Luis González García

Contact Luis: luisgonzalez@matrixlaw.co.uk | +44 (0)20 7404 3447

Contact Luis's Practice Team (Team T): TeamT@matrixlaw.co.uk

Luis specialises in international trade, investment treaty arbitration and matters related to public international law. He has extensive experience as a trade negotiator, as counsel representing States and corporations in international arbitrations and trade disputes, and as an arbitrator in investor-State arbitrations. Luis is a member of the ICSID panel of arbitrators and has been described in Who’s Who for arbitration as ‘absolutely stellar for investment treaty disputes’.

Luis was Trade Policy Advisor at the UK Department for International Trade (DIT) on cross-cutting issues in negotiations with the United States, Australia and CPTPP countries; Special Advisor to the UK Department for Business, Energy, and Industrial Strategy (BEIS) in the negotiations with the EU.

He has been an external consultant to the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD) and the Organization of American States (OAS) on investment law and policy and trade disputes.

Prior to joining Matrix Chambers, Luis was Deputy General Counsel for Trade Negotiations of the Ministry of Economy in Mexico. In his government role he acted as counsel for Mexico in disputes under the NAFTA and was deeply involved in the negotiations of all of Mexico’s free trade agreements. Luis worked at the International Trade Law Branch of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs in Vienna.

He lectures on international negotiations at the University of Aberdeen since 2018 and has taught EU trade Policy and Investment at Queen Mary University of London. He also delivers lectures and seminars in the field of diplomacy and dispute resolution in the UK and abroad.

Luis has a particular interest in the interaction between WTO law and national security, and the treatment of property during armed conflicts. Luis’ recent work in this field includes advising the UK government on essential security clauses in trade agreements; acting for several Ukrainian entities against Russia in an UNCITRAL arbitration in the context of Russia’s annexation of Crimea; assisting with an advice relating to the legal consequences of Russia’s actions in Ukraine.

Investment Treaty Arbitration

Luis has represented sovereign States and foreign investors in investment treaty arbitrations. He has appeared in many leading cases in relation to denial of justice, legitimate expectations, and indirect expropriation. He has been described in Who’s Who for arbitration as ‘absolutely stellar for investment treaty disputes’.

Cases include:

• Olympic Entertainment Group AS (Estonia) v. Ukraine, PCA 2019-18;
• Austrian and Swiss investors v Middle East country (UNCITRAL);
• Azucarera del Guadalfeo S.A. & Joaquín Francisco Martín Montero (Spain) v Dominican Republic, PCA AA749;
• CMC Muratori Cementisti CMC Di Ravenna SOC. Coop. (Italy) v. Republic of Mozambique, ICSID Case No. ARB/17/23;
• LLC Lugzor and Libset and others (Ukraine) v. The Russian Federation, PCA Case No. 2015-29;
• Chevron Co and Texaco (US) v Ecuador, PCA 2009-23;
• Siemens AG (GER) v Argentina, ICSID Case No ARB/02/8, (revision proceedings);
• Vivendi Universal SA (II) (FRA) v Argentina, ICSID Case No ARB/97/3 (annulment proceedings);
• Niko Resources (Canada) v Bapex, Petrobangla and the Government of Bangladesh, ICSID cases No ARB/10/18 and ARB/10/11;
• Gemplus (FRA) & Talsud S.A.(ARG) v Mexico, ICSID Cases ARB(AF)/04/3 & ARB(AF)04/4;
• ADM and Tate & Lyle Ingredients Inc. (US) v Mexico, ICSID case No ARB(AF)/04/5;
• Cargill Inc (US) v Mexico, ICSID Case No ARB(AF)05/2;
• Bayview Irrigation District et al (US) v. Mexico, ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/05/1;
• Gami Investments (US) v Mexico, NAFTA and UNCITRAL case;
• Técnicas Medioambientales S.A. (Tecmed) (Spain) v. Mexico, ICSID Case No ARB(AF)/00/2;

As an arbitrator:

• Alejandro Diego Díaz Gaspar v. Republic of Costa Rica, ICSID case No ARB/19/13 (appointed by Costa Rica)
• Infracapital F1 S.à r.l. and Infracapital Solar B.V. v. Kingdom of Spain, ICSID Case No (ARB/16/18 (appointed by Spain)
• Shanara Maritime International, S.A. y Marfield Ltd. Inc. v Mexico, Mexico-Panama BIT and the UNCITRAL Rules, (appointed by Mexico)

International Trade Law

Luis has an important and long-established expertise in international trade law, international negotiations and international treaty law. He has significant experience on Market Access, Rules of Origin, Customs, Safeguards, Trade Facilitation, Regulations, Investment, trade disputes, Trade and Sustainable Development, Trade and Human Rights, and Trade and National Security.

