Josefa Sicard-Mirabal (External Advisor on U.S. and International Matters)

Josefa Sicard-Mirabal is an experienced New York-based international arbitration and business transactions lawyer. She serves as External Advisor on U.S. and International Matters at Sarı & Kılıç Attorneys at Law. Her multifaceted career spans across legal systems, cultures and languages. She is an independent arbitrator, party counsel and strategic advisor in national and international arbitrations under institutional and ad hoc rules. In the transactional sphere, she has represented international and domestic clients in joint ventures; sales and agency agreements; distribution and licensing agreements; mergers and acquisitions as well as banking and securities matters in the construction, energy, telecommunications, and food products industries. She is also a mediator and a Special Master to the Appellate Division, First Department, of the Supreme Court of the State of New York. She is listed in major institutional arbitral rosters in North America, Latin America, Europe, and Asia.

Ms. Sicard-Mirabal began her legal career as a judge in the Dominican Republic. During her six-year tenure, she rendered decisions in commercial, civil, and labor matters. She continued her legal practice in the United States as an associate at Thelen Reid & Priest and as a partner at Winston & Strawn and Greenberg Traurig. This combination of judicial, advocacy, and transactional experience equips her with a deep understanding of distinct legal systems, diverse approaches to dispute resolution and the cross-cultural fluency required to draft agreements effectively.

From 2011 to 2020, she served as an External Member of the Sanctions Committee of the Inter-American Development Bank (IDB), an anti-corruption tribunal that reviews fraud and other prohibited practices connected with IDB-financed projects. She heard and decided on appeal more than 45 cases arising from infrastructure projects in member countries, including Bolivia, Costa Rica, Haiti, Paraguay, Peru, and Spain.

From 2006 to 2015, Ms. Sicard-Mirabal was Executive Director, formerly Regional Director, of Arbitration and ADR for North America for the ICC International Court of Arbitration/SICANA. During the same period, she served as Director of Dispute Resolution Services of the United States Council for International Business (USCIB)—ICC USA. In these roles, she contributed to the administration and development of international arbitration and ADR in North America.

Ms. Sicard-Mirabal has been an Adjunct Professor of Law at Fordham University School of Law since 2010. She teaches International Business Transactions and International Arbitration Practicum for LL.M. students and previously taught Introduction to Investor-State Arbitration. She has been a guest lecturer on international commercial and investment arbitration at Harvard University, Columbia University, Boston University, Northwestern University, Università degli Studi di Firenze, Sapienza Università di Roma, Universidad de Montevideo, and Koç University in Istanbul.

She is co-author, with Yves Derains, of Introduction to Investor-State Arbitration (Kluwer Law International, 2018), and author of “Key Takeaways for States in Preventing and Managing International Disputes,” published in International Arbitration with Sovereign States, Chapter 8 (Elgar Publishing, 2026). She is a frequent speaker at conferences and seminars.

Ms. Sicard-Mirabal serves in a leadership role on the ICC-USA Arbitration Committee and is Chair Emeritus of the USCIB Sole Practitioners’ Subcommittee. She is a member of the ICC Institute of World Business Law and, as a longtime former member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration, served on task forces and working groups addressing the time and cost of complex arbitration and national procedures for recognition and enforcement of foreign arbitral awards.

She is the Dominican member of the Permanent Observatory on the State of Arbitration in Latin America of the Latin American Arbitration Association (ALArb), an Advisory Board member of the Arbitration Journal of CEU San Pablo University in Madrid, and a Board Member of Latin American International Arbitration of Peru.

Ms. Sicard-Mirabal is Founder, Chairwoman, and President of Dominicans on Wall Street, Inc. (DOWS), a nonprofit organization that serves as a liaison between the Dominican Republic and Dominican professionals with U.S. and international financial markets, advances professional and educational development, and supports the development of the Dominican Republic’s capital markets.

Ms. Sicard-Mirabal is admitted to the bars of New York State and the Dominican Republic. She received her law degree from Pontificia Universidad Católica Madre y Maestra in the Dominican Republic and continued her legal studies attending the Foreign Lawyers Graduate Program at Fordham University School of Law. She is bilingual in English and Spanish, speaks French, has working knowledge of Italian and Portuguese, and basic Turkish.

Her recognition includes The Best of DR Abroad (Revista Mercado, 2025); the Latino Trailblazer Award from LatinoJustice (2013); the Professional Achievements Award from the Presidency of the Dominican Republic (2011); the Award for Service to the International Legal Community from the Dominican Bar Association (2008); selected as one of the 20 Leading Latinas in Business by Hispanic Enterprise (2007); and selected as one of the 100 Most Influential Hispanics by Hispanic Business (2006).