A Cautionary Tale on the Interplay of Sovereign Immunity and International Arbitration

At the center of Process & Industrial v. Nigeria is a multibillion-dollar arbitration award issued in 2015 in London. In the years since, protracted court proceedings over the fate of this award have unfolded on three continents. The latest phase of this saga required the D.C. Circuit Court to weigh in on how Nigeria's agreement to the New York Convention interplays with its sovereign immunity defense. In this episode, Mike Ehrenstein, a trial lawyer with experience representing sovereigns in these kinds of cases, and Kiran Nasir Gore, an international arbitration expert, discuss the clash between international dispute resolution and public policy. They touch on hot topics, including best practices for handling corruption and fraud allegations, policy concerns raised by arbitral awards that imply the fate of taxpayer dollars, and the future of the sovereign immunity defense.

Please note, the positions and opinions expressed by the speakers are strictly their own, and do not necessarily represent the views of their employers, nor those of the D.C. Bar, its Board of Governors or co-sponsoring Communities and organizations.

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