• Advised the UK Government on market access and rules of origin of UK’s key industrial sectors in the UK-EU FTA
• Advised the UK Government on cross-cutting issues in FTAs
• Advised the UK’s Equality and Human Rights Commission (EHRC) on the intersection between human rights and trade
• Oral and written evidence to the to the House of Lords EU External Affairs and EU Internal Market Sub-Committees on Brexit and the future trade between the UK and the EU
• Training in Market Access, Tariff Classification, Trade Facilitation, Rules of Origin, Dispute Resolution, GATT Article XX Exceptions, National Security, Human Rights and Gender Equality and Sustainable Development and treaty text drafting for the HM Government.
• Trade negotiator on Rules of Origin, Customs Procedures and Safeguards and market access issues in more than 10 FTAs concluded by Mexico
• Served as Mexico’s investment negotiator for bilateral investment treaties
• Member of the NAFTA Investment Expert Group
• External consultant to UNCTAD, OAS and USAID
• Advisor to several States on trade and investment disputes
• Intern, International Trade Law Branch of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs in Vienna

Memberships/Appointments

• Member, ICSID Panel of Arbitrators designated by Mexico
• Member, BAC/BIAC’s Panel of Arbitrators for International Investment Disputes
• Appointed, UK Trade Law Panel (in consortium with Fieldfisher)
• Member, American Society of International Law
• Visiting lecturer at the University of Aberdeen, teaching the course “Professional skills: International Trade Negotiations” (2018 – )
• Visiting Professor at Queen Mary University of London, teaching “EU’s trade and investment policy” (2017)
• Member, Roster of chairpersons for arbitration proceedings under EU, Colombia and Peru FTA
• Appointed, List of Candidates Suitable for Appointment as Chairpersons for Arbitrations and TSD Expert Panel Proceedings

Public International Law

• Advice to governments on drafting, interpretation, negotiation and implementation of treaties.
• Oversight of treaty approval process and implementation of free trade agreements.
• Opinion on the legal consequences of Russia’s actions in Ukraine with Judge James Crawford
• Author, “Intervention by third parties under Article 63 of the Statute of the International Court of Justice”, chapter in the book “Latin America and the International Court of Justice”.

International Commercial Arbitration

Luis has served as sole and co-counsel in international commercial arbitrations under LCIA, HKIAC, PCA and UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. His experience in commercial arbitration include contractual disputes involving sale of goods, oil and gas, and aviation. He acted as sole counsel in the Sterling Merchant v The Government of Cabo Verde case in The Hague and co-lead counsel for Ecuador in a Hong Kong arbitration between the Ecuadorian Navy against a Chinese shipping company.

Education

ELM, University of Cambridge, UK

Master of Laws in European Union Law, Carlos III University of Madrid;

Specialisation Diploma in Areas of Economic Integration, Carlos III University of Madrid

Law degree, Northeast Autonomous University

Languages

Spanish and English (fluent)

Portuguese (knowledge)

French (basic)

Articles and Downloads

Luis was extensively cited in the House of Lords European Union Committee report, ‘Brexit: the options for trade’

Author: World Trade Dispute Settlement System in peril, and the UK should help to save it

Author: UK-EU Trade Negotiations The Level Playing Field 

Author: Brexit – understanding the EU’s negotiating position on trade

Quoted in the Financial Times article “Is there a Brexit steel trade remedy?

Author, ‘After Miller: the impact of the Supreme Court’s judgment’

Author, Brexit: UK trade relations with third countries (Part 1)

Author, Brexit: UK trade relations with third countries (Part 2)

Author, ‘Brexit: Challenges for the UK in negotiating an FTA with the EU (a trade negotiator’s perspective)’ by Luis González García

Quoted in The Economist article, ‘The “WTO option” for Brexit is far from straightforward’

Author, ‘Brexit: What trade agreements can the UK negotiate whilst being a part of the EU?’

Luis was recently interviewed by Lawyer Monthly on international arbitration and the role expected of an international lawyer

Luis spoke on a panel of experts at the CDR Winter Arbitration Symposium devoted to questions of evidence and advocacy

Luis was quoted in a Commercial Dispute Resolution article on how governments are clamping down on international corporations using shell companies to sue them under investment treaties

Author, ‘Interview by LexisNexis “The impact of the EU-Ukraine Deep and Comprehensive Free Trade Agreement” (2014)‘

Author, ‘The role of human rights in international investment law (2013)‘

Author, ‘Flughafen Zürich AG v Venezuela: A Catch-22 on the Protection of Procedural Fairness (2013)‘

Author, ‘Corrupción, lavado de dinero y el arbitraje internacional (2013)‘

Author, ‘Is consolidation of claims a step to improvement? (2005)‘

Luis is committed to protecting and respecting your privacy. In order to provide legal services to his clients, including advice and representation services, Luis needs to collect and hold personal data. This includes his client’s personal data and the personal data of others who feature in the matter upon which he is instructed. To read Luis’ privacy notice in full, please see here.