Sebastián Mejía

Sebastián is Of Counsel. He is an international lawyer with over a decade of experience in leading international arbitration practices in Madrid and London. A Spanish-Colombian national, he is qualified in New York, Spain, and England & Wales (solicitor) and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

He is consistently instructed to participate in disputes involving both common and civil law. He has participated in proceedings subject to, among others, the laws of Spain, England & Wales, Belgium, Switzerland, USA (New York, Florida and Federal), Peru, Argentina, Colombia, Romania, Italy and Mozambique, as well as Public International Law and other international instruments (e.g. the Olympic Charter or FIFA RSTP).

He has acted in over forty proceedings with an aggregate value in dispute exceeding four billion euros. He excels at resolving complex technical disputes, particularly when related to accounting (post M&A, representations and warranties, adjusted price, etc), finance (financial instruments, derivatives, and contracts) and valuation. I also have extensive experience in relation to corporate, insurance and construction and engineering disputes.

He brings a multi-faceted perspective to arbitration: to his experience as counsel, secretary, and arbitrator, he adds his institutional experience at the Madrid International Arbitration Center and his knowledge of litigation finance, as he is frequently instructed to evaluate the viability of the financing of arbitrations.

AS COUNSEL

Investment Arbitration

• Representation to settlement of an European investor in an ICSID arbitration against an Eastern European State for breaches of a BIT.
• Successfully represented a Spanish utilities company in an UNCITRAL arbitration against Bolivia under the Spain – Bolivia BIT.

Commercial arbitration

• Representation of a Belgian private equity entity against a multi-billion post-M&A CEPANI arbitration for alleged fraud and breaches of warranties arising from the sale of an OTC pharmaceutical company. The claim involved numerous complex accounting adjustments in almost a dozen jurisdictions. Obtained a significant reduction in awarded damages.
• Successful representation of a litigation funder in an LCIA arbitration to ensure the enforcement and validity of the funding agreement in related insolvency.
• Successful pro-bono representation of an European NGO in an LCIA arbitration against an app developer in defence and counterclaim in relation to an app development agreement. Successfully resisted an application for interim measures and a challenge to the arbitrator before both the LCIA and the English Commercial Court.
• Successful representation of a European industrial company in an ICC arbitration against a European equipment manufacturer for gross negligence in the construction of a manufacturing plant.
• Successful representation of a Spanish industrial company against a Northern-European equipment manufacturer in a Madrid Court of Arbitration arbitration involving claim and counterclaims in relation to the performance of an EPC contract for the construction of a biomass energy production plant.
• Successful representation of a large Spanish industrial company in an insurance claim under the rules of the Spanish Court of Arbitration (CEA) against a Spanish insurer in relation to the loss of grants as a consequence of Sequestration measures adopted by the Congress of the United States in 2013.
• Representation of a European industrial company in an arbitration before the Civil and Mercantile Court of Madrid (CIMA) against an East Asian company in relation to a contract for the sale of patents and the application of related non-compete agreements.
• Representation of major tobacco manufacturer in an ICC arbitration against another global player in relation to a joint venture agreement for a sale of certain brands in a Latin American Country.

Sports Arbitration

• Successful representation of an Olympic Athlete before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (TAS-CAS) ad-hoc committee for the 2012 London Olympic Games in an appeal against their Federation’s decision to exclude them from the Olympic team.

Domestic litigation

• Representation of a Spanish arbitrator against claims for liability, following the annulment of an award before the Spanish Courts.
• Successful representation of a Spanish industrial company against a challenge to a favourable award before the Spanish Courts.
• Successful representation of an European NGO against the challenge to a sole LCIA arbitrator before the English Courts.

AS ARBITRATOR

• Sat as Sole Arbitrator in arbitration under the Rules of the Madrid Court of Arbitration (CAM) in relation to a contract for the certification of a photovoltaic energy plant. Madrid seat. Spanish law applicable. Spanish language.
• Sat as Sole Arbitrator in arbitration under the Rules of the Spanish Court of Arbitration (CEA) in relation to a commercial insurance policy. Madrid seat. Spanish law applicable. Spanish language.