Isabelle Vaugon

Isabelle Vaugon

Position: Partner
Admission:​ Paris Bar
Practice Areas

  • Commercial arbitration
  • Investment arbitration
  • International mediation & other ADR
  • Litigation
  • International contracts
  • Africa and Latin America Desks

Languages: French, English, Spanish
Email:  i.vaugon@vp.legal
Phone: +33 (0)1 86 70 89 28

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Presentation

Founder of VP Legal, Isabelle Vaugon is admitted to the Paris Bar since 1989. She has over thirty years of experience specializing in arbitration and international litigation.

Isabelle is a mediator and arbitrator and works in French, English, and Spanish. She is registered with multiple national and international arbitration and mediation institutions and has a strong track record of success in assisting clients before arbitration tribunals and judicial courts in France and abroad.

She founded and led the International Litigation and ADR Department at FIDAL, a prominent business law firm in France, from its inception in 2005 until her departure in 2022.

She provides assistance and support to her clients in navigating national and international arbitration tribunals, as well as judicial courts in France and abroad. In addition, she is able to guide clients through alternative dispute resolution procedures such as mediation, conciliation, Dispute Boards, and early case evaluation, offering a well-rounded approach to resolving legal conflicts.

Isabelle has participated in numerous international arbitrations, both Ad hoc and institutional, under ICC, SCC, UNCITRAL, ICSID and CMAP rules. Her practice spans a diverse range of applicable laws, with particular depth in mining and oil, joint ventures, and international commercial and distribution contracts, particularly in sub-Saharan Africa and Latin America.

In addition to her arbitration and litigation practice, Isabelle has a strong background in court commercial litigation, with a focus on post-acquisition disputes, unfair competition, compliance of products, patent infringement and setting up of judicial expertise. She also provides defense in proceedings related to white-collar crime.

Isabelle has co-authored two studies in partnership with the American Arbitration Association (AAA) on the economic interest of businesses in mediation and arbitration, as well as best practices in the organization of legal departments. She has been a guest speaker at numerous conferences and symposiums on these subjects.

Isabelle serves as guest lecturer at prestigious institutions such as Sciences Po, HEC and Paris II in a joint course with Yale University. She also trains her clients’ in-house legal teams on mediation and arbitration.

Isabelle assists her clients in strategic planning and risk management for their projects, providing valuable insights and guidance to anticipate and effectively manage risks.

Isabelle Vaugon has been appointed Co-Chair of the Mediation Standing Committee and Chair of the Task Force on Protocols for Friendly Expert Integration into the Mediation Process, of The Hague Court of Arbitration for Aviation (HCAA).

Recent experience, with a focus on Africa and Latin America

  • Counsel in an ICC arbitration case for a German mining company in relation to the wrongful termination of a long-standing business relationship with a state-owned company operating in Congo Kinshasa;
  • Counsel in an ICC arbitration case for a Hong Kong/Singapore mining group in relation to the breach of exclusivity of a mining exploration project by the State of Burkina Faso;
  • Counsel in a UNCITRAL arbitration case for a French mining company in relation to a dispute over an oil supply contract with an Egyptian state-owned company;
  • Counsel in an Ad hoc arbitration case for a French private company in relation to a dispute over the construction of a gas pipeline in Colombia;
  • Arbitrator in an ICC arbitration case in relation to the wrongful termination of an oil exploration contract in Yemen;
  • Counsel in an Ad hoc arbitration case between a French company and a Tunisian company in relation to a consortium agreement for an oil exploitation project in Senegal;
  • Co-counsel in an ICC arbitration case between a German company and a Tunisian company in relation to a management agreement covering a beach resort project;
  • Counsel in an Ad hoc arbitration case related to a gas distribution network contract in Togo;
  • Counsel in an Ad hoc arbitration case between a French company and a Cameroonian company in relation to the reorganization of a joint subsidiary;
  • Counsel for a French company in the process of renegotiating a public security equipment agreement with the Cameroonian government;
  • Counsel in an Ad hoc arbitration case for a shareholder in a Franco-Moroccan partnership in relation to shareholder’s rights and duties;
  • Counsel in an ICC arbitration case and court proceedings in France, Benin, and the UK in relation to an oil exploration project in Benin;
  • Counsel in an ICC arbitration case for a company based in Congo Kinshasa against a French company in relation to a uranium exploration project in the Central African Republic;
  • Counsel in the renegotiation of a SPA between a bank based in Congo Kinshasa and a Kenyan bank;
  • Counsel before the ECOWAS Court of Human Rights in relation to the expropriation of a foreign investment in the absence of a contract and arbitration clause between the parties and the African ECOWAS Member State;
  • Counsel in a FIDIC conciliation procedure in relation to a contract for the construction of a power plant in Benin;
  • Mediator in ICC mediation case involving a Gabonese party and a party from Congo Kinshasa;
  • Counsel in an arbitration case between a Chilean wine company and a large French distribution group related to unfair competition in China;
  • Counsel in an arbitration case between an Argentine oil distribution company and a major French oil supplier;
  • Counsel to an Argentine citizen before a criminal court in Uruguay for violation of exchange controls related to financial flows between Argentina and Uruguay;
  • Counsel in a litigation case before the Colombian courts between a French pipeline construction company and the Colombian state oil distribution company;
  • Advice on exports by the Colombian national coal mining company for a French national electricity company;
  • Arbitration proceedings and various litigation proceedings in Africa on behalf of a Brazilian oil exploration company;
  • Negotiation with the Brazilian authorities regarding the repatriation of Brazilian works of art located in Europe;
  • Research in Panama of beneficial owners of financial companies;
  • Various trainings in Brazil with the French-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce on mediation and ADR;
  • Various conferences in Brazil on the same subject, especially for the judiciary;
  • Seminars in Colombia with the Arbitration Chamber of Bogota on arbitration and mediation in France and Colombia.

