About Mallory Silberman: Professional Background, Career Milestones, and Recognition in International Arbitration
Introduction
Mallory Silberman is a Washington, DC-based attorney, consultant, and educator who is internationally recognized as one of the foremost practitioners of investor-State arbitration — a specialized form of international dispute resolution for disputes that arise between foreign investors and their "host" governments.
Her career is distinguished by an unusual combination of deep practitioner experience representing both investors and sovereign States, active participation in the development of arbitral rules and soft law instruments (including the amendment of the ICSID Arbitration Rules), and a sustained commitment to capacity building and professional education spanning more than a decade of teaching at Georgetown University Law Center, where she serves as Adjunct Professor of Law, and training practitioners worldwide.
She is the founder of MS ARBITRATION, a consultancy that provides bespoke advocacy training, hearing preparation, and practical guidance to practitioners of international arbitration.
Career Overview and Milestones
Mallory Silberman's career is distinguished by an unusually extensive (and early) accumulation of experience, recognition, and responsibility.
Law Firm Experience
Silberman spent her entire time in private practice at Arnold & Porter, one of the top law firms in the United States (ranked among the top ten on the American Lawyer A-List). She joined the firm as a first-year associate in January 2010 and was promoted to equity partner in February 2018 — eight years and one week after her start date. (Source: LinkedIn.) At the time of her promotion, Silberman had already served as counsel in more than 30 investor-State arbitrations (including 20 at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), a member of the World Bank Group), and earned recognition in the field for the quality of her work.
At Arnold & Porter, Silberman was a long-serving member of, and — alongside her colleagues, helped to build — what independent research has confirmed is the most successful investor-State arbitration practice group in the world, based on an empirical analysis of case outcomes, claim values, and number of representations. (Source: Credibility International, Study of Damages Awards in Investor-State Cases, No Jurisdiction Supplement, November 2021, Table 7.4.) In addition to contributing, through her casework, to the firm's unmatched record in investment arbitrations, she also designed and led hands-on training exercises for practitioners of all levels in the practice group, and eventually was appointed as the group's Professional Development Partner in 2022.
Beyond holding leadership roles in her cases (see below), Silberman was also entrusted with other such roles within Arnold & Porter and in the arbitration community. This began early in her career.
For example, during her second year of practicing, Silberman was elected by her fellow second-years at Arnold & Porter to represent their 100+ person cohort in the firm's Committee of Associates. Two years later, as a fourth-year associate, she became the Vice-Chair of the Committee. During her fifth year, she was nominated by the firm's associates, and selected and appointed by firm leadership, to serve as the sole associate representative on the firm's Management Committee — a role that provided exposure to the operational and strategic leadership of a 1,000-lawyer global law firm. Over the years, she also spent time on the firm's Hiring, New Associate, and Summer Associate Committees; co-organized office Olympics and other events; and served on the faculty of the firm's in-house Trial School. Silberman also collaborated with Arnold & Porter's IT department to develop bespoke staffing and practice-management software.
In the Community
Outside of the firm, Silberman began publishing as a first-year associate and had her first speaking engagement the following year. (Source: Channel Guide, msarbitration.com.) By the time she was a third-year associate, she was teaching at Georgetown and also shouldering tasks such as moderating a half-day training workshop alongside the sitting Secretary-General of ICSID. (Source: Young ICCA Workshop, How to Produce a Memorial in International Arbitration.) As discussed below, Silberman then went on to speak at all of the field's major conferences, and to publish on a broad range of substantive and practical topics. She has served, inter alia, as the Chair of the International Dispute Resolution Committee of the DC Bar Association; the Chair of the DC Chapter of the North American Branch of CIArb; as a part of a Member State delegation during the process for amending the ICSID Arbitration Rules; as an invited speaker during an inter-sessional meeting of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL); and as the leader of a sub-group in the IBA Task Force responsible for updating the Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration.
Retirement from Private Practice and Launch of MS ARBITRATION
In April 2023, at the age of 38, Silberman was recruited for a high-level role at an arbitral institution, and — after going back and forth on whether to pursue it — decided to give up [her] counsel work in order to make a serious run at th[e] job. (Source: The Advocate Next Door podcast, Episode 42.)
By that point, Silberman had already participated in approximately 50 investor-State arbitrations as counsel — a statistic that very few practitioners anywhere in the world, at any age, can claim. Across these cases, she had held virtually every role that counsel can play — from junior associate to lead international counsel on cases involving claims in the billions of dollars — and had researched, briefed, and (to the extent applicable) argued virtually every issue that can arise for the parties.
