Fork in the road provisions are attached to the consent clauses of some bilateral investment treaties (BITs). In fork in the road clauses in BITs, the claimant-investor must make a choice between pursuing its claims against the state either through the arbitration mechanisms provided in the relevant BIT or in local courts or other venues provided for in the relevant contractual mechanisms. The choice, once made, is final. If the investor resorts to the host State’s domestic courts to have the dispute settled, it loses the right to international arbitration.

Relevant Experience of BODENHEIMER Attorneys

Axel Benjamin Herzberg and Dr Rouven F Bodenheimer routinely advise both, investors and governments on international investment law issues. Mr Herzberg also handled a number of ISDS cases as Deputy Counsel at the Secretariat of the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris.

Dr Nicolas Klein worked for German Federal Constitutional Court Justice Professor Dr Andreas Paulus, himself a renowned public international law specialist who represented Germany, inter alia, before the International Court of Justice in the LaGrand case against the United States. Both, Dr Klein’s doctoral thesis and his LL.M. studies at Columbia University (New York) revolved around issues of international investment law, in particular the scope of application ratione personae of bilateral investment treaties.

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