Attorney of the Month Stephen Anway Law Firm of the Month Friedman Nemecek L.L.C. Boutique Firm of the Month Margaret Wong & Associates LLC ATTORNEY OF THE MONTH Stephen Anway DRS Photography

16 | www.AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com Around the World

By Elizabeth Morse

here is arguably no lawyer whose practice is more international than Stephen Anway’s. A native son and current resident of northeast Ohio, Anway has spent more than a decade represent- ing sovereign nations and multinational corporations before international tribunals around the Tworld. His clients currently include the Slovak Republic, Croatia, Estonia and Kosovo (and he’s recently concluded representations for Ecuador, the Czech Republic and the Gabonese Repub- lic). Not clients from these countries, but the countries themselves.

Only 39 years old, Anway is a partner “When we arrived at the check-in table, skilled lawyers in the country, but just out- at Squire Patton Boggs and is co-head of we had to negotiate our way in because standing human beings. I knew that this investment treaty arbitration at the firm, we were crashing the party,” Anway recalls. was the place I wanted to be.” which is the department in charge of de- While at Squire’s holiday party, Anway After his first summer, he accepted an fending countries against claims brought met an Ohio State law school alumnus who offer to return for a second summer and against them under investment treaties. was currently practicing in Squire’s corpo- later accepted a full-time associate position Anway is widely recognized as one of rate law department. He took an interest with the firm. the leading young international arbitration in Anway, requesting that Anway send his practitioners in the world receiving various resume and first-semester grades when he “Supreme” Detour awards annually in recognition for his work received them. Following his second summer with the in international arbitration. Anway credits After the party, Anway returned to Co- firm, Anway returned to Columbus for his his success to his colleagues at Squire Pat- lumbus and started to research law firms, third-year of law school. The then-Ohio ton Boggs. including Squire. He came across an old Attorney General Betty Montgomery, who “I could not have asked for a more support- Akron Beacon Journal article in which Anway had met working on a political cam- ive law firm, both in terms of my fellow part- Squire and another prominent Cleveland- paign in the late 1990s, recommended that ners – who have mentored me and given me based law firm were featured on the front Anway apply for a two-year judicial clerk- opportunities throughout my career – and in cover. The two Squire partners pictured ship position with the chief justice of the terms of the global platform that this law firm on the front page were Fred Nance and Supreme Court of Ohio, Thomas J. Moyer. offers,” Anway says. His path to Squire, how- George von Mehren. The article was about At the time, Moyer was the longest-sitting ever, began with a chance meeting. how Squire was representing the Cleveland chief justice in the country. Browns in Art Model’s attempt to strip the “He was a legend,” Anway says. “He had Opportunity of a Lifetime city of its NFL team. The other law firm restored integrity to the Ohio judicial sys- During his first semester of law school in represented Art Model. tem when he took over the office in the 1999, Anway was invited to attend a holi- “As a life-long Browns fan, I knew which late 1980s and gracefully guided the court day party at a law firm of a friend’s father in firm was right for me,” Anway says. through some extremely difficult times Cleveland. As the party drew to a close, his In the coming months, Squire hired An- during the 1990s.” friend’s father recommended that the two way as a summer associate. He describes The chief justice hired Anway in 2002, law students wander over to a holiday party his first summer with Squire as “transfor- causing Anway to defer his employment at across the street, at the law firm then called, mative because I was exposed to a group of Squire until the end of the clerkship. Anway Squire Sanders & Dempsey. people who were not only among the most and the chief justice quickly grew close.