Education

  • University of Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris I), Master of laws DESS, European law
  • University of Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris I), Master of laws, Private law
  • University of Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris I), Master of laws, Public law

Distinctions

Isabelle Vaugon is regularly recognized by all legal rankings in France and internationally for her arbitration and mediation practice:
  • Legal 500 
  • Who’s Who Legal (WWL) 
  • Décideurs 
  • Option Droit des Affaires

Publications

  • Authored an article published in Japan on investment in Africa and how to secure such investment under the OHADA law, 2021;
  • Co-authored a Harvard University publication on alternative dispute resolution, 2016;
  • Co-authored a collective book on Extractive Litigation, published by the ICC, 2015;
  • Co-authored the study on best practices in litigation management together with Richard Naimark, Vice President of the AAA and Mark Appel, Vice President of the ICDR, 2013;
  • Authored a study on The extension of mediation to the OHADA Uniform Act of Arbitration, on behalf of the OHADA General Secretariat, 2013;
  • Co-authored a study on the economic benefits for businesses of using mediation and arbitration to resolve their disputes called “Dispute Wise Business Management”, together with Richard Naimark, Vice President of the AAA and Mark Appel, Vice President of the ICDR, 2013.

Conferences

  • Speaker at a conference on investment in Africa and EU funding for investment in Africa hosted by the Barcelona Chamber of Commerce, Spain, 2021;
  • Speaker at a conference on best practices in intellectual property dispute management hosted by the Venice Chamber of Arbitration, Italy, 2020;
  • Speaker at a conference on optimised dispute management hosted by the Abidjan Chamber of Commerce, 2019;
  • Speaker at a conference hosted by the Corporate Counsel International Arbitration Group (CCIAG), London, 2018;
  • Speaker at a conference on early case assessment hosted by the CEA (Centro de Arbitrage de Madrid), Madrid, 2017;
  • Speaker at a conference on mediation for the Brazilian Judiciary Union held in Vitória, Brazil, 2016;
  • Speaker at a conference organised for companies belonging to the Franco-Brazilian Chamber of Commerce in Rio de Janeiro, 2016;
  • Provided training courses on optimised litigation management to Petrobras’ in-house legal teams, Rio de Janeiro, 2016;
  • Provided training courses on optimised litigation management organised by the African Development Facility, Ivory Coast, 2016;
  • Speaker at a conference on combined mediation and arbitration hosted by ESADE, Barcelona, 2016;
  • Speaker at a conference on extractive litigation hosted by the ICC, 2015;
  • Speaker on the abovementioned studies at the ICC conference, 2014.

Engagements

  • Co-Chair of the Mediation Standing Committee of The Hague Court of Arbitration for Aviation (HCAA), 2023 – to date;
  • Chair of the Task Force on Protocols for Friendly Expert Integration into the Mediation Process, of The Hague Court of Arbitration for Aviation (HCAA), 2023 – to date;
  • Isabelle Vaugon has provided training on Mediation and Arbitration in Tunisia, Senegal and Togo;
  • Isabelle Vaugon has been invited to teach courses on mediation and arbitration at prestigious institutions such as Sciences Po Paris, HEC Paris, Paris I and the University of Strasbourg;
  • Training on mediation and other ADR for major French companies such as Total, Orange, Thales, Spie Batignolles, Eiffage, Vinci;
  • Training on mediation and other ADR for the French Aeronautical and Space Industries Group (GIFAS);
  • Training on mediation and other ADR for the international legal department of Petrobras, in Brazil.