Natasha specialises in English and international commercial disputes in the construction, energy, natural resources, infrastructure and transport sectors.
Her practice spans international and domestic arbitration, general commercial litigation, adjudication, disputes boards, mediation and pre-contentious claims management and strategy. She has a particular interest in renewable energy and environmental law.
Natasha is dual qualified in French law, and in parallel with her practice at the bar, has over 15 years’ experience at the French law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel and latterly at Trinity International in Paris.
Natasha is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She is also a visiting lecturer at the Paris II Panthéon-Assas University, where she teaches drafting and written advocacy skills, and regularly publishes articles and gives seminars on topics relating to international arbitration, commercial/ contract law and alternative dispute resolution.
Natasha is listed in Best Lawyers 2023 and 2024 for Arbitration and Mediation.
Expertise
- Alternative Dispute Resolution
Natasha has extensive knowledge of the law and practice of arbitration. She has in-depth experience of all stages of the arbitral process, from providing strategic and pre-contentious advice, to making applications for urgent or interim relief, the conduct of arbitral proceedings under a variety of rules (ICC, LCIA, ICSID, ad hoc and others), the collection of evidence, drafting of factually and legally complex written submissions, witness and expert handling and the conduct of hearings, to proceedings for the challenge or enforcement of awards in a variety of jurisdictions.
Natasha also accepts appointments as an arbitrator and adjudicator and is a member of a number of English and international arbitration panels.
Natasha has trained in adjudication with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and in mediation with the CMAP. She regularly advises and assists clients with pre-litigation or pre-arbitral strategy.
- Planning and Environment
Many of Natasha’s cases, particularly those in the energy and natural resource sectors, involve questions of environmental law and ESG. She is therefore familiar with the legal and policy issues arising in these fields, both on a national and international level.
Natasha also has experience of consumer and commercial disputes in the water and renewables industries, having regularly acted as an adjudicator/ arbitrator in these fields, including for the WATRS and RECC schemes under the aegis of the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR).
She has also acted as an arbitrator in an arbitration under the Water Industry Act 1991 concerning a claim for damages arising as a result of seismic survey work carried out by a water company.
- Commercial and Regulatory
Natasha has a broad commercial law practice, often involving issues of foreign law or coordination across several jurisdictions.
Some examples of recent cases include:
Construction / Energy
- Acting as an adjudicator under the Tecbar Rules in a construction adjudication under the Scheme for Construction contracts, concerning a claim for an interim payment in respect of a contract for demolition and asbestos removal works
- Advising on two pre-contentious construction disputes concerning contract for a solar photovoltaic power projects in Burkina Faso.
- Acting for an Egyptian steel producer in an ICC arbitration claiming damages for the supply of a defective rolling mill in Egypt
- Representing the contractor, a Spanish consortium, in 8 adjudications (and consequent settlement negotiations) relating to the construction of solar farms in England
- Acting for a Polish member of a French construction group in an ICC arbitration, defending a claim for damages arising from the sale of an allegedly defective office building in Poland
- Acting for a French sugar and starch manufacturer in a pre-contentious dispute arising out of the construction of a cogeneration unit at an industrial site in Indonesia
- Representing a major Italian energy group in two separate ICC arbitrations which concerned claims and counterclaims arising out of the construction of oil and gas plants in North Africa
- Advising an energy major regarding the settlement of a dispute regarding a project in the offshore wind sector and the consequent redrafting of the project framework agreement
- Acting for a Tunisian-owned company in an ICC arbitration concerning an oil and gas joint venture in North Africa, arising out of an attempt to set aside a sale of shares of the joint venture company
Joint venture and Finance
- Counsel to a leading diversified natural resources company in an arbitration (LCIA London) relating to the non-payment of VAT in respect of the sale of copper concentrate from a mine in the Democratic Republic of Congo; as well as in two arbitrations (ICC Paris and Geneva) concerning a joint venture agreement for the exploitation of a mining permit for a different mine.
- Representing the subsidiary of an English power generation company in expert determination proceedings concerning a power purchase agreement in Nigeria, in a dispute about liability for a foreign exchange true-up
- Representing a borrower in a High Court claim brought by a lender and counterclaim by the borrower, following the termination of a loan for the purchase of an aircraft (led by Philip Coppel KC): Lombard North Central Plc v European Skyjets Ltd [2022] EWHC 728 (QB)
- Acting for 13 French investment funds in an ICC accelerated arbitration concerning a share purchase agreement allegedly signed under duress
- Representing an African national oil company in an ICC arbitration involving a dispute with its joint venture partner regarding the purchase and management of downstream oil and gas assets throughout Africa, as well as subsequent enforcement of the award
- Representing an energy major in an ICC arbitration arising out of the termination by breach of a shareholders’ agreement concerning a joint venture company in the energy sector Representing a major telecommunications provider in an arbitration against a satellite operator concerning the operator’s right to use frequencies at a certain orbital position
Investment arbitration
- Representing a publishing house in an application for annulment before an ICSID ad hoc committee and resubmission for arbitration, regarding a claim against a South American state for discrimination and breach of the right to fair and equitable treatment
Enforcement, ancillary relief and multijurisdictional litigation
- Obtaining a worldwide freezing order for an African national oil company owed money for the sale of its interest in an oil block (led by Rupert Reece)
- Obtaining a worldwide freezing order for a Turkish investor in a waste-to energy joint venture (led by Rupert Reece)
- Assisting an oil major seeking to defend its project financing structure in the British Virgin Islands against actions brought by the creditor of a third party
- Assisting the successful party in an arbitration in the co-ordination of multi-jurisdictional litigation in order to enforce its arbitration award in the Cayman Islands and Mauritius
Intellectual property
- Representing two universities in pre-contentious negotiations, in respect of claims for royalties for the development of a veterinary vaccine
- Representing a company in the agro-alimentary sector, in pre-contentious negotiations concerning whether various patent applications were in breach of confidentiality and licence agreements
- Defending an arbitration claim for alleged breach of a contract for the supply of set-top boxes, brought by a claimant that had been the subject of patent infringement claims by a third party