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Francisco Franco Rodriguez

Francisco Franco

Associate
Baker & McKenzie Abogados, S.C.

Biography

Francisco is a member of the Firm's Global Dispute Resolution Group. His practice focuses on international investment and commercial arbitration. He has represented states and corporations in complex international arbitrations under various rules, including the ICC, LCIA, ICSID and UNCITRAL arbitration rules. He acts for and against states and state bodies, with particular experience in the energy sector and large infrastructure projects. He has acted on investor-state disputes under ICSID as well as under the ICC Arbitration Rules. Francisco is admitted to practice law in Mexico and New York. Before joining Baker McKenzie in Mexico City, Francisco worked for top-tier international arbitration firms in Paris, London and New York.

Practice Focus

Francisco's work in the past years has mainly focused on investor-state and commercial arbitrations relating to various sectors, such as mining, oil and gas, infrastructure and construction. His experience includes the representation of a gold mining corporation against a South American state in an investment arbitration, where the corporation obtained a USD 1.2 billion award. Francisco is currently representing an Anglo-Dutch oil and gas leading company and a Russian oil and gas giant in a USD 700 million ICC arbitration against an American energy company relating to an LNG plant in Northern Mexico.

Representative Legal Matters

  • Representing an Anglo-Dutch leading oil and gas corporation and a Russian oil and company in an ICC arbitration against an American energy company relating to an LNG plant in Northern Mexico.

  • Represented the US subsidiaries of a Spanish infrastructure group in an ICSID arbitration against a South American state relating to the construction of six hydroelectric power plants.

  • Represented a gold mining corporation against a Latin American state in an arbitration challenging the expropriation of the company's rights over one of the world's largest gold deposits.

  • Represented a consortium of water treatment companies against a South American country in the damages stage of an ICSID arbitration over the mistreatment of the companies' investments.

  • Represented an East African government in a major highway construction dispute with a Japanese company.

  • Represented a construction company in a case against a Middle Eastern country over the government's unlawful interference in a power plant construction project awarded to the client.

  • Advised a Cypriot group of companies in a dispute against an Eastern European country over the country's politically motivated harassment campaign against the group's investments.

  • Represented a pharmaceutical company against a Latin American state in an UNCITRAL/PCA arbitration over the misconduct of the state's judiciary and other authorities.

Professional Associations and Memberships

  • New York State Bar Association, International Section's International Arbitration Committee - Vice Chair

Admissions

  • New York~United States (2015)
  • Mexico (2009)

Education

  • Columbia University School of Law (LL.M.) (2013)
  • Institute of International and Development Studies, Geneva (Master International Dispute Settlement) (2011)
  • Universidad Iberoamericana (LL.B.) (2009)

Languages

  • English
  • French
  • German
  • Spanish