Marianne KECSMAR

• New York Bar (2003)
• Paris Bar (1999)
• LLM in comparative jurisprudence (NYU, School of Law)
• DEA – post graduate degree in private international law and international trade (Paris I, Sorbonne)
• Maîtrise – master’s degree in law with specialization in private international law (Paris XI, Sceaux)

• Kecsmar Mirza Arbitration, Paris and Budapest, co-founder (since 2025)
• Pellerin Kecsmar Mirza Avocats, Paris, co-founder (2013-2024)
• Linklaters, Paris (2002-2012)
• Linklaters, New York (2005-2007)
• Coudert Brothers, Paris (1998-2002)

Selective experience as arbitrator

• Co-arbitrator in an ICC arbitration in a dispute between a German-Italian Joint Venture and an Eastern European State-owned company in relation to damages claimed for numerous delays occurred during the construction of a motorway. Amount in dispute: USD 60 million.
• Co-arbitrator in an ICC arbitration in a dispute opposing a Canadian investor and its project company to North African State-owned companies in relation to the determination of the contractual price of water under the Financial Model adopted for the setting up of a desalination plant, and other claims for damages for delays occurred during the construction of the plant. Amount in dispute: USD 40 million.
• Co-arbitrator in a construction arbitration under the arbitration rules of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce between a French-Austrian Joint Venture and an Eastern European State-owned company in relation to damages claimed for numerous delays occurred during a subway construction. Amount in dispute: USD 25 million.
• Sole arbitrator in an ad hoc arbitration, under UNCITRAL Rules, between a Chinese and an African State-owned company relating to a sale and purchase agreement. Amount in dispute: USD 30 million.
• Sole arbitrator in an ad hoc arbitration, under UNCITRAL Rules, between two post-Soviet State companies, one of which is State-owned, relating to a supply agreement in the field of water management. Amount in dispute: USD 6 million.
• Sole arbitrator in an ICC arbitration in a dispute between French shareholders and the Dutch subsidiary of a major Japanese technology company concerning the calculation of the share price, in accordance with applicable accounting methodologies, under their share purchase agreement. Amount in dispute: USD 1.2 million.

Selective experience as counsel in international arbitration

• Counsel to an Italian telecommunications company in an ad hoc arbitration, under UNCITRAL Rules, relating to the alleged breach of a shareholder agreement. Amount in dispute: USD 100 million.
• Counsel to the parent company of a member of a consortium responsible for certain works on Queen Mary 2 brought by another consortium member. Amount in dispute: USD 30 million. The dispute has been ultimately settled.
• Counsel in an ICC arbitration in which our client, a major South African based mining company, claimed damages from a West-African State and a State-owned company for wrongful termination of a contract giving our client an 80% interest in a mine involving the construction of a railway and a port. Amount in dispute: USD 750 million.
• Counsel in an ICC arbitration defending two respondents, major German and Greek companies in the industrial gas industry, in a claim for revision of prices provided for in a supply agreement for the sale of industrial gases, as well as damages in tort for acts which allegedly damaged claimant’s reputation. Amount in dispute: USD 200 million.
• Counsel to a major European satellite operator in the defense of a claim brought by another EU satellite operator regarding a sub-lease of certain satellite transponders and an alleged breach of certain frequency coordination agreements. We successfully challenged the jurisdiction of the Paris Commercial Court to hear the case based on an ICC arbitration clause, then advised the client in the arbitration phase. Amount in dispute: USD 200 million.
• Advising a major French company in the petroleum sector in the pre-arbitration phase regarding potential claims to be brought in ICSID arbitration proceedings associated with the possible withdrawal of our client from a joint venture project in a North African country due to the potential refusal of a state investment advisory board to grant certain dispensations from local legislation.
• Counsel to Middle Eastern royal family in a CMAP arbitration relating to the termination of a contract for the renovation of a private residence in France. Amount in dispute: USD 8 million.
• Counsel to a French investor in an ICC arbitration against a North African State, based on a bilateral investment treaty, for breach of a construction contract of 70 schools as well as of a settlement agreement concluded between the parties subsequently. Amount in dispute: USD 650 million.
• Counsel to a Seychelles and Spanish based telecommunications equipment company in an ICC arbitration against a West African State and its telecommunications’ Regulatory Agent relating to the wrongful termination of a contract for the supply and installation of computing equipment. Amount in dispute: USD 100 million.
• Counsel to a Seychelles and Spanish based telecommunications equipment company in an ICC arbitration against a Central African State and its telecommunications’ Regulatory Agent relating to the wrongful termination of a contract for the supply and installation of computing equipment. Amount in dispute: USD 25 million. The dispute has been ultimately settled.
• Counsel to a Seychelles and Spanish based telecommunications equipment company in an ICC arbitration against a South African State and its telecommunications’ Regulatory Agent relating to the wrongful termination of a contract for the supply and installation of computing equipment. Amount in dispute: USD 10 million. The dispute has been ultimately settled.
• Counsel to a Seychelles and Spanish based telecommunications equipment company in an ICC arbitration against a Latin American State and its telecommunications’ Regulatory Agent relating to the wrongful termination of a contract for the supply and installation of computing equipment. Amount in dispute: USD 35 million. The dispute has been ultimately settled.
• Acting as independent advisor in construction disputes in the Middle Eastern area, e.g., advising a major Qatari Company which refused to release part of the retention money as per contract because of major defects in a project involving the design and construction of a luxury hotel and of an apartment building complex. Amount in dispute: USD 100 million.
• Acting as independent advisor in two ICC arbitrations launched by a major mining company against a Central African State-owned company in the mining sector for wrongful termination of two separate contracts relating to the same mining project. Amount in dispute: USD 600 million.

