Christina Doria
Biography
Christina Doria assists corporations, public entities, and states with litigation and arbitration, including enforcement of awards and judgments, and internal investigations. Christina co-chairs Baker McKenzie's North American International Arbitration Group. She is recognized by Who's Who Legal (WWL) in Canada since 2020, and by WWL Arbitration globally since 2020. She was also recognized by The Legal 500 and Euromoney Expert Guides as a rising star for dispute resolution, by the Canadian Legal Lexpert Directory as a Leading Lawyer, since 2019, and as a Leading Litigation Lawyer in the 2023 Lexpert Special Edition.
With over 13 years' experience, Christina has appeared before the Supreme Court of Canada, the courts of Ontario, British Columbia, Alberta, and Manitoba. She has also appeared before domestic and international arbitral tribunals and has acted on arbitrations under most commercial and investor state rules and has worked on bet-the-company internal investigations.
Comments from clients and peers include: "She is articulate, intuitive, well prepared and detail oriented"; "She quickly grasps complex subject matter relevant to tactical, strategic and technical issues of the case"; "She has a calm and compelling presentation style", "Quick to learn and a very sharp advocate"; "Extraordinarily strong counsel skills and an excellent command of international arbitration practice"; "She is a pleasure to work with and extremely able"; "Christina is creative and detailed in her legal advocacy"; "Well versed in domestic and international arbitration"; "A true pleasure to work with"; "Christina has excellent knowledge of case law"; and "an up and-coming arbitration counsel".
Christina has a keen perspective as counsel, having sat as an arbitrator under the ICC Rules and the ICDR Rules.
She began her career in Baker McKenzie's New York office as the recipient of an international clerkship award, before returning to Toronto.
Contributing to the global and Canadian arbitration bar, Christina is on the ICDR Canada Advisory Committee. She sat on the ICDR International Advisory Committee (subcommittee for ICDR Publications and Education), the Advisory Board of YCAP, and served as a VP for Young Canadian Arbitration Practitioners (YCAP). She was a founding steering committee member of Baker McKenzie's Women in Arbitration Group. She was an executive board member of the ICDR, Young and International (ICDR Y&I), and on the ICDR Y&I Global Advisory Board. She was a North American Regional Representative for the LCIA's Young International Arbitration Group (YIAG), and a founding member of the Firm's International Arbitration Associates Forum.
Practice Focus
Christina is experienced in energy, mining and infrastructure cases, including in the transportation industry. She is also experienced in manufacturing, securities, biotech, aerospace, academic institutions, hotels, and agriculture.
She acts for clients on contractual disputes, investor-state disputes, matters involving fraud, bribery and corruption, jurisdictional disputes, banking matters, shareholder disputes, commercial class actions and economic torts.
Representative Legal Matters
- Successfully represented a global engineering and construction company in a USD 400 million dispute before an ICC dispute resolution board, relating to an oil refinery project.
- Representing a natural gas and utilities company in a USD 70 million contract dispute before the LCIA.
- Represented CIArb Canada before the Supreme Court of Canada in a case involving the intersection of arbitration and bankruptcy laws.
- Won a case for a Chinese engineering company in Alberta, defeating a CAD 60 million claim for breach of contract in a construction project in the Alberta oil sands.
- Successfully represented a Class I railway in an arbitration with a competitor concerning operational rights and revenues from tracks between the US border and parts of Canada.
- Successfully represented a Class I railway in an arbitration concerning disputed tariff obligations.
- Successfully represented a Canadian health science company in an internal investigation involving multiple jurisdictions and the RCMP.
- Won an international arbitration between two publicly traded companies (American and Norwegian), concerning a biotech licensing dispute, under the Canadian Arbitration Association Rules.
- Won, protecting CAD 200 million of assets of a Kyrgyzstani mining company from four separate international arbitration awards and related freezing orders against its shares in Ontario.
- Won, obtaining a worldwide Mareva injunction in British Columbia, freezing nearly CAD 10 million in state-owned assets to enforce an international arbitral award held by an India-based mining company.
- Defeated a CAD 65 million breach of contract and product liability claim in an UNCITRAL arbitration against a major American aerospace company.
- Enforced an ICC award in Ontario, held by a Middle Eastern oil and gas company against a sovereign African state.
- Won a CAD 10.3 million judgment in a major fraud trial in Ontario for an international bank.
Professional Associations and Memberships
- International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), Canada Advisory Board
- London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), Young International Arbitration Group (YIAG) - Regional Representative (2020-2022)
- International Centre for Dispute Resolution - Young & International (ICDR Y&I) - Executive Board Member (2016 to 2019), Global Advisory Board Member (2013-2016)
- Young Canadian Arbitration Practitioners (YCAP) - Board Member (2017 to 2019); Executive Committee, VP of Education and Events (2019-2020); Advisory Board (2020 to 2022)
- Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, Vienna, Austria - Arbitrator (2012, 2013 and 2015)
- Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot, Friendly Round, Toronto, Ontario - Arbitrator (2011, 2013 and 2014)
- CAPE Scholarship - Volunteer/Toronto Fundraising Committee and Board Member (2010-2013)
- Law Society of Ontario
- The Advocates' Society
- Ontario Bar Association - Civil Litigation Section
- Toronto Commercial Arbitration Society (TCAS)
- Member of the ICC Canada Arbitration Committee
Admissions
- Ontario~Canada (2011)
Education
- University of Ottawa (J.D.) (2010)
- Erasmus University Rotterdam (LL.M. International Law) (2004)
- University of Utrecht (B.A., Honours) (2002)
- Neuchâtel Junior College (O.A.C.)
Languages
- English
- French
- Italian