Rachael Kent has more than 25 years of experience representing companies, states, state entities, and individuals in commercial and investment arbitration proceedings worldwide. She is widely recognized for her expertise in the field and for her exceptional written and oral advocacy skills. She has been the lead advocate in numerous complex arbitrations in the energy, mining, aerospace, defense, pharmaceutical, construction, insurance, telecommunications, technology and retail sectors, among others. Ms. Kent also sits as arbitrator in commercial arbitrations.
Ms. Kent frequently represents parties in arbitrations involving states and state entities. In recent years, she has led a team representing a UK investor in an UNCITRAL arbitration against the People’s Republic of China arising out of the expropriation of land use rights and unfair treatment of the claimant’s investment. The case included a bifurcated jurisdictional phase, applications for interim measures of protection and other complex procedural applications, and ancillary proceedings in the courts of the arbitral seat. Ms. Kent also recently successfully represented the Ministry of Public Works of a Middle Eastern state in a SIAC arbitration arising out of a $400 million construction project in the transportation sector; an aerospace and defense company in a dispute under a long-term development and supply agreement for military aircraft; and a state party in an LCIA arbitration related to the development of a substantial oil and gas field and the construction of gas processing facilities.
Ms. Kent has also led numerous representations of parties in commercial arbitrations under the rules of all major arbitral institutions, including the ICC, AAA/ICDR, LCIA, SIAC, HKIAC, VIAC, and WIPO. She has particular expertise in representing life sciences and technology companies in arbitrations arising under joint venture, co-development, and IP license agreements. In one recent case, she represented a global pharmaceutical company in an ICC arbitration arising under a license agreement, where the claims and counterclaims exceeded $500 million in dispute and involved both contractual claims and alleged violations of antitrust laws.
Ms. Kent is a Vice Chair of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration and is on the WIPO Mediation and Arbitration Advisory Committee. She has taught courses on international arbitration at the Georgetown University Law Center, the Duke University School of Law, the University of Michigan Law School, and Pepperdine Law School. She also frequently speaks and writes on topics related to international arbitration.
Updated Oct 2025
