Squire Patton Boggs has hired two international arbitration partners in Paris from DWF and a consultant in Brussels from Wilmer Hale Cutler Pickering and Dorr.

The Paris duo – Sabrina Aïnouz and Jérôme Lehucher – have spent the last 13 years practising international arbitration together, first at well-known disputes boutique Curtis Mallet-Prevost Colt & Mosle, where they became partners in 2016, and then at  DWF, which they joined in January 2018.

 A dual French-Algerian national, Aïnouz was appointed by Algeria to the ICC International Court of Arbitration, which is based in Paris, in 2018, while Lehucher is trilingual in Spanish, English and French. Both act in investor state dispute settlement claims, something their new firm welcomed. 

 “Sabrina and Jérôme have substantial experience in high-stakes investor-state arbitrations and are excellent additions to our rapidly growing, dynamic team,” said Stephen Anway, global co-leader of the firm’s international disputes practice. 

“With their specialism in investor-state cases – an area of particular focus within our group – their arrival will allow us to keep pace with our increasing case load, provide us access to new clients and, importantly, add to the strength of our team,” he added.

George von Mehren, who co-leads the disputes group with Anway, said the move built on previous hires by the firm in the strategically important locations of New York, Dubai, and Paris.

Both lawyers join the Paris office a week after it made a rare lateral hire from Wilmer Hale’s Brussels office, with Michelle Glassman Bock joining the firm as a partner. Glassman Bock, a counsel at Wilmer Hale for fifteen years, will split her time between Washington DC and the EU capital, pandemic allowing, while primarily being based in Belgium.  

An expert in energy arbitrations, as well as investor-state proceedings and US litigation, she has been involved more than 15 gas price review claims – an area of increasing focus given energy market volatility.