Vol. 2 No. 4 Attorney at Law Magazine® Cleveland | 17 DRS Photography

“We shared a common judicial philoso- Going International “I remember it like it was yesterday,” An- phy, and he was a great mentor to me,” During his last days at the court, Anway way says. “George said that he had heard I Anway explains. “Of the hundreds of cases received a call from Squire’s hiring chair clerked for Chief Justice Moyer, in front of that we discussed during my time at the at the time, Steve Friedman, who Anway whom George had his first oral argument court, I never saw him once let politics af- now describes as “an invaluable men- and won. Given that pedigree, he said he fect his judgment. tor of mine and a great friend.” Friedman expected that I could put a ‘few words to- “He accomplished what he did through a had called to ask which practice group at gether.’ I told him I certainly hoped I could.” mild-mannered, relentless pursuit of noble the law firm Anway wished to join. When Anway proceeded to follow von Mehren objectives, while always being respectful of Anway equivocated, Friedman stated the down to his office, where there was a part- others,” Anway continues, explaining the obvious: “You just finished a clerkship with ner from the firm’s Madrid office. They had chief justice’s lasting impact. “He disliked at the Supreme Court of Ohio; you’re going a new international arbitration represent- the pound-the-table aggressiveness that we into litigation!” Thus, Anway began work- ing one of Europe’s largest energy compa- see too often in our profession. That had a ing in the firm’s litigation group. nies against an African producer of natural profound impact on me.” “There was one partner in particular, gas. Von Mehren made clear the challenge At the end of his two-year clerkship, Martha Sullivan, who gave me outstanding from the outset. the chief justice asked Anway to remain as opportunities at a very young age to argue “He said that the case was worth, liter- a permanent clerk. Anway declined, opt- before the U.S. District Court in one case ally, billions of dollars and that there was ing to honor his commitment to return to and the 6th Circuit Court of Appeals in an- an army of lawyers from one of the larg- Squire in Cleveland. He and his then-fiancé other. I’m extremely grateful to Martha for est and most prestigious Wall Street firms (now wife), Amanda, moved to Cleveland those opportunities,” Anway says. on the other side,” Anway explains. Just to in 2004, were married and Anway rejoined Sullivan and Anway won both cases. make sure Anway knew the gravity of the the firm. Still, Anway stayed in touch with His time in domestic litigation, how- situation, von Mehren concluded, “You’re the chief justice in the years that followed, ever, would not last long. The change came my army.” writing law review articles and meeting to abruptly. Anway begins the story by de- As von Mehren and the Madrid part- catch up periodically. scribing one of his favorite partners, Ricky ner began talking about the case, which When Chief Justice Moyer died in 2010, Gurbst, who used to walk the halls to make involved complex pricing formulas in the the Supreme Court asked Anway to speak sure that associates didn’t have too much aftermath of the deregulation of the Euro- on behalf of all of the chief justices’ law work on their plates, but not too little either. pean natural gas markets, Anway began to clerks during his more than 20 years in of- On one particular day, Gurbst checked in worry. fice, together with the other six Supreme on Anway and Anway recalls saying some- “It was the most complicated thing I’d Court justices, at his memorial at the Ohio thing that he has never said since. ever heard. I mentally told myself that I Union. “I said, ‘I could use a little more work,’” would go back to my office, study the mate- “I was grateful for the opportunity to Anway chuckles. rial over the next week, and hope to come honor him in that way,” Anway says. Gurbst promptly marched down the hall back and ask a few intelligent questions,” After the memorial, the Supreme Court and returned with George von Mehren – Anway says. “At that point, von Mehren sold Anway the blue leather chair from the the partner who appeared on the front of looked up to me and said, ‘I’d like a draft by chief justice’s chambers in which Anway the Akron Beacon Journal article that en- 5 p.m. tonight.’ Without flinching, I looked had interviewed in 2002 and in which he ticed Anway to join Squire in the first place. him right in the eye and with as much false sat discussing countless cases with the chief At the time, von Mehren was starting the confidence as I could muster, responded, justice during his clerkship. Anway now firm’s international dispute resolution‘You’ve got it.’ I then went back to my office, keeps the chair in his office. (IDR) practice. closed the door, called my wife, and told

