Experience
I am an international specialist based in New York. Before founding my independent practice, I practiced in leading international law firms King & Spalding (London and New York), Baker McKenzie (Vienna) and Omnia Strategy under Cherie Blair QC (London).
I have a mixed common and civil law background. I am qualified in New York, England & Wales, and Croatia. I hold degrees with honors from Harvard Law School and University of Zagreb. I also hold business certificates from Columbia Business School.
Throughout my career, I advised and represented clients in over 70 complex, high-stakes, commercial and investment arbitrations under all major arbitral rules, including ICC, LCIA, SCC, AAA, HKIAC, SAS HGK, ICSID, UNCITRAL, ECT and OIC.
I am frequently appointed as arbitrator in both ad hoc and institutional arbitrations. I am included on rosters/databases of all major institutions, including the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators.
I am recognized by Who’s Who Legal as a member of the Global Elite – Thought Leaders and Arbitration (2018-2023). My peers and clients call me "an extremely bright and sharp mind”, “a well-established arbitrator, excellent and effective with superb instincts”, “incredibly knowledgeable, experienced and innovative”, and “one of the best arbitration lawyers of her generation”. WWL 2022 calls me “a role model for the new generation of arbitrators”.
I am also an Adjunct Professor at McGill University, where I teach Advocacy and Strategy in International Arbitration. I frequently speak and publish on international disputes topics. Recently I spoke at Harvard Law School, Cambridge Arbitration Days, Vienna Arbitration Days and Paris Arbitration Week.
For my article on arbitrator appointment (with McIlwrath and Greenwood), I was shortlisted for the GAR Best Innovation Award in 2017. I am the founder of Mute Off Thursdays, a virtual forum for senior arbitration women, which won the GAR Pledge Award in 2021, and again in 2023 for its Compendium of Unicorns – A Global Guide to Women Arbitrators.
I seek to be a thought leader in the international arbitration community. I am appointed to multiple boards and committees, including LCIA’s North America Users’ Council, VIAC’s Advisory Board, ICC’s Small Value Disputes Working Group, ICDR Y&I and CPR Y-ADR.
I co-chaired the IBA Arbitration Committee’s Working Group on Site Visit Model Protocol in the Mining, Energy and Construction Arbitrations, which published the Site Visit Model Protocol for Mining, Energy and Construction Arbitrations. I currently Co-Chair the IBA Arbitration & Insolvency Committee.
See details about my:
“Ema Vidak is the best lawyer I have ever worked with. She is extremely bright and knowledgeable beyond her years.”
— Client in a high-profile ICC arbitration
“Ema is a tremendously talented and energetic lawyer, unparalleled in her hard work and devotion to her clients. She is hands down the best arbitration lawyer of her generation.”
— Client in a multi-billion dollar investment arbitration
Sectors and Industries
Energy, Natural Resources, & Mining
Post-M&A, Joint Venture, Commercial
Manufacturing, Sale and Distribution
Construction
-
My cases have involved multinational energy and local SPV companies, upstream and downstream, gold, copper and iron ore mining, oil and gas, concessions and licenses, powerplants, power purchase agreements, electricity transmission projects, liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil and gas pipelines, renewable energy, wind-powered electric generation facility (wind farm), solar plant, and steel manufacturing.
-
My cases have involved partnership agreement, joint venture agreement, share purchase agreement, hostile takeover, minority shareholder protection, cooperation and distribution agreement, working capital disputes, revenue sharing agreement, succession disputes regarding licenses and concessions, franchise agreement, trade secrets, questions of “touch and feel” conformity of products under cooperation and R&D agreements, first refusal option, asset purchase agreement, real estate and development agreement, securities, supply agreement, luxury goods and commodities, and waste management.
-
My cases have involved sale, manufacturing and distribution agreements, relationship with the wholesaler, assembler and importer, implied warranties, material and reasonable requirements, bankruptcy and insolvency of contractual partners and assignment of rights and benefits, voluntary abandonment of business agreements, termination, joint development agreement, packaging and brand ‘touch and feel’ obligations, food and beverages, food health and safety, efficiency of factory operations, agricultural products.
-
My cases have involved highway, road tunnels, transportation corridors, waterways and other buried infrastructure, contamination of groundwater, port concession and operation, container terminals, manufacturing plant, subcontractor agreements, delay and defects, related geodata, and cadaster and land registry conformity issues.
Technology
Life Sciences
Hospitality
Public International Law
-
My cases have involved technology companies, information technology companies and start-ups, source code, IP protection, takeover and share purchase agreement, licensing agreement, and option agreement.
-
My cases have involved health care, pharmaceutical biopharmaceutical companies, and biotechnology companies.
-
My cases have involved hotels, spa and golf resorts, restaurants, food and beverages, and franchise.
