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Experience:
William Knull has been engaged for more than 30 years in resolving complex business disputes through arbitration and litigation. Many of the disputes have involved transnational transactions in the oil and gas industry, encompassing such issues as arbitral jurisdiction, interpretation and operation of joint venture agreements, reserve engineering and valuation, transportation, marketing, supply agreements, enterprise risk, complex choice of law, multiplicity of parties and proceedings, enterprise and oil field operational matters, and similar concerns.
Bill has been involved as lead counsel and counsel in all varieties of complex corporate, commercial, and financial litigation in state and federal courts and in international and domestic arbitration. He has extensive experience in transnational and domestic disputes involving oil and gas related matters, mergers and acquisitions, contracts, corporate and securities fraud, accounting malpractice, lending practices, automotive products and franchising matters, litigation and investigation of problems of corporate management and governance, fiduciary obligations, and employee fraud.
Bill also has extensive experience as counsel and lead counsel in arbitrations under the auspices of the AAA, ICSID, ICC, ICDR and NASD, and ad hoc proceedings pursuant to UNCITRAL Rules, primarily involving international disputes in the oil and gas industry. He has been lead counsel in multi-billion dollar disputes involving contractual, operational, accounting, governance, jurisdictional, and related issues arising from Middle Eastern, Central Asian, and Chinese oil and gas projects.
Bill has been called "an extremely intelligent, diligent and diplomatic lawyer who just knows how to win" (Chambers USA 2007), as well as "profoundly experienced in commercial arbitration (Who's Who Legal Texas 2007), a "talented, reliable and effective" litigator with a "great profile in the market" (Chambers USA 2005), and part of a "terrific team" that enjoys a "high reputation for advocacy among its clients" (Chambers USA 2006). He has a working knowledge of Spanish and French.
Notable Engagements:
Served as lead counsel for the Government of Turkmenistan and various Turkmen governmental entities in defense of multi-billion dollar claims brought by Bridas SAPIC in three ICC arbitrations, arising out of oil and gas joint ventures in Turkmenistan. The issues included arbitral jurisdiction; contractual interpretation; joint venture accounting and governance; prudent conduct of drilling, development and production operations; and valuation of oil and gas reserves in the face of geologic, political and market risk.
Served as trial co-counsel for Cargill as claimant in ICSID Additional Facility proceeding against Mexico alleging violations of NAFTA arising out of tax and import measures favoring domestic suppliers of sugar over similarly situated foreign suppliers of high fructose corn syrup.
Served as co-lead counsel in an ICDR arbitration on behalf of a Canadian importer to enforce a contract for the purchase of railroad car wheels from a Ukrainian steel mill.
Served as a member of the team advising the Procurador del Tesoro de la Nación with respect to the development of strategies and defenses to claims asserted against Argentina by investors before ICSID.
Served as lead counsel for the largest North American manufacturer of fertilizer in AAA arbitration/litigation arising out of contract for the supply of natural gas feedstock.
Served as the lead counsel for a Kazakh consulting firm against an independent oil company in ad hoc arbitration under UNCITRAL rules to enforce a contract to pay a consulting fee in connection with the acquisition of an oil and gas field in Kazakhstan.
Served as the principal supporting counsel for a major international oil company in AAA arbitration brought by a US independent producer against all of the major integrated and independent oil companies operating concessions in Libya in the early 1970s alleging breach of agreement among producers to address interruptions in supply.
Education:
University of Virginia School of Law, JD, 1977; Order of the Coif; Virginia Law Review, Member, 1975-1977; Notes Editor, 1976-1977, Yale University, BA, magna cum laude, 1970; Departmental Honors in Political Science. |
