Rostislav Pekař’s main practice focus is international dispute resolution including investment arbitration, commercial arbitration and litigation. He also advises on investment protection under bilateral investment treaties and investment structuring. Rostislav was listed as a leading individual for dispute resolution in the Czech Republic in Chambers Global 2012 and Chambers Europe 2011.

Rostislav has advised in a number of complex international commercial and investment arbitration matters under the rules of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), the Vienna Arbitration Centre (VIAC) and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Rules (UNCITRAL). Three of those cases involved claims of more than US$1 billion.

Rostislav also has handled numerous court and arbitration proceedings in the Czech Republic. He was recently appointed to chair a committee for increased transparency and predictability of arbitration proceedings at the Prague-based Arbitration Court attached to the Economic Chamber and the Agrarian Chamber of the Czech Republic.

Rostislav has lectured on investment arbitration at Charles University in Prague and Masaryk University in Brno. He has published several articles on commercial and investment arbitration in international law reviews.

As part of his pro bono activities, Rostislav is the local partner of TRACE International, Inc., a nonprofit organization focused on enhancing antibribery compliance in international corporations.

Rostislav is an advisory member of Young ICCA and a number of other arbitration associations.

Representative Experience

• Acting as lead counsel for the Czech Republic in a pending €73 million UNCITRAL investment arbitration against a Germany-based real estate development company.
• Advising Russian investors in a pending investment dispute with a country in Central Asia regarding claims of more than US$3 billion.
• Acting as a lead counsel to a Finland-based company in a pending SCC commercial arbitration against an Israeli supplier.
• Advising a major Europe-based gas distributor in a price reopener arbitration.
• Representing Czech Export Bank in a US$22 million international arbitration against a major US-based insurance company before the Vienna International Arbitration Centre. All claims were dismissed in October 2010 and Czech Export Bank was subsequently awarded the totality of its legal fees and costs.
• Representing the Czech Republic in a US$65 million ICSID investment arbitration against Phoenix Actions Ltd. regarding an investment in a ferroalloys trading company (ICSID Case No. ARB/06/5). In April 2009 the tribunal dismissed all of the investor’s claims and awarded the Czech Republic the totality of legal fees and costs.
• Advising a Middle East-based telecommunications company in the quantum phase of an arbitration regarding a competitor’s claim for US$200 million. In March 2011 the competitor was awarded less than 1.5 percent of the claimed amount.
• Representing Ecuador in a pending US$3 billion ICSID investment arbitration against Occidental Petroleum Corporation regarding the termination of an oil concession (ICSID Case No. ARB/06/11).
• Representing the Czech Republic in a US$3.5 billion ad hoc investment arbitration regarding a failed bank. The case spanned more than 7 years and involved an extensive due diligence of the bank and its off-shore holdings. The case ultimately settled for less than 5 percent of the amount claimed.
• Representing a group of Russia-based companies in a UNCITRAL investment arbitration against Mongolia regarding the imposition and enforcement of a windfall profit tax on gold production.
• Representing a US-based real estate investor in a series of arbitration and court cases regarding a complex dispute with a former tenant.
• Representing a real estate developer in a number of disputes before the Czech Republic’s courts and arbitral tribunals.

PUBLICATIONS

• Co-author, “Arbitration: CEE Report,” The Lawyer, May 2008.
• Co-author, “Investment Protection in Central and Eastern Europe,” The Commercial Litigation Journal, March/April 2008.