Gabriel Cavazos-Villanueva, LLM, PhD
ATTORNEY AT LAW AND ARBITRATOR
About Gabriel Cavazos
A career devoted to excellence and effective conflict resolution
Gabriel Cavazos Villanueva holds a law degree from the Universidad Regiomontana (Monterrey, Nuevo León, 1988); a Master of Laws (LLM) from the University of Toronto (Ontario, Canada, 1997); a Master of Laws (LLM) from Tulane University (Louisiana, United States, 2001); and a PhD in International and Comparative Law from the same university (2008).
He has worked with all three levels of government in Mexico (city, state,federal) and with the Legislative Branch. Among other positions, he served as Legal Director of the Secretariat of Economic Development of the State of Nuevo León (Mexico).
He was a professor and Dean at the Monterrey Institute of Technology and Higher Studies (Tecnológico de Monterrey), and a visiting professor at various institutions in the United States, Spain, and the United Kingdom.
An international career
Among others, he is a member of the Spanish and Ibero-American Arbitration Club (CEIA); the Council of the Center for US and Mexican Law at the University of Houston (Texas, United States); and the Advisory Council of the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (Nuevo León, Mexico). He is a Vice President of the Arbitration Committee of the Nuevo León Chapter of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC – Mexico). He also serves in the Advisory Council of the Observatory of Autonomous Constitutional Agencies of Mexico. He is a professor of Arbitration, International Law, and Comparative Law at the University of Monterrey (UDEM), the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (UANL), and the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM).
He has been retained as an expert witness on comparative law in litigation before state and federal courts in the United States. He has participated with other Mexican jurists as amicus curiae in a case before the Supreme Court of the United States. He has also been appointed on several occasions as a panelist/arbitrator to resolve trade disputes under Chapter 19 of NAFTA regarding antidumping and countervailing duties.
He has published books, book chapters, and articles in academic journals specializing in arbitration, international commercial law, and foreign investment, both in Mexico and abroad.
He is currently a lawyer and independent arbitrator, as well as a Senior Advisor at the consulting firm Monarch Global Strategies.
Relevant Experience in ADR
He has a solid track record as an arbitrator and counsel in commercial arbitrations under the rules of the ICDR, Mexico´s National Chamber of Commerce (CANACO), and the Mexican Arbitration Center (CAM). He served as a panelist and chair in the final stage of the proceedings in Panel MEX-USA-2012-1904-02 (Ether Case), and as a panelist in Panel USA-MEX-2014-1904-02 (Rebar Case), both under Chapter XIX of the North American Free Trade Agreement (NAFTA), between 2014 and 2018. His experience also includes his role as an assistant to panelists Dale Tursi and Joseph Liebman in the MEX-USA Panels 2005-1904-01 and in the Panels MEX-USA-2006-1904-02, in Mexico City (2007-2008), as well as an assistant to panelist Lisa B. Koteen in various binational proceedings, both in Mexico and Canada, between 1999 and 2003.
Professional Services
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International and Domestic Arbitration (arbitrator and counsel)
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Domestic and International Negotiation
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Legal Advisory for foreign investors in Mexico
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Expert witness on International, Comparative and Mexican Law issues before foreign courts
International Attorney with special expertise
Since 2023 , he has worked as a professor at the Law School of the National Autonomous University of Mexico (UNAM), where he teaches Contemporary Legal Systems and Legal English, in addition to actively participating in research and university outreach projects. Since 2020, he has also been a professor at the Law Schools of the University of Monterrey (UDEM) and the Autonomous University of Nuevo León (UANL), where he has taught specialized courses in Private International Law, International Commercial Arbitration, and International Contracts Law.
His teaching work has been complemented by important contributions to the comparative analysis of law, the internationalization of legal practice, and the strengthening of arbitration as a dispute resolution mechanism, consolidating his profile as an academic authority in the field of international and trade law.
Relevant research work:
- The Invalidity of an Arbitration Clause in a Contract of Adhesion: A Comment on the Supreme Court of Canada's Decision in Uber Technologies Inc. v. Heller. or Legal Research Institute · April 25, 2023
- An Assessment of the Chapter 19 Dispute Settlement Mechanism in the Context of the NAFTA Renegotiation o Maryland Journal of International Law · September 7. 2018
- Chapter: Arbitration and Investment Protection in the Context of Energy Reform in Mexico: A First Approach Based on the Cases of COMMISA v. Pemex and KBR v. Mexico or Tirant lo Blanch · Jan. 1, 2016
