Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom has secured the dismissal of a €1bn (£871m) claim against the Slovak Republic.

The case, which was dismissed last week, was lodged by Dutch health insurance consultancy Hicee in 2008 and had been one of Europe's largest ongoing investment disputes.

The claim alleged that changes to Slovakia's healthcare legislation were in breach of the country's obligations under the bilateral investment treaty (BIT) between the Netherlands and the Czech and Slovak Federal Republic.

Hicee – a member of the Penta private equity group and an indirect shareholder in Slovak health insurance companies Dovera and Apollo – lodged the claim after the current Slovakian Government reversed an earlier administration's decision to privatise the health insurance sector.

Skadden's London-based litigation and international arbitration partner David Kavanagh and counsel David Herlihy led the team with corporate support from Vienna office head Rainer Wachter.

US firm Sidley Austin acted for Hicee, fielding a team led by Washington-based international arbitration co-chair Stanimir Alexandrov.

The result for Skadden comes after the firm also secured a victory for the Alfa-Access-Renova (AAR) group of TNK-BP shareholders by obtaining an injunction to halt BP's planned $16bn (£10bn) strategic alliance with Russian oil giant Rosneft.

Kavanagh (pictured) commented: "It is another big win for our disputes group. BIT disputes are very significant now, as international companies wake up to the realisation that BITs offer real protection despite so much financial uncertainty in the global economy. We're likely to see even more disputes come out of the sovereign debt crisis."

Skadden is also currently acting for Chelsea FC owner Roman Abramovich in the £3.5bn case brought against him by Russian businessman Boris Berezovsky, which is currently being held in the High Court.