Rodrigo Nikobin

Before joining Chaffetz Lindsey, Rodrigo was an associate in the international arbitration practices of a U.S. and an Iberian international law firm, where he advised clients on pre-litigation strategy and represented them in disputes across Latin America, Europe and the United States. He also practiced in the litigation and arbitration groups of top-tier Brazilian law firms, handling financial, corporate and capital markets disputes and enforcement proceedings before Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM), and advising investors, creditors and debtors on large-scale out-of-court debt restructurings.

Rodrigo holds an LL.M. from Columbia Law School, where he received the Parker School Recognition of Achievement in International and Comparative Law, and an LL.B. from Pontifícia Universidade Católica de Campinas. As a law student, he conducted his studies at Universidad de Buenos Aires and attended the Cornell–Paris 1 Summer Institute. He also holds a B.A. in Sociology and Political Science from Fundação Escola de Sociologia e Política de São Paulo. Rodrigo is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

• Represented a Brazilian renewable energy group in a CAM-CCBC arbitration seated in São Paulo brought by BNDESPar, the equity investment arm of Brazil’s National Development Bank (BNDES), over a put option under a shareholders’ agreement.*
• Advised funds managed by JiveMauá and by SPS Capital, Vinci Partners’ special situations arm, on the transfer to them by the Queiroz Galvão group of 18% of the listed oil and gas company Enauta (acquired by Brava Energia), in satisfaction of debt secured by those shares.*
• Represented an oil and gas company (acquired by the biggest Brazilian independent player in the sector) in an ICC arbitration seated in Rio de Janeiro against Brazil’s National Agency of Petroleum, Natural Gas and Biofuels (ANP), arising from a concession agreement for an oilfield in the Pará-Maranhão Basin on Brazil’s Equatorial Margin.*
• Represented two Brazilian transportation infrastructure companies, as claimants, in a CAM-CCBC arbitration seated in Rio de Janeiro against a French conglomerate and its Peruvian subsidiary, arising from a share purchase agreement for the concessionaire of a major Peruvian toll highway.*
• Represented a Brazilian oil and gas company, as respondent, in an ICC arbitration seated in London brought by the Brazilian subsidiary of a state-owned oil and gas producer, arising from a joint operating agreement for a deepwater pre-salt field in the Campos Basin, governed by New York law.*
• Represented Barra Energia, as respondent, in an LCIA-administered UNCITRAL arbitration seated in Paris brought by Dommo Energia (acquired by PRIO) under the joint operating agreement for the oil fields located in the Santos Basin.*
• Represented the Brazilian renewable energy subsidiary of a U.S. multinational conglomerate, as respondent, in an ICC arbitration in São Paulo brought by what was then Brazil’s largest wind turbine blade manufacturer under a supply agreement.*
• Represented the Brazilian subsidiary of an Italian-Argentine steel group, as claimant, in an ICC arbitration seated in Rio de Janeiro against the Brazilian subsidiary of a Swiss power and automation company, arising from an EPC contract for the power facilities of an integrated steel mill served by a 490 MW thermoelectric plant.*
• Represented the Bermuda-incorporated subsidiary of a Norwegian maritime and offshore energy group, as claimant, in an ICC arbitration seated in New York against a Dutch subsidiary of Brazil’s state-owned oil company, arising from an EPC contract to build a floating production, storage and offloading (FPSO) unit.*
• Represented the Brazilian renewable energy subsidiary of one of the largest Chinese power groups operating in Brazil, as claimant, in a CAM-CCBC arbitration seated in São Paulo against a sugarcane mill owner, arising from a consortium agreement to generate and sell power from a biomass plant.*
• Represented Pátria, BTG Pactual, Deutsche Bank, DEG and IFC, as minority shareholders of CPFL Energias Renováveis, before Brazil’s Securities and Exchange Commission (CVM) in a challenge to the delisting and change-of-control tender offer launched by State Grid.*

*Experience prior to joining Chaffetz Lindsey.

• “Brazil,” Lexology In-Depth: International Arbitration, Co-Author, with Eduardo Augusto Mattar and Ligia Novais de Oliveira (June 6, 2025).
• “Novas regras para eleição de foro podem incentivar o uso de árbitros de emergência” (New Rules on Forum Selection May Encourage the Use of Emergency Arbitrators), O Estado de S. Paulo, Co-Author, with Eduardo Augusto Mattar (June 19, 2024).
• “A Short Practitioners Guide to Arbitration in Brazil,” Revista de Arbitragem e Mediação, Vol. 81, Co-Author, with Ligia Novais de Oliveira and Pedro Lins (April–June 2024).
• “2023 – Year in Review: International Arbitration in Brazil,” Lexology In-Depth: International Arbitration, Co-Author, with Eduardo Augusto Mattar et al. (2024).
• “Developments of International Arbitration in Brazil in 2022,” The International Arbitration Review, 14th Edition, Co-Author, with Eduardo Augusto Mattar (2023).
• “Brasil y el Mundial de Fútbol de 2014: aspectos jurídicos de la experiencia brasileña” (Brazil and the 2014 World Cup: Legal Aspects of the Brazilian Experience), Actualidad Jurídica Uría Menéndez, No. 38, Co-Author, with Evelio Miñano (2014).
• “Comentários ao Conflito de Competência n.º 132.088/SP” (Commentary on Conflict of Jurisdiction No. 132,088/SP), Revista Brasileira de Arbitragem, Vol. 41, Author (2014).

• Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators
• Member, Brazilian Arbitration Committee (Comitê Brasileiro de Arbitragem)
• Member, International Chamber of Commerce – Young Arbitration and ADR Forum
• Member, London Court of International Arbitration – Young International Arbitration Group