David M Orta

Partner, Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan

David Orta is Chair of the U.S. International Arbitration Practice and of the Latin America International Arbitration Practice. Chambers Global and Chambers Latin America report that clients call David Orta a “tenacious” advocate, “a vastly experienced attorney who inspires real confidence, with a remarkable ability to see all the angles.”  They also report that Mr. Orta wins praise from clients for his dedication and “goes above and beyond to get the best result.”

David is a trial lawyer and arbitration advocate with many years of experience successfully representing clients all over the world in complex international arbitrations (including investor-state (treaty) arbitrations and complex, international commercial arbitrations) and complex, commercial transnational litigations.  David’s clients and cases have spanned most continents, including North America, Central America, South America, Europe, Asia, Africa and Australia.  David represents both governments and investors in international arbitration matters.  His experience spans many sectors, including energy, oil and gas, transportation, infrastructure, construction, power plant, telecommunications, mining, and post-merger and acquisition disputes. He also serves as arbitrator and expert in international investment and commercial arbitration disputes.

David has handled numerous investor-state arbitrations under bilateral and multilateral investment treaties administered under the auspices of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).  David also has represented clients in treaty and commercial ad hoc arbitrations administered under UNCITRAL Rules and international commercial arbitrations administered by the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR/AAA).  David also has handled many commercial, transnational litigations within and outside of the United States, including post-M&A and asset sale disputes, arbitral award enforcement proceedings and asset recovery litigation. 

David has received various accolades for his work, including being named consistently as a Leading International Arbitration Advocate by Chambers Global, Chambers Latin America, Legal 500, Euromoney’s Expert’s Guide to the World’s Leading Commercial Arbitration and being named consistently as “one of the world’s leading commercial arbitrators” by the International Who’s Who Legal.  Most recently, David was named a Top 100 Lawyer for Arbitration & Litigation by Latinvex for 2018-2020. He also has been named on two separate occasions (once by the National Law Journal and once by Washingtonian Magazine) as one of the Top 40 Lawyers under 40 in Washington, DC; selected numerous times for inclusion in Super Lawyers—Washington, D.C. for international arbitration, named to the 2014 Lawyers of Color Hotlist, named one of the world’s leading practitioners in The International Who’s Who of Asset Recovery Lawyers 2012, elected as Member of The American Law Institute, included in Global Arbitration Review 100 (2010 Edition) “Names to Know,” and named in Lawdragon 500 “New Stars, New Worlds” in 2006.  He regularly lectures on topics of international arbitration and public and private international law all around the world and has published numerous articles on topics of interest within the international arbitration community.