Kirsten Odynski
Biography
Overview
Kirsten Odynski is a partner in White & Case's International Arbitration Practice, based in the Paris office. Kirsten has experience in commercial and investment treaty arbitration across a number of sectors, and a focus in the energy and construction sectors. She has acted as an adviser in ad hoc and institutional arbitrations under most major institutional rules and has experience with dispute avoidance / adjudication boards and claims management.
Kirsten has served on the ICC Task Force for Resolving Climate Change Related Disputes through Arbitration and ADR and was recognized in Who's Who Legal as a Future Leader in Arbitration. She has also been active in White & Case's pro bono work in the area of public international law and legal education service programs, including White & Case's sponsorship of the Philip C. Jessup International Moot Court Competition.
Experience
Advising a contractor in connection with a hydro power project in Central Asia;
Representing an international oil & gas company in a large ICC arbitration concerning the construction of an LNG processing facility;
Representing an Eastern European State in an ICC arbitration regarding a facilities-related construction project;
Advising a Asian company on issues arising in connection with commercial agreements in the aviation sector;
Representing an Eastern European State in an arbitration brought under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules relating to a dispute over the regulation of gas tariffs;
Representing the government of Georgia in Gardabani Holdings B.V. and Silk Road Holdings B.V v. Georgia, a pending ICSID arbitration under the Netherlands-Georgia BIT relating to the regulation of electricity tariffs;
A series of parallel LCIA arbitrations in the oil and gas industry in Kazakhstan;
Representing joint venture company Grupo Unidos por el Canal, S.A. in a dispute with the Panama Canal Authority including in respect of a number of Dispute Adjudication Board proceedings and ICC Arbitrations;
Representing an electrical utility and purchaser of a nuclear power plant, in multiple disputes with a supplier in an ICC arbitration;
ICC arbitration and related US litigation regarding an oil-related construction project in Latin America;
Ad hoc arbitration, under the English Arbitration Act, regarding recovery for damage to a coal mine under a property damage insurance policy;
ICSID arbitration defending the Government of Georgia against investment claims arising from energy sector (Itera v. Georgia);
Ad hoc arbitration, under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, regarding the construction of a highway in Afghanistan and involving the FIDIC Redbook 1994.
"Climate Change and Arbiration:, XV Congreso Internacional del Club Espanol Del Arbitraje", Madrid, September 2021
"A special regime for climate change disputes?", Paris Arbitration Week, 7 July 2020 (with Elizabeth Oger-Gross)
"Where "Time is of the Essence" – time related requirements during procurement and contract implementation", India Nuclear Power Conference, Mumbai, November 2019 (with Richard Hill)
"Enforcement of DAB decisions and Arbitral Awards in CIS countries and Caucasus region", International Construction Contracts & Dispute Resolution, Tbilisi, September 2018
"Representing Claimants: Pre-Arbitration Matters", Africa International Legal Awareness (AILA) Advanced Training: Managing an Investment Treaty Arbitration, London, September 2017
"Cross-Examination of Witness in International Arbitration", Young ICCA workshop, Paris, September 2017
"Yukos and More: Recent Developments in the Enforcement of Awards", ICC Canada International Arbitration Conference, Toronto, October 2016
"Enforcement of Arbitral Awards: Notion of Public Policy", Tbilisi International Arbitration Conference, Tbilisi, March 2014
"Are small modular reactors the solution to decarbonising the industry sector?", New Civil Engineer, February 2024
"Are small modular reactors (SMRs) the answer to the world's energy trilemma?", Energy, Oil & Gas Magazine, October 2023 (with Andrew de Lotbinière McDougall KC)
"Going Nuclear – managing claims and disputes during the construction of new build NPPs" (with Daniel Garton, Andrew McDougall KC, Ximena Vásquez-Maignan and Emily Elliott)
"The potential for small modular nuclear reactors", Energy Institute, May 2022 (with Daniel Garton, Richard Hill, Andrew McDougall KC, Dipen Sabharwal KC and Vit Stehlik)
"Why SMRs will shape the future of nuclear debate", Nuclear Engineering International, October 2021 (with Daniel Garton, Richard Hill, Andrew McDougall KC, Dipen Sabharwal KC and Vit Stehlik)
Contributing co-editor, "International Arbitration | Chapters", November 2021, The Legal500, 6th Edition (with Michael Polkinghorne)
"Hardship and Climate Change", Energy, Oil & Gas, Summer 2020 (with Elizabeth Oger-Gross and Marièle Coulet-Diaz)
"Hardship and climate change: How to draw-up climate-resilient contracts", Business Green, 4 May 2020 (with Elizabeth Oger-Gross and Marièle Coulet-Diaz)
"Why Managing Dispute Risks in NPP Projects is Important", Lexis Nexis Energy Law Report, February 2020 (with Andrew de Lotbinière McDougall, Daniel Garton, Richard Hill and Dipen Sabharwal KC)
"Rethinking hardship clauses in times of changing climate", Environmental Law & Management, January 2020 (with Elizabeth Oger-Gross and Marièle Coulet-Diaz)
"Article 14: Failure or Impossibility to Act", UNCITRAL Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration, January 2020 (with Michael Polkinghorne, Marièle Coulet-Diaz and Zehaan Trivedi)
Adapting to the Times, International Arbitration Law Review, issue 4, 2017 (with Dipen Sabharwal and Anne Véronique Schlaepfer)
The "Business Case" For and Against International Arbitration, International Energy and Minerals Arbitration, Paper 11, Rocky Mt. Min. L. Fdn., September 2013 (with Andrew de Lotbinière McDougall)
