Jonathan I. Blackman is a partner of Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP, resident in the firm's London office.
Mr. Blackman’s practice focuses on litigation, including international litigation and arbitration, securities law, insurance law and banking. Mr. Blackman has participated in 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. He was recognized in 2009 as a “Litigator of the Week” by
The American Lawyer.
Representative recent reported cases of Mr. Blackman’s include:
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);
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);
Bulgartabac Holding AD v. Republic of Iraq, 2009 WL 3113252 (S.D.N.Y. 2009) (statute of limitations dismissal);
Capital Ventures International v. Republic of Argentina, 280 Fed. Appx. 14 (2d Cir. 2008) (affirmance of denial of attachment);
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 U.S. firms in securities class action defense and a range of commercial disputes. Mr. Blackman’s recent arbitration assignments include representing the Russian Federation in a proceeding before the Permanent Court of Arbitration, assisting the Procurador del Tesoro de la Nacion of the Republic of Argentina in ICSID arbitration, representing the Government of Iraq in ICC and AAA arbitrations with a contractors and various creditors, representing Texas Pacific Group in the successful defense of an UNCITRAL case, representing Valeo S.A. in winning a $67 million award in its favor in a purchase price adjustment accounting arbitration, representing Ricoh in an ad hoc insurance arbitration against Tokyo Marine & Fire Insurance Co., 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 in a Stockholm Chamber of Commerce arbitration that resulted in an award of its entire claim with attorney fees, representing a U.S. company in obtaining an award dismissing the claims against it in an ICC arbitration, representing Kookmin Bank in obtaining an award in its favor in an ICC arbitration, representing the Bank for International Settlements in public international law arbitration; representing Citigroup Venture Capital International in an ICC arbitration; and representing Goodyear Tire & Rubber in an ICC proceeding.
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.