The LCIA Court

President

Biographies

Professor Maxi Scherer - Germany (UK)

Professor Maxi Scherer is a co-founder of ArbBoutique and a Professor of Law at Queen Mary University of London, where she holds the Chair for International Arbitration, Dispute Resolution and Energy Law. She has over 20 years of experience in international arbitration in both civil and common law systems. Maxi is admitted to the bar in Paris (France) and as a solicitor in England and Wales, and has represented clients and served as arbitrator or legal expert in more than 140 commercial and investor-State arbitrations. Her arbitrations regularly involve States, concern multi-billion amounts in dispute and are conducted in English, French and German. ‍Ranked by Who’s Who Legal, The Legal 500 etc. as a leading arbitration practitioner, she has been identified for many years amongst the top “Global Elite Thought Leaders” and described by peers as “one of the greatest and most complete arbitrators,” and “one of the very best in both commercial and investment arbitration proceedings.” She has received the 2023 GAR Award for “Best Prepared Arbitrator”.

‍Maxi is the President of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), Co-Chair of the IBA Subcommittee on Rules and Guidelines and holds many other public appointments and commissions of trust, including being a member of the panel of arbitrators of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and the Governing Board of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA). ‍Maxi is the General Editor of the Kluwer Journal of International Arbitration and publishes extensively in the field. In 2018, Maxi received the GAR Award for Best Speech or Lecture for her keynote on artificial intelligence and the transformation of decision-making.

Kate Brown de Vejar - Australia (Mexico)

Kate is a Partner and Global Co-Chair of International Arbitration at DLA Piper, where she specialises in both international commercial and investor-State arbitration. An Australian and New York qualified attorney, resident in Mexico City since 2009, she has represented private corporations, sovereign states and state-owned entities in arbitrations under the leading institutional and ad hoc arbitration rules (ICSID, UNCITRAL, ICC, LCIA, ICDR, CANACO, JCAA). Kate also sits as an arbitrator.

Widely recognised for her experience and results handling complex, high profile disputes in the energy and infrastructure sectors, Kate is a graduate of Harvard Law School and the University of Queensland, is Vice President of ANZMEX (the Australia, New Zealand, Mexico Business Council), and is fluent in English, French and Spanish.

Utku Cosar - Turkey

Utku Coşar is an independent arbitrator at Arbitration Chambers with offices in New York, London and Istanbul. With over 25 years of experience in the field, she has acted as arbitrator and counsel in high-value commercial and investment arbitrations involving all major industry sectors, including energy, finance, construction, and shareholders’ and post-M&A/joint venture-related disputes, and under all major sets of institutional rules, including those of the LCIA, ICC, SIAC, ICDR/AAA, ICSID and Swiss. Utku is registered on the panels of many leading arbitral institutions, including the ICDR/AAA, SIAC and the ICANN IRP Standing Panel.

Utku serves on the editorial boards of Arbitration International (LCIA), and the Dispute Resolution International journal (IBA), and she is a Co-Chair of the Task Force on the revision of the IBA Guidelines on Party Representation.

Utku is a graduate of Georgetown University, with two LLM degrees in law and international legal studies, and is admitted to practise in New York and Turkey.

Raëd Fathallah - Lebanon/Canada (France)

Raëd Fathallah is a partner in Bredin Prat’s international arbitration group. He focuses his practice on acting as counsel and arbitrator in investment treaty and commercial arbitrations.

Over the past twenty years, he has conducted more than 150 cases under the major institutional rules (including ICSID, LCIA, ICC, OHADA, CRCICA, BCDR and DIAC) and subject to many different common law and civil law legal systems. He is particularly well known for his expertise in investor-State disputes and is listed on the ICSID Panel of Conciliators and Arbitrators.

Raëd is recognised by all major directories as a leading practitioner in the field of international arbitration and has been described as “one of the brightest minds of his generation” who delivers “first-class work”. In January 2014, he was awarded the prestigious biennial ASA Prize for Advocacy in International Arbitration.

A Lebanese and Canadian national, Raëd is admitted to practice as a Solicitor in England & Wales as well as Avocat in France and in Québec, Canada. He holds a Licence en Droit Civil from the University of Ottawa (L.L.L.), Master of Comparative Jurisprudence (M.C.J.) from New York University School of Law and Doctor of Philosophy (D.Phil) in Law from the University of Oxford.

