Patrick T. Byrne

Patrick focuses his practice primarily on international investment treaty and commercial arbitration matters, serving both as counsel and as secretary to the arbitral tribunal. He has worked under various institutions and rules, including the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC). the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) and ad hoc arbitrations conducted under the rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). Patrick also handles international sport disputes before the Fédération Internationale de Football Association (FIFA) and the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and has experience seeking discovery in the U.S. under 28 U.S.C. § 1782 for use in foreign proceedings.
 
Before joining B. Cremades y Asociados, Patrick litigated before state and federal courts in California and arbitrated under the U.S. Federal Arbitration Act and the California Arbitration Act. During this time, his practice spanned every stage of U.S. dispute resolution, including mediation, arbitration, jury trials and appeals. While in law school, Patrick spent a semester studying EU law at Leiden University, clerked for a constitutional law non-profit in Washington D.C. and competed for the top-ranked UC Hastings Moot Court team.
 
After practicing in California, Patrick moved to London to study international dispute resolution at Queen Mary University of London’s School of International Arbitration, earning his LL.M., with merit. While at Queen Mary, he focused on both commercial and investor-state arbitration and completed a dissertation concerning the jurisprudence of the Court of Arbitration for Sport with respect to international football disputes. He joined B. Cremades y Asociados in the summer of 2016.
 
Patrick is a dual citizen of the United States and the Republic of Ireland.
  
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE:
Patrick has worked on several investor-state and international commercial matters, including:
 
Multibillion-dollar ad hoc arbitration concerning a territory dispute in Southeast Asia
 
Multibillion-dollar ad hoc investment treaty dispute between a European national and an Eastern European state
 
ICSID annulment proceeding concerning a mining project in West Africa
 
Dispute concerning the transfer of footballer Neymar Jr. from Santos Futebol Clube to FC Barcelona
 
ICC arbitration concerning the construction of a North American nuclear power plant
 
ICC arbitrations concerning a major Central American infrastructure project
 
ICC commercial arbitration between Spanish individuals and a U.S. law firm
 
ICC commercial arbitration concerning corporate governance of a publicly listed Spanish company
 
SCC arbitration under the Energy Charter Treaty concerning investments in natural gas in a Western European state.
 
ICSID arbitration concerning licenses to explore, develop and exploit oil fields in a Central Asian state
 
ICSID arbitration concerning the building of solar plants in a Western European state
 
ICSID arbitration concerning investments in resorts in a Central Asian state
 
ICSID arbitration concerning banking investments in an Eastern European state
 
PCA arbitration concerning a construction dispute in Eastern Europe
 
ICC arbitration concerning a cement processing plant in North Africa
 
ICSID arbitration concerning real estate investments in an Eastern European state
 
ICSID arbitration concerning various investments, including several real estate projects, in an Eastern European state
 
ICSID arbitration concerning investments in the insurance sector in an Eastern European state
 
ICSID arbitration concerning investments in North African mining projects
 
ICC arbitration concerning the construction of a hydroelectric plant in Southern Africa
 
ICC arbitration concerning an aluminum smelter in Western Europe
 
DIAC arbitration concerning hotel and resort construction in the Middle East
 
SCC emergency arbitration proceeding concerning attachment of assets in an Eastern European state
 
Investment-treaty dispute concerning resort development in North America
 
Negotiation of gas pricing revision in contract between Western European company and Middle Eastern state
 
Dispute concerning infrastructure project in Northern Europe
 
Several disputes before a Dispute Adjudication Board concerning a major African hydropower project
 
In addition, Patrick has been working pro bono in an attempt to recover a Nazi-looted painting (Rue Saint-Honoré, dans l’après-midi, Effet de pluie by Camille Pissarro) from the Thyssen-Bornemisza museum in Madrid, in hopes of returning it to the family from which it was stolen during WWII.
 
BAR ADMISSIONS
2011 California
 
EDUCATION
Queen Mary University of London, School of International Arbitration (LL.M., with merit, 2016)
University of California, Hastings College of the Law (J.D., 2011)
Leiden University (Exchange Program, EU Law, 2010)
University of California, San Diego (B.A., cum laude, 2007)
 
LANGUAGES
English

NATIONALITIES
United States
Republic of Ireland
 
PROFESSIONAL ASSOCIATIONS AND COURT ADMISSIONS
California State Bar
U.S. Supreme Court
U.S. Court of Appeals for the Ninth Circuit
Spanish Arbitration Club
Young International Arbitration Group
ICC Young Arbitrators Forum
ICDR Young & International
YSIAC
  
LAW SCHOOL INSTRUCTION
Mr. Byrne currently serves as an external professor at Universidad Carlos III de Madrid, where he teaches common law principles to students earning an LL.M. in International Advocacy
 
PUBLICATIONS
CFIUS under Trump: likely increased scrutiny of foreign investment (with Bernardo M. Cremades, Jr.), FINANCIER WORLDWIDE, June 2017
 
California – The Next Major International Arbitration Seat?, KLUWER ARBITRATION BLOG, July 2017