Catherine Amirfar is a litigation partner and member of the firm’s International Dispute Resolution Group. Her practice focuses on international commercial and treaty arbitration, international and complex commercial litigation, and public international law. Ms. Amirfar regularly represents multinational corporations, sovereign states and international organizations in both U.S. courts and before international arbitration tribunals.

Prior to rejoining Debevoise in 2016, Ms. Amirfar spent two years as the Counselor on International Law to the Legal Adviser at the U.S. Department of State. During her tenure as Counselor, Ms. Amirfar advised the State Department on its most significant litigation matters involving international law and foreign relations, and liaised with senior officials of the Departments of Justice and Defense, the National Security Council and the Office of White House Counsel. She represented the United States before international bodies and broadly advised the State Department on international legal issues arising in the areas of human rights, armed conflict, sovereign and diplomatic immunity, international arbitration and claims settlement, and the intersection of U.S. and international law. Ms. Amirfar received the State Department’s Superior Honor Award in recognition of her contributions to the Department.

Ms. Amirfar has been ranked among the leading international arbitration practitioners by Chambers Global (2014), which describes her as “very composed, intelligent and a master of investment arbitration.” Chambers USA reports that she is “wonderful, by all accounts a rising star who always delivers” (2012), is “viewed as ‘an emerging star in international arbitration’” and “plays a key role” in the firm’s public international law practice (2010). She has been described in The Legal 500 US (2011) as “highly regarded by clients and peers alike,” in Chambers Latin America (2013) as “one of the leading figures of the next generation,” who impresses sources with her “natural, educated and sophisticated arguments,” and in Legal 500 Latin America as being “very hands on” and “always pay[ing] great attention to the client.”