Image of Katrina Limond

Katrina Limond

Counsel

Katrina advises on investment treaty and international commercial arbitrations, public international law and business & human rights.

She has acted for a wide range of global clients including States, companies and international organisations, particularly in Europe, South East Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Katrina has experience as counsel and advocate in multi-jurisdictional arbitration proceedings under the ICSID, UNCITRAL, LCIA, ICC, CIArb, SCC, SIAC and LMAA Rules, and specialised experience in the energy, telecommunications, extractive industries, intellectual property and technology sectors.

Katrina is recognised as a Rising Star for Public International Law by Legal 500 and is ranked as a Future Leader in Arbitration by Who’s Who Legal for 2024. She is a regular speaker on the arbitration circuit (for example at London and Istanbul International Disputes Week, at the Law Society of England & Wales, the Swiss Arbitration Innovation Conference, the University of Hamburg and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators), especially for issues relating to technology and artificial intelligence (AI) and arbitration-related court matters. She regularly publishes on commercial arbitration issues, including on the use of AI for evidential purposes for Global Arbitration Review, and UNCITRAL’s model dispute resolution clauses for technology disputes.

She has experience in English Court litigation, including in arbitration-related court proceedings before the Commercial Court and Supreme Court.

She writes and speaks regularly on international arbitration, the intersection with technology and AI, public international law, and business & human rights.

She is a member of various professional associations, including the LCIA Young International Arbitration Group (YIAG), ICC Young Arbitrators Forum and Young ICCA. Currently, she is a regional representative for YIAG (the under-40s arm of the LCIA) and from 2021-2023, was the UK Chair for the Young ITA, the under-40s branch of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration.

Katrina is a native English speaker who also speaks French.

Expertise

Experience

Representative matters

  • A multinational company in UNCITRAL proceedings arising out of its business in a South East Asian State.
  • A Middle Eastern State in ICSID proceedings concerning the application of sanctions against sanctioned entities by local financial institutions.
  • The Kingdom of Saudi Arabia in ICSID proceedings brought by Turkish construction company DSG Yapi, arising out of a terminated construction contract on a complex infrastructure project.
  • The Islamic Republic of Pakistan in two UNCITRAL arbitrations brought by Mr Ali Allawi and the Progas group of companies and related enforcement and challenge proceedings before the UK courts.
  • The UAE in an ICSID arbitration brought by a Turkish investor concerning a denial of justice claim arising out of a construction project UAE investment and development body on the merits and proposed strategy of its UNCITRAL claim against India.
  • The Islamic Republic of Pakistan in an ICSID investment treaty arbitration arising out of the Reko Diq copper and gold mine in Balochistan, as well as in related ICC arbitration proceedings.
  • A UK oil and gas company in an investment treaty claim under UNCITRAL Rules against an Eastern European State.
  • The Republic of Slovenia in the damages phase of an ICSID arbitration under the Energy Charter Treaty and another bilateral treaty defending claims brought by Hrvatska Elektroprivreda d.d, the national electricity company of Croatia. 
  • A claimant in an LCIA arbitration concerning an M&A dispute in the pharmaceutical sector.
  • A respondent in an LCIA arbitration concerning termination of an oil & gas long term supply agreement.
  • A respondent in an LMAA arbitration concerning the impact of sanctions on an energy supply agreement.
  • A middle-Eastern government in a CIArb dispute relating to a contract for the provision of intelligence and asset tracing services.
  • A middle-Eastern energy company in a gas price review arbitration against a European buyer under long-term gas supply agreements (LNG).
  • A dredging company in a SIAC arbitration against a shipbuilding company and in a related ICC arbitration against the shipbuilding company’s guarantor.
  • Two semi-nationalised Indian banks in SIAC arbitration proceedings in respect of refund guarantees. 
  • AES Ust-Kamenogorsk Hydropower Plant LLP against Ust-Kamenogorsk Hydropower Plant JSC in securing and defending an anti-arbitration injunction in the English Supreme Court ([2013] UKSC 35).
  • Pakistan in challenges and enforcement proceedings before the Commercial Court: including Progas Energy Ltd v Pakistan [2018] EWHC 209 (Comm); Allawi v The Islamic Republic of Pakistan [2019] EWHC 430 (Comm); Islamic Republic of Pakistan and Ors v Broadsheet LLC [2019] EWHC 1832 (Comm).

