Francisca Seara Cardoso is a partner at Armesto & Asociados, a boutique of arbitrators with an international and independent profile and a good business sense, founded by Juan Fernández-Armesto.
Francisca joined Armesto & Asociados in 2019, where she acts as arbitrator and secretary to arbitral tribunals in arbitration proceedings, including international, ad hoc and administered arbitrations involving both commercial and investment disputes. Most of the cases are administered by ICC, ICSID, PCA and local arbitral institutions. As to ad hoc arbitrations, most of them are subject to the UNCITRAL Rules. The list of arbitrations in which Francisca has participated since she joined Armesto & Asociados can be found below.
Professional Experience
Before joining Armesto & Asociados, Francisca Seara Cardoso worked as an associate at the Portuguese law firm Morais Leitão, where she gained extensive experience as counsel in domestic and international arbitrations (with a particular focus on Portuguese-speaking countries), in a variety of industry sectors, including energy, construction, M&A, corporate, among others. Francisca also acted as counsel in commercial disputes before the Portuguese courts. She was also a member of Team Genesis – a specialized multi expert team within Morais Leitão, with a particular focus on entrepreneurship and innovation – and of the Social Responsibility Committee of the firm. Previously, Francisca worked in the Banking and Finance practice group of Morais Leitão and in the Mergers & Acquisitions team of the Portuguese law firm Vieira de Almeida & Associados.
Additionally, Francisca was a lecturer of Business and Economic Law at Católica Lisbon School of Business and Economics.
Professional Memberships and Activities
– Member of the Portuguese Bar
– Member of the Portuguese Arbitration Association (Associação Portuguesa de Arbitragem – APA)
– Member of the Spanish Club of Arbitration (Club Español e Iberoamericano del Arbitraje – CEIA)
– Co-chair of the CEIA-40 (2023-2024)
– Member of the Task Force on Sports Arbitration and Entertainment of the Madrid International Arbitration Center (2025-)
– Member of the Future Committee of the Arbitration Centre of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce (2024-)
– Member of the Tribunal Secretary Network
– Member of the Task Force preparing guidelines on the use of tribunal secretaries in international arbitration
– Member of the ICC Young Arbitrators Forum (ICC YAF)
– Member of Young ICCA
– Member of Young International Arbitration Group (YIAG)
Education
Francisca Seara Cardoso holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Lisbon School of Law of the Universidade Católica Portuguesa (2009-2013), for which she received four merit scholarships. During her undergrad, Francisca completed an exchange program at Fundação Getúlio Vargas, in Rio de Janeiro, Brazil.
Francisca also holds a Master’s degree (LL.M.) from the London School of Economics and Political Science (London, United Kingdom), with a specialisation in corporate and commercial law, obtained in 2014.
In 2018, Francisca completed a post-graduate program in Commercial Litigation, at Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Lisboa, Lisbon, Portugal.
Languages
• Portuguese (mother tongue)
• English (bilingual)
• Spanish (bilingual)
As Arbitrator
Spanish Company vs. Spanish Company, Sole Arbitrator, ICC, energy and energy commodities swaps, Spanish Law, Spanish language (2025).
Spanish Company vs. Spanish Company, Sole Arbitrator, CAM, agrobusiness sector, Spanish law, Spanish language (2024).
As Secretary or Assistant to the Arbitral Tribunal
Afriland First Group SA, Afriland First Bank SA, Joseph Toubi, and Paul Kammogne Fokam v. The Democratic Republic of the Congo, Assistant to the Tribunal (members of the Tribunal: J. Fernández-Armesto, H. C. Alvarez KC and A. Mourre), ICSID Case No. ARB/23/38, investment arbitration. Counsel to Claimants: White & Case LLP (Washington D.C. and New York). Counsel to Respondent: Hogan Lovells U.S. LLP (New York, Miami and Houston) (2024).
Eastern European Company v. Eastern European Companies, Administrative Secretary to the Arbitral Tribunal (members of the Tribunal: J. Fernández-Armesto, E. Kee and N. Gould), ICC, engineering, procurement and construction contract, Eastern European law, English language. Counsel to Claimant: Lalive and Roschier. Counsel to Respondents: 3 Verulam Buildings (2023).