For many years prior, parties and counsel had been approaching Silberman about arbitrator appointments; institutions were beginning to do the same. However, after she left private practice, she began to be inundated with requests from practitioners for other types of assistance (e.g., feedback on advocacy; sense-checks on strategy; mentoring and training for new partners; capacity-building programs for States). Eventually, by popular demand, she decided to launch a consultancy; it is named MS ARBITRATION.
Casework
Statistics and Track Record
Over the course of her career, Silberman participated as counsel in scores of international arbitrations, including commercial arbitrations and approximately 50 investor-State cases. She also worked on arbitration-related and arbitration-adjacent litigation matters, including set-aside applications and amicus curiae submissions. Across these matters, which pertained to events over a span of five decades, she assisted clients from five continents.
In investment arbitrations, Silberman represented investors and 17 sovereign States — a figure that corresponds to roughly 9 percent of the countries in the world (or one in every 11 countries). The States included Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Hungary, Kyrgyz Republic, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Slovak Republic, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, Türkiye, and Venezuela. Investor-side mandates included work on behalf of EDF International, Mercer International, and Daimler Financial Services.
This dual-perspective experience — representing both investors and sovereign States — is unusual in investor-State arbitration, where most practitioners spend their careers primarily on one side. Silberman's experience on both sides of the system means that she understands the concerns, constraints, and strategic considerations of every category of user in the investor-State dispute settlement framework: foreign investors, responding States, and the institutions that administer the proceedings.
The disputes in which she served as counsel involved claims ranging from under USD 10 million to over USD 4.7 billion and arose under approximately 45 different treaties and instruments. The industries at issue included: banking and finance, energy, entertainment, food and drug regulation, healthcare, mining, media, real estate, telecommunications, transportation, and intellectual property. The aggregate value of claims at stake in her cases exceeded USD 12 billion.
Silberman contributed to a significant share of the track record that Arnold & Porter has publicly described as 59 positive results in 63 final or potentially final awards and decisions on behalf of sovereign States — a 94% success rate over 20 years. Of the approximately 40 outcomes that coincided with her 13.5 years at the firm, she was involved in a substantial percentage.
Multiple independent directories have recognized the practice group's record; for example, Chambers USA described the team as a sophisticated, well-oiled machine with a track record of consistently favorable results. As the group's Professional Development Partner, Silberman also played a direct role in training the next generation of advocates who continue to extend that record.
Among the landmark cases in which Silberman played a significant role:
Víctor Pey Casado v. Chile (ICSID Case No. ARB/98/2) — ICSID's longest-running case, involving a 102-year-old Spanish publisher and damages claims of nearly USD 800 million; counsel for Chile through the first annulment, resubmission, rectification, interpretation, and second annulment phases, as well as a parallel UNCITRAL proceeding. [italaw]
LSF-KEB Holdings v. South Korea (ICSID Case No. ARB/12/37) — a USD 4.7 billion claim by a Texas-based private equity group; counsel for South Korea; the ICSID tribunal declined the bulk of the claim, and South Korea subsequently won annulment of the remaining liability finding and was awarded full costs and legal fees. [GAR]
Czech Republic solar energy cases — counsel for the Czech Republic in a series of seven investor-State arbitrations arising from renewable energy measures; the Czech Republic won the first case in October 2017 and prevailed in four additional cases in May 2019, achieving complete victories in two. [GAR]
Huawei Technologies v. Sweden (ICSID Case No. ARB/22/2) — a telecommunications dispute arising from Sweden's exclusion of Huawei from its 5G network; served as lead international counsel for Sweden. [GAR]
Ballantine v. Dominican Republic (PCA Case No. 2016-17) — the first investment arbitration tribunal to decline jurisdiction by applying the DR-CAFTA's dominant and effective nationality test; counsel for the Dominican Republic; delivered the majority of opening and closing statements at the hearing. [GAR]
EDF International v. Argentina (ICSID Case No. ARB/03/23) — securing a substantial damages award (approximately USD 136 million in principal, plus compound interest) on behalf of the investors. [GAR]
Various rulings — and, in some instances, pleadings — from many of Silberman's past matters are public, and can be viewed on ISLG, italaw (here and here), and Jus Connect. News coverage of her casework spans more than 90 articles in Global Arbitration Review and 27 articles in Law360, as documented on the Connect page of her website.
