 10) Developments in International Energy Arbitration

This presentation will survey investor-state and commercial disputes in the energy sector and highlight the biggest developments of the last year. Casting an eye over a wide range of matters, speakers will identify decisions and industry trends that are likely to influence energy arbitration into 2026 and beyond.

Moderator: Jennifer Permesly, Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP, New York, New York, USA

Panelists:

• Bernardo M. Cremades, Jr., B. Cremades & Asociados, Madrid, Spain
• Utku Coşar, Arbitration Chambers, New York, New York, USA

10:15-11:05 am - Rethinking the Use of Experts

This panel will survey experts for their best creative thinking on how parties and advocates can and should make the best use of experts in international arbitration cases.

Moderator: Derrick Carson, Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, Houston, Texas, USA

Panelists:

• Tim Rooney, Baker & O’Brien, Dallas, Texas, USA
• Gigi Cantalupo, Secretariat, New York, New York, USA
• Lisa Snow, Snowbridge Global Advisory, LLC, Chicago, Illinois, USA
• Carlos Lapuerta, The Brattle Group, London, United Kingdom

11:05-11:20 am - Coffee Break

11:20 am-12:30 pm - Do Novel Technologies Beget Novel Disputes?

This panel will examine how the rapid emergence of novel technologies—whether in energy production, storage, transmission, or in elements specific to energy-intensive sectors—is giving rise to new forms of legal and commercial disputes. Panelists will analyze the evolving landscape, including issues related to infrastructure adaptation, contractual risk allocation, regulatory uncertainty, and the strain on legacy systems. Are these technologies generating entirely new categories of disputes or simply transforming familiar challenges in unfamiliar ways?

Moderator: Gabrielle Finger, Storegga, Spring, Texas, USA

Panelists:

• Carlos A. Sanmiguel, Xofia Inc., Houston, Texas, USA
• Ryan Lax, Torys, Toronto, Ontario, Canada
• Samaa Haridi, King & Spalding, New York, New York, USA

12:30-2:00 pm - Luncheon

A Conversation with

John A.M. Judge
Arbitra International, London, United Kingdom

Interviewed by

Jessica Crow
Arbitra International, London, United Kingdom

This interview is the latest in a series organized by the ITA Academic Council to record the evolution of modern international arbitration in the words of those who have led it.

2:00-3:10 pm - Performance in a Changing Environment

This panel will offer a behind-the-scenes look at how in-house legal teams are adapting to regulatory volatility, protecting commercial relationships, and anticipating conflict in a rapidly changing legal and geopolitical environment. Discussion will explore how companies are balancing compliance, operational continuity, and dispute resolution needs in today’s complex regulatory climate.

Moderator: Frances E. Bivens, Davis Polk & Wardwell LLP, New York, New York, USA

Panelists:

• Heather Belt, ExxonMobil, Spring, Texas, USA
• Lindsey Raspino, ConocoPhillips, Houston, Texas, USA
• Brian Rohm, TotalEnergies, Houston, Texas, USA

3:10-4:20 pm - The Role of Advisory Opinions (ICJ/ITLOS) in the Regulation of International Energy Operations and the Risk for Energy Companies

This panel will spotlight the influence of advisory opinions from the International Court of Justice (ICJ), Inter-American Court of Human Rights (IACHR), and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)—particularly their potential to redefine liability, compliance expectations, and environmental standards in the global energy arena. Join us for a forward-looking conversation on how these developments may affect risk assessments and reshape business strategies across the energy industry.

Moderator: Nigel Blackaby KC, Freshfields US LLP, Washington D.C., USA

Panelists:

• Jovana Crncevic, Withers Bergman LLP, New York, New York, USA
  
• Christina Hioureas, Foley Hoag LLP, New York, New York, USA
  
• Dr. M.J. Margaretha Wewerinke-Singh, University of Amsterdam / University of Fiji, Amsterdam, The Netherlands

4:20 pm - Closing Remarks

4:30 - Adjourn

Hotel Information

Four Seasons Hotel Houston
1300 Lamar Street
Houston, Texas 77010-3017, USA

Rooms available the nights of January 21 and January 22, 2026. The Cutoff for booking a room is January 5, 2026, or when block sells out

Rate: $285++

Book Hotel

Sponsorship Opportunities

Canvas Bag - $9,000 (exclusive) - SOLD

• Exposure to ITA, IEL and ICC constituents
• Recognition as a sponsor of the Canvas Bag on the conference website, in all marketing, and at the conference
• 3 complimentary conference registrations
• 1 exhibition table for promotional materials
• Name/logo on the conference website with link to company page

WiFi - $6,000 (exclusive) - SOLD

• Company/Firm Name as WiFi code for conference
• Exposure to ITA, IEL and ICC constituents
• Recognition as Wifi Sponsor on the conference website, in all marketing, and at the conference
• 2 complimentary conference registrations
• 1 exhibition table for promotional materials
• Name/logo on the conference website with link to company page

