Mr. Riva Palacio has a strong transactional background, gained in Curtis’ New York and Mexico City offices, and has particular experience in advising clients with interests in Latin America. Bilingual in English and Spanish, he has advised on many cross-border transactions, including joint ventures with Latin American parties, infrastructure and trade finance transactions, as well as general commercial matters, with a particular focus on the oil and gas sector.

In the field of international trade, Mr. Riva Palacio has advised governments, state-owned entities, private parties, producers, traders, and exporters on antidumping and countervailing proceedings initiated by national authorities. He has also participated in several World Trade Organization (WTO) disputes, both attacking and defending trade remedy measures, laws and regulations.

Mr. Riva Palacio has acted as counsel on both commercial arbitrations and investment treaty arbitrations. He has advised on disputes under most arbitration rules, including the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC). He has significant experience under Mexico’s arbitration rules, where he has also acted as arbitrator and secretary to the tribunal under the international rules of the ICC and local arbitration rules of the CANACO Arbitration Commission and Centro de Arbitraje de México (CAM). He has lectured on the law of treaties and international organizations and frequently participates in academic programs on international litigation and advocacy.

In the field of Public International Law, Mr. Riva Palacio has advised governments on the interpretation of multilateral treaties and the scope of their obligations under those treaties. More recently, as part of our public international law group, he has advised on complex disputes in several international fora ranging from the WTO to multiple organs of the United Nations and other international institutions.