Jovana Crncevic

Her experience spans sectors including energy, technology, aviation, mining, hospitality, transportation, luxury goods, financial services, and real estate.

Commercial & Investment Arbitration

Jovana has counseled on a broad range of disputes that are subject to arbitration agreements, including both international commercial arbitration and investment treaty arbitration. She represents and advises clients regarding arbitration proceedings under major arbitration rules including AAA-ICDR, JAMS, ICC, and UNCITRAL, as well as in ad hoc arbitrations. Jovana also advises investors and states with respect to investment treaty disputes under ICSID or other arbitral institutions. She acts for clients from initiation of arbitration proceedings through enforcement of arbitral awards before US courts.

Jovana also counsels clients in litigation ancillary to arbitration and other international proceedings, including compelling or resisting arbitration proceedings, proceedings to enforce arbitral awards and foreign judgments, and applications seeking Section 1782 discovery in aid of foreign proceedings.

Public International Law 

Jovana also advises on various public international matters such as the interpretation and application of treaties, sovereign immunity, the act-of-state doctrine, jurisdictional issues, investment and trade law, law of the sea, human rights, and sanctions. In this context, Jovana has represented and advised states and state-owned entities with respect to contentious treaty, investment, and trade-related disputes. 

Complex Commercial & Cross-Border Litigation

Jovana represents clients in US federal and state courts on disputes (particularly in the context of cross-border dealings) that span breach of contract, business torts, trademark, unfair competition, and trade secret misappropriation matters.

She also advises clients with respect to regulatory frameworks and issues, such as business and human rights obligations, US and UN sanctions regimes, and the Foreign Agents Registration Act.

Pro Bono

Jovana is deeply committed to an active pro bono practice, including representation and advice on international human rights law and international criminal law. She has acted for victims of crimes against humanity in connection with proceedings at the International Criminal Court, advised a nongovernmental organization on international fair trial standards, and represented individuals seeking asylum in the United States.

Select Representative Experience

• Represented a Chinese investor in a $70 million enforcement proceeding in D.C. District Court against the Federal Republic of Nigeria resulting from a favorable arbitral award in UNCITRAL investment treaty arbitration; won a landmark appeal in the D.C. Circuit that reaffirmed a key aspect of the Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act; and acted for the investor at the US Supreme Court pending Nigeria's petition for a writ of certiorari until the matter was successfully resolved in the investor's favor.
• Represented Mexico in its successful resolution of the "Zheng He" Case (Luxembourg v. Mexico) before the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS).
• Represented a mining company in two multibillion-dollar ICC arbitrations seated in London and stemming from alleged breaches of supply contracts.
• Represented an investment holding company in a AAA arbitration against an aircraft company regarding the purchase of a multimillion-dollar luxury jet. 
• Represented a partner in specialized arbitration proceedings against a partnership and other partners concerning breaches of the partnership agreement and related tortious activity. 
• Represented a Ukrainian helicopter company in relation to an LCIA arbitration and pursuit of related claims in US bankruptcy proceedings. 
• Advised Gruppo Piccini in ICSID arbitration proceedings against Cameroon under the Italy-Cameroon BIT.
• Advised a state-owned mining and fertilizer company in ICSID arbitration proceedings concerning the state’s an alleged refusal to grant environmental approval.
• Advised Dutch investors in ICSID arbitration proceedings against an Eastern European State concerning the State’s takeover of investors’ food and retail business.
• Advised the Government of Mauritius in its 2025 treaty with the United Kingdom concerning the Chagos Archipelago.
• Represented a state in an inter-state dispute involving high-stakes issues of treaty interpretation and application, human rights violations, international trade, and reparations.
• Advised a state regarding an inter-state dispute under a bilateral investment treaty. 
• Advised a state in relation to international aviation and sovereignty issues under public international law.
• Advised investors on their potential claims against a sovereign state pursuant to applicable bilateral investment treaties in the oil and gas industry.
• Advised Ukraine through the Task Force on Accountability for Crimes Committee in Ukraine on its legal responses to Russia's invasion and on various accountability mechanisms to secure reparations.
• Advised a state on law of the sea issues in its potential joint maritime infrastructure project, which included analysis of contentious maritime boundaries and legal issues pursuant to the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea and related customary international law and jurisprudence.
• Represented a US manufacturer and distributor of skincare products in its dispute with a Norwegian supplier in JAMS arbitration.
• Advised an African state on the confirmation and enforcement of its arbitration award in US court against a US entity.
• Represented a state before the International Court of Justice in the Advisory Opinion proceedings on Obligations of States in respect of climate change.
• Filed an amicus curiae brief at the US Supreme Court in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization on behalf of the UN Special Rapporteur on the Right to Health and other UN mandate holders in support of the Respondents detailing the United States’ binding obligations under human rights treaties.
• Advised the Legal Representative of the Victims in The Prosecutor v. Uhuru Kenyatta (Kenya Case 2) at the International Criminal Court on international criminal law issues in support of victims of crimes against humanity following the 2007-08 election violence in Kenya.
• Assisted the Clooney Foundation for Justice in helping seek justice at the International Criminal Court for victims of crimes against humanity, including by making submissions gathering evidence and documenting a pattern of generalized and systematic attacks by the Venezuelan security forces against civilians including arbitrary detentions, murders, extrajudicial executions, and torture.
• Successfully won asylum for a Syrian family following a trial in US Immigration Court and successful reunification of family members in the United States.