State Department Senior Counsel Lee Caplan Joins Arent Fox

“Lee is one of the country’s leading international dispute resolution practitioners after working nearly fifteen years in the field,” said Managing Partner Matthew J. Clark. “His high profile international arbitration work on investor-state and state-to-state matters will be a great addition to our growing practice.”

Before joining Arent Fox, Mr. Caplan successfully litigated numerous international arbitrations, including investor-state arbitration under investment treaties, arbitrations before the Iran-US Claims Tribunal and, most recently, an ad hoc arbitral tribunal in Ecuador v. United States, a state-to-state case arising under the US-Ecuador Bilateral Investment Treaty. In addition, Mr. Caplan has worked closely for many years with the State Department’s Investment Arbitration Team to develop positions taken in US pleadings and non-disputing submissions in NAFTA and CAFTA-DR arbitration, and he regularly advised other US government offices on matters relating to international arbitration. He has also served as a US delegate to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) during the development of rules of transparency for use in treaty-based investor-state arbitration.

“The expansion of our international arbitration and dispute resolution capabilities is a priority for the firm,” said practice group leader Timothy J. Feighery. “Lee’s addition is another key hire that will add to our growing bench of arbitration lawyers, and his government service experience will be a great asset to clients.” Mr. Caplan joins less than a year after Mr. Feighery’s arrival from the United States Foreign Claims Settlement Commission, where he served as Chairman after being nominated by President Barack Obama and confirmed by the US Senate.

While in government, Mr. Caplan also served as the State Department’s principal lawyer in negotiations to conclude bilateral investment treaties with China and the Czech Republic, and the investment chapter in a free trade agreement with the Trans-Pacific Partnership countries: Australia, Brunei, Canada, Chile, Japan, Malaysia, Mexico, New Zealand, Peru, Singapore, and Vietnam. Mr. Caplan also made critical contributions to the Obama Administration’s review of the US Model Bilateral Investment Treaty. In addition, Mr. Caplan regularly advised the State Department and US embassies on strategies for supporting domestic companies seeking government advocacy when obtaining foreign contracts, pursuing foreign investments, or settling disputes with foreign governments.

Mr. Caplan writes and speaks regularly on matters relating to international arbitration and international law. He is the co-author of a leading treatise on international arbitration entitled “The UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules: a Commentary” and of a leading commentary on the US Model Bilateral Investment Treaty contained in “Commentaries on Selected Model Investment Treaties.” He has served as co-chair of the American Bar Association's Committee on International Courts and as an adjunct professor at American University’s Washington College of Law, where he taught international business transactions. Mr. Caplan has clerked on the Iran-US Claims Tribunal for Judge Charles N. Brower and on the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit for Judge Diana Gribbon Motz.

Arent Fox is a “go to” firm in the area of international arbitration for its work representing foreign sovereigns, contracting parties, and investors in cross-border disputes. Our lawyers have significant experience in state-to-state disputes, investor-state arbitration, and international commercial arbitration involving bilateral investment treaties, free trade agreements, multilateral and regional regimes, and private contracts. We regularly advise clients, both sovereigns and private entities, on international investment and trade issues, and conduct arbitrations across major industries, including energy, reinsurance, agriculture, intellectual property, telecommunications, and infrastructure.