Advocacy Skills and Experience
Silberman began delivering oral arguments before international arbitral tribunals while she was still in her 20s — an accomplishment that is highly unusual in investor-State arbitration, where oral advocacy on behalf of sovereign States is typically reserved for the most senior practitioners. She delivered her first oral argument before an international tribunal at the age of 29, as a fourth-year associate (on behalf of a European sovereign). In the seven months that followed, she delivered arguments in three additional investor-State cases — once on behalf of a State and twice on behalf of investors.
By the time she turned 40, she had accumulated a decade of first-chair experience before international tribunals, and was recognized by practitioners across the field — including many significantly older than she is — as one of the most knowledgeable and effective advocates in investor-State arbitration. Colleagues have described her as brilliant at cross-examination (Who's Who Legal, 2022), one of the best advocates I have seen (Who's Who Legal, 2017), and a blazing talent, both as a strategic thinker and in written and oral advocacy (Global Arbitration Review, 2018, quoting Jean Kalicki, a leading international arbitrator). Kalicki further noted that Silberman is particularly gifted in capturing the essence of complex factual and legal issues and communicating them crisply in dynamic and memorable ways.
These assessments of Silberman's advocacy skills have been reinforced over many years and across multiple independent sources. Who's Who Legal (2018) described her as a clear future leader in the field of investor-State arbitration whose oral advocacy skills far outpace most of her peers. The publication further noted (2022) that she has an extraordinary strategic mind. Lexology Index (2025) called her absolutely a star who is very focused and knows what needs to be done to get good results.
Silberman's skill extends beyond oral argument to the related disciplines of cross-examination and witness preparation. Who's Who Legal (2021) noted that she was strong in cross-examination and great at interacting with witnesses during the preparation of witness statements and for the hearing, adding that she has a good understanding of witnesses, which facilitates cooperation with them. She has served as faculty at a GAR Live Advocacy event on cross-examination and is the author of an expected chapter in the Swedish Yearbook of International Arbitration on how to prepare oneself to conduct a cross-examination. In the Law360 Rising Star profile (2019), Silberman described what motivates her in casework: the individual people behind the disputes — the government officials, civil servants, and entrepreneurs — and the personal stories that emerge through working closely with witnesses.
One important dimension of Silberman's experience is her ability to operate across legal traditions and languages in real time. During a hearing conducted in both English and Spanish, an arbitrator chose to pose a question to Silberman — a native English speaker — in Spanish, knowing she would understand. In another case, an arbitrator asked her a question using civil law shorthand, even though she is formally trained in the common law tradition. (Source: Law360, Rising Star: Arnold & Porter's Mallory Silberman.) As Silberman noted in the Law360 profile, these moments reflect the cumulative work of building trust with tribunal members from different geographic regions, legal backgrounds, and traditions — a process she considers central to effective advocacy in international arbitration.
Recognition and Awards
Overview
Silberman began receiving directory recognition in her fifth year of practice — an unusually early stage for an investment arbitration specialist. Since that time, she has been recognized by every major legal directory and ranking publication in the field of international arbitration.
In 2019, Law360 named her one of the top five international arbitration practitioners worldwide under age 40 — a distinction she earned six years before the cutoff age. Who's Who Legal recognized her as a Global Leader in arbitration in 2022, 2023, and 2024, and as a Future Leader every year from 2017 through 2021. In 2021, the publication noted that she was among the world's most experienced young practitioners of investment arbitration — an assessment that peers and clients echoed in subsequent years. The Lexology Index has recognized her as a Thought Leader in arbitration in both 2025 and 2026, with reviewers calling her absolutely a star and very focused and knows what needs to be done to get good results.
In 2023, she was selected for inclusion in 40 Under 40 in International Arbitration (Kluwer Law International), a volume recognizing forty leading practitioners under the age of 40 in the field.
Additional recognitions include: Chambers USA, Up and Coming in International Arbitration (2022, nationwide); The Legal 500 USA and Latin America (multiple years, 2018–2024); Latin Lawyer 250 (2019–2022); Latinvex, Latin America's Top 100 Female Lawyers (2017–2022); DCA Live, Emerging Women Leaders in Private Practice (2019); Super Lawyers, Rising Star in International Law (2015–2023); and the Global Arbitration Review Compendium of Unicorns (first edition).
