FIETTA - Key Persons
Ashique is a partner at Fietta LLP. He represents States and foreign investors in their public international law disputes, including disputes under international investment agreements. The Legal 500 has recognised Ashique as a "Rising Star" and as one of the "Next Generation" of leaders in public international law. He is also included in the Lawdragon Global Litigation 500 for his expertise in public international law and is named a "Future Leader" in the Who's Who Legal guide for international arbitration. Clients praise Ashique for understanding "key issues" in "complex investment treaty claims" and for his ability to "turn around high quality work product very swiftly".
Ashique has managed teams of lawyers, witnesses and experts in complex, high-value arbitrations under the ICSID, ICC, LCIA, SCC and UNCITRAL Rules, including some of the most high-profile investor-State arbitrations of the past decade. He also advises on post-award remedies, including recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards. Ashique is presently representing a European State in a treaty dispute with a foreign investor, two global hedge funds in a treaty dispute with a European State, and hundreds of foreign investors in an ICSID, multi-party arbitration against Cyprus.
Ashique also advises States, international organisations and multinational companies on a broad range of public international law topics, including the law of the sea, the law of treaties, jurisdictional immunities and the protection of foreign investments. He writes regularly on these topics and recently co-authored a peer-reviewed chapter on juridical persons and the requirements of the ICSID Convention. He has taught at University College London and has delivered practical training in public international law and international arbitration to Ministry officials of States in the Middle East and Asia.
Prior to joining Fietta LLP, Ashique was a senior lawyer at a public international law firm in London. He is also a founding board member of the Young Public International Law Group, a network of public international law practitioners from law firms, the bar, international organisations, governments and academic institutions around the world.
Ashique's full curriculum vitae is available here.
Practice areas
International Investment Disputes
Laura is an English-qualified solicitor and Solicitor-Advocate (Higher Courts Civil Proceedings). Laura's practice focuses on contentious and non-contentious aspects of public international law (PIL) and international arbitration. Laura is widely recognised in the leading legal directories for her expertise in these fields. She has been recognised as a "Rising Star" in PIL in the Legal 500 UK Solicitors annually since 2022. She has been ranked in Chambers UK since 2023, most recently (2024) as an "up and coming" lawyer in PIL. She has been included in the (biennial) Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Litigators guide since 2021 for her expertise in PIL. She is also recommended by Legal 500 UK Solicitors 2024 for international arbitration. She was included in Who's Who Legal 2024 as a "Future Leader" in Arbitration (based on recommendations from peers and clients), and selected by peers for inclusion in the 2024 edition of The Best Lawyers: Ones to Watch in the United Kingdom TM in International Arbitration. Chambers reports that clients describe Laura as "very impressive", an "outstanding lawyer", who "has deep expertise in international arbitration and public international law" and provides "high-quality advice".
Laura advises on a wide range of PIL issues, including international investment law; international human rights law; the law of the sea; statehood and sovereignty issues; treaty interpretation; and UN procedure. She has acted in a number of inter-State proceedings, both before the International Court of Justice and under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, and in proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights. She also acts for claimant investors and respondent States in complex and high-value international investment arbitrations across a range of different industry sectors, and has experience of all the major arbitral rules (ICSID, SCC, UNCITRAL). Laura also regularly advises on PIL issues before domestic courts (including, in particular, State immunity issues, recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards, and set-aside proceedings), and recently advised a client defending set-aside proceedings in which a reference was made to the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU).
Laura has delivered numerous training courses to officials of State clients and lectures at academic and other institutions on topics of PIL and international arbitration. Laura is frequently invited to speak at conferences and has authored and co-authored numerous articles on topics of PIL and international arbitration.
In 2018-2019, Laura spent six months at the UK's Foreign, Commonwealth & Development Office, where she was advising the British Government on PIL issues arising out of Brexit. She is a member of LexisNexis's Q&A panel of experts for its Arbitration and Brexit practice areas. She is a member of the ILA (British Branch) and a Member of the ILA Committee on Protection of People at Sea. She is also a member of ArbitralWomen.
Laura's full curriculum vitae is available here.
Oonagh Sands is a dually-qualified English and US lawyer: she is an English-qualified Solicitor and Solicitor-Advocate (Higher Courts Civil Proceedings), as well as an Attorney in New York State and the District of Columbia. The Legal 500 has recognised Oonagh as a "Rising Star" in public international law.
She has significant experience representing sovereign States and their State-owned entities, as well as individuals and private entities, before leading world dispute resolution fora. Oonagh has represented clients before the International Court of Justice, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, as well as investor-State arbitral tribunals constituted under ICSID, ICSID Additional Facility, UNCITRAL, SCC and ICC Rules. Oonagh has also advised sovereign States, State-owned entities, and private entities on the law of sovereign immunity and the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards under English law. She has counselled States on territorial and maritime boundary disputes, the law of State responsibility, treaty interpretation, international environmental law, and the law of the sea. Oonagh has also delivered several training courses to officials of State clients on international law of the sea and public international law more broadly. In addition, Oonagh has represented clients in international commercial arbitration proceedings conducted under ICC, LCIA, SCC and UNCITRAL Rules, as well as multiple domestic proceedings before English and U.S. federal courts.
Oonagh has taught aspects of international law of the sea on a Master's programme at King's College London and at the International Foundation for the Law of the Sea Summer Academy in Hamburg; she has also guest lectured on investment treaty arbitration at Pepperdine University. In addition, Oonagh sits on the faculty of the London Institute of Space Policy & Law. In May 2020, the American Society of International Law appointed Oonagh to serve on its Program Committee, alongside prominent US academics and international law practitioners. Oonagh has served on ASIL's Steering Committee for its signature topic, "Beyond National Jurisdiction: Human Activities in the Oceans, Polar Regions, Cyberspace and Outer Space", following her tenure as elected Co-Chair of the Society's ‘Space Law Interest Group'. In 2016, Oonagh was recognised by the Irish Times for women's influence in global public affairs.
Prior to joining Fietta, Oonagh worked at major law firms in Washington DC and London. Oonagh has worked for the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs in New York, the European Commission in Brussels, and the Institute of International Economic Law at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington DC.
Oonagh's full curriculum vitae is available here.