Lawyers
Yuri Parkhomenko has practiced public international law for over two decades, specializing in strategic advice and advocacy in international dispute resolution, with an ability to navigate the legal, diplomatic, and geopolitical complexities of high-stakes disputes.
Yuri has served as counsel and advocate to sovereigns in complex and consequential cases before the ICJ, ITLOS, ICSID, and other international tribunals, helping achieve significant victories and seminal precedents in international law.
His vast experience extends to over twenty State-State disputes, including The Gambia v. Myanmar (the Genocide Case), Mauritius v. UK, Advisory Proceedings on Detachment of the Chagos Archipelago from Mauritius, Mauritius v. Maldives, DRC v. Uganda (Reparations), Bangladesh v. Myanmar, Bangladesh v. India. Yuri was also one of the advocates for Equatorial Guinea in Gabon/Equatorial Guinea, securing a favourable ICJ ruling in May 2025 on the central issues in the case.
Yuri also has handled investment and commercial arbitration matters concerning natural resources, public health, renewable energy, environment, protection of cultural heritage, construction, and banking and finance. Some of them include PMI v. Uruguay, Ping An v. Belgium, Gosling v. Mauritius. Most recently, Yuri was one of the advocates securing a victory for Japan in renewable energy investment arbitration.
Yuri has advised sovereigns, NGOs and international companies on a broad spectrum of international law issues, including treaty interpretation, the law of the sea, international responsibility, war reparations, countermeasures, sanctions, sovereign immunity, treaty law, international human rights, humanitarian law, self-determination and decolonization, State succession, transboundary harm and environment, international watercourses, sovereignty and boundary disputes, deep sea mining, and the renegotiation of investment protection treaties.
Yuri speaks and lectures frequently on international law and international dispute resolution at international conferences, leading universities, and specialized training programs for government officials—including those organized by ITLOS, the International Boundary Research Unit, the IMO’s International Maritime Law Institute, and various national governments. He has authored and co-authored scholarly articles and book chapters on public international law and co-edited a frequently cited book on treaty interpretation.
Before joining Gaillard Banifatemi Shelbaya Disputes, Yuri practiced public international law for eight years in the Ukrainian Foreign Service and sixteen years at Foley Hoag LLP, where he was a partner in International Litigation & Arbitration Practice.
Yuri is recognized in The Best Lawyers in America and The Legal 500 U.S., with testimonies highlighting his “unmatched and practical grasp of public international law,” “thorough…approach,” and ability to “always present objective assessment of a case.”
