How do you source international arbitration leads?
To source international arbitration leads, watch four channels, which show a dispute at different stages, and run a weekly routine that ends in a decision on every lead. The channels are relationships, registry publications, news and government sources, and monitoring of existing clients. ICSID posts basic case details only on registration, after a screening that takes three weeks on average.
The earlier channels are noisier. They are also the ones that can reach an investor before it has picked counsel. Our guide to investment treaty arbitration covers what follows a notice of dispute.
Where does each channel fall short?
No channel is complete: relationships stay narrow, registries arrive late, news is noisy, and client monitoring reaches only existing clients.
- Relationships can come early. In the 2013 Queen Mary and PwC survey (101 corporate counsel, not treaty-specific), 88% rated personal knowledge of the lawyer important and 31% league tables.
- Registries are reliable, but an ICSID request must include proof of the representative's authority, so a representative, usually counsel, is in place before registration.
For the wider shift in tools, see how arbitration lawyers are sourcing disputes earlier.
What makes a good investment treaty lead?
A lead is worth pursuing when it passes five tests. The claimant is a protected investor with a qualifying investment, and a treaty in force contains the state's consent to arbitrate. Time is left on the clock: about 90% of bilateral investment treaties have a cooling-off period, and six months is the most common length. The amount at stake justifies a case. Either the state can pay, or its assets can be reached.
Mining was 24% of new ICSID cases in 2025 and oil and gas 21%, so a measure hitting a mining investor earns an early look.
How do you qualify a lead in a day?
Run the cheapest of the five tests first: the treaty and the holding chain, then the clock, then the size of the claim and who would pay. A fast pass will miss detail, but it saves partner time for the leads that survive.
TC Energy shows why the clock test matters. In TC Energy v. United States (ICSID Case No. ARB/21/63), Executive Order 13990 revoked the Keystone XL presidential permit on 20 January 2021, and the Request for Arbitration followed on 22 November 2021. The US State Department's case page publishes the request but no earlier notice of intent, so that stage may never be visible. We think a "no" in a day is worth more than a "maybe" in a month.
What does a weekly lead-sourcing routine look like?
A weekly routine needs five steps, and the last one matters most.
- Scan new government measures and news in the practice's sectors and regions, daily if possible, at least weekly.
- Triage to a shortlist against the five tests.
- Give each lead one owner and a next step.
- Run conflicts before anyone makes contact.
- Log a decision: pursue, watch or drop.
An unlogged lead gets triaged again next week. Treat "watch" as a real decision: write down what would move it to "pursue". Tanzania cancelled all retention licences on 10 January 2018, and Nachingwea U.K. Limited v. Tanzania (ICSID Case No. ARB/20/38) followed about two years later. Our page on early warning of investment treaty disputes covers the monitoring side.
How should you approach a potential client?
Carefully, and only after checking which rules bind the lawyer. This is not legal advice.
The American Bar Association (ABA) model rule, as adopted in Minnesota's Rule 7.3, bars live person-to-person solicitation when pecuniary gain is a significant motive. Three exceptions apply: the person is a lawyer, has a family, close personal or prior relationship with the lawyer, or routinely uses this type of legal service for business. We would not assume a company with one possible claim qualifies.
Email and letters remain open if they are accurate and free of coercion or harassment. Nothing may follow a stated wish not to be solicited.
In England and Wales, paragraph 8.9 of the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) Code bars unsolicited approaches to members of the public, except current and former clients. SRA guidance counts individually targeted approaches as unsolicited, whether in person or by other means. That paragraph sits in a section for services to the public or a section of it. Whether a company counts, the guidance we read does not say; that is for ethics counsel.
The 2011 International Bar Association (IBA) Principles are not binding and have no solicitation rule. They do say a lawyer working abroad follows home and host standards (Principle 2.3) and avoids conflicts (Principle 3.1). In practice, run conflicts first and describe the measure and its treaty questions; whether the investor has a claim is for its own counsel.
What this means for practice
The value sits in the months between a measure and a claim: about ten in TC Energy, about two years in Nachingwea. Treaty and case databases explain disputes that already exist; finding one earlier means reading what governments publish, which signal-based monitoring does.
DSPT Finder is an AI tool that sources international arbitration leads. It reads news, government publications and company disclosures from over 2,100 sources in 32 languages across more than 159 countries. Legal judgement stays with the lawyers. Our page on business development for international arbitration practices covers the team side.
For the signals themselves, see how to detect investment treaty disputes early; for the sector spread, ICSID caseload trends in 2026.
Frequently asked questions
What is an international arbitration lead?
An international arbitration lead is a dispute between a foreign investor or company and a state or counterparty that may need arbitration counsel, spotted before counsel is chosen. In treaty work it usually begins with a government measure.
Can a law firm contact a company that may have a treaty claim?
It depends on where the lawyer is regulated. The American Bar Association model rule, as adopted in Minnesota, restricts live solicitation for gain. The Solicitors Regulation Authority bars unsolicited approaches to members of the public, and its guidance does not say whether companies count. This is not legal advice.
How do companies choose arbitration counsel?
In a 2013 Queen Mary and PwC survey of 101 corporate counsel, 93% rated past contentious experience important and 88% personal knowledge of the lawyer, against 63% for recommendations and 31% for league tables. It was not specific to treaty claims.
How do litigation funders fit into early treaty claims?
A third-party funder finances a party's legal costs. ICSID's 2022 Arbitration Rules, in force since 1 July 2022, require at Rule 14 disclosure of any non-party funder at registration. The 2018 ICCA-Queen Mary Task Force report said relevant empirical data on investment claims is not generally available.
Is there a tool to source international arbitration leads?
Yes. Signal-based monitoring tools such as DSPT Finder read news, government publications and company disclosures in 32 languages and surface potential disputes before a claim is filed.