Thomas Bevilacqua, a partner in Foley Hoag’s Paris office, concentrates his practice on international arbitration and litigation matters.
Thomas’s practice consists principally of counseling clients throughout all phases of international commercial and investment arbitration matters. He has acted as counsel in some fifty international arbitrations, including increasingly in recent years in investor-State disputes under the ICSID and UNCITRAL rules, in addition to his continuing practice in commercial disputes under the leading sets of commercial arbitration rules. In particular, he appears regularly as counsel in administered international arbitration matters, most frequently, though not exclusively, in matters administered by the ICC.
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In addition to representing clients during arbitral proceedings, he often assists clients in the pre-arbitration phases on questions such as the drafting of complex arbitration clauses (including in multi-contract and multi-party scenarios), the development of litigation strategy, and mediation and other settlement efforts. He also advises clients with regard to the composition of arbitral tribunals (including regarding challenges to arbitrators and the defense of arbitrator designations) as well as during the post-award phase (concerning, for instance, obtaining recognition and enforcement orders, petitions to set aside before the Paris Court of Appeals, and proceedings to confirm foreign awards in France and the United States).
He also frequently counsels clients on matters of private international law, including on matters of choice of law and forum selection clauses, as well as on questions of international judicial cooperation. He has significant experience, for instance, concerning the implementation in France and the United States of the 1970 Hague Evidence Convention.
Thomas received his legal training in the United States and France, is admitted to the practice of law in and is a national of both countries, and routinely advises clients and pleads in English and French on questions arising under the civil law and common law traditions.