-
My cases have involved representing investors and states in more than 15 investment treaty arbitration cases, including issues related to mining, energy and natural resources, preferential tariffs and tax assessments, royalty calculation and payments, licenses and concessions, media, distribution, real estate, banking and finance, foreign exchange and currency control legislation, banking, hospitality, social ownership privatization transformations, illegality and corruption, fraud, illegal arms trade and international criminal law, territorial boundary disputes, state succession, and human rights issues relating to freedom of speech, riots, protection of ownership, and prosecution and prevention of terrorism.
Sectors and Industries
Energy, Natural Resources, & Mining
-
Some issues I have worked on include multinational energy and local SPV companies, upstream and downstream, gold, copper and iron ore mining, oil and gas, concessions and licenses, powerplants, power purchase agreements, electricity transmission projects, liquefied natural gas (LNG), oil and gas pipelines, renewable energy, wind-powered electric generation facility (wind farm), solar plant, and steel manufacturing.
Construction
-
Some issues I have worked on include highway, road tunnels, transportation corridors, waterways and other buried infrastructure, contamination of groundwater, port concession and operation, container terminals, manufacturing plant, subcontractor agreements, delay and defects, related geodata, and cadaster and land registry conformity issues.
Post-M&A, Joint Venture, Commercial
-
Some issues I have worked on include partnership agreement, joint venture agreement, share purchase agreement, hostile takeover, minority shareholder protection, cooperation and distribution agreement, working capital disputes, revenue sharing agreement, succession disputes regarding licenses and concessions, franchise agreement, trade secrets, questions of “touch and feel” conformity of products under cooperation and R&D agreements, first refusal option, asset purchase agreement, real estate and development agreement, securities, supply agreement, luxury goods and commodities, and waste management.
Hospitality
-
Some issues I have worked on include hotels, spa and golf resorts, restaurants, food and beverages, and franchise.
Technology
-
Some issues I have worked on include technology companies, information technology companies and start-ups, share purchase agreement involving dispute over IP rights, licensing agreement, and option agreement.
Life Sciences
-
Some issues I have worked on include health care, pharmaceutical biopharmaceutical companies, and biotechnology companies.
Financial Services
-
Some issues I have worked on include financial agreements, loans, liquidation sale, and liquidation settlement.
Public International Law
-
Some issues I have worked on include representing investors and states in more than 15 investment treaty arbitration cases, including issues related to mining, energy and natural resources, preferential tariffs and tax assessments, royalty calculation and payments, licenses and concessions, media, distribution, real estate, banking and finance, foreign exchange and currency control legislation, banking, hospitality, social ownership privatization transformations, illegality and corruption, fraud, illegal arms trade and international criminal law, territorial boundary disputes, state succession, and human rights issues relating to freedom of speech, riots, protection of ownership, and prosecution and prevention of terrorism.
Representative Cases
Commercial Arbitrations
Sole arbitrator in an ICC arbitration under Delaware law between an American tech developer and an Israeli start-up concerning intellectual property rights in relation to the source code and breach of contractual rights under a development and distribution license agreement
Sole arbitrator in an LCIA arbitration under English law concerning director and shareholder rights after a demerger and termination of a joint venture agreement between a French businessperson and an English company
Sole arbitrator in an SCC arbitration under Israeli law and the CISG concerning breaches of a contract for sale, manufacturing and distribution of food products between an Israeli claimant and a Polish respondent (expedited arbitration rules)
Co-arbitrator in an LCIA arbitration under English law concerning a steel manufacturing dispute between an Estonian claimant and a Polish respondent
Sole arbitrator in an LCIA arbitration under English law between an English energy company and a Ukrainian storage and shipping company concerning breaches of the onshore tanks storage and transshipment service contracts
Sole arbitrator in an LCIA arbitration under English law concerning the assignment of rights and repayment of loans agreed between a UK creditor and an Ecuadorian debtor
(non-participating respondent)Sole arbitrator in an ICC arbitration under Austrian law concerning a metal trading dispute in Central and Eastern Europe between an Austrian claimant and a Romanian respondent (expedited arbitration rules)
Co-arbitrator in a SAS HGK arbitration concerning EUR 20 million shareholder dispute under Croatian law between Central European joint venture partners in a luxury golf resort project
Sole arbitrator in an LCIA arbitration under English law between a Singaporean claimant and an African respondent concerning off-taking and long-term export contracts for Natural Gas Liquids (NGL) purchased from a State-owned petroleum company
Represented a US company against a State-owned Chinese joint venture partner in a USD 1.2 billion dispute under HKIAC rules and English law concerning a polymetallic mining project in the Republic of Congo
Represented a US-UK mining conglomerate against Sierra Leone in a USD 1.7 billion dispute under ICC rules (including Emergency Arbitrator proceedings) and English law concerning expropriation of a mining license
