Eckhard R. Hellbeck

Counsel, Washington, DC

Biography

Overview

Eckhard Hellbeck's practice focuses on the resolution of complex international disputes, in particular arbitration and litigation involving sovereign state parties and a broad range of industries. His experience includes public international law, investment protection under bilateral and multilateral treaties, sovereign state responsibility and immunity, and the enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards. Mr. Hellbeck also advises on matters of German and European Union law. As an attorney admitted both in Germany and the United States who is fluent in English, French and German, Mr. Hellbeck is especially well positioned to work on international matters, which often require a keen knowledge of the differences between civil law and common law systems.

Mr. Hellbeck has represented sovereign and private parties in international arbitrations involving financial instruments, privatization of formerly State-owned industries in the chemical, steel, and oil and gas sectors, infrastructure projects, including in the power generation, telecommunications, transportation and real estate development sectors. Mr. Hellbeck's experience includes proceedings before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and its Additional Facility, the American Arbitration Association (AAA), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the Vienna International Arbitral Centre, the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, and the International Court of Justice (ICJ). He also has advised on corporate claims before the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC) in Geneva, and on political risk insurance claims before the Overseas Private Investment Corporation (OPIC). Mr. Hellbeck has been appointed to the International Investment Agreements Expert Group of the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development, and as the Course Advisor for Arbitration for Judges at the International Law Institute in Washington, DC. Mr. Hellbeck is a frequent speaker and has widely published on topics of international arbitration.

Prior to joining White & Case LLP, Mr. Hellbeck was a lawyer and diplomat with the German Foreign Service for nine years. During that time, Mr. Hellbeck concentrated in international dispute resolution, multilateral affairs, export controls and economic sanctions, and international negotiation.  For example, Mr. Hellbeck participated in the negotiation of treaties between the Federal Republic of Germany and the then Soviet Union that were the precondition for German unification. For five years, Mr. Hellbeck represented Germany at the United Nations General Assembly and Security Council in New York. As a result of his tenure with the German Foreign Service, Mr. Hellbeck is acutely accustomed to working with governments on politically sensitive matters.

Bars and Courts
District of Columbia
New York
Frankfurt am Main Bar
US District Court for the District of Columbia
Education
Düsseldorf
LLM
American University, Washington College of Law
Washington College of Law
First State Exam
Berlin
Freie Universität Berlin
Hague Academy of International Law
Universität des Saarlandes
Saarbrücken
Languages
English
French
German

Experience

Representing tens of thousands of Italian bondholders in an ICSID arbitration brought against the Argentine Republic under a bilateral investment treaty.

Representing the Republic of the Philippines in three related ICSID and ICC arbitrations concerning a concession to build and operate an airport terminal.

Representing a Kazakh bank in an UNCITRAL arbitration brought against the Kyrgyz Republic under a bilateral investment treaty.

Advising the Government of an Asian State on investment treaty negotiations.

Representing Uzbekistan in ICSID and other arbitrations brought under bilateral investment treaties.

Representing the shareholders of a European company in an LCIA arbitration with related litigation in Swiss and Uzbek courts.

Advising a State-owned oil company on investment treaty negotiations.

Representing Bulgaria in an ICSID arbitration brought under the Energy Charter Treaty and a bilateral investment treaty, concerning the privatization of an oil refinery.

Advising a major US energy company in an ICSID arbitration against a Latin-American State.

Representing the largest Czech bank in an ICSID arbitration against the Slovak Republic on claims for losses arising out of a defaulted loan extended to a special purpose vehicle of the Slovak Republic in the context of the consolidation and subsequent privatization of the bank. The case resulted in a landmark award of approximately $900 million for our client.

Speaking Engagements

"The Contribution of International Investment Arbitration to the Development of International Law", March 12, 2014: American University, Washington College of Law

"US Discovery in Aid of Foreign Arbitration", October 12, 2012: International Legal Studies Program 30th Anniversary Conference American University, Washington College of Law

"Current Issues in International Commercial Arbitration in the United States" Presentation at "The 2012 Conference: Current Issues in International Commercial Law and Contracts", March 8, 2012: Il Consiglio Nazionale Forense, University of Missouri-Kansas City School of Law, American University Washington College of Law

"The Arbitration Procedure", August 18, 2011: International Law Institute "Arbitration for Judges" Seminar

"Tools to Protect: Arbitration and Bilateral Investment Treaties", November 3, 2010: American University, Washington College of Law

"International Investment Treaty Arbitration", August 20, 2010: Institute for US Law "Introduction to U.S. Law" Seminar

"International Arbitration of Individual Claims Against the State", March 26, 2010: International Law Students Association, Spring Conference

"Implications of the Global Financial Crisis on Trade and Investment Regimes", March 26, 2010: American Society of International Law, Annual Meeting

"Getting Started in International Commercial Arbitration", September 22, 2009: American University, Washington College of Law

Publications

Theories of Liability and Responsibility, in International Financial Disputes – Arbitration and Mediation, Jeffrey Golden & Carolyn Lamm, eds. Oxford University Press, 2015, (co-authored with Carolyn Lamm and David Riesenberg)

The Enforcement of Awards, in Litigating International Investment Disputes: A Practitioner's Guide, Chiara Giorgetti, ed., Brill/Nijhoff, 2014, (co-authored with Carolyn Lamm)

International Arbitration in a Globalized World, ABA Dispute Resolution Magazine, February 2014 , (co-authored with Carolyn Lamm & Nikolaos Tsolakidis)

International Practitioner's Deskbook Series: International Litigation Strategies and Practice, Barton Legum, Theodore Edelman & Ethan Berghoff, eds., American Bar Association, 2nd ed., 2014, (co-authored with Carolyn B. Lamm)

Third-Party Funding in Investor-State Arbitration—Introduction and Overview, Third-Party Funding in International Arbitration 101. Bernardo Cremades & Antonias Dimolitsa, eds., ICC Dossier X, 2013, (co-authored with Carolyn B. Lamm)

US Court Vacates BG Group's Investment Treaty Award—Argentina v. BG Group Plc, 15 International Arbitration Law Review at N-14, 2012, (co-authored with Carolyn Lamm)

US Court Vacates BG Group's Investment Treaty Award—Argentina v. BG Group Plc, 15 International Arbitration Law Review at N-14, (co-authored with Carolyn Lamm)

State Court Intervention in International Arbitration: The United States Perspective, 26 ICSID Review-Foreign Investment Law Journal 94, 2011, (co-authored with Carolyn Lamm)

Continental Transfert Technique Ltd. v. Federal Government of Nigeria, International Arbitration Law Review at N-43, 2011, (co-authored with Carolyn Lamm)

Investment Protection Under the New ASEAN-Australia-New Zealand Free Trade Agreement, International Disputes Quarterly, Winter 2010

Users' Perspectives on Challenges Facing the Institutions in a Changing World, 24 ICSID Review-Foreign Investment Law Journal 23, 2009, 2009, (co-authored with Carolyn B. Lamm, Michael P. Daly & Matthew N. Drossos)