Nikos Lavranos is a highly regarded expert in all aspects related to international investment treaties and arbitration who aims to provide optimal solutions for his clients. He always takes a holistic 360 degrees approach by taking into account the fast-moving developments at the international, European and domestic level when advising his clients. His strategy is to ensure that his clients are placed in the best position to obtain and maintain optimal investment protection, reduce their risk exposure, and if necessary, defend their rights through international arbitration and litigation.

Nikos Lavranos is an internationally recognized expert in investment law & arbitration who has expertise in advising, litigating and negotiating in international investment treaty disputes. He combines his experience as arbitrator, mediator, legal consultant, academic and former Dutch policy maker and chief negotiator for Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs). He has been involved in several investment treaty arbitrations involving in particular Dutch investors and Dutch BITs as well as the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT).

In addition, he is Guest Professor “International Investment Law” at the Free University Brussels – Brussels Diplomatic Academy, and regularly teaches also at other universities such as the Erasmus University Rotterdam and Kobe University, Japan. He has published widely in international law journals and is regularly speaker at webinars and conferences. He recently co-edited the book International Arbitration and EU Law (Elgars Publishers, 2021).

Besides, he is Secretary General of the European Federation for Investment Law and Arbitration (EFILA), a non-profit think-tank based in Brussels.

Nikos studied law in Frankfurt, Germany, obtained his LLM and Doctor juris in European law and international trade law from Maastricht University, the Netherlands. Subsequently, he worked as Assistant Professor in EU law and Senior Researcher in international law at the University of Amsterdam. After a  short stint at the Dutch Competition Authority, he was a Max Weber Fellow at the European University Institute (EUI) in Florence.

Leaving academia aside, he moved to the Ministry of Economic Affairs and subsequently to the Ministry of Foreign Affairs as the BIT expert.

With this BIT experience, Nikos worked at Global Investment Protection, a new innovative consultancy firm that bundled SMEs claims in the renewable energy sector and advised them in their arbitration proceedings against Eastern European countries.

In 2017, Nikos founded his own boutique consultancy firm NL-Investmentconsulting B.V., which advises clients in all aspects related to optimal investment protection, investment (re)structuring, investment risk management and dispute resolution.  

Nikos is regularly involved in court proceedings in connection with high profile arbitration disputes concerning the enforcement and the setting aside of arbitral awards and interim measures before Dutch courts.

Nikos is also available for appointments as Arbitrator and Mediator. He is listed as Arbitrator and/or Mediator at the:

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