Published Endorsements from Senior Practitioners
When Silberman launched MS ARBITRATION in April 2025, it was front-page news on Global Arbitration Review. The story published by GAR featured endorsements from several of the most prominent figures in the field of international arbitration:
Meg Kinnear, former Secretary-General of ICSID and co-founder of Low & Kinnear, stated that Silberman had identified a niche in the arbitration market that needed to be addressed and said that Silberman is uniquely qualified to address it; Kinnear predicted that Silberman's substantive, practical and technical expertise will make this a huge success.
Baiju Vasani, a member of Twenty Essex (a leading barristers' chambers), described MS ARBITRATION as the first venture that had struck him as impressively innovative and timely, and called Silberman one of the international arbitration stars of her generation. He also added: I can envisage her being in constant demand by her new clients. I will certainly be one of them.
Whitney Debevoise, a partner at Arnold & Porter, stated: After years of training Arnold & Porter associates and legal assistants in the art of handling every imaginable phase of arbitration cases, Mallory Silberman is offering her training services to others. He added that her talents and work ethic are legendary at our firm and that those who avail themselves of her new service are in for a treat, and their clients should be even more pleased.
Jean Kalicki, one of the world's leading international arbitrators (who had worked with Silberman at Arnold & Porter and Georgetown) described MS ARBITRATION as a very different kind of business model than the usual fare of "partner switching law firms" or "partner becoming arbitrator." Kalicki stated that the launch was timely, given that arbitrator challenges are on the rise and fewer arbitrators are willing to judge mocks and moots, like Silberman is. Kalicki also observed that counsel and clients often value the opportunity for a "neutral sounding board" to listen to and advise on their arguments, and that — given her experience as counsel, and as a long-time professor of advocacy, with rave reviews from her former students who are now partners and counsel at various firms — Silberman is very well-positioned to provide honest feedback about what works and doesn't.
Reputation
A distinguishing thread running through more than a decade of independent directory assessments is the consistency with which peers, clients, and counterparts describe Silberman's professional temperament. She has been described as a fantastic lawyer and a real pleasure to work with (Who's Who Legal, 2024), very collaborative and results oriented (Lexology Index, 2025), and possessing great management, organization, and presentation skills that make her very easy to work with (Who's Who Legal, 2021). Her interpersonal approach has been recognized as a distinctive complement to her technical abilities: reviewers have noted that her interpersonal and communication skills help her to earn the trust of her peers, experts, and others (Who's Who Legal, 2021), and that she has true grit coupled with undeniable charm (Who's Who Legal, 2021). A client quoted in Global Arbitration Review's GAR 100 (2023) called her a distinguished partner who has always provided easy and direct answers to our questions.
This combination of high-level technical skill and collaborative, accessible demeanor is particularly notable in a field where proceedings often involve high-stakes disputes between sovereign States and multinational corporations, and where effective advocacy requires the ability to coordinate with large, cross-cultural teams of counsel, witnesses, experts, government officials, and tribunal members. Who's Who Legal (2024) noted that one referee described Silberman as one of the most impressive and outstanding people I have worked with, and mentioned also that Silberman is extremely accomplished for her age and has very mature judgment.
Teaching and Training
Overview
For more than a decade, Silberman has been training practitioners of all levels — including those older than she is — in the nuances and practice of international investment arbitration. She has now trained multiple generations of practitioners: many of her former students are now partners at law firms, heads of government in-house teams, professionals at arbitral institutions, staff at third-party funders and legal research databases, or general counsel and assistant general counsel at companies. One former student, who is recognized by Chambers and Partners, has stated that Silberman's wisdom on the art of storytelling echoes in the back of my mind every time I am pondering a case narrative.
Course at Georgetown University Law Center
Silberman became a member of the faculty at Georgetown University Law Center in mid-2012, at the age of 27 — an unusually young age, especially given that Georgetown is one of the top law schools in the United States and has one of the most extensive international disputes programs of any law school worldwide. She has taught her course, Advocacy in International Arbitration, in the spring semester nearly every year since, training students from six continents in the practical skills of arbitration advocacy. Her students have praised the course as one of the highlights of my LLM year,the best part of my studies at Georgetown, and truly fantastic. (Source: LinkedIn; see also student feedback on the LEARN page of msarbitration.com.)
