Biography
Bernhard specialises in commercial and investment treaty arbitration, with a particular focus on the energy and the mining industries. He also represents clients in contentious and non-contentious public international law matters and sits as an arbitrator.
Bernhard is a member of the UK Attorney General’s C Panel of Public International Law Counsel to the Crown and an adjunct professor in Cyberlaw and disputes in cyberspace at King’s College London.
Highlights of Bernhard’s practice include successfully acting for a party in a multibillion-dollar ICSID arbitration pertaining to the mining industry and representing a Caribbean state in a high-profile investment treaty claim involving international environmental law.
Bernhard has acted for claimant and respondent parties in a wide range of investment treaty and commercial arbitration matters (including under the Energy Charter Treaty and ICSID, UNCITRAL, ICC, LCIA, VIAC, DIS and AAA Rules), as well as related cross-border litigation and enforcement issues.
Bernhard has also advised a P5 state on asserting its sovereign immunity before EU member state courts and tribunals and delivered practical training in international economic law to government officials of a Middle Eastern state.
Bernhard is recognised as a Future Leader in the Who’s Who Legal Arbitration 2022 Guide. He is also ranked as a Future Leader in the Who’s Who Legal Commercial Litigation 2022 Guide, which describes him as “an incredibly talented lawyer with a technically skilled practice”. He is also recognised as one of five of the most highly regarded EMEA non-partners in Who’s Who Legal’s future leaders legal marketplace analysis. He is also commended in The Legal 500 UK 2023 Guide for his international arbitration practice.
Speaking engagements
- Panel discussion, “How are cyber crime and misinformation converging”, Financial Times Cyber Resilience Summit, Autumn 2022.
- Panel discussion, “The new Mining Act and issues of international arbitration”, 11th International Conference on Mineral Resources in the Republic of Serbia.
- Speaker, “Kazakhstan Intergovernmental Council, Subgroup Mining”, London, September 2019.
- Moderator, “The impact of climate change on dispute resolution”, Energy Community Dispute Resolution Forum, Vienna, Austria, September 2019.
- Panellist and Convenor, Caspian Energy Forum, FTI, London, September 2019.
- Keynote Speaker, “Foreign Investment in the Mining Sector – what lessons for the future can be gleaned from the past?”, Minex Europe, Sofia, Bulgaria, June 2019.
- Panellist, “Cybersecurity and the Internet in International Investment Arbitration”, Hogan Lovells, London, April 2019.
- Moderator, “Institutional Practices: Behind the Scenes”, Co-organised by the PCA, LCIA, DIS and Wilmer Hale, London, October 2018.
- Panellist, “The ICSID Secretariat’s Proposals for Rule Amendments: Transparency and Special Procedures”, Young ITA London, October 2018.
- Panellist, “Brexit and the Energy Charter Treaty”, The Future of Investment Arbitration in Europe, Association for International Arbitration (AIA) Symposium, Brussels, June 2018.
- Convenor, “How to Secure First Arbitral Appointments and How to Retain Them”, co-organised with DIS-40, London, December 2017.
- Speaker, “International Energy Law and the Role of an Energy Disputes Lawyer in the Sector”, Graduate School of Natural Resources Law, Policy & Management of the University of Dundee’s Centre for Energy, Petroleum and Mineral Law and Policy Dundee, 2017.
- Speaker, “Trade and Investment post Brexit”, British Institute of International and Comparative Law, London, September 2016.
- Speaker, Renewable Energy, Sustainable Development and Arbitration, German Institution of Arbitration (DIS), Hamburg, April 2016.
- Speaker, Advocacy in International Arbitration, DLA Piper Arbitration Seminar Series, 2016.
- Speaker, “Career Opportunities in Public International Law”, Southampton University.
- Speaker, Africa Investment Protection in West Africa: Practical Considerations, Mining Projects, Law and Regulation in West Africa Forum, London.
Experience
Commercial arbitration
- Successfully defending a publicly listed European life sciences equipment manufacturer in a €400m LCIA arbitration arising out of a supply contract for high-tech ancillary equipment.
- Representing a gas buyer in a high-profile Swiss-seated ICC arbitration pertaining to a long-term contract for the supply of natural gas, including dealing with issues of European Union competition law.
