Mélida Hodgson ’85

BA, JD, New York City

Mélida Hodgson ’85 is a partner at Arnold & Porter, where she practices in the international arbitration group. With three decades of experience practicing at the intersection of international arbitration and sovereign obligations, she represents clients operating worldwide across the range of arbitration forums, including the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), The Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), American Arbitration Association (AAA/ICDR), and under the rules of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL).

She is particularly respected as an arbitration expert in—and rated as a top lawyer for—Latin America, where she has represented Ecuador, Panama, and Peru, Uruguay and Venezuela. Her areas of expertise are infrastructure, construction, mining, transportation, energy, and business combinations disputes.

Mélida is the immediate past president of the American Society of International Law. In May 2024, President Joe Biden designated Mélida to the ICSID Panel of Conciliators. Mélida is also a vice chair of the ICC Institute of World Business Law and serves on the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR and its Task Force on Corruption in Arbitration, as well as on the Council of the AAA/ICDR. She is a founding member of the Washington Women in International Arbitration.

Earlier in her legal career, Mélida was a U.S. government litigator at the U.S. Department of Justice, and an associate general counsel at the Office of the U.S. Trade Representative. Before entering the legal profession, she was a banker at Chemical Bank (now JP Morgan Chase).

Mélida is active in the profession beyond her immediate practice, frequently speaking at conferences and writing articles on international investment and commercial arbitration and international law issues, as well as serving in leadership roles with related organizations.