Profile details
About Gonzalo Salazar
Gonzalo is an associate in Freshfields’ International Arbitration Group based in our Frankfurt office.
He specializes in commercial and investment arbitration. Gonzalo advises and represents large corporations and sovereign States in a variety of sectors, including infrastructure, energy, financial, and industrial manufacturing. He has acted in arbitration proceedings under various rules, including ICSID, ICC, DIS and UNCITRAL.
Prior to joining the firm, Gonzalo worked at an investment arbitration boutique law firm in Venezuela, where he represented foreign investors in ICSID claims in the mining, and banking and finance sector.
Gonzalo is a Venezuelan lawyer and holds an LL.M. from the London School of Economics. He speaks fluent English and Spanish fluently, and intermediate French and German.
Recent work
- Representing a state-owned energy company in a multi-billion-euro investment arbitration against an Eastern European state
- Representing a multinational chemical company in multi-billion-euro arbitration proceedings regarding a shareholder dispute in an ICC Rules arbitration.
- Representing an Eastern European country in an ICSID arbitration brought under the Energy Charter Treaty by an Austrian company in relation to its investment in an oil refinery.
- Representing a South-Eastern European country in an ICSID arbitration arising out of a concession agreement.
- Representing a major Japanese manufacturer in a DIS arbitration arising out of a commitment to divest agreed with the European Commission. The arbitration involves multiple contractual claims and counterclaims intertwined with European antitrust issues and multiple European jurisdictions.
- Representing the German financial services provider Portigon AG (formerly WestLB) in an ICSID arbitration brought under the Energy Charter Treaty against the Kingdom of Spain. The dispute arises out of Spain’s changes to its feed-in-tariff regime for renewable energy.
Qualifications
Professional qualifications
- Admitted to the Venezuelan bar (Abogado)
Education
- London School of Economics (LL.M.)
- Universidad Catolica Andres Bello (Abogado)