Donald Francis Donovan Email & Phone Number

Donald Francis Donovan has long been regarded as one of the leading public international lawyers, international arbitration practitioners, and international advocates in the world. Having retired from active practice as counsel and advocate at Debevoise & Plimpton LLP at the end of 2021, Donald now devotes his practice to service as arbitrator in major international cases as a member of Arbitration Chambers in New York and London.During his career at Debevoise, Donald regularly argued before the International Court of Justice and other international courts; before investor-state tribunals constituted under the ICSID Convention, a range of bilateral investment treaties, and other instruments; and before commercial arbitration tribunals sitting around the world, constituted under the auspices of the world’s leading arbitration institutions, and hearing disputes in a wide range of economic sectors.In the US, Donald argued international law, arbitration law, and commercial law cases before the US Supreme Court, several of the US Courts of Appeals, and other federal and state courts. While at Debevoise, Donald represented states, multinational corporations, international organizations, and nongovernmental organizations. He long served as co-chair of both Debevoise International Disputes Resolution Group and its Public International Law Groups. Donald has also regularly sat as arbitrator in international cases, including under the auspices of ICSID, the PCA, the ICC, and the ICDR, as president, chair, sole arbitrator, and co-arbitrator. Among many other positions, Donald served as President of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration, as President of the American Society of International Law, as Chair of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration, and as a Member of the US Department of State’s Advisory Committee on International Law. He has long served on the Board of Human Rights First, including as Chair of the Litigation Committee and, as of earlier this year, Vice-Chair of the Board.Since 2004, Donald has served as Adjunct Professor at NYU Law School, and he has also taught at Tsinghua University in Beijing, the International Academy for Arbitration Law in Paris, and the University of Auckland. From 1990 to 2021, Donald served on the Board of the Classic Stage Company in New York’s East Village, including a decade as President.Donald lives in New York with his wife Jennifer Lake, a national of New Zealand, where they also have a home.