- Representing a major oil and gas company in a commercial arbitration involving a high-value pipeline investment in a Middle East state (ICC Rules).
- Representing the claimant in a commercial arbitration involving a hydrocarbon investment in an Asian state (ICC Rules).
- Representing the respondents in a high-profile LCIA arbitration relating to an investment in the telecommunications industry and involving multiple ancillary proceedings before national courts.
- Representing the respondent in an arbitration under the Swiss Arbitration Rules arising out of a construction project in a Central Asian country.
Investment arbitration
- Successfully defending the Slovak Republic in an UNCITRAL investment treaty arbitration pertaining to an alleged investment in the mineral water sector, including issues of transboundary resource sharing.
- Acting for the investor in ICSID annulment proceedings arising out of the expropriation of a glass bottling plant in Venezuela.
- Acting for the Cypriot investor in ICSID annulment proceedings arising out of the expropriation of a series of infrastructure investments.
- Successfully defending the government of a major African state in a multibillion-dollar ICSID investment treaty arbitration arising out of the revocation of series of valuable rare earths licences.
- Winning a US$400m+ ICSID award for a US multinational arising out of the expropriation of a fertiliser plant in Venezuela.
- Successfully defending the government of Barbados in an UNCITRAL investment treaty arbitration arising out of the alleged expropriation of an investment in an ecotourism project.
- Representing the applicant in an ICSID annulment proceeding arising out of a construction project in Turkey.
- Acting for the investor in ICSID proceedings against Turkmenistan arising out of a series of construction projects in the country.
- Representing the claimants in an ICSID arbitration arising out of an investment in the oil and gas sector.
- Advising the claimant in relation to a potential dispute arising out of an investment in the mining sector in Southeast Europe.
Public International Law
- Advising a P5 member state in relation to a potential free trade and investment agreement with another P5 member state.
- Delivering practical training in public international law to government lawyers in a Middle East state.
- Representing the government of a P5 state in defending its right to sovereign immunity before EU member state courts and tribunals.
- Advising a regional customs union on the establishment of as standing tribunal to deal with matters pertaining to the union.
- Advising the European Energy Commissioner in resource-related negotiations between two Caspian littoral states.
Publications
The Private and Public International Law Dimension of Arbitrations Arising Out of the Hospitality Industry as a Result of the Covid-19 Pandemic, in The Impact of Covid on International Disputes, Brill (2022)
Guest Comment, Macro developments in the mining sector going forward – Global Mining Review – April 2022, Volume 5, Issue 3
Signature snaps up arbitration expertise – CDR News – 17 May 2021
Signature hires from Squire Patton Boggs in London – Global Arbitration Review – 10 May 2021
Swiss court finds Israeli businessman Beny Steinmetz guilty of corruption – Reuters – 22 January 2021
Seminar on cybersecurity and the internet in international investment arbitration – Hogan Lovells – 11 April 2019
New leaders at DIS-40 – Global Arbitration Review – 24 May 2017
Familiar names on prestigious UK panel – Global Arbitration Review – 3 March 2017
Hamburg: New energies and new rules – Global Arbitration Review – 4 May 2016
“The Many Identities of the European Union: Exploring the Rival Trade and Investment Ambitions of Organization and Members” – Manchester Journal of International Economic Law, 13(3) MJIEL 357-388 – 2016
Barbados wetlands gives rise to treaty claim – Global Arbitration Review – 16 February 2015
Co-author, “A Comparative Analysis of the ECT and BITs in Light of Evolving EU Policy” – The Leading Practitioners’ Guide to International Oil & Gas Industry Arbitration – 2015
Co-author, “The External Dimension of EU Energy Regulation” – Legal Aspects of EU Energy Regulation, Second Edition, OUP – 2015
Know-How Barbados – Global Arbitration Review – 2015
Committee to consider Libananco award; new counsel on board – Global Arbitration Review – 21 February 2012
“How has international law dealt with the tension between sovereignty over natural resources and investor interests in the energy sector? Is there a balance?” – International Energy Law Review – 2010
“How has the Law Attempted to Tackle the Borderless Nature of the Internet?” – International Journal of Law and Information Technology – 2010
Areas of Expertise
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Kate Gee examines recent amendments to the Financial Services and Markets Act 2023 in the FTAdviser
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