John Fellas - USA/UK

John Fellas is an award-winning, full-time arbitrator with over three decades of experience in international dispute resolution. Until December 2020, John was a partner and co-chair of the International Arbitration group at Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP in New York, where he practiced for over 30 years. He has acted as counsel and has served as co-arbitrator, chair or sole arbitrator in arbitrations all over the world, under all the major arbitration rules, and across a range of sectors.

John is recognized as a leading international arbitrator by all the major legal directories including Chambers USA where he is ranked as “one of the best—his reputation is phenomenal and deserved.” In 2019, he was recognized by Best Lawyers as the Best Lawyer in New York for International Arbitration – Commercial. In 2020, he was identified as one of the “Global Elite Thought Leaders” in Arbitration by Who’s Who Legal, which noted that the “eminent” John Fellas is “an excellent arbitrator.”In 2022, he was recognized by Best Lawyers as the Best Lawyer in New York for International Arbitration – Governmental. In 2025, he was awarded the annual Global Arbitration Review Award for the Best Prepared/Most Responsive Arbitrator.

John has practiced in both the US and the UK, and, in addition to being a member of the New York Bar, he is a solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales (non-practising). He received a B.A. (Hons.) in law from the University of Durham, and both an LL.M. and an S.J.D. from Harvard Law School.John is also an Adjunct Professor at New York University School of Law and an Honorary Professor of Law at Durham Law School in the UK, teaching international arbitration.

Matthew Gearing KC - UK/Singapore

Matthew was at Allen & Overy for 24 years before commencing independent practice in May 2021. He is a King’s Counsel (England & Wales and is also one of the very few English KCs also called in Singapore. He is also admitted in Western Australia and is a Solicitor Advocate (Hong Kong). He acts as counsel and sits as arbitrator.

Matthew is a joint editor of "Russell on Arbitration" (23rd and 24th Eds.) a leading text book on arbitration in England & Wales. He is a past Co-Chair of the LCIA Young International Arbitration Group and a past Chairperson of the HKIAC.

David Joseph KC - UK

David is a barrister and Queen’s Counsel practising from Essex Court Chambers, London. He acts both as counsel and arbitrator and has extensive experience in a wide range of commercial practice, in particular in joint ventures, shareholder disputes, banking and financial instruments, telecommunications, mining, oil and gas, renewable energy, shipping and shipbuilding, investment disputes, and software technology claims. He regularly appears as counsel in the courts of England and Wales in many of the leading cases concerning arbitration claims and ancillary injunctive relief. David has also appeared at all levels as counsel in the courts of Singapore, Hong Kong, and the Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. David has argued well over 200 major international arbitrations world-wide. He also sits as arbitrator (party appointed and Chair) in numerous references in the major arbitration seats of the world.

David is presently Secretary of COMBAR and representative of the Bar of England and Wales on the Brexit Law Committee. David is the author of Jurisdiction and Arbitration Agreements and their Enforcement (3rd Edition, Thompson, Sweet & Maxwell). David is co -author and editor of Singapore International Arbitration, Law & Practice (2nd Edition, Lexis Nexis).

Gabrielle Nater-Bass - Switzerland

Gabrielle Nater-Bass is a partner in the Litigation and International Arbitration Group at Homburger in Zurich. She is an experienced party counsel and arbitrator in international commercial arbitration proceedings, ad hoc and institutional, across a wide range of industries. She also regularly represents clients in investment treaty arbitrations and complex cross-border litigations.

Gabrielle Nater-Bass is listed on the panel of arbitrators of the ICC National Committee (Switzerland), the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). She is a board member of the Swiss Arbitration Centre, the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA) and Vice President of the LCIA Court. She served as President of the Arbitration Court of the Swiss Chambers' Arbitration Institution (SCAI) from 2016 to 2020. Furthermore, Gabrielle Nater-Bass co-chairs the ICCA-ASIL Task Force on Damages in International Arbitration and was actively involved in the development of the DIA app (Damages in International Arbitration). Moreover, Gabrielle Nater-Bass is a member of the SIAC Users' Council, the Advisory Board of ArbitralWomen (former vice president) and the steering committee of the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge.

