Meet the PHL’s legal team in its arbitration case vs. China: Paul Reichler

Paul Reichler is one of five legal counsels retained by the Philippines as it brings its dispute with China over parts of the South China Sea before the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague.

The Chambers Guides, which ranks law firms and lawyers from over 190 jurisdictions around the world, called Reichler "one of the world’s most respected and experienced practitioners of Public International Law," who "belongs to a select group of elite lawyers with extensive experience litigating on behalf of Sovereign States before the International Court of Justice in The Hague, and the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea in Hamburg."

Reichler, a senior partner at Washington D.C.-based law firm Foley Hoag LLP and the co-chair of its International Litigation and Arbitration Department, has been representing sovereign states in disputes for more than 25 years, particularly in land and maritime boundary disputes with neighboring states.

He headed the Foley Hoag team that presented the Philippines' position during the oral arguments in its arbitration case against China.

Among notable cases attributed to him are that of Nicaragua against the US "regarding the illegal use of force in international relations," from 1984 to 1986; and Uruguay in a dispute with Argentina about "international environmental protection and sustainable development," from 2006 to 2010.

He has also represented sovereign states in disputes with foreign investors in arbitral forums, and has more than 30 years of experience representing before federal and state courts in the US.

Reichler graduated from Harvard Law school, cum laude, in 1973. — Rose-An Jessica Dioquino/BM, GMA News