Paula C. Arias, Esq.

Paula C. Arias is Director of the International Arbitration and International Litigation Advocacy Program at the University of Miami School of Law. Her work and research on numerous fields ranging from human rights law to private commercial transactions has allowed her to view legal issues through a distinct vantage point and ultimately has.

Paula is a lawyer with two decade of experience in international commercial disputes. She has acted as tribunal secretary or counsel. Paula brings with her a wide breadth of experience, knowledge and perspective from her work with tribunals, in private practice and at arbitral institutions.

She has served as an expert witness in transnational cases on Colombian and Latin American law issues in Florida. She has represented clients from several countries in U.S. and international venues. She also advises on Human Rights law and is active in the pro bono community in the US and Colombia. Paula currently is the President of the Colombian American Bar Association in the United States.

English and Spanish Professor of Dispute Resolution in Latin America, International Sales, fundamentals of Human Rights and Human Rights and Humanitarian Law Issues; and has lectured about arbitration and enforcing foreign judgments in Latin America at Harvard Law School, about drafting enforceable arbitration clauses at the Universidad Abierta Interamericana in Argentina and about drafting enforceable choice of law and forum selection clauses at the Universidad Francisco de Vittoria in Spain; and International Commercial Arbitration at Universidad del Norte in Barranquilla, Colombia.

Paula is a native of Medellin, Colombia, a graduate of Universidad Pontificia Bolivariana in Medellin, Colombia, and a graduate with the Juris Doctor from the University of Miami School of Law, she is a member of the Colombian American Chamber of Commerce where she serves as the Secretary General in Miami. She prides herself on building close relationships with his clients, building a deep understanding of their needs, and working efficiently and effectively to achieve their ends – whether by litigation, arbitration, mediation, or negotiation and settlement.

While in private practice, she has served a trustful advisor to clients for located in Latin America and the United States, advised clients to design their corporate structure, to develop successful legal strategies to grow their businesses, negotiated advantageous international commercial transactions in the tech industry, commodities industry, transportation services industry, financial and banking industry. She has also served a zealous litigator and advocate in matters of commercial transactions, personal services, breach of contracts, as well as representing construction companies in their development projects from the inception of the project to the final approval of the infrastructure and its operation.

Paula Arias has coached or trained over 100 students in the last decade. As of 2021, the International Moot Court Program that she leads, has come home with more than 40 oralist awards or honorable mentions, over 15 brief awards, and four wins, including the prestigious FIAC Moot. Through IMCP, Miami Law has often outperformed schools with world-renowned international and legal programs; in at least four moot competitions, it was the sole American team, including the Moot Madrid and ICA UBA-Rosario Moot which are conducted solely in Spanish.

Practice Areas

International Commercial Arbitration
International Sales
Cross-Border Transactions
Supply Agreements
Distributorship Agreement

Education

J.D. (2009), University of Miami School of Law
Abogado (equivalent to J.D., 2003), Pontificia Bolivariana University, Medellin, Colombia

Admission to Practice

All Florida State Courts
Colombia

Languages

Fluent in English and Spanish