Mélida Hodgson is a partner at Arnold & Porter who is recognized as an expert investor-state and commercial arbitration practitioner.  She represents governments, state-owned entities and corporate entities in international investment and business disputes, as well as World Trade Organization dispute resolution.  She also sits as arbitrator in international arbitrations.  With three decades of experience practicing at the intersection of international arbitration and sovereign obligations, Mélida represents clients across the range of arbitration, including the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law. She is particularly respected as an arbitration expert in Latin America, where she has handled matters for sovereign clients Venezuela, Panama, and Peru. She is a former Associate General Counsel of the Office of the United States Trade Representative and a former litigator at the U.S. Department of Justice.  Mélida has been recognized in Chambers Global, Latin America, and United States editions, Who’s Who Arbitration and Arbitration Thought Leaders, as well as Legal 500 U.S. and Latin America editions, and Latinvex.  She is fluent in Spanish.