Gabrielle Nater-Bass received the Client Choice Award 2020 and 2021 in the category Arbitration & ADR (Switzerland).

Professor Dr Karl-Heinz Böckstiegel - Germany

Karl-Heinz is a past President of the LCIA; President of the International Law Association (ILA); Chairman of the German Institution of Arbitration (DIS) and past President of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, The Hague. After holding the Chair for International Business Law of Cologne University until 2001, he now works as an independent arbitrator and currently serves as Chairman or party-appointed arbitrator on international arbitral tribunals constituted under the rules of LCIA, ICC, ICSID, AAA, DIS, Swiss Rules, UNCITRAL, as well as ad hoc panels.

The Honourable L Yves Fortier CC OQ KC - Canada

Yves is the former Chair and Senior Partner of Norton Rose (formerly Ogilvy Renault) in Montréal. He is a graduate of Université de Montréal, McGill University and Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar). He is a past president of the London Court of International Arbitration and of the Canadian Bar Association. Yves was made Queen’s Counsel in 1976 and an Avocat émérite of Quebec in 2007. In 1984, he became an Officer of the Order of Canada and promoted to Companion in the Order in 1991.

From 1984 to 1989, he was a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague. From July 1988 until February 1992, he was Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. In 1989, he was president of the Security Council of the United Nations. In 2006, he became an Officer of l’Ordre National du Québec. During the last 25 years, Yves has acted as arbitrator and mediator in numerous international arbitrations under the auspices of all major arbitral institutions in the world.

Judith Gill KC - UK (Singapore)

Judith is recognised as one of the leading practitioners in the field of international arbitration and is listed as the second most highly regarded individual in the field in the 2014 edition of The International Who’s Who of International Arbitration. She joined Allen & Overy in 1983, qualifying two years later, and was made partner in 1992. She headed the Allen & Overy’s global international arbitration practice for 10 years from 2001 to 2011 and again from 2012 to 2013. On 1 May 2018, Judith left Allen & Overy to join barristers' chambers 20 Essex Street, as an arbitrator based in Singapore.

Judith has conducted cases under various sets of rules and subject to many different systems of law. In particular she has experience of arbitrations under the rules of the LCIA, the ICC, ICSID, DIAC, AAA, UNCITRAL, SIAC and the LMAA. She has particular experience of projects (specifically in the energy and infrastructure sectors), joint ventures, distributorships, investor protection disputes, insurance claims and warranty claims.

In 2009, Judith became only the second female solicitor advocate to be appointed a QC and the first in the field of international arbitration. She regularly acts as lead advocate in arbitration cases and also sits as arbitrator in a wide variety of arbitrations.

Her professional memberships include: Fellow, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators; Fellow, Institute of Advanced Legal Studies; Member, Advisory Board to the Arbitration Committee of the International Bar Association; Trustee of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law; Member, SIDRC International Advisory Board; Former Member, Board of Directors, AAA; Former Member, Board of Directors, SIAC; Former Co-Chair, Arbitration Committee of the International Bar Association; Former Chair, The International Arbitration Club; Former Member, ICC UK Arbitration Group.

Professor Dr Gerold Herrmann - Germany (Austria)

Gerold is known throughout the world of arbitration, both from his time as Secretary of UNCITRAL, in which role he served from 1991 to 2001, and having previously been Secretary of the UNCITRAL working group, which prepared the draft model law on international commercial arbitration. Gerold served as President of the LCIA Court from May 2001 until May 2004 and is now an Honorary Vice President of the Court. Gerold is currently President of ICCA (International Council for Commercial Arbitration). He is Honorary Professor of the University of Vienna.

Professor Jan Paulsson - Sweden/France/Bahrain (USA)

Jan holds the Michael Klein Distinguished Scholar Chair at the University of Miami School of Law. He is also the Faculty Chair of the Specialisation in International Arbitration and heads the newly-established International Arbitration Institute. Jan holds degrees from Harvard, Yale and the University of Paris. He has acted as counsel or arbitrator in over 500 hundred international arbitrations. He has conducted cases under many arbitration rules, as well as before the International Court of Justice.

