Pablo Bentes

Biography

Pablo M. Bentes is a partner in Baker McKenzie Geneva, where he heads the global WTO disputes practice of the Firm. Pablo focuses on representing WTO Members before the WTO Dispute Settlement Body and assists private clients and trade associations on how to leverage WTO disciplines to resolve trade disputes. 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

Lead Counsel to WTO members in the following WTO disputes:

Indonesia - Measures Relating to Raw Materials (DS592)
United States - Countervailing Duty Measures on Certain Products from China (DS437)
Argentina - Measures Affecting the Importation of Goods (DS438/444/445)
Argentina - Measures Relating to Trade in Goods and Services (DS453)
Russia - Measures affecting the importation of railway equipment and parts thereof (DS499)
Australia - Certain Measures Concerning Trademark, Geographical Indications and other Plain Packaging Requirements Applicable to Tobacco Products and Packaging (DS435/441/458/467)
Brazil - Certain Measures Concerning Taxation and Charges (DS472/497)
United States - Countervailing Duty Measures on Certain Products from China (Article 21.5 – China) (DS437)
European Communities - The ACP-EC Partnership Agreement - Recourse to Arbitration pursuant to the Decision of 14 November 2001 (WT/L/616)

Legal Advisor to the Appellate Body:

United States - Measures Relating to Zeroing and Sunset Reviews (DS322)
Brazil - Measures Affecting Imports of Retreaded Tyres (DS332)
United States - Final Anti-Dumping Measures on Stainless Steel from Mexico (DS344)
United States - Continued Suspension of Obligations in the EC - Hormones Dispute (DS320/321)
United States - Laws, Regulations and Methodology for Calculating Dumping Margins (Zeroing) (DS294)
Colombia - Indicative Prices and Restrictions on Ports of Entry (DS366)
European Communities and Certain Member States - Measures Affecting Trade in Large Civil Aircraft (DS316)
United States Measures Affecting Imports of Certain Passenger Vehicle and Light Truck Tyres from China (DS399).
Philippines - Taxes on Distilled Spirits (DS396)
United States - Measures Affecting the Production and Sale of Clove Cigarettes (DS406)

Professional Honors

WTO Indicative List of Panelists (Brazil)
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

PhD Researcher, The Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, 2011-Present

Publications

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.