About

Jean Kalicki is an independent arbitrator in New York and Washington, DC, specializing in investor-State, international and complex commercial disputes. She is a national of the United States.Until April 2016, she was a Partner at Arnold & Porter LLP, serving as counsel in high-stakes international disputes; she thereafter transitioned exclusively to arbitrator work. In 2020, she joined Arbitration Chambers, an association of independent arbitrators with offices in Hong Kong, London and New York.Over 30 years, Ms. Kalicki has conducted arbitrations involving six continents, across many industries, addressing issues of public international law and the laws of dozens of countries. She is listed on the roster of arbitrators of institutions around the world and on two rosters for State-to-State treaty arbitrations.

Ms. Kalicki is a member of the Governing Board of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA). She previously served on the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) (2014-2021), including as Vice President of the Court (2016-2021); as a member of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) Board of Directors and Council (2010-2021); and as a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Commission on Arbitration and the Board of Directors of SICANA, Inc. (ICC North America). She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and of the College of Commercial Arbitrators (CCA) and taught arbitration and advocacy for many years as an adjunct professor at both Georgetown University Law Center and American University Washington College of Law.

Ms. Kalicki is regularly ranked in Chambers’ Band 1 (“Most In-Demand” Arbitrators) for both Global Arbitration and Public International Law, and was its only “Star Arbitrator” (above Band 1) in the USA for 2019 and 2020. Best Lawyers in America has named her “Lawyer of the Year” in her jurisdiction and practice five times; Who’s Who Legal annually lists her in their “Thought Leaders: Global Elite”; and Global Arbitration Review named her the “Best Prepared/Most Responsive Arbitrator” in the world in 2017.

EMPLOYMENT AND EDUCATION

Before beginning a new chapter as independent arbitrator in 2016, Jean Kalicki worked for 17 years at Arnold & Porter LLP in Washington, DC and N.Y., first as Counsel (1999-2007) and then Partner (2008-2016). From 1991-1998, she was an associate with Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton in N.Y. and Washington, DC. From 1989-1990, she served as law clerk for the Honorable Pierre N. Leval, then of the U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.

Ms. Kalicki was an Adjunct Professor at Georgetown University Law Center from 2005-2017 and American University Washington College of Law from 2006-2017.

She graduated summa cum laude from Harvard College in 1986, concentrating in International Relations and Comparative Government, and magna cum laude from Harvard Law School in 1989, serving as an editor of the Harvard Law Review.

EXPERIENCE AS ARBITRATOR

Ms. Kalicki has served as Chair, sole arbitrator and co-arbitrator in investment and commercial cases under the rules of ICSID, the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), ICC, AAA and International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), LCIA, Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), British Columbia International Commercial Arbitration Centre (BCICAC), Abu Dhabi Commercial Conciliation and Arbitration Centre (ADCCAC) and JAMS International, as well as under the Rules of UNCITRAL and the CPR Institute for Dispute Resolution. Ms. Kalicki has also served as appointing authority for the PCA.

Her work has involved areas as diverse as international investment law, joint ventures and share purchases, State contracts and regulation, distribution and sales, procurement, franchises and licensing, and industries as diverse as energy (electricity, oil, gas, nuclear, solar and wind), telecommunications, aviation, banking and finance, shipping and maritime, mining, construction and infrastructure development, securities and commodities, agriculture and food products, manufacturing, pesticides, cosmetics, pharmaceutical, hotels and hospitality, and medical and scientific technology.

Ms. Kalicki is listed on the Chapter 31 Dispute Settlement Panel of the US-MexicoCanada Agreement (USMCA); the European Commission’s list of chairs for EU trade disputes; and the UK’s reserve arbitrators’ list for Brexit disputes. She serves on the arbitrator panels of the AAA/ICDR, ICC, LCIA and CIETAC, and the Beijing, Bogota, BVI, Hong Kong, Japan, Korea, Kuala Lumpur, Saudi Arabia, Singapore and South China centers (BAC/BIAC, CAC, BVIIAC, HKIAC, JCAA, KCAB, AIAC, SCCA, SIAC and SCIAHK); and the IEL’s Energy Arbitrators’ List. She was listed on the ICSID roster from 2014-2020.