He is President of the Administrative Tribunals of the Organisation for Economic Co-operation and Development and the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development and past President of the World Bank Administrative Tribunal. He is also the President of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration, a Vice-President of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce, a member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, and a board member of the American Arbitration Association. He is the author of numerous publications, in particular co-author of the standard reference work ICC Arbitration (3rd edn 2000).

Professor William W Park - USA/Switzerland(USA)

Rusty is Professor of Law at Boston University, where he lectures on tax and banking. After Yale and Columbia, he practised in Paris until returning home to teach and to direct his university’s Center for Banking and Financial Law. He has held visiting academic appointments at Cambridge, Université de Dijon, Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy and University of Hong Kong. Rusty’s books include "International Chamber of Commerce Arbitration" (with Craig and Paulsson), "International Forum Selection", "International Commercial Arbitration" (with Reisman, Craig and Paulsson), "Income Tax Treaty Arbitration" (with Tillinghast) and "Arbitration of International Business Disputes".

Rusty has served on the NAFTA Financial Services Roster, the Appeals Tribunal for the Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, and the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland. He recently retired as Co-Chair of the ABA Committee on International Commercial Dispute Resolution, has succeeded Johnny Veeder as General Editor of Arbitration International.

Paula Hodges KC - UK

Paula Hodges KC is an independent arbitrator based in London. Paula has sat as an arbitrator in a variety of cases since 2008.

Paula headed Herbert Smith Freehills' Global Arbitration Practice for almost two decades and has over 30 years' experience of advising on international disputes, particularly in the energy, telecommunications and technology sectors. She has acted as counsel in many jurisdictions (including London, Paris, Geneva, Zurich, Stockholm, the US, Canada, Dubai, Africa, Asia, Russia and the CIS) in ad hoc arbitration and proceedings under the auspices of the major arbitral institutions.

Paula has also been closely involved in several high profile cases before the High Court in London, and has also appeared before the Court of Appeal and House of Lords (now the Supreme Court).

Paula studied law at the University of Cambridge and graduated in 1986 with an M.A. in Law.

Paula was appointed Queen's Counsel (now King's Counsel) in 2014 and President of the LCIA Court in May 2019.

Ramūnas Audzevičius - Lithuania

Ramūnas Audzevičius is the partner and co-head of the Dispute Resolution practice at the law firm Motieka & Audzevičius based in Vilnius, Lithuania. He has more than 25 years of experience in solving business and regulatory disputes involving application of EU, international and foreign law, as well as shareholder conflicts and corporate investigations. Ramūnas’ practice also involves handling matters before the Court of Justice of the European Union, the European Court of Human Rights, the Supreme Court of Lithuania, the Supreme Administrative Court of Lithuania, and the Court of Appeal. Ramūnas has been involved in advising clients in courts of the highest instances in the Baltic States and the CIS region.

He is a well-known arbitration figure in the region. His practice involves representation of the clients under UNCITRAL, ICC, SCC, LCIA, MKAS, GAFTA, FOSFA, CAS, Lithuanian Court of Arbitration and Vilnius Court of Commercial Arbitration rules.

Ramūnas sits as a party-appointed arbitrator in high-value SCC, ICC, LCIA and MKAS arbitrations. He is also appointed as law expert in numerous international arbitrations.

Ramūnas’s expertise is recognised by the leading international law directories The Legal 500, Chambers Global, Who‘s Who Legal, CEE Arbitration Powerlist and Global Arbitration Review.

Marie Berard - France/UK

Marie is a Partner with Clifford Chance LLP, specialising in international commercial arbitration. A British and French national based in London, she has acted as counsel for multinational corporations, governments, and individuals in over 50 international arbitration proceedings, with particular emphasis on the energy, oil & gas, construction and finance sectors. Marie also sits as a sole arbitrator, panel member and chair.

She is the Vice President of the LCIA European Users' Council, and a member of ICC UK Nominations Subcommittee. Marie is on the Editorial Board of the International Arbitration Law Review and Kluwer’s Journal of International Arbitration. She regularly contributes to UK arbitration updates circulated by International Law Office.

