Georgetown Law

José Antonio Rivas is a Founding Partner of Xtrategy in Washington D.C. (2019) and Bogotá (2018), and Chair of the Arbitration and International Law practice at Xtrategy. Admitted to practice in the District of Columbia, United States and the Republic of Colombia, he works as international counsel in investment disputes, serves as arbitrator, and provides advice in public international law and investment law to sovereign clients, state-owned companies, and investors.
He has 20 years of experience in international investment arbitration and public international law. He has represented sovereign States and private parties before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and the International Chamber of Commerce. He has provided counsel in investment treaty arbitration cases for sovereign clients, and in international commercial arbitration for corporate clients including before the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA), and in matters involving the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, the protection of underwater cultural heritage, and territorial and maritime disputes. He is former Foreign Investment Director of the Ministry of Trade of Colombia where he conducted a program to strengthen the State’s readiness in case of investor-State arbitration and headed the drafting and updating of the Colombian International Investment Agreement (IIA) Model. Based on this Model, he successfully concluded fifteen IIA negotiations with States from Latin America, North America, Europe and Asia, which included bilateral investment treaties and investment chapters of free trade agreements (FTAs). In his former capacity, he also led negotiations for Colombia of cross border trade in services and telecommunications chapters of several FTAs. Professor Rivas is former Counsel of ICSID and has substantial experience on ICSID and UNCITRAL rules of arbitration. He received his Doctorate in Law in Juridical Science –SJD– with Distinction after writing on rules of interpretation in public international law and international trade law, GATT XXIV, and rules of origin of regional trade agreements.

SELECTED PUBLICATIONS:
International Treaties and Investment Arbitration: Experiences of Colombia and Comparative Law (Co-editor and co-author) (Ibañez, 2019)
Revolution in the International Rule of Law: Essays in Honor of Don Wallace (Co-editor and co-author) (Juris, 2014)
Commentary of the Model Investment Treaty of “Colombia”, Commentaries on Selected Model Investment Treaties (Oxford Commentaries on International Law) (Oxford University Press, forthcoming January, 2013), pp. 183-244.
“Implementation of Investment Treaty Obligations and Management of
International Investment Disputes”, Investor-State Disputes: Prevention and Alternatives to
Arbitration II, UNCTAD (Geneva), 2010, pp.87-92.
“Managing Investment Treaty Obligations and Investor-State Disputes: A Guide for Government Officials (Chapter Five)” Latin American Investment
Treaty Arbitration. The Controversies and Conflicts, Kluwer Law International (The Hague),
2008, pp. 162-193 (with David Pawlak)
“Do Rules of Origin in Free Trade Agreements Comply with Article XXIV
GATT? (Chapter 7)” Regional Trade Agreements and the WTO Legal System Oxford University Press (New York), 2003, pp.158-170
“Agreements for the Protection of Foreign Investments”, in Al Derecho, Edición Especial 40 Años, Universidad de Los Andes (Bogotá), 2008 (with Santiago Wills)