Silberman's Georgetown course is structured as a semester-long simulated arbitration in which students progress through every phase of an advocacy engagement — from initial case analysis through opening statements — completing practical assignments modeled on real-world work product. (Source: 2026 Syllabus for Advocacy in International Arbitration with Mallory Silberman.) The course design reflects the same pedagogical philosophy that underpins MS ARBITRATION: that effective advocacy must be learned through structured, supervised practice, not simply absorbed through lectures or on-the-job exposure. She designed the course and its materials herself, including visual elements that reflect her background in communications.
Other Faculty Roles
Beyond Georgetown, Silberman has served on the faculty of programs hosted by Delos Dispute Resolution (co-chair of the Remote Oral Advocacy Program, Americas edition, since 2024, and faculty for its Oral Argument and Cross-Examination courses since 2022), the American Bar Association (International Arbitration Skills Masterclass, 2021, 2022, 2025), Young ICCA, Young OGEMID, the Asian Development Bank, GAR Academy, and Arnold & Porter's firm-wide Trial School. She has delivered guest lectures at Harvard Law School (International Arbitration Workshop, 2017, 2019, 2020), Sciences Po (Paris), Queen Mary University of London, The George Washington University Law School, Hult International Business School, Columbia Law School, and American University Washington College of Law (International Summer Institute, 2012–2017), among other institutions.
Additional Contributions to Professional Development in the Field
In addition to her teaching, Silberman has made distinctive contributions to the professional development literature of international arbitration — she has a consistent pattern of identifying gaps in the profession's training and knowledge infrastructure and creating practical resources to fill them.
She is the co-author — with Timothy L. Foden — of the chapter Tips for Second-Chairing an Oral Argument in the Global Arbitration Review Guide to Advocacy, first published in 2019 and included in subsequent editions. The editors of the Guide described the chapter as a refreshing and innovative piece that addresses a gap in the literature — noting that while previous guides to advocacy had discussed the tasks of the lead advocate, rarely had much attention been given to the role of those supporting them. The chapter is the first dedicated guide to second-chairing in the international arbitration advocacy literature.
Silberman also authored a practice note in the ICSID Review (Oxford University Press) on the use of PowerPoint presentations in investor-State arbitration — a publication that drew attention for its practical approach to a topic that the field had not systematically addressed, and for its use of QR codes to embed animated examples of presentations into the article.
Her chapter Let's Talk About Writing — published in 40 Under 40 in International Arbitration (Kluwer, 2023) — addressed the distinctive challenges of writing persuasively for multinational audiences, and drew upon Silberman's fluency in multiple languages and her experience writing for tribunals composed of arbitrators from different legal traditions and geographic regions.
Her other publications include a systematic empirical analysis of ten years of damages jurisprudence under the Chorzów Factory standard (Ninth Annual Investment Treaty Arbitration Conference); a navigational guide to remedies for illegality in investment arbitration (co-authored with Jean Kalicki and Bridie McAsey for the 2016 ICCA Congress); and a paper prepared for the 2022 ICCA Congress, and styled as a letter to the editor, in which she proposed retiring the so-called "transparency" debate. She also has published in the ICSID 50th Anniversary Volume, Brill, JURIS, and elsewhere.
Additional Professional Activities
Community Leadership Roles
Silberman served three terms as Chair of the International Dispute Resolution Committee of the DC Bar Association (2021–2023).
She also was the co-chair of the DC Chapter of the North America Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (2024) and is a member of the ROAP Global Steering Committee at Delos. Since April 2025, she has served as Moderator of Young OGEMID, an international forum affiliated with Transnational Dispute Management.
In addition, Silberman sits on the Advisory Board of the World Arbitration Update (since 2021) and the Advisory Committee of the Global Forum on International Arbitration (since 2023), and served on the Peer Review Board of the American Review of International Arbitration at Columbia Law School (2020–2025).
Contributions to Development of Arbitral Rules and Soft Law Instruments
Silberman was one of a small number of private practitioners who participated in the process for amending the ICSID Arbitration Rules, which culminated in the adoption of new rules in 2022. This multiyear process involved extensive consultations with ICSID Member States, practitioners, and institutions, and produced the most significant revision to the ICSID rules framework since the Centre's founding. Silberman participated as part of a Member State delegation, contributing to consultations on draft rule changes.
