Profile

Erica Franzetti is an independent arbitrator and international disputes counsel. With a 25-year legal career, she has extensive experience in commercial and investor-State arbitration across a wide range of industries and jurisdictions. She focuses her practice on serving as an independent arbitrator in complex cross-border disputes and on advising clients on dispute-resolution strategy, enforcement, and investment treaty protection. Her work has particular emphasis on energy, natural resources, and infrastructure disputes.

Serving as an arbitrator in U.S. and international disputes, including as chair of arbitral tribunals, she draws on longstanding track record across civil and common law traditions to manage proceedings efficiently, fairly, and with procedural rigor. She has acted as arbitrator and as counsel in arbitral proceedings under several sets of rules, including the ICC, AAA, ICDR, LCIA, ICSID, and UNCITRAL rules, and has deep experience with tribunal management and decision-writing. Her practical case management is informed by 17 years in major U.S. law firms, including eight as partner in globally recognized international arbitration teams.

Her arbitration practice spans proceedings seated or arising in Argentina, Brazil, Canada, Chile, Colombia, Croatia, the Dominican Republic, Ghana, Hungary, Mexico, Perú, the Philippines, and the United States, across sectors including commercial contracts (such as hotel management, distribution, intellectual property, and CISG matters), construction, concessions and infrastructure (including telecommunications, power generation, and highways), corporate governance and accountability (including M&A, shareholder and joint venture disputes, and venture capital investments), and energy and natural resources (including mining, oil and gas, LNG pricing, electricity generation, and nuclear energy).

Recognized in Chambers & Partners, The Legal 500, Lexology (formerly Who's Who Legal), Latin Lawyer, and Best Lawyers, she has also been named one of Latin America's Top 100 Female Lawyers by Latinvex. She regularly publishes and speaks on international commercial arbitration, investor-state arbitration, and dispute resolution strategy at international conferences and professional forums, and has taught at leading institutions including Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Miami School of Law. She is admitted to practice in Washington, D.C., New York, and Brazil, and works fluently in English, Spanish, and Portuguese.

Teaching Experience

• University of Miami School of Law, Adjunct Professor, International Arbitration in the Energy Sector, 2024-2025
• Georgetown University Law Center, Adjunct Professor, Investor-State Dispute Resolution, 2017-2022

Education

• Georgetown University Law Center, LL.M. International Studies, Distinction and Dean's List, Washington D.C. (2008)
• Getúlio Vargas Foundation (FGV), Postgraduate Specialization in Business and Economics Law, São Paulo, Brazil (2006)
• University of São Paulo Law School, LL.B. (J.D. Equivalent), São Paulo, Brazil (2000)

Admissions

• District of Columbia
• New York
• Brazil

Associations

• Panel of Arbitrators of the International Centre of Dispute Resolution (ICDR)
• Panel of Arbitrators of the American Arbitration Association (AAA)
• Panel of Arbitrators of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC)
• Panel of Arbitrators of the Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce (CAM-CCBC)
• Panel of Arbitrators of the Capital Market Chamber of B3 S.A - Brasil, Bolsa, Balcão (CAM)
• Panel of Arbitrators of the Chamber of Business Mediation and Arbitration - Brazil (CAMARB)
• Arbitral Women
• ICC Arbitration Committee / United States Council for International Business (USCIB)
• ICC Brasil Arbitration Committee
• Brazilian Arbitration Commitee (CBAr)

Languages

• English
• Spanish
• Portuguese

Nationality

• United States
• Brazil