David N. Cinotti has handled a wide variety of matters at the trial and appellate levels.  He has substantial experience in complex federal litigation and international dispute resolution, including international commercial and investor-State arbitration and the application of international, foreign, and foreign-relations law in U.S. courts.  Among other things, he has experience with the New York Convention and the Federal Arbitration Act, bilateral investment treaties, the Hague Evidence Convention, the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act, and mutual legal assistance treaties.  Mr. Cinotti’s work has included:

• representing a Latin American State in two ICSID arbitrations brought by European investors alleging violations of bilateral investment treaties;
• representing a Canadian consulting firm in a federal securities-fraud class action;
• representing a company based in the Caribbean in an import-related contract suit against a U.S. company, with parallel proceedings abroad;
• advising a European client regarding compliance with OFAC regulations;
• representing and advising clients regarding litigation collateral to arbitration proceedings, including petitions to enjoin and compel arbitration and to confirm and vacate arbitral awards;
• representing European telecommunications companies and their U.S. affiliate in the successful defense of a multibillion-dollar civil RICO claim regarding control of an Eastern European joint venture;
• representing U.S. NGOs in a successful First Amendment challenge to restrictions on U.S. foreign-aid funding;
• representing a U.S. company in the successful defense of a class action under a federal consumer-protection statute; and
• coordinating the collection and production of electronically stored information, including ensuring compliance with data-privacy laws, from companies in various jurisdictions inside and outside the United States.

Prior to joining Venable, Mr. Cinotti clerked for the Honorable Joseph M. McLaughlin, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit, and the Honorable Richard Conway Casey, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New York.  He was also a litigation associate at WilmerHale LLP.

Activities

Mr. Cinotti is a member of the Foreign & Comparative Law Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York.  He formerly served as Secretary of the City Bar’s International Law Committee (ILC) and Chair of the ILC’s Subcommittee on International Law in U.S. Courts.  He has organized CLE and other programs on litigating issues of international and foreign law in U.S. courts, and he has published in the areas of international litigation and arbitration.

Mr. Cinotti is an adjunct professor at Seton Hall University School of Law, where he advises the Jessup International Law Moot Court Team and has lectured on international arbitration.  In addition, he serves as a legal adviser to the Permanent Observer Mission of the Holy See to the United Nations.