King & Spalding hires from Freshfields Richard Woolley • Friday, 8 August 2014 (2 days ago)
King & Spalding has expanded its New York arbitration team by adding former Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer senior associate Viren Mascarenhas as counsel. Mascarenhas, who started work at King & Spalding on Monday, was a member of the Freshfields team that successfully defended the Turkish government against a US$10 billion ICSID claim by Libananco Holdings. An ad hoc annulment committee upheld the award last year. He also worked alongside Alex Yanos and Noiana Marigo in an ICSID case against Ecuador on behalf of Burlington Resources Oriente, over the state’s introduction of a 99 per cent tax on windfall oil profits. Mascarenhas has been involved in several further natural resources disputes relating to Latin America, including ICSID cases against the governments of Bolivia and Venezuela. He has also advised on IP, pharmaceutical, biotechnology and medical disputes. (snip) Of Indian origin (his family is from Goa and lives in Mumbai), Mascarenhas is an alumnus of Columbia Law School in New York and the University of London. He began his career as clerk to former International Court of Justice president Rosalyn Higgins in 2005. (snip) Two months ago, he was named as a rising star aged under 40 by the New York Law Journal. He has Indian overseas and Portuguese citizenship (the latter is extended to many from Goa, as a former Portuguese colony) and speaks English, Hindi, French and Spanish. (snip)