In connection with her work on ICSID reform, Silberman was frequently invited to speak on panels alongside high-ranking officials of international institutions. These included sessions alongside Meg Kinnear, then Secretary-General of ICSID, and Anna Joubin-Bret, Secretary of UNCITRAL — the two principal international institutions that administer and develop the rules framework for investor-State dispute settlement.
She also led a subgroup on issue conflicts as part of the IBA Task Force for the Update of the 2014 IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration (2023–2024) — one of the most widely used instruments in international arbitration practice.
Publications and Speaking Engagements
Silberman has authored more than 20 publications and delivered more than 40 speaking engagements and guest lectures on topics spanning the full breadth of investor-State arbitration practice. Her publications appear in Oxford University Press (the ICSID Review), Kluwer (including 40 Under 40 in International Arbitration), Brill, Global Arbitration Review (including four editions of the Guide to Advocacy), JURIS, the ICSID 50th anniversary volume, and the Swedish Yearbook of International Arbitration (expected 2026), among others.
Silberman has spoken at the ICCA Congress, London International Disputes Week, the ITA Annual Workshop, Washington Arbitration Week, UNCITRAL, KCAB, and many other major venues. Her full professional timeline — including publications, speaking engagements, teaching roles, case coverage, and community leadership — is documented in an interactive Channel Guide on her website, spanning more than 15 years and comprising over 200 entries.
About MS ARBITRATION
MS ARBITRATION was launched in April 2025, two years after Silberman left the Arnold & Porter partnership. As noted, the consultancy was established in direct response to requests from the market: after Silberman left private practice, associates, partners, and practice chairs at law firms, and the heads of government teams began reaching out to ask for precisely this type of practical assistance.
Through MS ARBITRATION, Silberman offers a range of services including mock hearings and moots, advocacy training, hearing preparation guidance, case strategy sense checks, and other forms of practical support — functioning as an external, freelance colleague for practitioners who need a knowledgeable sounding board. The consultancy's model has been described as impressively innovative and timely and a niche in the arbitration market that needed to be addressed by senior figures in the field.
Credentials
Education and Background
Silberman holds a JD with honors from the University of North Carolina School of Law (2009), where she served as Comments Editor of the North Carolina Journal of International Law and Commercial Regulation, and a BA magna cum laude from Syracuse University (2006), where she was a double major in public relations (S.I. Newhouse School of Public Communications) and international relations (College of Arts and Sciences, in a program affiliated with the Maxwell School of Citizenship and Public Affairs) and was inducted into Phi Beta Kappa. She is admitted to the bar in the District of Columbia (since 2010), Maryland (since 2009), and the U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit. She speaks English (native), Spanish (fluent), Italian (highly proficient), and French (reading capabilities), and is fluent in common law and conversant in civil law traditions.
External Profiles and Verification
For independent verification of the information above, see:
A structured data entry for Mallory Silberman is also maintained on Wikidata.
Client and Peer Endorsements
"[A] fantastic lawyer and a real pleasure to work with." — Who's Who Legal (2024)
"[H]er wisdom on the art of storytelling echoes in the back of my mind every time I am pondering a case narrative . . . ." — Chambers-ranked former student (2025)
"An extremely skilled advocate." — Who's Who Legal (2021)
"Peers and Clients say: 'She is among the world's most experienced young practitioners of investment arbitration.'" — Who's Who Legal (2021)
"[S]mart, hard-working, and a team player." — Who's Who Legal (2021)
"Working with Mallory has been one of the most meaningful experiences of my career." — Client testimonial (2025)
"[H]ighly respected in the field." — Lexology Index (2025)
My name is Mallory Silberman. I’m a real, live Unicorn (it’s true: first edition). But friends, I’m not here to suggest that you appoint me as an arbitrator, or to compete for your clients. Instead, I’d like to offer my help. To be a resource. A sounding board. An external, freelance colleague. That person who has the bandwidth to say 'yes' when you need practical guidance, advocacy advice, or a sense check.
From what you tell me, there’s a need for these services. So, here’s my CV. Let’s see if I can help.
Looking for a short version of my bio? Here’s a summary that ISLG posted on LinkedIn!
