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About Stefan

Stefan is a dual-qualified (Ontario-New York) litigation and arbitration specialist, with expertise in international and domestic commercial arbitration, investor-state arbitration, trade and sanctions, and cross-border litigation. He represents large commercial entities and states at the world's leading arbitral organizations (ICSID, ICC, PCA, LCIA) under major rules (UNCITRAL, ICC, ADRIC), as well as in ad hoc arbitrations. He has specialized industry expertise in renewable energy, climate change regulation, land and deep-sea mining, water, and financial technology.

Stefan also has leading expertise in high-profile litigation before domestic courts, including class action defense, arbitration appeals and enforcement, and "bet-the-company" commercial litigation. He also advises on dispute- and arbitration-related aspects of major cross-border deals.

Prior to joining Blakes, Stefan was counsel at the Trade Law Bureau at the Government of Canada, where he represented the state in investor-state arbitration, trade disputes and negotiation of trade agreements, in addition to advising on international law and trade obligations. He also advised the government and investors concerning procurement and procedures for investment into Canada. He previously occupied a diplomatic role as the co-chair of the Advisory Committee on Private Commercial Disputes of the Canada-United States-Mexico Agreement. Stefan also represented the Department of Justice in Canada’s first-ever litigated individual-issues class action proceeding.

He was formerly a legal officer at the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations in New York, where he advised on public international law, International Human Rights Instruments, maritime boundary disputes and delimitation, and the High Seas Treaty negotiation.

Stefan previously practised international arbitration and litigation at an international law firm in New York City and Paris.

Select Experience

Investor-State Arbitration

  • Government of Canada in a US$30.1-million ICSID arbitration in Koch Industries, Inc. and Koch Supply & Trading, LP v. Government of Canada

  • Government of Canada in a US$1.8-billion ICSID arbitration in Global Telecom Holdings S.A.E. v. Government of Canada

  • Government of Canada in a US$121-million UNCITRAL arbitration in Resolute Forest Products Inc. v. Government of Canada

  • Government of Canada in a US$86.1-million UNCITRAL arbitration in Tennant Energy, LLC. v. Government of Canada

  • Government of Canada in a US$3.5-billion UNCITRAL arbitration in Odyssey Marine Exploration, Inc. v. United Mexican States (outcome pending)

  • The respondent in Koch Minerals Sàrl and Koch Nitrogen International Sàrl v. Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela

  • Shareholders in a US$50-billion UNCITRAL arbitration in Yukos Universal Limited (Isle of Man) v. The Russian Federation, including enforcement proceedings

International and Domestic Commercial Arbitration

  • Government of Canada in a construction arbitration under the federal Commercial Arbitration Act

  • A Canadian construction company in a multimillion-dollar ICC arbitration seated in Toronto regarding a renewable energy project in South America

  • A construction company in a US$73-million LCIA arbitration seated in London regarding the construction of a shipping port

  • Brazilian financial services providers in a US$135-million ICC arbitration seated in Paris regarding a European telecommunications company and infrastructure construction

  • An international energy company in a US$230-million ICC arbitration seated in New York regarding investment in a South American oil and gas pipeline project

  • A technology investment company in an ADRIC arbitration

Major Class Actions and Domestic Litigation

  • Brazeau v. Canada (Attorney General), 2021 ONSC 4294

  • Reddock v. Canada (Attorney General), 2018 ONSC 3914

  • United States v. Bank of N.Y. Mellon, 941 F. Supp. 2d 438

Professional Activities

Stefan is an appointed member of the Compliance Task Force of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Institute of World Business Law.

He is also a member of the ICC Canada Arbitration Committee, the ADR Institute of Canada, the New York State Bar Association and the International Bar Association.

Publications
  • Author : Recent Developments in the Private Commercial Dispute Committee
    International Chamber of Commerce Institute of World Business Law, May 2022.
Professional Appearances
  • Panellist : New Frontiers of Arbitration: Deep Seabed Mining and Air and Space Law Arbitration
    12th Biennial Arbitration Symposium, Salzburg, Austria, June 6–9, 2024.
  • Panellist : Public Forum of the U.S.-Mexico-Canada Agreement Advisory Committee on Private Commercial Disputes
    Judicial Arbitration and Mediation Services, New York, New York, September 9, 2022.
  • Panellist : International Law in 2020: Fit for Purpose?
    Canadian Council on International Law, Ottawa, Ontario, October 30, 2020.
Education

Admitted to the New York State Bar – 2015
Admitted to the Ontario Bar – 2013
Eugene Lang Fellowship, Columbia University – 2016
JD (Cum Laude), Osgoode Hall Law School –  2012
MA (International Law and International Studies), Geneve Graduate Institute – 2009

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