Band 3
Band 5
About
Provided by Louise Woods
Practice Areas
Louise serves as Head of International Disputes – Europe. She is ranked in Legal 500 UK, 2022 in the field of International Arbitration, where she is described by sources as “an excellent lawyer who is very sharp and easily accessible”, and “in a word, brilliant.”
Louise has significant experience in arbitration and litigation of high value, complex international commercial disputes and investor-state arbitration. She also has extensive experience of dealing with fraud and corruption allegations and investigations in the context of large scale, complex international arbitration and litigation. She is admitted in England and Wales as a Solicitor-Advocate and regularly appears as an advocate before international arbitration tribunals.
She represents clients across a wide range of industry sectors, including energy, banking and financial services, construction, infrastructure, technology and real estate development. Of particular note is Louise’s representation of a Saudi investor in Hesham Al-Warraq v. the Republic of Indonesia, an investor-state arbitration which set a precedent under the Investment Agreement of the Organization of Islamic Cooperation, allowing foreign investors to take host states to arbitration.
In recent years, Louise’s practice has increasingly focused on international energy disputes, in particular upstream oil and gas disputes across both Africa and Latin America.
Louise also works in support of greater diversity in international arbitration. She serves on the board of ArbitralWomen, a global nonprofit that works to support and promote women in international dispute resolution, through networking, mentoring and profile-raising opportunities. Louise is a regular speaker at international arbitration conferences.
Chambers Review
UK
Louise Woods serves as Vinson & Elkins European head of international disputes. Her practice focuses tightly on the oil and gas sector where she leads on a range of disputes including those arising from corporate transactions and upstream exploration contracts.
Louise Woods has a broad practice that covers both investment treaty and commercial arbitration. Her impressive client list includes organisations from a wide spectrum of industries, although she has notable strength in advising clients from the energy sector.
Strengths
Provided by Chambers
"I have been impressed with Louise Woods' very pragmatic approach."
"Louise provides outstanding commercial and legal advice, delivered in a highly collaborative manner."
"Louise is an outstanding lawyer with in-depth knowledge about arbitration. She has done an outstanding job for us."
"Louise is excellent, on top of the detail, and very client focused."
"Louise has been very pragmatic in her approach. She has helped us very well in formulating our strategies."
"Louise is very good. She knows how to deal with the other side and also the arbitration panel. Her advice is strong at a strategic and tactical level."
"I have been impressed with Louise Woods' very pragmatic approach."
"Louise provides outstanding commercial and legal advice, delivered in a highly collaborative manner."
"Louise is an outstanding lawyer with in-depth knowledge about arbitration. She has done an outstanding job for us."
"Louise is excellent, on top of the detail, and very client focused."
"Louise has been very pragmatic in her approach. She has helped us very well in formulating our strategies."
"Louise is very good. She knows how to deal with the other side and also the arbitration panel. Her advice is strong at a strategic and tactical level."