Conference Coffee Breaks - $6,000 (exclusive) - SOLD

• Exposure to ITA, IEL and ICC constituents
• Recognition as a sponsor on the conference website, in all marketing, and at the conference
• 2 complimentary conference registration
• 1 exhibition table for promotional materials
• Name/logo on the conference website with link to company page

Lanyard - $5,000 (exclusive) - SOLD

• Company/Firm Name on badge lanyard
• Exposure to ITA, IEL and ICC constituents
• Recognition as Lanyard Sponsor on the conference website, in all marketing, and at the conference
• 2 complimentary conference registrations
• 1 exhibition table for promotional materials
• Name/logo on the conference website with link to company page

Notepad - $5,000 (exclusive) - SOLD

• Company/Firm logo on blank notepads distributed to participants
• Exposure to ITA, IEL and ICC constituents
• Recognition as Lanyard Sponsor on the conference website, in all marketing, and at the conference
• 2 complimentary conference registrations
• 1 exhibition table for promotional materials
• Name/logo on the conference website with link to company page

Conference Breakfast - $5,000 (exclusive) - SOLD

• Exposure to ITA, IEL and ICC constituents
• Recognition as a sponsor on the conference website, in all marketing, and at the conference
• 2 complimentary conference registrations
• 1 exhibition table for promotional materials
• Name/logo on the conference website with link to company page

Conference Luncheon - $4,000

Featuring an Oral History Interview

• Exposure to ITA, IEL and ICC constituents
• Recognition as a sponsor of the Luncheon on the conference website, in all marketing, and at the conference
• 2 complimentary conference registrations
• 1 exhibition table for promotional materials
• Name/logo on the conference website with link to company page

Charging Station - $4,000 (exclusive)

• Exposure to ITA, IEL and ICC constituents
• Recognition as a sponsor on the conference website, in all marketing, and at the conference
• 2 complimentary conference registrations
• 1 exhibition table for promotional materials
• Name/logo on the conference website with link to company page

Conference Materials (includes full page advertisement) - $4,000 (exclusive) - SOLD

• Full page Company/Law Firm Advertisement on the back of the Conference Materials Binder
• Exposure to ITA, IEL and ICC constituents
• Recognition as a sponsor on the conference website, in all marketing, and at the conference
• 2 complimentary conference registrations (all events, plus the ticketed Conference Dinner)
• 1 exhibition table for promotional materials
• Name/logo on the conference website with link to company page

An Evening at the Grove - Social Sponsor (January 22) - $3,250 (limited to ten)

(The Grove, 1611 Lamar St., Houston, TX)

• Exposure to ITA, IEL and ICC constituents
• Recognition as a sponsor of the conference social at The Grove which will feature networking, interaction, food, and refreshments, on the conference website, in all marketing, and at the conference
• 1 complimentary conference registration
• 1 additional complimentary guest at the Social
• 1 exhibition table for promotional materials
• Name/logo on the conference website with link to company page

Young Lawyers Roundtable - $3,000 (limited to four)

Presented by the Young ITA, the IEL Young Energy Professionals and the ICC Young Arbitration & ADR Forum

• Exposure to ITA, IEL and ICC constituents
• Recognition as a sponsor of the Roundtable on the conference website, in all marketing, and at the conference
• 1 complimentary conference registration
• 1 exhibition table for promotional materials
• Name/logo on the conference website with link to company page

Exhibitor - $3,000

• Exposure to ITA, IEL and ICC constituents
• 1 complimentary conference registration
• 1 exhibition table for promotional materials
• Name/logo on the conference website with link to company page

Other Information

Nondiscriminatory Policy

The Center for American and International Law does not discriminate on the basis of race, color, sex, religion, national origin, age, disability, veteran status, sexual orientation, gender identity, or any other protected status in educational activities, scholarship programs or admissions.

ICC Privacy Policy

Your information will also be collected by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) for the purpose of registering you for the event. You have the right to access, rectify, erase, the right to portability of your personal data, the right to restrict and object the processing, by sending an email to dataprotection@iccwbo.org or writing to the International Chamber of Commerce, ICC DPO, 33-43 avenue du Président Wilson 75116 Paris, France. For further information about this processing, please visit this page. If you wish that ICC sends you emails on Arbitration and ADR activities including reports, guidelines, events, trainings and updates relating to ICC’s range of leading dispute resolution products and services, we invite you to sign up here by completing the form and your preferences.

Privacy Policy

We do not sell or rent information to any outside parties. By providing your information, you will receive postal and electronic communications from the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA) of The Center for American and International Law (CAIL) in accordance with CAIL's Privacy Policy. If we co-sponsor a program with another organization, information may be shared between the parties. All such co-sponsors will be identified on the event details and registration page. At any point, you can opt-out or unsubscribe by selecting either link at the bottom of each email or call us at 972.244.3400.