18 | www.AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com her that I probably wouldn’t be working here much longer.” Around 4:30 p.m., von Mehren saw An- way in the hallway and said that he recently had returned from Europe and was still on I could not have asked for a more “European time,” so he was going to bed early and getting up early. “He said that as long as I sent it to him supportive law firm, both in terms of my by 5 a.m., it would be fine. I sent it at 4:59 a.m. and drove home. I slept for 30 minutes fellow partners – who have mentored and woke up to an email that said, ‘Looks good. Come back in as soon as possible so me and given me opportunities throughout we can keep working on it.’ I immediately got dressed and went back in.” So started Anway’s career in internation- my career – and in terms of the global al arbitration. Von Mehren, Anway and partner Ken platform that this law firm offers. Moore went on to win the case for $4 bil- lion. In 2013, The American Lawyer Arbi- tration Scorecard ranked it as one of the top 20 international commercial arbitration awards in history. More than a decade later, Anway can laugh about how it all started. “I’m now proud to call George my men- tor, colleague and a close friend,” Anway states. Piling Up Wins That was just the beginning. In 2008, von Mehren, Anway and two other part- ners won another $4 billion price review arbitration for a European client against another Wall Street law firm. That decision, too, was ranked among the top 20 inter- national commercial arbitration awards in history. Additionally, in 2012, von Mehren, An- way, partner Steve Fazio and the same two other partners won a $580 million award for the Italian power company, Edison. Again, the decision was ranked among the top 20 awards in the history of internation- al commercial arbitration. That’s three of the top 20 international commercial arbi- tration awards in history. No other firm in the world had more than two. Those wins were international commer- cial arbitration cases, which constitute only half of Anway’s practice. The other half is investment-treaty arbitration, in which Anway is either suing countries or repre- senting them under investment treaties. As to this second category of cases, An- way’s investment treaty arbitration success began in 2005, when von Mehren asked him to run a $100 million case for the

Czech Republic as a mid-level associate, DRS Photography which involved – with von Mehren’s over- sight – leading a team of lawyers to develop the case, briefing it and arguing it at the and the most senior members of the team. stating that every partner has something hearing in Paris. “It was the youngest team to ever win an unique and important to contribute. “I was against a senior partner from one investment treaty arbitration,” Anway says. “That often requires putting ego aside and of the world’s largest law firms, who repre- “Rostislav is my counterpart in Europe, accepting that each partner on the team can sented a foreign investor from Israel. The speaks five languages and is the most skilled do something better than you can. If team international tribunal accepted our argu- analytical lawyer with whom I’ve ever members don’t recognize that, they are not ments, rejected all the investor’s claims and worked.” Anway's most recent investment- on the team very long,” Anway says. ordered the investor to pay our client’s legal treaty success was for the Slovak Republic. All told, Anway has worked on some 60 fees,” Anway recalls. “The decision also set “While I was giving a speech in Prague international arbitrations and worked in new precedent in public international law. for the Czech government in 2011, mem- more than 25 countries. Some of them – It is now one of the most cited cases by in- bers of the Slovak Republic were in the au- such as England, France, the Czech Repub- ternational tribunals in the world.” dience. We connected at a break and I was lic and Slovakia – he has visited so many Then, in 2012, Anway and David Alex- hired to represent them in a small matter. times that he’s “lost count.” He collects a ander – a Columbus partner who Anway That initial engagement led to a much big- coffee mug from each new country he vis- regards as “one of the best true partners this ger international arbitration concerning its, which he keeps on bookshelves in his law firm has ever seen and the single best whether a foreign investor could interfere office. cross-examiner I’ve ever witnessed” – repre- with the Slovak government’s attempt to Further contributing to the travel is that sented the Czech Republic in another $100 transform its public health insurance sys- Anway is now a regular speaker on interna- million investment treaty arbitration. The tem,” Anway explains. tional arbitration and public international international tribunal accepted Anway’s ar- Anway and the Squire team again law. Over the past five years, he has given guments that the acts of a state-owned com- won. The Global Arbitration Review some 40 speeches on international law in pany were not attributable to the Czech Re- ranked the decision as one of the most cities around the world, including London, public for purposes of public international important jurisdictional decisions in the Paris, Prague, Portorož, Guayaquil, Lima, law, dismissing the investors’ claims. world in 2014. New York, Washington, D.C., Miami and In 2013, Anway and Rostislav Pekař – Houston. His most recent speech was just who is the same age as Anway and is based Reflections last month, when he gave a speech on in Prague – won a third $100 million case When describing these cases, Anway public international law at Harvard Law for the Czech Republic and again, received is adamant about the “team” nature of School. an order for the claimants to pay their cli- the firm wins. Anway describes the care- Anway is also licensed in New York and ent’s legal fees. The two were co-lead counsel ful construction of the teams they create Washington, D.C. with an office in both lo-