Selective experience in action to set aside arbitral awards proceedings

• Counsel to a major German company in the industrial gas industry in an annulment proceeding brought by a Greek company in the steel industry against an ICC award for alleged breach of EU competition law principles (Paris Court of Appeal, 22 Oct. 2009, Linde AG v Halyvourgiki). Amount in dispute: USD 200 million.
• Counsel to a Dutch company in the energy sector in an annulment proceeding before the Paris Court of Appeal against an ICC award relating to the alleged breach of the principle of “concentration of legal grounds” and the res judicata effect of a previous arbitral award (Paris Court of Appeal, 6 Dec. 2011, Amorim Energia v Redes Energeticas). Amount in dispute: 80 million.
• Counsel to a major French telecommunications company and its Polish subsidiary in an annulment proceeding before the Paris Court of Appeal brought against an ICC award based on alleged breach of due process. Amount in dispute: USD 400 million. The dispute has been ultimately settled.
• Counsel to a Lebanese group in an annulment proceeding brought against an ICC award (out of a series of five awards relating to the construction of roads in a Central African country) for lack of independence and impartiality of one of the arbitrators. (Versailles Court of Appeal, 26 Nov. 2015, Tabet v Congo). Amount in dispute: USD 30 million.
• Counsel to an Egyptian company in the energy sector in an annulment proceeding brought by an Egyptian public body against an arbitral award for alleged breach of due process due to the inadmissibility raised by the arbitral tribunal of its own motion of a jurisdictional objection relied upon by a party in its post-hearing brief (Paris Court of Appeal, 21 May 2019, Natgas v EGPC).
• Counsel to a French Company in two annulment proceedings brought by Libya against an ICC partial and final award rendered in relation to the construction of 70 schools in Libya for alleged corruption claims resulting from the settlement agreement entered by the parties during the arbitration. Amount in dispute: USD 450 million. (Paris Court of Appeal, 17 Nov. 2020, Sorelec v Libya).
• Counsel to a Lebanese company before the Paris Court of Appeal, where Kout Food (our client’s former business partner in a 10- year franchise development agreement) submitted that an arbitral award rendered in favor of our client should be set aside on the basis that the arbitration agreement was governed by English law, which would not permit Kout Food to be bound by the arbitration clause as a non-signatory to the underlined contract. The Paris Court of Appeal rejected Kout Food Group’s action to set aside the arbitral award – months after an appeal court in London refused enforcement on the basis that English law applied – finding that French law determined whether Kout Food was bound by the arbitration agreement (Paris Court of Appeal, 23 June 2020, Kout Food Group v Kabab-Ji).
• Counsel to a Seychelles and Spanish based telecommunications equipment group in an annulment proceeding brought by Guinea before the Paris Court of Appeal against an ICC award rendered in favor of our client. The Paris Court of appeal ruled in favor of our client and rejected arguments that the Paris-seated arbitral tribunal incorrectly upheld jurisdiction over Guinea. Although the State was not signatory to the contract, the court held that it became a party to it through its conduct. The Court also rejected Guinea’s numerous allegations of corruption. Amount in dispute: USD 25 million. (Paris Court of Appeal, 7 Sept. 2021, Guinea v Global Voice Group).
• Counsel to Strabag, Raiffeisen and their joint venture in an action to set aside launched by Poland against a partial arbitral award on jurisdiction based on Achmea case law (ruling that investor-State arbitration provisions in BIT between EU member states were incompatible with EU law). In a landmark judgment, the Paris Court of Appeal found, on the basis of the Achmea ruling, that the arbitral tribunal was wrong to uphold jurisdiction and annulled the partial award (Paris Court of Appeal, 19 April 2022, Poland v Strabag SE, Raiffeisen Centrobank).
• Counsel to a Saudi energy company, Alfanar, in an action to set aside an arbitral award rendered in its favor, launched by Spanish wind farm developer Capital Energy. In its challenge to the award, Capital Energy argued, inter alia, that the arbitral tribunal has violated procedural rules when it conducted the evidentiary hearing by videoconference. The Court observed that the tribunal has rightly considered the requirement under the 2017 ICC Arbitration Rules to conduct proceedings expeditiously as well as uncertainties resulting from the Covid pandemic. The Court of Appeal also rejected Capital Energy’s arguments that the tribunal has selected points of Spanish law arbitrarily, rather than applying it in the entirety (Paris Court of Appeal, 29 May 2023, Capital Energy v Alfanar).
• Acting as independent advisor to a major third-party funder on the likelihood of outcome of an annulment proceeding against a BIT based arbitral award for lack of jurisdiction of the arbitral tribunal in relation to the nationality requirement of the BIT.
• Acting as independent advisor to a major German company in the energy sector to assess grounds for annulment to be raised in an annulment proceedings launched against an ICC award ordering it to pay over USD 500 million resulting from the revision of the contract price.
• Counsel to Middle Eastern State owned construction company in an action to set aside proceedings launched by a South Korean global leading provider in environmental solutions against an ICC partial award on jurisdiction in which the arbitral tribunal declined jurisdiction and refused the allegation that the forum selection clause in favor of local courts inserted to the contract was subsequently modified by exchange of documents between the parties which allegedly opted for an ICC arbitration.

