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Shayda Daniela Vance

Associate

Languages Spoken

Persian (Farsi)

Bar Admissions

District of Columbia New York

Education

Columbia University, School of Law, J.D., Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar, Parker School Recognition of Achievement in Int'l and Comparative Law, Notes & Submissions Editor, Human Rights Law Review Harvard University, B.A., cum laude

Vance, Shayda

Shayda Vance is an associate in Hughes Hubbard’s Washington, D.C. office and a member of both the firm’s International Arbitration group and its Global Investigations, Enforcement and Compliance group. As part of the arbitration practice group, Shayda represents both investors and sovereigns in investor-state disputes as well as parties in commercial arbitration disputes. She also represents clients in arbitral award enforcement actions before federal courts in the U.S. As part of the firm’s global investigations group, Shayda assists clients with internal investigations related to anti-bribery and corruption and other ethics violations and represents clients in connection with inquires by the Department of Justice, Securities Exchange Commission, and other relevant government agencies. Shayda also represents government contractors in connection with claims under the False Claims Act.

In her pro bono practice, Shayda has developed an expertise in international human rights law and regularly advises on cases before the Inter-American human rights system. She has also taught classes on international women’s rights at George Washington University Law School as an adjunct.

Shayda has extensive experience clerking for federal, state, and international courts. Prior to joining the firm, Shayda clerked for the Honorable Rosemary Collyer on the United States District Court for the District of Columbia and for the Honorable Senior Judges of the District of Columbia Court of Appeals. Shayda has also clerked for the Honorable Justice Sisi Khampepe of the Constitutional Court of South Africa and spent several years advocating for survivors of gender-based violence in Johannesburg.


Selected Matters

  • Represented a group of Ukrainian gasoline companies who pushed back against Russia’s attempt to toss their claims in D.C. federal court, as part of a series of arbitrations over gas stations and other assets the Russian government seized after its 2014 invasion of Crimea
  • Counsel to a Panamanian investor in an ICSID arbitration against the Republic of Panama 
  • Counsel to a Chinese company to contest enforcement of an arbitral award in federal court
  • Counsel to a holder of sovereign bonds in litigation against the Bolivarian Republic of Venezuela
  • Counsel to an individual survivor of sexual violence before the Inter-American Court of Human Rights in a complaint against the Republic of Bolivia
  • Counsel to individuals in a class action seeking to assert First Amendment rights to free speech
  • Counsel to an individual asserting defamation claims in federal court

Previous Experience

  • Law Clerk for the Honorable Rosemary M. Collyer, United States District Court for the District of Columbia 
  • Law Clerk for the Honorable Senior Judges, District of Columbia Court of Appeals
  • Director of Legal and Operations, Lawyers against Abuse (LvA)
  • Law Clerk for the Honorable Justice Sisi Khampepe, Constitutional Court of South Africa

Recognition

  • 2018 – 2023 Capital Pro Bono High Honor Roll, sponsored by the District of Columbia Court of Appeals and the Superior Court of the District of Columbia

Highlighted Lectures

  • Presenter, “20 Years of Constitutionalism in South Africa” conference held at New York Law School, Nov. 13-16, 2014

Professional Activities

  • Member, American Society of International Law
  • Member, ArbitralWomen
  • Judge, Inter-American Court of Human Rights Moot Court, American University Washington College of Law

Highlighted Publications and Lectures

  • “The New List: Arbitrators of African Descent with a U.S. Nexus,” ArbitralWomen, Jan. 7, 2021, co-authored with Eunice Shang-Simpson
  • Presenter, “20 Years of Constitutionalism in South Africa” conference held at New York Law School, Nov. 13-16, 2014

News & Insights For Shayda Daniela Vance

View All News & Insights

Hughes Hubbard Lawyers Recognized in 2025 Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll

Eight Hughes Hubbard lawyers have been named to the 2025 DC Capital Pro Bono Honor Roll, which recognizes attorneys who dedicated significant time to pro bono service through the District of Columbia Courts during the past year.

DC Circuit Denies Russia’s Efforts to Delay Enforcement of Arbitration Award for Ukrainian Gas Companies

Hughes Hubbard successfully defeated an effort by the Russian Federation to delay enforcement proceedings of a $34 million arbitral award on behalf of a group of 11 Ukrainian petrol companies led by Stabil LLC.

Hughes Hubbard Defends Judgment Upholding Court’s Jurisdiction to Enforce $34M Arbitration Award for Ukrainian Gas Companies

Law360 reported on a brief submitted by Hughes Hubbard in the U.S. Court of Appeals for the District of Columbia Circuit, urging the Court to deny Russia’s motion to stay its mandate after the Court’s decision upholding the District Court’s jurisdiction over a suit to enforce an arbitral award on behalf of a group of 11 Ukrainian petrol companies, led by Stabil LLC, against the Russian Federation.

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