Vasilisa Ershova and Jegor Jeršov v. Republic of Bulgaria, Assistant to the Arbitral Tribunal (members of the Tribunal: J. Fernández-Armesto, J. Paulsson and T. Landau KC), ICSID Case No. ARB/11/29, investment arbitration, English language. Counsel to Claimants: International Arbitration Chambers New York, Hecht Partners LLP. Counsel to Respondent: Ministry of Finance, White & Case LLP and Tomov & Tomov (2023).
Santiago Romero Barst and Maria Auxiliadora Rodriguez (Romero Family) v. Republic of Ecuador, Assistant to the Arbitral Tribunal (members of the Tribunal: J. Fernández-Armesto, L. O’Naghten and L. Boisson de Chazournes), UNCITRAL Rules, investment arbitration under BIT, English and Spanish language. Counsel to Claimants: Homer Bonner Jacobs Ortiz, Rivero Mestre LLP and Echaíz y Asociados. Counsel to Respondent: Procuraduría General del Estado de Ecuador and Hogan Lovells U.S. LLP (2023).
Bayındır İnşaat Turizm Ticaret ve Sanayi A.Ş v. Islamic Republic of Pakistan, Assistant to the Arbitral Tribunal (members of the Tribunal: J. Fernández-Armesto, K. Hobér and J. Christopher Thomas QC), ICSID Case No. ARB/21/48, investment arbitration, English language. Counsel to Claimant: Swanson Huddell & Daschbach, Fishman Haygood and Kabine Law Office. Counsel to Respondent: International Disputes Unit, Office of the Attorney General for Pakistan, Reed Smith and Essex Court Chambers (2022).
Brazilian energy company v. Brazilian energy company, Administrative Secretary to the Arbitral Tribunal (members of the Tribunal: D. Villanúa, V. Galíndez and C. Zanetti), ICC, Brazilian law, Portuguese language (2022).
Mexican logistics company v. Mexican distributor of hydrocarbons, petroleum and petrochemical products, Administrative Secretary to the Arbitral Tribunal (members of the Tribunal: D. Villanúa, G. Lozano and E. Zuleta), ICC, Mexican law, Spanish language (2022).
Italian Construction Company and its Chilean Subsidiary v. French Construction Company and its Chilean Subsidiary, Administrative Secretary to the Arbitral Tribunal (members of the Tribunal: J. Fernández-Armesto, J. Arancibia Mattar and L. Lévy), ICC, Chilean law, English language. Counsel to Claimants: Baker & McKenzie. Counsel to Respondents: Lalive (2021).
South32 SA Investments Limited v. Republic of Colombia, Assistant to the Arbitral Tribunal (members of the Tribunal: D. Villanúa, G. Tawil and A. Jana), ICSID Case No. ARB/20/9, investment arbitration under BIT between the Government of the United Kingdom of Great Britain and Northern Ireland and the Republic of Colombia, Spanish and English languages. Counsel to Claimant: Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Dechamps International Law and PHR Legal. Counsel to Respondent: Agencia Nacional de Defensa Jurídica del Estado de Colombia, Latham & Watkins (2020).
Chinese Company and Brazilian Companies v. Brazilian citizens, Administrative Secretary to the Arbitral Tribunal (members of the Tribunal: J. Fernández-Armesto, E. Zuleta and C. A. Carmona), ICC, share purchase agreement, Brazilian law, English language. Counsel to Claimants: Linklaters and Lefosse Advogados. Counsel to Respondents: Cescon, Barrieu, Flesch & Barreto Advogados and Baker Botts (2020).
Leopoldo Castillo Bozo v. Republic of Panama, Assistant to the Arbitral Tribunal (members of the Tribunal: D. Villanúa, R. Barahona and G. Bottini), PCA Case No. 201940, investment arbitration under BIT between Dominican Republic and Panama, Spanish language. Counsel to Claimant: Contreras y Rodríguez Abogados. Counsel to Respondent: Superintendencia de Seguros y Reaseguros, Dirección del Ministerio de Economía y Finanzas and Dr. Carlos Alberto Arrue Montenegro (2020).