20 | www.AttorneyAtLawMagazine.com “You know, I love traveling and seeing all these beautiful cities, but at the end of the day, I’d much rather go home to my family in Westlake, Ohio." DRS Photography

cations. As a result of his presence in these schools teach the subject – not only in ing much of the year, he leaves no doubt markets, his recognition there has grown. Ohio, but around the country. It is regret- where he prefers to be most. In 2014 and 2015, the International Law table because any lawyer that is involved “You know, I love traveling and seeing all Office (ILO) named him the top arbitration in advising clients on cross-border trans- these beautiful cities, but at the end of the lawyer in New York City, based on surveys actions should have some familiarity with day, I’d much rather go home to my family from clients. And The American Lawyer international arbitration. It is now the pri- in Westlake, Ohio,” Anway says. awarded him the 2015 Arbitration Award mary way that cross-border disputes are re- “I’ve spent a lot of time in what many at its inaugural Transatlantic Legal Awards solved and so few people really understand people regard as the best and most desir- dinner in London last June. it,” Anway says. “As business becomes more able cities in the world,” he continues. “And “It’s been a busy 10 years,” Anway says. “I and more global, there will be an increasing I can tell you, unequivocally, that there is have been incredibly fortunate to have had need for lawyers to understand the subject no place that my family and I would rather a mentor in von Mehren, who has taught matter. Law schools need to adapt.” be than right here. The quality of life is im- me so much, provided me the opportuni- Fortunately, Case Western Reserve Uni- possible to beat.” ties and resources to grow and to have been versity School of Law has done so. The law He and his wife, Amanda, have two chil- so personally encouraging.” school asked Anway to develop an interna- dren, daughter, Allison, 9, and son, Cole, 8. Despite how exhausting the work and tional arbitration course several years ago. “My wife is incredibly supportive, and it travel can be, he says it is easily worth it. Anway did so and now teaches a 13-week would be impossible to do what I do with- “Honestly, I could not find a more in- doctrinal course on the subject. out her,” Anway says. teresting and exciting field of law,” An- “The class takes an extraordinary amount He has played guitar for over 25 years way says. “The practice literally lets you of time, but is very rewarding,” Anway says. and enjoys jam sessions with Allison, who see the world, to experience different The class meets for two hours every Mon- plays piano and sings, in his music studio cultures and to learn different legal tradi- day morning for 13 weeks and concludes in their basement. tions.” with a traditional law school essay-style “She’s already a better musician than I exam. Hosting the class on Monday morn- am,” he says. Anway also loves spending Adjunct Professor ing allows him to fly out for the rest of the time with her and Cole working on home- As his practice continued to grow, An- week to wherever he needs to go. He is now work, playing sports and hanging out at the way began considering whether local law in his third year teaching the course. Catawba Island Club on Lake Erie, which, schools may be interested in offering a appropriately enough, is where Chief Jus- course on international arbitration. Time at Home tice Moyer used to be a member and where “I was surprised to see how few law Although Anway’s work has him travel- a plaque hangs in his honor.

Vol. 2 No. 4 Attorney at Law Magazine® Cleveland | 21 at a glance

Squire Patton Boggs 4900 Key Tower Cleveland, OH 44114 (216) 479-8500 www.squirepattonboggs.com Practice Areas International Commercial Arbitration Investment Treaty Arbitration

Admissions District of Columbia Ne w York Ohio U.S. Supreme Court U.S. Court of Appeals, Sixth Circuit U.S. District Court, Northern District of Ohio U.S. District Court, Southern District of New York

Education Juris Doctor, Ohio State University, 2002 Bachelor of Arts, Bowling Green State University, 1999 Honors & Awards Law360’s International Arbitration Rising Stars for 2016 Top 50 ADR Champion, National Law Journal, 2016 Arbitration Award, The American Lawyer’s Transatlantic Legal Awards, 2015 International Law Office’s Client Choice Award for Arbitration in New York, 2014-2015 40 Under 40, Crain’s Business, 2014 Rising Stars, Ohio Super Lawyers

Professional Memberships International Council of Commercial Arbitration, Member International Bar Association, Member London Court of International Arbitration, Member Young ICCA, Advisory Member

Community Involvement Case Western Reserve University School of Law, Adjunct Professor Speaker on International Arbitration and Public International Law

Hobbies Guitar Basketball Astronomy

Favorite Quote “Beware of those who, by the vehemence of their assertions, by the confidence of their predictions, make up for the DRS Photography weakness of their reasons.” – Jeremy Bentham

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