Ricardo A. Ampudia

Ricardo handles business transactions and business disputes — both domestic and international. He also successfully represented clients in civil and criminal proceedings before U.S. and international agencies. For his expertise, the Florida Bar recognizes him as a Board-Certified Specialist (B.C.S.) in international litigation and arbitration, and he is a Fellow at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in the United Kingdom.

He has deep industry experience in construction, energy (fossil and renewables), internet and technology, and hospitality. He also has experience in securities, banking and finance, insurance, bond guarantees, healthcare, textiles, agriculture, and transportation.  

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On the disputes side, he represents businesses and individuals international arbitrations and litigation before U.S. courts. He represents businesses and national governments in disputes under foreign investment treaties. 

In arbitrations under foreign investment treaties, he has served as lead counsel in disputes under more than ten various bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and multilateral investment agreements such as the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT), the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), and the Dominican Republic-Central America Free Trade Agreement (CAFTA-DR).

He has deep experience handling disputes under the rules of numerous arbitral institutions, including the: 

• International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), with hearings conducted at the facilities of the World Bank in Washington D.C.
• United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), with hearings conducted at Permanent Court of Arbitration/International Court of Justice (PCA/ICJ) in the Hague, the Netherlands
• International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)
• International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR)
• Houston Maritime Arbitrators Association (HMAA) 
• American Health Law Association (AHLA) 
• Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC)

As part of his counsel work in international arbitrations, he has successfully represented claimants in proceedings against the Internet Corporation for Assigned Names and Numbers (ICANN), the world internet regulator. The disputes he handled include some of the first cases under ICANN’s Generic Top-Level Domains (gTLDs) program.

Together with other international arbitrators from around the world, Ricardo is listed in the rosters of international arbitrators at the American Chamber of Commerce in Lima, Peru, and the American Chamber of Commerce in Quito, Ecuador.

Ricardo also represents businesses and individuals in criminal investigations before the U.S. Department of Justice. Additionally, he represents business executives in proceedings involving Interpol, for example requests for removal of Interpol Red Notices. And he has represented individuals in proceedings before international human rights bodies, including requests for precautionary measures before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

In business transactions and compliance matters, he counsels clients in international and domestic sales and purchases, business formation, and business regulation. He helps businesses protect their assets and investments overseas preemptively from unfair government conduct through foreign investment treaties and political-risk insurance. He also assists clients in the formation of business entities involving foreign and domestic parties, trademark searches, and negotiation of business operational agreements.

Ricardo advises clients on international sanctions and restrictions issued by the Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC), an office within the U.S. Department of Treasury. He also advises clients in compliance matters under the Foreign Corrupt Practices Act (FCPA) and before the U.S. Department of Justice. And he helps clients comply with foreign investment reporting requirements before the U.S. Department of Commerce.

In addition, he provides guidance on customs-related issues before the Customs and Border Protection within the U.S. Department of Homeland Security and the Court of International Trade.  

Ricardo is currently the chair of the Miami International Arbitration Society UNCITRAL Working Group III Taskforce, a commission of the United Nations which is dedicated to cutting-edge reform in foreign investment (investor-State) disputes. As part of his professional and academic research, he regularly publishes on topics such as enforcement of arbitral awards under the New York Convention, the ICSID Convention, and the U.S. Federal Arbitration Act.

He has lectured on international commercial arbitration and investment-treaty arbitration at universities and conferences worldwide, including Georgetown Law in Washington, D.C., the Universidad del Pacífico in Lima, Peru, the International Bar Association, the International Law Section Conference of the Florida Bar, the Swiss-Chinese Law Association (SCLA), the Association Internationale des Jeunes Avocats (AIJA), and the Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC).

As part of his involvement in professional organizations, he co-founded the Georgetown International Arbitration Alumni group. He is also actively involved in the International Bar Association (IBA) and the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR).  And he is in the Executive Committee of the Georgetown University Alumni Club of Miami.

Representative matters he has handled at Shook and at previous law firms include: 

International Arbitration (Investor-State and Commercial)

• Represent a Japanese medical device manufacturer in an investment treaty dispute against a Central American State.
• Lead counsel for a U.S. construction company and its CEO, in a multimillion-dollar investment arbitration under ICSID rules against a Central American State.
• Lead counsel for European and South American hospitality investors in a multimillion UNCITRAL investment treaty dispute against a North American State.
• Lead counsel for a North American investor as lead counsel in proceedings before INTERPOL, resulting in the deletion of two Red Notices. 
• Represented a consortium of energy companies from Africa, Asia, Europe, North America and South America in ICSID proceedings in Washington, D.C., against a South American state-owned enterprise in a natural gas dispute (proceedings and pleadings entirely in Spanish).
• Represented an Eastern European State in UNCITRAL proceedings under the Energy Charter Treaty at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague in an investment dispute with a European multinational company over energy and heat co-generation.
• Represented an investor in parallel proceedings in Washington, D.C., and Paris against a European State in a dispute over energy investments and allegations of corruption.
• Advised a South American hydrocarbon transport company in a cross-border contractual dispute with a North American distributor under the Rules of Arbitration of the Houston Maritime Arbitrators Association.
• DCA Trust v. ICANN (.AFRICA). Represented an African internet trust against ICANN in an ICDR dispute in Washington, D.C., over the registration of domain name extensions.
• Dot Registry, LLC v. ICANN (.INC/.LLC/.LLP). Represented a U.S. internet company against ICANN in an ICDR dispute in Washington, D.C., over registration of domain name extensions.

Litigation Before U.S. Courts

• Counsel in proceedings in U.S. Courts for the execution of an international arbitration award under the arbitration rules of the International Chamber of Commerce.
• Advised a U.S. health care provider in proceedings before state and federal courts, as well as an arbitration panel constituted under the arbitration rules of the American Health Lawyers Association.
• Counsel in U.S. Federal Court in proceedings under the Hague Child Abduction Convention. 

• Represent a U.S. company in a multimillion-dollar deal for the sale, transport, delivery and warranty services for sophisticated checkpoint security systems for a project situated in South America and managed by a global maritime port operator.  
• Advise a Bermudan telecommunications infrastructure company in the development of a payment mechanism that is in compliance with Office of Foreign Asset Control (OFAC) sanctions lists and general licenses issued by the U.S. Treasury.
• Advise U.S. manufacturers on import restrictions, tariffs and import appraisal methods including Section 301 and 19 U.S.C. §1401 “First Sale Rule.”
• Advise a Chinese electric car manufacturer in OFAC compliance matters before the U.S. Treasury Department. 
• Advise a U.S investor in reporting requirements before the U.S. Department of Commerce
• Advised a retail entrepreneur on cross-border formation, trademark and banking operations issues and drafted operational agreement in Spanish with other company members from the U.S. and Latin America.

International White Collar Crime and International Human Rights

• Represented a North American investor as lead counsel in proceedings before INTERPOL, resulting in the deletion of two Red Notices.
• Represented a U.S. investor in tax fraud investigations and plea negotiations with the U.S. Department of Justice. 
• Represented a North American investor as lead counsel in proceedings before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights.

Before joining Shook, Ricardo was the principal of International Dispute Resources, LLC, where he represented clients in international investment treaty and commercial arbitrations. He also represented international investors and sovereign states as part of the international arbitration and trade group at Weil, Gotshal & Manges in Washington, D.C. 

During law school, he served on the executive board of the American University International Law Review and was the editor of the Human Rights Academy and Humanitarian Law Book. He also interned at the Federal Energy Regulatory Commission and the U.S. Department of Justice.