Jonathan I. Blackman is a partner of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, resident in the firm’s New York and London offices.
Mr. Blackman’s practice focuses on litigation, including international litigation and arbitration, securities law, banking and insurance law. Mr. Blackman has participated in numerous international arbitrations involving both public international law and complex commercial disputes, litigation involving the immunity of foreign states and their agencies under the U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, and securities and commercial litigation in a variety of U.S. federal and state courts.
Mr. Blackman regularly lectures at professional conferences and is widely published on various aspects of international litigation, securities litigation and letters of credit. His recent publications include “Tackling Class Action Waivers in Arbitration Clauses,”
NYLJ (June 11, 2012); "Evidence in International Arbitration: Practical and Tactical Considerations,"
Quaderni dell'Arbitrato 1 (2011); Jonathan I. Blackman & Rahul Mukhi, "The Evolution of Modern Sovereign Debt Litigation: Vultures, Alter Egos, and Other Legal Fauna,"
Law and Contemporary Problems, Volume 73, Number 4, Fall 2010, 47; and a chapter of the
American Arbitration Association Handbook on International Arbitration and ADR (second edition), entitled "Respecting Awards Annulled at the Seat of Arbitration: The Road From Chromalloy to TermoRio." He was recognized in 2009 as a “Litigator of the Week” by
The American Lawyer and has been named a leading lawyer by
Chambers UK, The Legal 500 UK,
The Legal 500 Latin America and
Latin Lawyer 250: Latin America's Leading Business Law Firms.
Recent arbitrations conducted by Mr. Blackman included representing Texas Pacific Group and its principal David Bonderman in the successful defense of a London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) case brought by GET Global Electronic Trade (1999) Ltd., an Israeli company and its principals, over a failed joint venture; representing Albany International in the successful defense of an ICC arbitration involving a dispute over a stock and asset purchase agreement; representing Ricoh Corporation in an ad hoc insurance arbitration; representing the Bank for International Settlements in arbitrations administered by the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague regarding the mandatory redemption of its shares; representing Valeo S.A. in obtaining a $67 million award in its favor in a purchase price adjustment accounting arbitration; representing the Ministry of Electricity of the Republic of Iraq in obtaining an award in its favor in a construction dispute in an American Arbitration (AAA) proceeding and several ICC proceedings; representing the Republic of Argentina in an ICSID proceeding, representing the Dominican Republic in an ICC proceeding; representing YPF S.A. in an AAA proceeding; representing Finmeccanica S.p.A. in an UNCITRAL proceeding, representing OOO Vklad and other Russian investors in obtaining full recovery of their claims in an ICC proceeding; representing Kookmin Bank in obtaining an award in its favor on all claims in an ICC proceeding; representing the Russian Federation in an ad hoc arbitration proceeding resulting in the dismissal of all claims against it; representing the Russian Federation in an UNCITRAL proceeding under the Italy-Russia bilateral investment treaty, resulting in the dismissal of all claims against it; representing OAO Tatneft in an UNCITRAL proceeding under the Russia-Ukraine bilateral investment treaty; representing Citigroup Venture Capital International in an ICC proceeding; representing Goodyear Tire & Rubber in an ICC proceeding, resulting in the dismissal of substantially all claims against it and a substantial award of costs; representing Agrera Investments Ltd. in an AAA arbitration, resulting in an award in its favour on the full amount of its claim plus costs; representing Promgas S.p.A in an ICC proceeding; representing Eni North Africa B.V. in an ICC proceeding; representing Sierra Leone in an ICC proceeding; representing Society for Worldwide Interbank Financial Telecommunications (“SWIFT”) in an LCIA arbitration; representing ENRC Marketing AG in an ICC arbitration; and representing Telecom Italia in an ICC arbitration. Earlier in his career, Mr. Blackman represented numerous claimants in arbitrations before the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal.
