Courtney Hikawa

Senior Counsel
Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP

Washington, DC
United States
T:+1 202 662 0320
Washington, DC
United States
T:+1 202 662 0320
Courtney Hikawa

Courtney Hikawa

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Biography

Courtney Hikawa focuses her practice on international dispute settlement, with an emphasis on investor-state arbitration. She represents both cross-border investors as well as respondent governments in proceedings before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and its Additional Facility, as well as in arbitrations under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules. She is experienced in arbitrations under investment treaties (BITs), government contracts and free trade agreements, including NAFTA and CAFTA-DR. Courtney has also represented clients in commercial arbitrations, such as under the auspices of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC). 

Professional experience

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JD, cum laude, Northwestern University School of Law, 2011

MA, University of Minnesota, 2009

BA, cum laude, Oberlin College, 1998

  • District of Columbia Bar
  • Illinois State Bar
  • Defended a Latin American government in multiple cases related to toll road concessions, including claims by investors regarding measures taken in response to the COVID-19 pandemic, and claims by investors seeking to annul the favorable underlying arbitration award that we had secured for the client.
  • Defended a South American government in parallel arbitrations under a BIT and an FTA against claims for more than US$500m in connection with investments in the mining industry.
  • Defended a Latin American government in a BIT dispute brought by an energy company over the government's regulation of electricity transmission and distribution according to the economic dispatch principle to operate the country’s electricity system at the minimum cost.
  • Represented a multi-national energy services company in investment treaty and commercial arbitrations against an Eastern European government arising from a 15-year public utilities (heating and electricity) lease agreement in the capital city.
  • Represented a Canadian investor in a high-profile, multi-billion-dollar NAFTA dispute against the United States involving an oil pipeline in North America.
  • Represented a European private equity fund in a highly politicized, multi-billion-dollar BIT dispute with an Asian government over regulatory obstacles and adverse tax measures related to liquidating its financial sector and real estate investments.
  • Defended a Latin American government in a dispute under DR-CAFTA brought by multiple North American real estate investors over the government's protection of the nesting grounds of leatherback turtles.
  • Represented an American multi-national tobacco company in a high-profile BIT dispute with a South American government over the infringement of intellectual property rights as a result of mandatory package warning labels. 
  • Defended a South American government against a consortium of international LNG importers over the fulfillment of a concession contract.
  • Legal 500 Latin America, Leading Associate, Latin America: International Firms - International arbitration, The Legal 500, 2025
  • Legal 500 Latin America, Rising Star, Latin America: International Firms - International arbitration, The Legal 500, 2024
  • Co-author, "2023 Year in Review: A Look at International Arbitration in California," Kluwer Arbitration Blog, Katie Connolly, Courtney Dolinar-Hikawa (Norton Rose Fulbright US LLP) and Tuyana Molokhoeva (Quandary Peak Research), January 29, 2024 
  • Author, "Beyond the Pale: A Proposal to Promote Ethnic Diversity among International Arbitrators," Transnational Dispute Management, 2015
  • Speaker, Short Course de Arbitraje Internacional de Inversiones, Ratione voluntatis, inaugural workshop of Litigando Derecho, April 2024.  
  • Moderator, Washington Arbitration Week, "International Arbitration and the Challenges of Financial Services in the First Three Decades of the New Century," November 2023.
  • Debater, Freshfields and American Society of International Law (ASIL) Young Arbitrator Debate Series, July 2023.
  • Panelist, Washington Arbitration Week, "Working with your quantum expert: How to draft the damages section of a memorial and work with the damages expert in preparation of the hearing? (Practical Session)," November 2022.
  • Arbitrator, Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot Competition, 2017, 2022.
  • Judge, international finals of the Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, 2017.
  • Arbitrator, American University International Commercial Arbitration Moot Competition, 2017.
  • Panelist, Canadian Council on International Law Conference 2015 in Ottawa, Canada, "Diversity in International Dispute Settlement", 2015.

Member, International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA)

Member, International Bar Association (IBA)

Member of Advisory Board, Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA)

Member, American Society of International Law (ASIL) 

  • French
  • Italian
  • Japanese
  • Spanish