The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Litigators

Marie Danis of August Debouzy, Nania Owusu-Ankomah Sackey of Bentsi-Enchill and Patrick Pearsall of Gibson Dunn are among this year's honorees.

We’re honored to introduce The 2025 Lawdragon 500 Leading Global Litigators.

As the world tilts, spins and quakes, these lawyers assiduously work to resolve disputes between nations, bring justice for human rights abuses, address financial fraud that crosses borders and unearth stashed assets.

It’s a massively growing field at the heart of which are rarefied international arbitration lawyers. Growth has come with global infrastructure development requiring construction disputes to be resolved, energy expansion through traditional and new resources, and the vast explosion of wealth whose crossing of borders sets up something of an Amazing Race amongst counsel when things go sideways.

At the forefront of Global Litigation are lawyers and firms whose passports are always at the ready and whose abilities to parse languages, lands and legalities set them apart.

Nania Owusu-Ankomah is a leading partner in Bentsi-Enchill Letsa & Ankomah in Accra, Ghana. She is known for her mastery of problem solving in high-value litigation and arbitration disputes. She has represented global oil, mining, private equity, non-profit and technology interests such as Tullow, Epiroc, Stanbic Bank Ghana Limited and Abosso Goldfields Limited in disputes involving sovereigns, shareholder disputes and breaches of contract. Called to the bar in England, Wales and Ghana, she is also an associate member of 3 Verulam Buildings Barristers. She sits as an arbitrator in international and domestic proceedings. She is a member of the London Court of International Arbitration and President of its African Users’ Council, as well as Chair of the Ghana Chapter of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK).

Marie Danis of Paris’ August Debusy is a leading advocate for Paris as a hub of international arbitration. After attaining her legal education, she began her career at Freshfields before joining August Debusy in 2006, becoming a partner in 2009. She specializes in international arbitration and commercial litigation on behalf of French and global clients. She played a key role in launching Paris Arbitration Week and sits on the Board of Directors of Association Française d’Arbitrage.

Patrick W. Pearsall is an international arbitration and disputes partner in the Washington, D.C. office of Gibson Dunn. He is global co-chair of the Geopolitical Strategy and International Law practice. He has litigated in U.S. courts and under all the world’s leading arbitral rules. He is also the Director of the International Claims and Reparations Project of Columbia University Law School. He has worked in industries from energy to pharmaceuticals and maritime to emergent technology. He advises on commercial and treaty disputes, as well as helping companies, executives and sovereigns dealing with exposure from geopolitical crises. He’s resolved claims in the tens of billions and specializes in investment protection and dispute avoidance. He previously served in the U.S. State Department, leaving in 2017 as Chief of Investment Arbitration.

This is our 4th edition of Global Litigators. We selected the lawyers included through a robust nomination process – thank you for the amazing submissions! We also conduct independent research and vetting through clients and peers. Those denoted with an asterisk are members of our esteemed Hall of Fame.