Represented an international oil & gas company against a joint venture partner in Latin America in a USD 150 million LNG dispute under ICC rules and New York law concerning gas pricing, regasification and reloading
Represented a UK renewable energy company in an LCIA arbitration against an East African State entity regarding an energy project of national strategic importance under English law
Represented a BVI entity against multiple European construction companies in an ICC arbitration under English law relating to a shareholders’ agreement and privatization and operation of a port in Ghana, including settlement negotiation and mediation
Represented a Spanish energy company in an ICC arbitration and in parallel criminal proceedings relating to investment fraud, tax evasion, and false accounting
Represented US-UK investors against Tanzania in an ICC arbitration relating to power purchase agreements, electricity transmission projects, and expropriation of a gas-fired power plant
Advised a Middle Eastern investor on instituting Emergency Arbitrator proceedings under the SCC Rules for Expedited Arbitrations in relation to the cancelation of a mining license
Represented an Italian infrastructure company against a State-owned entity in an SAS HGK arbitration concerning the construction of a highway tunnel, delay and defects
Represented an Indian pharmaceutical company against supply and distribution contractors in an ad hoc commercial arbitration under English law relating to contract performance, fraudulent transfer to a restricted person, and breaches of IP rights and trade secrets
Represented a tech company in an ad hoc commercial arbitration relating to IP rights in program code and shareholder rights relating to a spin-off start-up organization
Represented an Austrian group of companies in an ad hoc commercial arbitration concerning shareholders’ profit-sharing agreements
Represented a European car company in a shareholder dispute against its Asian joint venture partner concerning R&D, market penetration and profit-sharing agreements
Investment Arbitrations
Represented a US-UK mining conglomerate against Sierra Leone in a USD 1.7 billion dispute concerning expropriation of a mining license in an ICSID arbitration (with temporary restraining order and provisional measure proceedings)
Represented Turkey in an ICSID arbitration brought by a UK investor claiming expropriation of media, distribution, real estate, and mining businesses valued at USD 5.5 billion, including advisory work on investment protection in the context of terrorism and national security
Represented a consortium of Canadian and Lebanese investors in an ICSID arbitration against Armenia concerning concession contracts for waste management in Yerevan
Represented US-UK investors against Tanzania in an ICSID arbitration relating to power purchase agreements, electricity transmission projects, and expropriation of a natural gas-fired power plant in Tanzania
Represented renewable energy investors against Italy and Spain in multiple ICSID arbitrations under the ECT relating to tariff agreement cancellation
Represented an African State in an UNCITRAL arbitration brought by a consortium of international energy and mining investors concerning the cancellation of a mining exploration license, including settlement discussions and mediation
Represented an Austrian investor against Croatia in an ICSID arbitration relating to food business real estate projects and arms trade control
Represented Montenegro in an ICSID arbitration brought by an Austrian banking and finance investor regarding foreign exchange and currency control legislation
Represented Turkey in an ICSID arbitration brought by a Belgian investor claiming expropriation of a media business
Represented a Middle Eastern investor against an Asian state in an OIC/UNCITRAL arbitration relating to expropriation of rights in steel manufacturing and mining sectors
Advised Montenegro in an UNCITRAL dispute brought by a consortium of UK-Cypriot foreign investors claiming expropriation of a private bank and real estate projects with the alleged value of EUR 0.5 billion
Advised Albania in an ICSID arbitration brought by a German investor relating to privatization of a former “socially”-owned company and its license rights concerning food stamps
Advised a Bosnian investor on BIT claims relating to expropriation of a medical facility and medical license in Croatia
Advised a Middle Eastern banking and finance organization on its standing as a foreign investor in North America in relation to a complex set of foreign transfer banking relationships
Public International Law
Advised a Southern European state on public international law aspects of a boundary dispute and the division of land and sea in the context of state succession
Advised an Eastern European government on human rights issues relating to riots and freedom of speech in the context of ongoing European Court of Human Rights cases
Advised a Central European state on public international law aspects of illegal arms trade
Selected Procedural Experience
Emergency arbitrations
Expedited arbitrations
Non-participating respondent
Interim and provisional measures (including ex parte requests) to prevent destruction of evidence, protect confidentiality, prevent witness harassment, suspend a criminal investigation over claimant and claimant’s key officers, prohibit extradition, limit a tax investigation, and/or prevent cancellation of a mining license and its issuance to a new investor
Security for costs and applications to disclose financial arrangements with third parties
Applications to compel witness testimony and to allow anonymized witness testimony
Applications to exclude evidence obtained illegally (including through privacy breaches) and allegedly falsified audio and video recordings
Applications for imposition of a daily penalty for non-compliance with tribunal orders
Site visits (virtual and in-person)
Settlement, direct party negotiation and mediation