Overview
Calvin A. Hamilton is a Chartered Arbitrator (CIArb, FCIArb) with more than 35 years’ experience in International Arbitration, and has sat in investment and commercial disputes across the globe. His experience as counsel and arbitrator include cases under ICSID, ICC, LCIA, ICDR, Madrid Court of Arbitration, Zurich Chamber of Commerce and UNCITRAL rules in a variety of seats.
His primary expertise covers investment, corporate, commercial, construction & infrastructure, and energy & natural resource disputes. More widely, his experience includes procurement, technology, manufacturing & distribution, and banking & finance.
He has a primary jurisdiction focus throughout the Caribbean, Latin America, UK, Continental Europe and the US. Calvin conducts arbitrations arising from projects and cases in Latin America and the Caribbean, in both Spanish and English.
Calvin is a former Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, Cave Hill Campus, Barbados. He is a member of a task force charged with producing a Draft Arbitration Bill for implementation by Member States of CARICOM. He travels throughout the Caribbean promoting ADR and has successfully worked with Member States to enact arbitration legislation and to create arbitration centres. He is a prolific speaker on ADR throughout the region. Additionally, he works to implement court-annexed ADR programs and to sensitize the judiciary and other stakeholders in ADR processes. He is also a tutor of the globally renowned CIArb course modules.
His experience and career in Spain spanned over two decades as an equity partner in two of Spain’s most prestigious law firms, representing clients in cross-border transactions before specialising in ADR, to then be considered among the top arbitration practitioners in Spain. Calvin then went on to open hamilton abogados, Spain’s first arbitration boutique, which was considered as a global player since 2009, earning recognition from Who’s Who, GAR and Best Lawyer.
He is also is a founding member of the Spanish Arbitration Club (CEA) and served on its Executive Committee. CEA promotes the use of arbitration among Spanish and Portuguese-speaking commercial entities and among entities with interests in Ibero-America.
Calvin is fluent in Spanish and additionally is proficient in French and has a working knowledge of Portuguese. He is a dual national of Guyana and Spain and is admitted in New York and Madrid. Mr Hamilton is a member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration (ICC Court), member of the Awards Review Committee of the Centre of International Arbitration of Madrid (CIAM) and a member of the CIArb Presidential Panel of Arbitrators, in addition to inclusion on the list of arbitrators of the major global arbitration institutions.
Calvin’s culture and language skills also enable him to appreciate and anticipate cultural and other due process issues when sitting as an arbitrator. Appropriate to his practice, Mr Hamilton has also developed a good understanding of the common law and civil law through his practice in Spain and the Commonwealth Caribbean, including Guyana and Barbados, as well as the US.
See Calvin Hamilton’s bio and experience specific to US, Latin America and Caribbean.
Practice Areas
Investor State
Corporate & Commercial
Construction
Oil & Gas
Renewable Energy
Appointments
Sole Arbitrator
- International arbitration between foreign investor and a Caribbean government, concerning the breach of an investment for citizenship agreement. Seated in St. Kitts.
- International arbitration between a Caribbean government, government agency and foreign investor, concerning housing construction. Seated in Barbados.
- International arbitration between an Italian investor and a Spanish manufacturer of wind terminals concerning defective technology. Seated in Paris.
- International arbitration between a Spanish international bank and an investor concerning the breach of commercial banking agreements. Seated in London.
- 4 concurrent arbitrations involving a major construction company and a contractor concerning construction defects, delays, cost overruns and changed specifications. Seated in Madrid.
- Arbitration between an international home improvement company and a construction company concerning wrongful termination and breach of contract. Seated in Madrid.
- International arbitration under the UNCITRAL Rules between a US manufacturer of electronic units and its Spanish distributor concerning the breach of a distribution agreement. Seated in Minneapolis Minnesota.
- International arbitration between a Moroccan bank and Spanish state-owned insurer of Spanish foreign investments concerning the interpretation of contract provisions and duties and obligations of the insurer. Seated in New York.
- International ad hoc arbitration between a US buyer and a Spanish manufacturing company regarding indemnity claims under an insurance policy. Seated in New York.
- Chair or Sole Panelist on dozens of Domain name disputes.
Chair
- Ad hoc arbitration under UNCITRAL Rules between British Virgin Islands Company and a Caribbean State Agency for breach of contract. Seated in St. Lucia.
- Request for Independent Review Process between Turkish investor and ICANN, concerning failure to approve and delegate management responsibilities in a generic top-level domain name. ICDR Rules. Seated in California.
- Ad hoc arbitration under UNCITRAL Rules between US manufacturer of curtainwalls and Bermudan building contractor for breach of payment obligations. Seated in Bermuda.
- Chair in several domain name arbitrations.
Co-Arbitrator
- International arbitration between a Spanish international bank and an investor concerning swap instruments with seat in Madrid.
- International arbitration between US multinational and Caribbean privately owned television consortium with seat in New York.
- International arbitration between a UK construction company and a Caribbean state-owned housing development corporation with seat in Port of Spain, Trinidad and Tobago.
- International arbitration between Caribbean state-owned entity and a foreign investor with seat in London.
- International arbitration between Uruguayan and British Virgin Islands parties with seat in Madrid concerning the breach of contract of an investment in mutual funds.
- International arbitration between US companies on the one hand, and French and Swiss companies on the other, with seat in Madrid concerning the breach of a Share Purchase Agreement.
- International arbitration with seat in Zurich, between a Spanish manufacturer and Russian buyer concerning the delivery of a defective production line.
Membership details
Full list
- International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
- Retired, Senior Lecturer, Faculty of Law, University of the West Indies, Cave Hill Campus
- Former Lecturer, IE Law School, Madrid, Spain
- Member of the Board of Directories of the Spanish Arbitration Club
- Member of the European Advisory Committee of the Fletcher School, Tufts University
- Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb)
- Past Co-Chair, Madrid Chapter, International Law Section, NYSBA
- Past Vice Chair, Executive Committee of the International Law Section, NYSBA
- Past Vice Chair, Section of International Law, International Commercial Transactions, Franchising and Distribution Committee, ABA
- International Bar Association (IBA)
- American Bar Association (ABA)
- New York State Bar Association (NYSBA)
- Madrid Bar Association (ICAM)
- Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb)
- London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)
- Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA)
- Association for International Arbitration (AIA)
- Spanish Arbitration Club (CEA)
- Comite Brasileiro de Arbitragem (CBAr)
- Trinidad and Tobago Dispute Resolution Centre