Dr Alfredo José Bullard González - Peru (Spain)

Alfredo Bullard has acted as arbitrator, counsel, and legal expert in more than 300 cases under the ICC, ICSID and IACA rules, among others. His practice focuses primarily on international arbitration, both commercial and investment. He is founding partner of Bullard Falla Ezcurra+ (2000), a boutique law firm specialised in Arbitration, and is in charge of the Madrid office. He is professor at various universities where he teaches Arbitration, Law and Economics, and Legal Skills.

Alfredo was President of the Commission that drafted the Peruvian Arbitration Act. From 2017 to 2021, he was member of the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC. Formerly, Alfredo was the President of the Tribunal for Defense of Competition and Protection of Intellectual Property (INDECOPI). He is member of the Board of Directors of the Latin American Arbitration Association (ALARB) and of the Board of Directors of the “Club Español e Iberoamericano de Arbitraje”.

Timothy G Cameron - New Zealand (USA)

Timothy G. Cameron is a partner in Cravath’s Litigation Department. He frequently leads his clients’ most challenging and business-critical disputes in international arbitral tribunals, as well as in arbitration and litigation throughout the US His practice includes advising on a wide variety of complex commercial matters, with a focus on complicated cross border issues, particularly for non US clients. He is also a seasoned trial lawyer, with additional extensive experience handling antitrust, securities, shareholder derivative, M&A, and product liability claims, as well as regulatory matters.

Mr Cameron received an LLB(Hons)/BCom and an MComLaw with first class honours from the University of Auckland, New Zealand, as well as an LLM from the University of Chicago Law School. He has been recognised by numerous publications for his arbitration and litigation work, including being repeatedly recommended by The Best Lawyers in America for international arbitration, commercial litigation and securities litigation, as well as being selected as one of Lawdragon’s “500 Leading Global Litigators.” Among other publications, he has authored a chapter in the book The Dispute Resolution Review since 2010. Mr Cameron is a member of the Board of the New York International Arbitration Center, and the Litigation Committee of the International Bar Association.

Cecilia Carrara - Italy

Cecilia Carrara has significant experience in the field of national and international, commercial and investment arbitration proceedings, both institutional and ad hoc, acting as counsel and as arbitrator. She further represents international and Italian companies in arbitration-related proceedings in front of the national courts, such as recognition and enforcement proceedings of arbitral awards. Cecilia has been admitted to practice before the Italian Supreme Court.

Cecilia also focuses on mergers & acquisitions, extraordinary corporate transactions and commercial contracts, mainly representing foreign clients investing in Italy. In particular, Cecilia is responsible for the Legance German desk, having a specific focus on German speaking countries and Eastern Europe.

Cecilia is a member of Legance’s Sustainability Committee.

Sean Yu Chou - Singapore

Chou Sean Yu is the Deputy Managing Partner of WongPartnership and Head of the Firm's Litigation & Dispute Resolution Group. He is also the Head of the Banking & Financial Disputes Practice and a Partner in the International Arbitration, Financial Services Regulatory, and Malaysia Practices.

Sean Yu is on the Panel of Arbitrators of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, the Asian International Arbitration Centre, the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board, the Maldives International Arbitration Centre, the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association and the Hainan International Arbitration Court. He is a Chartered Arbitrator of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a former Chairman of the Board of its Singapore Branch.

Brooks Daly - USA (Netherlands)

Brooks Daly is an American attorney and arbitrator based in the Netherlands. He has experience as arbitrator or counsel in cases under ICC, ICSID, SIAC, PCA, and UNCITRAL rules. Until 2023, he was Deputy Secretary-General and Principal Legal Counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration, where he served for 20 years. In this role, he oversaw the legal affairs of an intergovernmental organization with 122 member states.

Before joining the PCA, he worked as Counsel at the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce in Paris, and for law firms in Los Angeles and London. Mr. Daly is regularly ranked as a leading arbitration practitioner by Who's Who Legal and in 2013 was appointed by the Netherlands as an Officer of the Order of Orange-Nassau in recognition of his service to international arbitration. He is a member of the State Bar of California, Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University, and Visiting Professor at Leiden University.

