Shearman & Sterling successfully represented its client, a European shipyard company, in an ICC Pre-arbitral Referee procedure in which a North-African State entity had requested interim measures. The applicant sought the appointment of a technical expert on the ground that this was necessary to preserve or establish evidence. The underlying dispute arose out of a contract for the construction of a ferry. In parallel with this procedure, the applicant filed a request for arbitration with the ICC.
In defending the application, our client contended that the claims brought against it in the arbitration are time-barred and that the conditions for the issuance of an order by the Referee had not been met.
By an order issued on November 8, 2010, the Referee refused to grant the measures sought by the applicant. The reasoning was that the condition of urgency was not satisfied and that the applicant had not demonstrated a likelihood of success in the merits.
Interestingly, in his order, the Referee considered the criteria for granting provisional measures both under international arbitration law and under French law, Paris being the seat of the arbitration.
To date, only 10 pre-arbitral referee procedures have been brought in the history of the ICC. Shearman & Sterling has acted as Counsel in six of these procedures and has successfully represented its clients in every single one.
Attorneys included Partner Fernando Mantilla-Serrano (Paris-International Arbitration) and associates Armelle Sandrin (Paris-International Arbitration) and Thomas Parigot (Paris-International Arbitration). Our co-counsel on this matter was Jean-Marie Vulliemin from Froriep Renggli in Madrid.
