Irene Ribeiro focuses her practice on commercial litigation, commercial arbitration (international and domestic), and international investment arbitration. For more than twenty years, Irene has represented companies, states and individuals in state and federal courts in the United States, as well as in administered and ad hoc domestic and international arbitrations under the rules of various arbitral organizations, including ICC, ICSID, ICDR, AAA, AAA CONSTRUCTION, ARIAS, BCICAC (VANIAC), SMA, and UNCITRAL.
Irene specializes in complex commercial litigation before courts and arbitral tribunals. Besides her regular commercial litigation and arbitration practice, Irene spent almost five years handling complex insurance and reinsurance coverage advice and litigation and arbitrations in a prominent English-based law firm. Due to her civil law and common-law backgrounds, Irene regularly engages with lawyers from different legal systems to ensure a client’s litigation strategy in the United States is coordinated with its interests abroad. She advises on how New York and U.S. federal law and procedure can be used to assist in foreign proceedings. Irene has developed a particular expertise seeking provisional remedies, such as attachments and injunctions and enforcing and resisting international and domestic judgments and arbitral awards.
Over the years Irene has advised and represented clients in a wide range of industries, such as insurance, construction, commodities, transportation, energy (oil and gas, ethanol and nuclear), telecom, mining, hospitality, and biotech. Irene has handled dozens of transportation and international sales disputes on behalf of her international trade clients, involving charter parties, international sale of goods, demurrage, and insurance coverage.
Prior to joining Dunning Rievman & MacDonald LLP, Irene spent almost two decades in the disputes departments of some of the largest American and English law firms. Irene has an extensive network in the United States, Latin America, Southern Europe and Brazil, where she was born, obtained her first law degree, and started to practice law.
Irene is a native Portuguese speaker, has native proficiency in English and is fluent in Spanish. Irene has also working proficiency in French and basic command of Greek.
Her publications include:
- Author, COMMISA v. PEP – Enforcing an Award not Recognized in the Seat: Public Policy and International Comity at Cross-Roads, Kluwer Law Blog (September 18, 2016)
- Author, A Road Worth Taking: Brazil’s Tortuous but Ultimately Encouraging Path towards the Implementation of the New York Convention, Kluwer Law Arbitration Blog (April 26, 2016)
- Author, The Enforcement of International Arbitral Awards in the US: 2014 Supreme Court Review, Clyde & Co International Arbitration Thirdly (February 1, 2015)
- Co-author, Paraguay Arbitrations Result in Conflicting Decisions, Latin American Law & Business Report – Thomson Reuters (November 1, 2012)
- Author, Subsidies Code, TRIPS Agreement and Technological Development: Some Considerations for Developing Countries, Journal of Technology Law and Policy (May 1, 2003)
Her speaking engagements include:
- Speaker: Common legal issues facing Spanish businesses when investing in the United States, VI Commercial Forum Spain- United States, Spain US Chamber of Commerce, Madrid, Spain (June 2, 2016)
- Speaker: Trends in international arbitration: Second Arbitration Open, European Arbitration Association, Madrid, Spain (May 11, 2016)
- Speaker: International contracts from a U.S. Perspective, International Business Communications, São Paulo, Brazil (August 2005)\
- Speaker: Civil Law: The Brazilian Experience, Chicago Bar Association, International Practice Section, Chicago, Illinois (April 2005)