Álvaro Awad Sirhan is a Professor of Civil Law, Arbitration, and Oral Advocacy at Pontificia Universidad Católica de Chile, where he graduated summa cum laude in 2011. He earned a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from The University of Chicago (2016), receiving notable accolades such as the Fulbright Scholarship from the US Government and the Chile Scholarship from the Chilean Government.

In 2021, he was appointed by the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) as Representative for Latin America in the Young Arbitration & ADR Forum (YAAF).

With extensive experience as both arbitrator and counsel, Álvaro has participated in numerous ad hoc and institutional arbitration proceedings—both commercial and investment—valuing up to USD 2.5 billion. Notably, he is among the youngest ever to preside over an ICC Tribunal and serves as an arbitrator for various esteemed institutions, including the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), and the Arbitration Centres of leading Chambers of Commerce across Chile, Peru, Mexico, Spain, the United Arab Emirates, the Cayman Islands, Thailand, and beyond.

His areas of focus include construction and infrastructure, energy, new technologies, financing, insurance, pharmaceuticals, transportation, foreign investment, mergers and acquisitions, and a myriad of corporate disputes.

Álvaro’s expertise has been widely recognized in prestigious publications such as Who’s Who Legal, The Legal 500, Leaders League, and Best Lawyers, positioning him as a leading figure in his field.

MEMBERSHIPS AND ACADEMIA

• Editor (Commercial Law) at PUC LLM Applied Law Journal.
• International Arbitrator at the Bilbao Chamber of Commerce (since 2024).
• International Arbitrator at the Cayman International Mediation and Arbitration Centre (since 2024).
• International Arbitrator at the Thailand Arbitration Center (since 2023).
• International Arbitrator at the Mexico City Chamber of Commerce (since 2023).
• International Arbitrator at the Center of Arbitration of Mexico (since 2023).
• Program on microeconomics, finance, and statistics in conflict resolution («Academia Latam»), organized by FK Economics (2023).
• Certified by the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (since 2022).
• Member of ICC Chile Nominations Committee (since 2022).
• Arbitrator at the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (since 2021).
• Representative for Latin America in the International Chamber of Commerce’s Young Arbitration & ADR Forum (ICC YAAF) for the period 2021-2023.
• Member of the Official Roster of Arbitrators of the San Miguel Court of Appeals (since 2021).
• Young Arbitrator at the Center of Arbitration and Mediation of the Santiago Chamber of Commerce (since 2020).
• Member of the Executive Committee at Arbitrator Intelligence (Arbitrator Communications Lead) during the term 2020-2021.
• Arbitrator Intelligence Ambassador in Chile (since 2018).
• International Arbitrator at the Center of Arbitration of the Lima Chamber of Commerce (since 2020).
• Member of the Official Roster of Arbitrators of the Santiago Court of Appeals (since 2019).
• Member of the former International Chamber of Commerce’s Young Arbitrators Forum (ICC YAF).
• Member of the London Court of International Arbitration’s Young International Arbitration Group (YIAG).
• Member of the Young International Council for Commercial Arbitration (Young ICCA).
• Professor of the postgraduate course on Arbitration at P. Universidad Católica de Chile (since 2018).
• Professor of the Oral Advocacy Skills Seminars (opening statements, closing statements, oral hearings before superior state courts, direct examination, and cross examination of witnesses and experts) at P. Universidad Católica de Chile (since 2018).
• Founder of the association Santiago Very Young Arbitration Practitioners. Member of its Executive Committee (2017-2019).
• Coordinator at the Pro Bono Foundation (2017-2019). Member of the Pro Bono Arbitration Program (since 2017).
• Professor at the Chilean Judicial Academy (since 2017).
• Member of the Chilean Delegation visiting the International Chamber of Commerce’s International Court of Arbitration (2017).
• Professor of Private Law at Universidad Católica de Chile (since 2014).
• Member of the Chilean Bar Association (since 2013).

RECENT PUBLICATIONS

• No Time to Wait: Arbitration under the Wire—Weighing the Pros and Cons of Emergency Arbitration in ISDS, in The Future of Investor-State Dispute Settlement: Reforming Law, Practice and Perspectives for a Fast-Changing World, Wolters Kluwer (London, 2024).
• The commandments of the arbitrator, Argentinian Arbitration Journal (Buenos Aires, 2023).
• Gross negligence in Chilean law, Ediciones UC (Santiago, 2022).
• Mining disputes in Chile and their characterization as potential international arbitrations in Revista Ecuatoriana de Arbitraje (Quito, 2021).
• Digital evidence from the industries: The case of the Building Information Modeling in Arbitration and New Technologies (Lima, 2021).
• Co-editor of the book Surviving in the Field of International Arbitration: War Stories and Lessons Learned, Wolters Kluwer (London, 2020).
• Jumping in the Pool: How to Draft your First Arbitral Award? in Surviving in the Field of International Arbitration: …, Wolters Kluwer (London, 2020).
• Pandemic Dispute Resolution Methods – EstadoDiario (2020).
• Drafting your first arbitral award – Bulletin on International Commercial and Investment Arbitration in Latin America (2018).
• Civil Procedural Reform in Chile: What’s new/What’s yet to come – Euro LATAM LEX (2018).
• The most relevant decision in arbitration: what to consider when choosing the arbitral tribunal – El Mercurio Legal (2017).
• What is the best seat of arbitration in Latin America? – El Mercurio Legal (2017).
• What is due process paranoia in international arbitration? – IUS360 (2017).