Anand Desai - India

Anand has been the Managing Partner of DSK Legal since its inception in April 2001. With over three decades of wide-ranging experience in both contentious and non-contentious work across a wide range of practice areas, he has been a respected and sought-after counsel serving several large Indian and multinational corporations, business leaders and HNI’s, including Bollywood A-listers.

Anand’s expertise is recognised not only for his Dispute Resolution work but also for Mergers & Acquisitions / Private Equity, Real Estate, Insolvency & Restructuring, White-Collar Crime, Media & Entertainment, and Technology work. He appears as lead counsel in several significant international and domestic arbitrations, and domestic litigations in various Courts. He is widely regarded as a professional who takes a fair and practical approach to enable resolution of matters wherever possible.

Anand is ranked as the only “Eminent Practitioner”, being the highest ranking under Dispute Resolution – Mumbai based, in Chambers Global and Chambers Asia-Pacific. He is also highly ranked in various international publications including Who’s Who Legal, Asialaw, IFLR, and Legal 500 and was recognised by Asian Legal Business as one of Asia’s Top 15 Litigators in 2023. He is listed in ‘100 Legal Luminaries of India’ by LexisNexis, and recognised in India Business Law Journal’s “The A-List 2022” as a Legal Icon.

Arthur (Xiao) Dong - China

Dr. Arthur (Xiao) Dong is a partner at JunHe LLP’s Beijing office, specializing in international commercial arbitration and litigation. His practice focuses on resolving complex disputes involving cross-border trade, distribution agreements, M&A, shareholder disputes, and IP-related matters.

Arthur has secured numerous landmark victories for clients in arbitrations administered by leading institutions, including the LCIA, ICC, HKIAC, SIAC, AAA-ICDR, JAMS, CIETAC, etc. He has also successfully enforced multiple foreign arbitral awards before the PRC courts.

Arthur is also a sought-after arbitrator, regularly appointed by parties and leading international arbitration institutions.

Arthur is consistently ranked by prestigious legal directories, including Chambers & Partners, the Legal 500 (named “Lawyer of the Year: Arbitration” in 2023 and 2024), Who’s Who Legal (Lexology), Benchmark Litigation, etc.

Artem Doudko - Russia/UK

Artem Doudko FCIArb, a solicitor-advocate, is a Partner and Head of Russia & CIS Disputes in the London Disputes and Risk Practice at Osborne Clarke LLP. Artem focuses on international arbitration and litigation involving Russian and/or CIS issues as well as advising Russian-speaking clients. Artem has a strong reputation and profile in his field and has been recognised as a Global Leader in the Who's Who Legal: Arbitration 2020 directory. Artem is identified as a Next Generation Partner and described as a "sharp-minded litigator" and as "very experienced in Russia and CIS-related arbitrations" in Legal500 UK 2020.

Artem is the Vice Chairman of the Board of the Russian Arbitration Association and a member of the Board of the Ukrainian Arbitration Association. He is a representative of the Anglo-Russian Law Association and a member of the executive committee of the Russia CIS Arbitration Network. Artem is a founder of "RYUMKA", a member of the London and Moscow committees of the Commercial Litigators' Forum ("CLF"), a member of the organising committee of the London International Disputes Week ("LIDW"), and a member of the Membership Committee of the Silicon Valley Arbitration & Mediation Center ("SVAMC").

Pascal Hollander- Belgium

Pascal Hollander is a founding partner of the Brussels law firm Hanotiau & van den Berg. Besides his activities as counsel (both in arbitration and in court proceedings), he has built for the last 20 years a substantial practice as arbitrator in more than 150 international arbitration proceedings under various sets of arbitration rules and various substantive laws (civil and common law). He has also acted as mediator in international disputes.

His experience as arbitrator covers a wide array of subject matters in areas such as M&A, corporate, distribution and franchising, construction and engineering, aeronautics, energy, telecoms, intellectual property, competition, insurance.

Pascal lectures on arbitration law at the University of Brussels (ULB) and is the author of numerous publications in the fields of arbitration and of commercial distribution. He is a past Vice-Chair of the IBA Arbitration Committee and a past Chair of its Subcommittee on Enforcement and Recognition of Arbitral Awards. He is a former member of the ICC Commission and of several of its task forces and an Honorary Board Member of CEPANI, the Belgian Centre for Arbitration and Mediation.

