Three Crowns has announced that Paris-based Kathryn Khamsi has been elected partner. Kathryn acts for corporate clients and States in all types of disputes, with a particular focus on the energy and natural resource sectors.

Kathryn explains she was attracted to Three Crowns from the outset: “I saw their commitment to excellence and efficiency, and that they were attracting the most challenging cases. I knew it was the right place for me.” Todd Wetmore, one of Three Crowns’ six founding partners, notes that “Kathryn has distinguished herself in some of the most complex arbitrations around. She is an exceptional lawyer, and we are proud to have her as one of our partners.”

Kathryn’s cases are typically high value, and deal with issues ranging from petroleum taxation and gas supply, to energy sector regulation, to corruption and denial of justice. Recent highlights include acting for a State in a claim challenging an environmental decision, acting for Areva in its multi-billion euro dispute relating to the OL3 nuclear power plant, and acting for a consortium of oil majors in a dispute with a State over the sharing of petroleum.

Philippe Pinsolle, head of arbitration for continental Europe at Quinn Emmanuel, said: “Kathryn is a terrific addition to an already formidable team. She is bilingual, multi-cultural and a true expert in international law. As a colleague, she is engaging; as adversary, she is ruthless, but in both cases always to the point.”

Clients also praise her work. Coralie Bouscasse, Group General Counsel of Safran, said: “I saw Kathryn in action with my former employer, Areva. What so impressed me was her grasp of the technical detail, and her ability to identify and articulate game changing arguments. You definitely want her working for you, not against you!”

Doug McPherson, Senior Counsel at Chevron, calls her “extremely insightful” and “a pleasure to work with.”

Prior to her career in international arbitration, Kathryn was a Legal Advisor to the Prime Minister of East Timor (Timor-Leste), based in Dili East Timor, coordinating East Timor’s negotiations with Australia over maritime boundaries and resources in the Timor Sea and the drafting of a new regime for petroleum investments. Kathryn has also worked with the International Development Law Organization in Kabul, Afghanistan, and with Columbia Law School and The Carter Center in connection with the Democratic Republic of Congo’s review of mining investment contracts.

Kathryn regularly lectures on oil and gas sector arbitration at Sciences Po law school in Paris. She is admitted in Paris, New York and Ontario, and holds degrees from Harvard, McGill, and Columbia.

Kathryn is the third new Three Crowns partner in three years, following the addition of Carmen Martinez Lopez in December 2014, and the election of Scott Vesel in December 2016. The firm now has a team of over 60 arbitration specialists working across its three offices.

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