Vinson & Elkins announces the arrival of international arbitration partner, George Burn, who has joined V&E in London from Dentons. Before his previous firm’s merger, George served as the head of Salans’ UK International Arbitration practice.
George is well-known throughout the market for his extensive commercial and treaty arbitration work, including disputes relating to the energy, construction, mining, rail, shipping, engineering, and financial sectors and industries. George is an experienced international arbitration advocate and has appeared in proceedings brought under major arbitration systems, including ICC, LCIA, ICSID, SCC, UNICITRAL, and LMAA; and frequently sits as an arbitrator.
George will provide a boost to V&E’s highly-regarded investor-state arbitration practice, as well as complementing its existing strengths in disputes originating in Russia/CIS, Africa, India, the Middle East, and Asia.
George’s team was shortlisted in the London Dispute Resolution Team of Year in the 2013 Legal Business Awards and “highly commended” for winning the first jurisdictional award for an investor claiming protection under the Investment Agreement of the Organization of the Islamic Conference.
“George’s arrival reinforces our strategy to expand our already substantial dispute resolution practice that will benefit our clients across multiple geographic regions,” V&E Chairman Mark Kelly said. “I am sure George, with his market-leading knowledge and experience in investor-state cases, will be an unquestionable asset to our clients and the firm.”
Alongside his legal work, George is a member of the organising committee for the International Arbitration Charity Ball, which is one of the key events on the London legal social calendar.
“It is fantastic to be joining Vinson & Elkins, a firm I have long admired for its work in international dispute resolution and its deep strength in areas like energy, infrastructure, and telecoms,” George said. “This is a firm that has made a major commitment to growing its international disputes practice, and I am delighted to be part of that.”
V&E’s global International Dispute Resolution practice has a proven track record of providing strong commercial and legal advice and representation to clients under all major arbitration rules throughout Europe, Africa, the Middle East, India, Asia, Latin America, and North America. Lawyers in the practice bring decades of experience of handling investor-state disputes, having advised clients in the vanguard of foreign investment. The group’s extensive knowledge of the field of foreign investment is particularly focused on the energy industry and on other affiliated areas, such as construction, regulation, tariffs, finance, taxation, and IP.
The head of V&E’s International Dispute Resolution Practice, James Loftis, said: “George’s broad experience and reputation for quality and innovation are well known in the market, and he comes from one of the premier arbitration practices in Europe. He strengthens our already strong investor-state practice and expands our commercial arbitration offering to clients. We are pleased to be working with him.”
