Theodore R. Posner is a partner in the International Arbitration practice in Weil, Gotshal & Manges’ Washington, DC office. From 1999 to 2009, Mr. Posner worked as a lawyer and senior advisor on international trade and investment law and policy in the legislative and executive branches of the US Government. He counseled members of the committees with jurisdiction over these issues in the US House of Representatives and then in the US Senate. In 2002, he joined the Office of the US Trade Representative (USTR), where he counseled trade negotiators and represented the United States in arbitrations before panels and the Appellate Body of the World Trade Organization (WTO). From 2008 to 2009, Mr. Posner was director for international trade and investment at the National Security Council (NSC), the principal foreign policy advisory body in the White House. Both prior to and following his government service, he practiced at law firms in Washington, DC and New York, working on international arbitration, international trade, and commercial litigation matters. From 1994 to 1995, he clerked for Judge Wilfred Feinberg on the United States Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Mr. Posner’s practice draws on his experience as a litigator, negotiator, and advisor in the areas of international trade and investment. His practice covers international arbitration, litigation, strategic counseling relating to international trade and investment agreements and legislation, and national security reviews by the Committee on Foreign Investment in the United States (CFIUS) and related proceedings. Mr. Posner has represented clients in treaty-based investor-state arbitrations under the United States-Central America-Dominican Republic Free Trade Agreement and the United States-Oman Free Trade Agreement; litigation on international trade and investment matters in US courts; administrative proceedings before USTR and other federal government agencies; and legislative advocacy. He also advises clients on a wide variety of investment and trade treaty matters.
As a government lawyer, Mr. Posner represented the United States in some of the most high-profile arbitrations to come before the WTO, including the US-EU Airbus arbitration and the US-Canada Softwood Lumber arbitrations. He played key roles in developing major legislation, including the Trade Act of 2002, and in developing the regulatory framework governing CFIUS reviews since enactment of the Foreign Investment and National Security Act of 2007.
Mr. Posner frequently speaks at international conferences on matters related to international trade and investment law and policy.