One of the UK's "Magic Circle" firms, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer has established a noteworthy presence in the US market through with offices in New York and Washington. A domestic-based competitor notes, "Of all of the UK firms that set up shop in New York, Freshfields is one of the only ones to get it right, particularly in the disputes area." Peers voice particular enthusiasm for Aaron Marcu, about whom one says, "You cannot go wrong with him in the white-collar world. He is just a superior advocate." Indeed, Marcu lays claim to a major victory supporting this claim in the November 2014 acquittal in a federal jury trial of Raoul Weil, former CEO of UBS's Wealth Management Division, the most senior Swiss banker charged in the US DoJ's crackdown on Swiss banks and bankers for allegedly assisting US taxpayers in evading billions of dollars of US taxes on assets secretly held in Switzerland. "Aaron had that huge win in Florida, and he remains very busy," confirms a peer.
While the firm's resilience in the New York in the New York market is impressive, it is even more pronounced in DC, where the firm stands alone as the only one to have received recognition from local peers. This recognition is primarily attributed to the firm's international arbitration capacity, where the firm has excelled in both DC and New York. Nigel Blackaby was recently named co-head of Freshfields' international arbitration group. He continues to be one of the world's best known arbitration specialists with a phenomenal following in the energy sector and in Latin America. Blackaby led the Freshfields team in representing Repsol in the major dispute between Repsol and the Argentine government following Argentina's expropriation of Repsol's shares in YPF SA, Argentina's largest oil company, and YPF Gas SA. This was the highest-profile direct expropriation in a decade, with major front-page news coverage throughout the world. The case was successfully settled in 2014 for an amount in excess of US$5 billion. Blackaby also represented BG Group in the first-ever investment treaty arbitration case to be addressed by the US Supreme Court, which in March reinstated a $185 million award in favor of the UK-based oil and gas company in its long-running dispute with the Republic of Argentina. In a 7-2 decision, the Court vacated a DC Circuit Court ruling that overturned the award, which was originally issued by a panel of international arbitrators in 2007 and confirmed by a US District Court in 2010. This ended a 12-year arbitration proceeding in which BG Group alleged that Argentina was in violation of the bilateral investment treaty between the UK and Argentina after it implemented certain regulatory measures during its 2002 economic crisis, which negatively affected BG Group's investment in gas distribution company MetroGas.