• Contribution to the Hungarian/French and French/Hungarian Law Dictionary, Complex Kiadó Jogi és üzleti Tartal, 2001.
• Hungary, A Welcomed and Debated Arbitration Report, ICC Bulletin, 2018, Issue 3.
• Les Témoignages dans l’Arbitrage, Rev. Arb. 2020, n°1, p. 101.
• Litiges en matière de pharmacie : le choix de l’arbitrage, Le droit des affaires pharmaceutiques : vers la caractérisation d’une Lex Pharmaceutica ? Credimi, Mars 2020.
• Arbitrage et Procès équitable, Table Ronde 2 : le droit à une bonne procédure, Actes du colloque organisé le 27 janvier 2023, Diffusion Lextenso/LGDJ, Novembre 2023.

• Guest lecture to the ICC Secretariat legal staff on recent developments of French international arbitration law, held in Paris on 17 September 2024.
• Speaker at the annual conference of the Hungarian Legal Association (Jogaszegylet), held in Budapest on 7 October 2023, The future of investment arbitration in the EU.
• Speaker at the conference organised by the CIETAC and the French Chinese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CCICF), held in Paris on 8 September 2023, From Contracts to Arbitration: New Challenges of Environmental, Social and Governance (ESG) in the International Business Environment.
• Speaker at the conference organised by University Lumière Lyon 2, held in Lyon on 27 January 2023, Arbitration and due process: the right to a right process.
• Speaker at the conference “Walking the New Silk Road EU-China economic-legal relations and dispute settlement in context” organized by the Mathias Corvinus Collegium, the European Chinese Arbitrators Association and the Hungarian Arbitration Association, held in Budapest on 15 November 2022, Dispute resolution with Chinese parties: opportunities and challenges:  The ICC Belt and Road Commission.
• Speaker at the ICC Arbitration Conference organized for publication of the Hungarian version of the ICC Arbitration Rules, held in Budapest on 13 May 2022, How to run an efficient ICC arbitration.
• Speaker at the conference organised by University Paris Dauphine, held in Paris on 31 March 2022, EU Law in crisis: uncertainties around investment arbitration in the EU.
• Speaker at an event organised by the Hungarian Arbitration Association, held remotely on 18 November 2020, Discussion about ICC arbitration with the Hungarian ICC court members.
• Speaker at the annual meeting of the French Arbitration Committee (CFA), held in Paris on 29 November 2019, Evidence in International Arbitration: witness testimony in arbitration.
• Speaker at the Annual Meeting of the International Bar Association, held in Seoul on 23 September 2019, When arbitration ceases to be adversarial and becomes inquisitorial: the plight of arbitrators seeking to reconcile due process and finding the relevant facts and law.
• Speaker at the 2nd ICC European Conference on International Arbitration, held in Paris on 9 April 2018, Euro-vision: a year in review: International Public Policy.
• Speaker at the ICC YAF Africa, Middle East and Turkey 3rd Regional Conference, held in Beirut on 1 October 2016, Technique of decision making: Cognitive bias.