Carlyle Group and others v. Kingdom of Morocco, Assistant to the Arbitral Tribunal (members of the tribunal: J. Fernández-Armesto, H. Grigera Naón and S. Wordsworth), ICSID Case No. ARB/18/29, US-Morocco Free-Trade Agreement, English language Counsel to Claimant: Weil, Gotshal & Manges LLP. Counsel to Respondent: 3 Verulam Buildings (2019).
US construction company v. Central American office of an international organisation, Administrative Secretary to the Arbitral Tribunal (members of the Tribunal: D. Villanúa, J. Sicard-Mirabal and J. R. Feris), UNCITRAL, construction contract, lex mercatoria, Spanish language (2019).
Chilean Company v. Chilean and Italian Companies, Administrative Secretary to the Arbitral Tribunal (members of the Tribunal: J. Fernández-Armesto, O. Garibaldi and A. Fermandois), ICC, construction contract, Chilean law, Spanish language (2017).
International Construction Company v. Central American Public Agency, Administrative Secretary to the Arbitral Tribunal (members of the Tribunal: J. Fernández-Armesto, H. Grigera Naón and J. E. Nunes Pinto), ICC, construction contract, law of Central American Republic, Spanish language; Counsel to Claimant: In-house, Derains & Gharavi and White & Case; Counsel to Respondent: In-house and Bofill Mir & Alvarez Jana Abogados, (2015).
March 2025
“Técnicas Avançadas sobre Produção de Provas em Arbitragem” – speaker in the event organized by the ICC and Club Español e Iberoamericano del Arbitraje – CEIA, São Paulo (2025);
“Arbitration with State entities at the shrink: what lies ahead?” – speaker in the event organized by the Câmara Portuguesa de Comércio no Brasil and Jus Mundi during the Paris Arbitration Week, Paris (2024);
“Arbitragem societária em Portugal”, Arbitragem 2 Mundos: Diálogos entre o Brasil e Portugal, Vol. II, 1.ª ed., São Paulo, Quartier Latin (2024);
“Arbitral Award: Drafting, challenge and enforcement” – lecturer at the NOVA Summer School on International Arbitration, Lisbon (2023);
“Efficient Procedural Management: Best Practices, Limits, and Challenges for the Future” – speaker at the XVI Congress of the Portuguese Commercial Arbitration Center organized by CAC Future and APA-40, Lisbon (2023);
“Drafting arbitral awards” – speaker in a workshop organized by the IBA Arb40, on the IBA Toolkit on drafting arbitral awards, Milan (2023);
“Árbitros e impugnações: entre a independência e a imparcialidade” – speaker at the VI Encontro de Arbitralistas Lusófonos, Paris Arbitration Week, Paris (2023);
“Cómo afrontar un arbitraje de construcción?” – speaker in a workshop organized by MAD VYAP, Madrid (2022);
“Arbitragem societária” – speaker at the XI Encontro Internacional de Arbitragem de Coimbra, organized by the section under 40, Coimbra (2022);
“How to chart a successful course in arbitration” – speaker in a webinar organized by ICC YAF (2022);
“Salidas profesionales en el arbitraje” – speaker in a webinar organized by University of Valencia (2022);
“Abuse of Process in Investment Arbitration” (co-authored with Adam Jankowski), Revista de Arbitraje Comercial y de Inversiones, Vol. XIII (2021);
“Introduction to Arbitral Secretary Appointments” – speaker in a webinar organized by Young ICCA (2021);
“La diversidad, inclusión y género en el arbitraje” – speaker at the Congress of the Central American Young Arbitrators (2021);
“Portugal: charting a path towards a corporate arbitration-friendly jurisdiction” – Young Arbitration Review (2018);
“P2P Lending” (co-authored with Luís Roquette Geraldes and João Lima da Silva) – FinTech desafios da tecnologia financeira, Almedina (1st Edition) and 2019 (2nd Edition);
“Uma revolução chamada crowdfunding” (co-authored with Luís Roquette Geraldes) – IV Congresso de Direito das Sociedades em Revista, Almedina, 2016;
“Fifth International Arbitration Meeting of Coimbra” (co-authored with Filipe Vaz Pinto) – Young Arbitration Review, 2015.
