Nancy M. Thevenin is an international arbitrator and mediator based in New York City. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, an adjunct professor of the International Commercial Arbitration course at St. John’s University School of Law, a past chair of the New York State Bar Association’s International Section, and is currently designated by the Republic of Haiti to serve on the Panel of Arbitrators of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).
Ms. Thevenin also serves as an external general counsel for the United States Council for International Business (USCIB/ICC USA), the U.S. national committee to the ICC International Court of Arbitration© and manages its Arbitration & ADR Committee, which, inter alia, provides assistance in the nomination of U.S. arbitrators, makes referrals to parties seeking arbitration practitioners and arbitrators, and serves as a resource for the U.S. business community about the ICC’s dispute resolution services. Aside from general corporate counsel duties, Ms. Thevenin also manages requests for USCIB to participate in amicus brief filings on issues of relevance to USCIB’s membership.
Ms. Thevenin also advises on arbitrations, mediation strategy, dispute boards, expertise, and expedited proceedings, ad hoc cases and use of emergency arbitration procedures. Her extensive experience includes arbitrations under various institutional rules, including the ICC, ICDR, UNCITRAL, and ICSID and advising on early resolution of matters that would otherwise become formal disputes. Ms. Thevenin’s areas of experience include international commercial litigation and arbitration, creditor’s rights and business torts. She has handled disputes for multinational companies and governments in the construction and engineering, financial services, commercial real estate and aviation industries, often involving issues concerning mergers and acquisition, sales, distribution, licensing, technology transfer and leasing agreements.
A graduate of Tulane Law School, where she obtained certificates in European legal practice and in commercial arbitration, Ms. Thevenin also attended the University of Paris at Panthéon-Assas in France, where she studied the French legal system and European law. She is a graduate of Cornell University, where she obtained a double major in history and Spanish literature. While at university, Ms. Thevenin lived in Madrid, Spain and studied international relations, Spanish law, and Spanish literature.
Ms. Thevenin was an adjunct professor of the Arbitration Practicum course at Fordham Law School responsible for helping prepare Fordham’s Vis Moot teams in Hong Kong and Vienna, and was also a special counsel in and global coordinator of Baker & McKenzie’s International Arbitration Practice Group. Before joining Baker & McKenzie, Ms. Thevenin was deputy director of arbitration and ADR for North America for the ICC International Court of Arbitration© in New York. Ms. Thevenin started her career practicing international litigation and arbitration at a boutique law firm in Miami, Florida.
Ms. Thevenin currently serves on the Executive Committee of the International Section of the New York State Bar Association and is Co-Chair of its International Arbitration and ADR Committee. She was the Co-Chair of the International Human Rights Award Subcommittee of the International Litigation Section of the American Bar Association; Vice-Chair of the International Arbitration Law Committee for the Inter-American Bar Association; and currently serves on the Executive Committee of the American Branch of the International Law Association. She was Program Co-Chair for the 2010 New York State Bar Association Annual Meeting for the International Section, Co-Chair of ABILA’s 2007 International Law Weekend, a U.S. Member of the ICC Arbitration Commission (2004-2008), and is a Founding Member of Arbitral Women.
Ms. Thevenin’s publications include “Enforcement of International Arbitral Awards – Recent Notable U.S. Decisions,” ABA 2022 Litigation Section Annual Conference, May 2022; “Use of the ICC’s Emergency Arbitrator Provisions,” ABA Dispute Resolution Magazine, vol. 28, No. 2 (April 2022); “The Importance of Diversity in ADR,” ICLE 12th Annual Arbitration Institute Program Materials, March 2019; CIArb New York News, Issues #1-3, designer and editor, from Sept. 2014 to September 2016; “The Role of Mediation in Resolving U.S. Claims Against Cuba,” ABA International Section Spring Meeting, April 2016; the 2008 to 2014 editions of the “Baker & McKenzie International Arbitration Yearbook,” a compilation of arbitration developments from over 26 jurisdictions (Executive Editor, Kluwer 2008-2010 and Juris 2010-2011), “Caucusing and the Cross-Cultural Divide,” in Contemporary Issues in International Arbitration and Mediation: The Fordham Papers (Martinus Nijhoff 2012); “The International Arbitration System: How the Pieces Interrelate: International Arbitral Institutions,” New York State Bar Association’s Inside (Spring/Summer 2011); “Dispute Boards: An Effective Tool for Dispute Reduction and Prevention,” New York Dispute Resolution Lawyer, vol. 3, no. 2 (Fall 2010); “Increasing Efficiency in International Arbitration: Use of Common Law Dispositive Motions,” IBA Arbitration Newsletter (March 2010); “The CISG and Its Impact in Latin America,” ABA Section of International Law, 2009 Fall Meeting (October 2009); and “A Little Known Secret: The ICC International Court of Arbitration’s Internship Program For Young Attorneys,” American Bar Association, International Law Quarterly, Issue 4, Volume 23 (Summer 2007). She was a member of the research and writing team for “Sak Vid Pa Kanpe: The Impact of U.S. Food Aid on Human Rights in Haiti,” Center for Human Rights and Global Justice, 2010.
Ms. Thevenin works in English, Spanish, French, and Haitian Creole and is proficient in Swahili.