Pro bono

  • Working with a UK based NGO and a US-based justice initiative to research accountability options for international crimes committed in Syria in national courts of six jurisdictions.
  • Member of A&O Shearman Business & Human Rights Working Group since April 2015.
  • Appealing to the Privy Council to challenge a Jamaican Court of Appeal non-capital criminal sentence.

Published Work

  • The ICJ and the climate crisis - what an advisory opinion could mean for international law and co-operation, LexisNexis, April 2023
  • UNCITRAL’s new draft model clauses target technology disputes, Allen & Overy, March 2023 
  • Enforcement of arbitration awards against States - court documents must be served through diplomatic channels, Allen & Overy, Nov 2021
  • Which law governs an arbitration agreement where the governing law of the main contract and the seat of arbitration do not match? Allen & Overy, April 2020
  • Diverging attitudes to international arbitration in East Africa, African Law & Business, March 2019
  • Cohesion between the international human rights and international investment regimes, A&O Business & Human Rights Review, Sept 2016
  • A new arbitration law for Myanmar, Practical Law Arbitration, Mar 2016
  • Who is the most influential arbitrator in the world? Global Arbitration Review, Jan 2016
  • Increased transparency at the ICC Court of Arbitration, Allen & Overy, Oct 2015
  • Investment Treaty Arbitration know-how for Rwanda, Global Arbitration Review, 2015
  • English High Court refuses to enforce Californian crypto arbitration award on public policy grounds, Allen & Overy, Sept 2023
  • Real-world disputes in the virtual world, Allen & Overy, Oct 2023
  • Artificial intelligence in arbitration: evidentiary issues and prospects, Global Arbitration Review, The guide to evidence in international arbitration - Second Edition, Allen & Overy, Oct 2023

Speaking Engagements

  • Speaking on simplification and cost reduction in the arbitral process and how AI can play its part at Niederer Kraft Frey, ASA Arbitration Conference, January 2024
  • Moderated a world café style session on deepfakes in arbitration at the ASA Swiss Arbitration Innovation conference, Feb 2024.
  • Speaking at CIArb and Trialview event on AI uses in arbitration, November 2023
  • Speaking at ICC YAF event on illegality and corruption at the post-award phase, June 2023
  • Speaking at TL4 Sovereign & States Disputes & Enforcement Event on corruption in sovereign disputes and enforcement, January 2023
  • Moderating #YoungITATalks on: technology and arbitration (May 2023); key trends in arbitration for 2023 (January 2023); outer space disputes and arbitration (April 2022); and the psychology of witness evidence and its role in tribunal decision making (October 2021).
  • Chairing a #YoungITATalk on First Aid in Arbitration in Amsterdam in October 2019
  • Sessions on BHR at the East Africa Law Society Conference in Kenya in December 2018 & Tanzania in 2017
  • Bi-annual training on commercial arbitration, investment-treaty arbitration, drafting arbitration clauses and pleadings to trainees and newly qualified lawyers (since 2015)
  • Training on international commercial arbitration and advocacy at Rojs, Pelikhan Prelesnik in Ljubljana, February 2017
  • A parallel session at the 2015 United Nations Forum for Business and Human Rights in Geneva, concerning the role of human rights in international investment disputes

Leadership Positions And Professional Affiliations

  • Regional Representative for the London Court of International Arbitration’s (LCIA) Young International Arbitration Group (YIAG)
  • Young ITA Regional Chair for the UK 2021-2023

Recognition

Rising Star for Public International Law
Legal 500 2024
Future Leader in Arbitration
Who’s Who Legal 2024

Qualifications

Admissions

Admitted as solicitor, England and Wales, 2014

Academic

M.A. (Hons), University of Cambridge, Clare College, Law, 2010, 1st class

Licence III, Université Paris II (Panthéon-Assas), French Law, 2009

Legal Practice Course, The College of Law, London, 2012, Distinction

Languages

English, French, Spanish
Disclaimer
A&O Shearman was formed on May 1, 2024 by the combination of Shearman & Sterling LLP and Allen & Overy LLP and their respective affiliates (the legacy firms). Any matters referred to above may include matters undertaken by one or more of the legacy firms rather than A&O Shearman.