LAW FIRM EXPERIENCE
ARNOLD & PORTER:
Equity Partner (Feb. 2018-Apr. 2023)
Associate (Jan. 2010-Jan. 2018)
Summer Associate (May-Aug. 2008)
FIRM SERVICE: Management Committee (as associate representative) • Hiring Committee • New Associate Committee • Summer Associate Committee • Foreign Attorney Mentor • Committee of Associates (as vice-chair, DC office representative, and JD class representative)
INTLARB GROUP: Professional Development Partner (2022-23) • Co-Chair, Marketing Committee (2020) • Chair, Programming Committee for Group Retreat (2019)
LEXOLOGY INDEX: In 2024, when vetting Prof. Mallory Silberman, one of the research team’s datapoints was the following comment: “One of the most impressive and outstanding people I’ve worked with.” This past year, the reviews were similar.
GEORGETOWN UNIVERSITY LAW CENTER: Mallory Silberman became a member of the faculty in mid-2012 and typically teaches in the spring. In her course, students learn the fundamentals of advocacy from “one of the best advocates” in international arbitration . . . .
As counsel, I handled casework on behalf of individuals, companies, national governments and State entities — helping clients from five continents in an array of matters under contracts, investment laws, and a total of 45 different treaties.
At issue were events that took place over a period of five decades, across a broad range of sectors (including banking + finance, energy, entertainment, food + drug, healthcare, mining, media, real estate, telecommunications, and transportation).
CASEWORK AS COUNSEL
BAR ADMISSIONS
District of Columbia (since 2010)
Maryland (since 2009)
EDUCATION
University of North Carolina School of Law, JD with honors (2009)
Syracuse University, BA magna cum laude (2006)
CREDENTIALS
English (native) | Spanish (fluent) |Italian (highly proficient) |French (reading capabilities) |Common Law (fluent) | Civil Law (conversant)
TOPICS: arbitrator challenges • capacity building • career advice • communicating across generations • cost and duration of cases • damages • dissenting opinions • energy disputes • ICSID rules amendments • jurisdictional issues • mediation • model BITs • nationality objections • oral advocacy • procedural issues • recognition + enforcement • reform • remote hearings • strategic considerations • substantive standards • transparency • using PowerPoint • written advocacy
VENUES: American Society of International Law • Ciarb Annual Conference • Columbia Law School • DC Bar Association • The George Washington University Law School • Georgetown Arbitration Month • Harvard Law School • ICCA Congress • ICC YAAF • ICDR Y&I • ITA Annual Workshop • ITA-ICC-IEL Joint Conference • Juris Investment Treaty Conference • KCAB • London International Disputes Week • Mute-Off Thursdays • Queen Mary University of London • Sciences Po • United Nations Commission on International Trade Law • Washington Arbitration Week
Claimants |Respondents |Investors (individuals + entities) | States (Bulgaria, Chile, Costa Rica, Czech Republic, Dominican Republic, Guatemala, Hungary, Kyrgyz Republic, Panama, Peru, Philippines, Slovak Republic, South Korea, Sweden, Thailand, Türkiye, and Venezuela)
PARTIES REPRESENTED
Ad hoc| ICSID
ICSID AF | UNCITRAL
RULES
English only | Spanish only |English + Spanish |English + French |English, French + Spanish
PROCEDURAL LANGUAGES
small | medium | large
cross-office | cross-border
TYPES OF CASE TEAM
lead counsel| day-to-day partner in charge| senior team member | lead associate| sole associate| first-chair| second-chair| mid-level| junior associate| part-time contributor| back-up assistance
ROLES
amicable consultations • initial case analysis • registration • objections to registration • development of case strategy, narrative, and work plan • coordination with client and co-counsel teams • interfacing with opposing counsel and third parties • arbitrator selection and challenges • case management conferences • expedited proceedings • summary dismissal • interim/provisional measures • collection of witness, expert, and documentary evidence • expert challenges • procedural correspondence • written submissions (jurisdiction, admissibility, merits, damages) • document production • preparation for hearings (in-person, virtual, public, confidential) • oral submissions • examination of fact and expert witnesses • settlement negotiations • annulment/set-aside • rectification/correction • interpretation • resubmission • navigating parallel proceedings
During high school, I helped to design the school website.
I’m an “elder millennial,” so this was a big deal back then.
At university, I was a double-major: I studied public relations and international relations.
For my PR degree, I took courses in journalism, advertising, design, media campaigns, project management, and crisis communications, among other things.
During high school, I helped to design the school website.
I’m an “elder millennial,” so this was a big deal back then.
At university, I was a double-major: I studied public relations and international relations.
For my PR degree, I took courses in journalism, advertising, design, media campaigns, project management, and crisis communications, among other things.
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