Arbitration boutique Three Crowns has gained two new partners with the promotion of Leilah Bruton in its London base and the hire of Shaparak Saleh in Paris from French independent firm Teynier Pic.

The moves mean there are now five women among the firm’s 14 partners.

Bruton, who joined the London office as counsel from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in November 2019, specialises in commercial and investment treaty arbitrations with a particular focus on energy and telecoms disputes. Her clients include Total, BP, ExxonMobil, Petronas and Rio Tinto.

Bruton’s expertise in oil & gas disputes arising out of long-term production sharing agreements will be particularly useful given current volatility in the energy markets, as states seek to deal with energy price spikes.  

Gwendoline Brooker, senior disputes manager at Total Energies, said Bruton was “a leading light in international arbitration who provides succinct, mature, practical and professional solutions to complex issues. We are pleased to see that Three Crowns has elevated her to being a partner.”

Shaparak Saleh, meanwhile, has joined the firm after almost four years as a partner at Parisian dispute resolution boutique Teynier Pic, along with associate Marie-Provence Brue.

Before Teynier Pic, Saleh was spent almost 13 years at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and has acted as arbitration counsel across all major institutional rules, as well as acting in some 25 arbitration-related court proceedings in the French courts. Her clients include Total, Bouygues, NGE and Trevi SpA.

Saleh’s broad sectoral practice, which includes joint venture and M&A disputes, is a key attraction for her new firm. Her work spans disputes in the construction, energy, aeronautics, space, telecoms, food, chemicals and pharmaceutical sectors in EMEA and Asia, complementing the firm’s multinational approach. Three Crowns has offices in the US, UK and France and offers practitioners the reassurance of conflict-free practice within a wider global referral network, which plays to Saleh’s strengths.

Constantine Partasides QC, one of the firm’s four silks since it was announced at the end of last year that fellow founding partner Gaetan Verhoosel was to be elevated in March, commented: “We are very excited that Leilah has taken the next step in her career to become a partner with us in London and that Shaparak – whom many of us already know well – is joining us in Paris to augment our French law capabilities.”

He added that their expertise “makes them ideal additions to our partnership as we look to continue to support our clients on their most complex and significant disputes around the world.”

Saleh joining Three Crown follows a number of top arbitration specialists in Paris launching their own boutiques. Among them is the global co-chair of Denton’s litigation and dispute resolution practice, Barton Legum, who left the firm earlier this month along with head of international arbitration Jean-Christophe Honlet to launch Honlet Legum Arbitration.

Another is Linklaters’ former co-head of arbitration Pierre Duprey, who set up his own boutique, ADF Avocats, at the start of last year.

And in 2020, four women disputes lawyers with strong international law experience combined forces to establish litigation and arbitration boutique Medici Law Firm in the city.

Three Crowns, meanwhile, has also added to its Washington DC office, hiring former US government lawyer, and international law academic, Donald (“Trey”) Earl Childress III as of counsel. He is a law professor at the Caruso School of Law and recently served for three years as the 28th Counselor on International Law to the Legal Adviser at the US State Department.