Representative recent reported cases of Mr. Blackman’s include:
Bulgartabac Holding AD v. The Republic of Iraq, 2011 U.S. App. LEXIS 24110 (2d Cir. 2011) (affirming statute of limitations dismissal of claims against Iraq);
NML Ltd v. Banco Central de la Republica Argentina, 2011 WL 2611269 (2d Cir. 2011) (reversal of attachment of central bank reserves);
Bank of New York v. Yugoimport, 2011 WL 164901 (S.D.N.Y. 2011) (granting summary judgment on claim to assets of former Yugoslavia state agency under Succession Agreement);
Aurelius Capital Partners v. Republic of Argentina, 2010 WL 2135301, (2d Cir 2010) (vacating contempt sanctions);
Aurelius Capital Partners v. Republic of Argentina, 584 F.3d 120, (2d Cir. 2009) (reversal of attachment of Argentina pension fund assets);
Capital Ventures International v. Republic of Argentina, 280 Fed. Appx. 14 (2d Cir. 2008) (affirmance of denial of attachment);
EDF Int’l S.A. v. YPF S.A., 2008 WL 5045915 (D. Del. Nov. 20, 2008) (denial of confirmation of arbitral award due to suspension of award in primary jurisdiction in an AAA proceeding involving natural gas deliveries);
EM Ltd. v. Republic of Argentina, 473 F.3d 463 (2d Cir. 2007) (affirming vacatur of attempted attachment of central bank reserves);
Agrocomplect, AD v. Republic of Iraq, 524 F. Supp. 2d 16 (D.D.C. 2007) (dismissing claims against Republic of Iraq for lack of jurisdiction under FSIA),
aff’d, 2008 U.S. App. LEXIS 23637 (D.C. Cir. Nov. 14, 2008);
Colella v. Republic of Argentina, 2007 WL 1545204 (N.D. Cal. May 29, 2007) (declaring Argentina presidential airplane immune from execution);
Rubin v. Pixelplus, 2007 U.S. Dist. LEXIS 17671 (E.D.N.Y. Mar. 13, 2007) (denying remand of "pure" Securities Act class action removed to federal court under SLUSA);
Banco Nacional de México, S.A. v. Société Générale, 820 N.Y.S.2d 588 (1st Dep’t 2006) (holding that Mexican injunction against payment on letter of credit should not be granted comity as a defense to confirming bank’s claim for reimbursement for payment on conforming demand);
Greylock Global Opportunity Master Fund Ltd. v. Province of Mendoza, 2006 WL 140576 (2d Cir. Jan. 18, 2006) (affirming summary judgment on claims challenging "exit consent" amendments to sovereign debt indenture);
In re Microsoft Corp., 428 F. Supp. 2d 188 (S.D.N.Y. 2006) (granting motion to quash U.S. subpoenas seeking discovery of communications with European Commission in connection with ongoing European competition proceeding);
Rabbi Jacob Joseph Sch. v. Province of Mendoza, 425 F.3d 207 (2d Cir. 2005) (dismissal of appeal against Province of Mendoza);
EM Ltd. v. Republic of Argentina, 131 Fed. Appx. 745 (2d Cir. 2005) (affirming vacatur of attachments of bonds tendered in Argentina’s $60 billion debt restructuring);
Williams v. Morgan Stanley Capital Group (In re Olympic Natural Gas Co.), 294 F.3d 737 (5th Cir. 2002) (upholding broad reading of forward contract provisions of Bankruptcy Code);
Retty Fin., Inc. v. Morgan Stanley Dean Witter & Co., 293 A.D.2d 341 (1st Dep’t 2002) (dismissal of claims based on limitation of liability provision in broker dealer customer agreement);
Cruz v. United States, 219 F. Supp. 1027 (N.D. Cal. 2002) (dismissal of United Mexican States on grounds of sovereign immunity);
First Eagle SoGen Funds, Inc. v. Bank for Int’l Settlements, 252 F.3d 604 (2d Cir. 2001) (denial of TRO against mandatory share redemption by international financial organization);
767 Third Ave. Assocs. v. Consulate Gen. of the Socialist Fed. Republic of Yugoslavia, 218 F.3d 152 (2d Cir. 2000) (state succession issues);
Park v. Kredietbank N.V., 271 A.D.2d 360 (1st Dep’t 2000) (forum non conveniens dismissal of claims against bank issuing letter of credit);
LNC Invs., Inc. v. Republic of Nicaragua, 2000 WL 745550 (S.D.N.Y. June 8, 2000) (denial of attachment of tax receipts). He is currently heavily involved in representing a number of sovereigns in litigation in the United States and elsewhere, as well as representing corporate and other clients in actions in U.S. courts.
Mr. Blackman joined the firm in 1977 and became a partner in 1985. From 1977 to 2009, he was resident in the New York office. He received a J.D. degree,
magna cum laude, from Harvard Law School in 1977 and an undergraduate degree,
magna cum laude, from Harvard College in 1974.
Mr. Blackman is a member of the Bar in New York and is admitted to practice before the U.S. Supreme Court, the U.S. Courts of Appeals for the 2d, 5th, 6th and 10th Circuits, the U.S. Districts Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York, the Southern District of Texas, the Eastern District of Michigan and the Court of International Trade. He is a member of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York (Chair, International Law Committee, 2001-2004), the Executive Committee of the International Law and Practice Section of the New York State Bar Association, and the American Law Institute.