Pablo Bentes

Biography

Pablo M. Bentes is a partner in Baker McKenzie Geneva, where he represents sovereign clients before the WTO Dispute Settlement Body and assists private clients and trade associations on how to use the WTO disciplines to resolve market access issues. Pablo is one of very few practitioners in the world to have successfully represented WTO Members in all stages in WTO dispute settlement proceedings, serving as lead counsel in oral pleadings before WTO panels and the Appellate Body.

Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Pablo was Managing Director at a leading law firm in Washington DC and a Legal Officer in the Appellate Body Secretariat of the WTO. While working at the Appellate Body Secretariat, Pablo advised on some of the largest and most complex appeals giving rise to the leading case law in areas such as import restrictions, subsidies, trade remedies, technical barriers to trade, sanitary and phytosanitary measures, among others.

Pablo was featured as "Next Generation Lawyer – Dispute Resolution: International Trade" in Legal 500 US for three years in a row. Law360 has repeatedly named him a "Rising Star". He is a welcomed speaker at international podiums and publishes regularly in professional journals and international media.

Practice Focus

Pablo advises sovereign states and private clients in every stage of complex WTO disputes dealing with the inter-section between economic and non-economic objectives. He frequently appears on behalf of WTO members in oral pleadings before WTO panels and the Appellate Body.

Representative Legal Matters

Represented the Government of Argentina in a WTO dispute against Panama on the taxation of financial services from suppliers located in tax havens.
Represented the Government of Australia in a WTO dispute on the regulation of packaging and advertising of tobacco products.
Represented the Government of Brazil in reversing on appeal adverse WTO panel rulings against industrial subsidies.
Represented the Government of Argentina in WTO dispute on various import measures and domestic content requirements.
Represented Brazilian steel producers in negotiating an exemption from Section 232 duties in the United States.

Professional Honors

Law 360, Rising Star in International Trade (2015-2016).
Chambers Global, International Trade/WTO: Brazil Experts Based Abroad (2013-2014).
The Legal 500 US, Litigation: International Trade (2013-2016).

Professional Associations and Memberships

WTO Indicative List of Panelists (Brazil)
Member of the American Society of International Law (ASIL)
Member of the Editorial Board of “Revista de Derecho Económico Internacional”, ITAM, Mexico
Vice President of the ABCI Institute, Washington, DC
Chapter-Chair of the New York State Bar Association in Geneva.

Admissions

Brazil (2000)

Education

University of Miami (LLM International Law) (2003)
University of Sao Paulo (MBA Finance and Risk Management) (2001)
Harvard Law School (Program of Instruction for Lawyers, Negotiation Workshop) (2001)
University of Sao Paulo (JD) (1999)

Languages

English
French
German
Portuguese
Spanish

Previous Offices

Washington, DC

Author, “In Search of a Genuine and Substantial Cause: The Analysis of Causation in Serious Prejudice Claims”, in “The Use of Economics in Dispute Settlement”, Pauwelyn and Carpenter (Eds.), Cambridge University Press, 2017.

Author, “From Baksheesh to Bribery: Examining the Global Fight Against Corruption and Graft”, Brazil Chapter (with Lucinda Low), Oxford University Press (forthcoming)

Author, "Enhancing the Brazil-EU Strategic Partnership – From the Bilateral and Regional to the Global", ed. M. Emerson and R. Flores – Book Review, World Trade Review, Vol. 14, nr. 1, January 2015.

Co-author with M. Simpson, “International Legal Developments in Review: 2009” (International Trade Section), The International Lawyer, Vol. 44, nr. 1, Spring 2010.

Co-author with V. Povarchuk, “International Legal Developments in Review: 2008” (International Trade Section), The International Lawyer, Vol. 43, nr. 2, Summer 2009.

Co-author with S. Ettinger, “International Legal Developments in Review: 2007” (International Trade Section), The International Lawyer, Vol. 42, nr. 2, Summer 2008.

Author, “A Cumulatividade na Determinação de Dano a Indústria Norte Americana” (“Cumulation in the Analysis of Injury to the United States’ Industry”), in A. Lima-Campos (ed.), Ensaios em Comercio Internacional, Ed. Singular, Sao Paulo, Brazil, 2005.