RANKINGS AND RECOGNITION

Jean Kalicki is widely recognized for her leadership in international arbitration. She was named Chambers’ only “Star Arbitrator” (above Band 1) in the USA for 2019 and 2020, and a Band 1 (“Most In-Demand”) Arbitrator for Global and Public International Law (2017-2022); Global Arbitration Review’s “Best Prepared/Most Responsive Arbitrator” for 2017; Best Lawyers’ “Lawyer of the Year” for International Arbitration-Governmental in both New York (2017, 2019 and 2023) and Washington DC (2016) and for International Arbitration-Commercial in New York (2022); one of Law360’s “Five Most Influential Female International Arbitrators” in 2016; and for many years as one of Who’s Who Legal’s “Thought Leaders” and “Thought Leaders-Global Elite."

Ms. Kalicki has been ranked since 2007 in Chambers, which described her in 2022 as “an incredibly safe pair of hands who handles arbitrations with sensitivity, manages to keep all the balls in the air,” is “very measured, and … quick and robust procedurally,” and as “super responsive, … a good colleague on a tribunal,” “practical and always well prepared.” Between 2019 and 2021 she was described similarly as “one of the most impressive arbitrators out there,” an “unbelievably effective arbitrator” who “has superb judgment,” is “really at the top of her game,” who “is always well prepared and asks penetrative questions,” is “extremely thorough and strong on procedure,” “looks at details and is a very creative thinker” and is “collaborative and collegial,” and who “stands out in terms of even-handedness and responsiveness.” Who’s Who Legal described her in 2020 as “exceptional,” “thoughtful, creative and a great problem solver,” and as “an extremely impressive arbitrator who is prepared ahead of time – firm but fair in how she handles proceedings and on top of every detail”; in 2019 it said she “stands out as one of the best-prepared and most diligent presiding arbitrators in the market,” with peers reporting that “[t]he deep and efficient analysis in her rulings is extremely impressive and reassures the parties that she has understood both the big picture and the finer details.”

She also has been ranked regularly as a leader in the field by International Who's Who of Business Lawyers; Legal 500 US; Washington, DC Super Lawyers; Best Lawyers in America; Washingtonian Magazine; and Euromoney’s Guide to the World’s Leading Lawyers and the World’s Leading Women in Business Law.

PROFESSIONAL ACTIVITIES

Ms. Kalicki is a member of the ICCA Governing Board and the Chair of its Initiatives Committee; she also serves on the Board of Directors of SICANA, Inc. (ICC North America). She previously served on the LCIA Court (including as Vice President of the Court), as a member of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) Board of Directors and Council, and as a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration.

Ms. Kalicki serves on the Editorial Boards of Global Arbitration Review and the ICSID Review, as an Associate Editor of Transnational Dispute Management; and on the Arbitration City Council. She was co-chair of ICCA’s Programme Committee for its 2018 Sydney Congress and a Programme Committee member for the 2022 Edinburgh Congress.

For more than a decade, Ms. Kalicki served as Chair of the DC Bar’s International Dispute Resolution Committee. She also served as Chair of the CIArb’s Washington, D.C. Chapter and Chair of the USCIB’s Arbitration Subcommittee for Washington, DC. For many years she was a member of the Executive Committee of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA).

From 2005-2017, Ms. Kalicki was an Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, and from 2006-2017 she also taught as a Professorial Lecturer (Adjunct Faculty) at American University Washington College of Law’s Summer Program on International Arbitration.

She has served on numerous task forces, working groups and committees. This includes the ICCA-ASIL Joint Task Force on Issue Conflicts in Investor-State Arbitration, the IBA Subcommittee on Investment Arbitration, the ICC Task Force on Reducing Time and Costs in Complex Arbitration, the ICC Task Force on National Rules of Procedure for Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards, the ICC Task Force on Emergency Arbitrator Proceedings, and the Energy Charter Secretariat’s Legal Advisory Task Force. She is a past member of the Steering Committee of the English-American Litigation Forum.

Ms. Kalicki is a member of the Global Advisory Board of the New York International Arbitration Center (NYIAC) and a member of the International Arbitration Club of New York (IACNY) and the London International Arbitration Club. She was a Founding Member of ArbitralWomen Association and Washington Women in International Arbitration.

She is admitted to practice law before the courts of New York and Washington, DC, and is a member in good standing of the New York State Bar Association, the District of Columbia Bar Association, and the International Bar Association.

ARBITRATOR APPOINTMENT

Ms. Kalicki has served as Chair, sole arbitrator and co-arbitrator in a wide range of investorState and commercial cases, the latter in both international and complex U.S. disputes. A list of her arbitrator appointments in these categories appears in her CV attached.