The Legal 500 this week named Haynes and Boone, LLP Partner Melanie Willems to its International Arbitration Powerlist, recognizing her among the UK’s finest arbitration practitioners.
Willems is head of international arbitration at Haynes and Boone’s London office. She has been consistently ranked as a leading practitioner by The Legal 500 for the past decade.
“As reflected by this recognition, Melanie is a leader in international arbitration worldwide because she is devoted to her clients and highly skilled at serving their needs in a broad range of disputes,” said Brad Richards, adminstrative partner of Haynes and Boone’s London Office.
The International Arbitration Powerlist UK showcases the country’s top practitioners. “The individuals in here represent the finest that London has to offer,” stated Publishing Director David Burgess.
The Legal 500 announced the Powerlist winners during a March 26 event at the International Arbitration Centre in London. Additional events will take place in Dubai, Singapore, New Delhi and Hong Kong this year.
About Willems
Willems is experienced in all forms of alternative dispute resolution, including expert determination, mediation, and adjudication and has extensive experience in ad hoc proceedings and under major international rules. She also represents clients in the UK courts and sits as an arbitrator.
After becoming solicitor advocate in 2000, she began her own advocacy on small cases, notably before sporting association tribunals, before taking on large, international cases in the fields of energy, construction and projects disputes. She once obtained what might still be the lowest-ever drugs ban for taking cocaine for a client in the Court of Arbitration for Sport in Lausanne. More recently, Willems worked with her team against two Magic Circle firms representing oil majors, achieving a favorable result for the client.
Willems regularly appears against QCs and encourages her team members to do the same: “An arbitration counsel who isn’t keen on advocacy is a bit like being a surgeon who isn’t keen on operating.”
Separately, Willems has been profiled as one of the leading international arbitration lawyers in London (Chambers UK, Chambers and Partners, 2009-2019) and one of the leading Dispute Resolution: International Arbitration lawyers in London (The Legal 500 UK, Legalease, 2015-2019).
About Haynes and Boone
Haynes and Boone is recognized in international arbitration for its depth of knowledge, experience, bench of esteemed global practitioners, and ability to manage cases efficiently and effectively. The firm’s International Arbitration team handles cases from inception through conclusion, with the ultimate goal of helping clients achieve resolution through arbitration as quickly and neatly as possible.
The 2019 edition of The Legal 500 commended Haynes and Boone’s “excellent” International Arbitration team and quoted clients who described the firm as “very client-focused and capable” with “an ability to manage cases efficiently and effectively.”
Haynes and Boone is an international corporate law firm with offices in Texas, New York, California, Charlotte, Chicago, Denver, Washington, D.C., London, Mexico City and Shanghai, providing a full spectrum of legal services in energy, technology, financial services and private equity. With more than 575 lawyers, Haynes and Boone is ranked among the largest U.S.-based firms by The National Law Journal, The American Lawyer and The Lawyer.