RECENT ENGAGEMENTS

• Speaker at the ICC YAAF Global Conference in New York (2024).
• Speaker at the 6th Congress on Public Contracting and Arbitration, organized by the Circle on Arbitration with the State of Perú (2023).
• Organizer of the ICC YAAF Industries Series, with events on Arbitration and Mining (Santiago, March 2023), Arbitration and Construction (Buenos Aires, May 2023), among others.
• Speaker at the UC Comparative Law Seminar on «TPF in Arbitration» (2022).
• Presenter at the 1st ICC Chilean Arbitration Day in Santiago, Chile (2022).
• Professor at the Certificate in International Commercial Arbitration organized by Universidad de los Andes and Università Luiss Guido Carli (2022).
• Arbitrator at the Antitrust E-Moot’s quarter finals in Perú (2022).
• Presenter at the 13th Latin American Arbitration Conference in Montevideo, Uruguay, in the event organized by CLA-40, ICC YAF and the VYAP network (2022).
• Speaker at the 4th «Young Practitioners in Arbitration Conference», organized by the Peruvian Arbitration Institute, with a talk on traditional and modern evidence in construction disputes (2022).
• Speaker at the first «Conmebol Arbitral: What’s the best arbitration seat?» debate, organized by the Spanish Arbitration Club, COLVYAP and Yale Law School LLSA (2022).
• Moderator at the panel «Youthquake: how arbitration will change when the new generation leads» at the occasion of the 19th ICC Miami Conference on International Arbitration (2021).
• Speaker at the talk «What (disputes) did the pandemic left us?» organized by the Spanish Arbitration Club, explaining Iura Novit Curia in arbitration (2021).
• Speaker at the talk «Oral Litigation in the Civil Procedural Reform» organized by the Justice Reform Program, P. Universidad Católica de Chile (2021).
• Interviewer in the Arbitrator’s Interview with Mr. Michael Hwang in the Arbitrator Intelligence Asian Campaign 2021.
• Arbitrator at the «2nd CAM Santiago Vis Pre-Moot» (2021).
• Interviewer in the Arbitrator’s Interview with Mr. Fernando Cantuarias in the Arbitrator Intelligence Latin American Campaign 2021.
• Speaker at the XI Costa Rica International Arbitration Congress in the talk «The role of Third Party Funding in dispute resolution during and after the pandemic» (2020).
• Speaker at the event «Agents of Change: Tech + Economics + Behavior» organizaed by the Guatemalan chapter of the Spanish Arbitration Club and Guatemala Very Young Arbitration Practitioners (2020).
• Speaker at the Seminar Investment Arbitration Roadmap, organized by Contreras Velozo, GST LLP and the Spanish Chamber of Commerce in Chile (2020).
• Arbitrator at the Antitrust E-Moot in Perú (2020).
• Speaker at the Seminar Practical Aspects of Institutional and Ad hoc Arbitration in Times of Pandemic, P. Universidad Católica de Chile (2020).
• Speaker at the Seminar Reality and Challenges in Litigation in the Context of Online Proceedings and the Pandemic, Justice Reform Program, P. Universidad Católica de Chile (2020).
• Speaker at the JAMS Virtual Roundtable Series – Latin America (2020).
• Interviewer in the Arbitrator’s Interview with Mr. Arturo Yrarrázaval Covarrubias at Santiago VYAP’s Conference in the Arbitration and Mediation Center of the Santiago Chamber of Commerce (2019).
• Speaker at the 11th Latin American Arbitration Conference (2019) in Asunción, Paraguay, on working with experts in both domestic and international arbitration.
• Speaker at the 2nd ICC Colombia Arbitration Day (2019) in Bogotá, Colombia, on the use of new technologies in international arbitration proceedings.
• Speaker on confidentiality and transparency in arbitration before the Georgetown International Arbitration Society (2019) in Washington D.C., United States.
• Speaker before the Center on International Commercial Arbitration at American University – Washington College of Law (2019) in Washington D.C., United States.
• Speaker in the round table Confidentiality and Transparency in Arbitration, SVYAP (2018).
• Speaker at the ICC YAF (2018) in Santiago, Chile, on the emergency arbitrator in the ICC Rules of Arbitration.
• Speaker in the round table Expert reports in construction and infrastructure arbitration at P. Universidad Católica de Chile (2018).
• Arbitrator at the International Chamber of Commerce’s Vis Pre-Moot (2018) in Paris, France.
• Speaker and 1st place in the International Arbitration Seminar organized by the Lima Chamber of Commerce in Perú (2017).
• Speaker at the 1st Ecuador ADR Week organized by the International Chamber of Commerce (2017) in Quito, Ecuador.
• Invited as arbitrator by Universidad de Chile’s and P. Universidad Católica de Chile’s teams for their preparation in the Vis Moot (2019 and 2020) and in the Latin American International Arbitration Competition (2018, 2019 and 2020).
• Invited as arbitrator by Universidad Andrés Bello’s team for their preparation in the Latin American International Arbitration Competition (2020).
• Invited as arbitrator to the course on Arbitration Moots at P. Universidad Católica de Perú (2020).
• Invited by The Universidad de Chicago’s team for its preparation in the Philip C. Jessup Competition (2016).
• Attendee at the International Arbitration Conference organized by the International Chamber of Commerce in Miami, United States, since 2013.