Sarah Grimmer - New Zealand (Singapore)

Sarah Grimmer has over 20 years of experience in international commercial, investor-State, and public international law dispute resolution proceedings. She serves as arbitrator in international commercial and investor-State arbitrations. She has in-depth knowledge of the procedural regimes of all major arbitral institutions. She has sat as arbitrator in disputes arising out of the following industries: energy, retail, pharmaceutical, international finance, infrastructure, sports, aviation, hotel, cryptocurrency.

From 2016 to 2022, Sarah served in the highly public role of Secretary-General of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) during which time it was ranked the third most preferred institution in the world. Prior to that, she spent a decade at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague where she administered complex inter-State, investor-State, and contractual disputes involving States, State entities, and intergovernmental organisations.

Sarah has also worked at the ICC International Court of Arbitration (ICC) in Paris administering hundreds of commercial cases under the ICC Rules of Arbitration. Prior to that she worked at Shearman & Sterling LLP in Paris and in private practice in New Zealand.

Dany Khayat - France/Lebanon (France)

Dany Khayat has been admitted to practice at the Paris Bar for some 25 years. He leads the Litigation and International Arbitration practice in the Paris office of Mayer Brown and is the co-leader of the Global Middle-East dispute practice at Mayer Brown.

Dany has been involved in more than 70 commercial arbitration proceedings across the world, under various applicable laws, whether institutional or ad hoc. Dany has a special focus on investor/State disputes having been involved in more than 25 ISDS cases, on behalf of investors or States, including remarkable victories. Dany also frequently sits as arbitrator in cases in English, French or Arabic and acts in arbitration-related proceedings, as well as enforcement matters, before the French courts. Dany has been teaching international arbitration and ISDS for more than 15 years.

Meg Kinnear - Canada (USA)

Meg Kinnear is a partner and co-founder of LKDR LLC, an international dispute resolution practice founded in 2024. She currently acts as an arbitrator, mediator and conciliator in international commercial, investor-State, and trade disputes. Meg was the first full-time Secretary-General of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) from 2009-2024, where she led a comprehensive amendment of the ICSID Rules. Prior to ICSID, Meg was the Director of Canada’s in-house international investment and trade law group from 1999-2009.

She has been lead counsel in numerous investor-State cases, negotiated international investment and trade treaties, and provided strategic and legal advice on a wide variety of international commercial, investment and trade disputes. From 1984 – 1996, Meg was a member of the Department of Justice Canada where she litigated high profile civil cases concerning commercial, administrative and constitutional matters in Canadian domestic courts and tribunals.

A Canadian national, she is a member of the Bars of Ontario and the District of Columbia. Throughout her career Meg has been an active participant in numerous legal organizations, including as a Vice-President of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) from 2016-2018, as a member of the ICCA Governing Board from 2010-2021, as a member of the Executive Council of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) from 2014-2018 and as a Counsellor to ASIL (2019-present).

Sophie Lamb KC - UK

Sophie Lamb KC is a partner in the London office of Latham & Watkins. She has participated as an advisor and/or advocate in over 200 international arbitrations globally spanning numerous industry sectors. She has conducted cases under all of the principal arbitration rules including the UNCITRAL, LCIA, ICC, SCC, SIAC, ICSID (including the Additional Facility), WIPO, WIPO Expedited, AAA, VIAC, and Swiss Rules. Sophie also sits as arbitrator including in emergency proceedings and in cases involving sovereign interests. Sophie is recognized as among the global elite in the field of international arbitration and has been ranked as a leading individual in each of Chambers Global, Chambers Europe, and Chambers UK for many years.

Sophie has served as the UK’s representative on the ICC International Court of Arbitration and as International Board Member of the Arbitration Institute of the Finland Chamber of Commerce. She is a member of the SIAC users’ council, a member of the BVIAC List of Arbitrators and a member of the HKIAC List of Arbitrators. Sophie is a graduate of Manchester University and the Universite de Bourgogne (LLB English Law and French Law) and the London School of Economics (LLM Banking and International Finance Law). A British national, Sophie was called to the Bar of England & Wales in 1998, was appointed Queen's Counsel in 2018 and a Bencher of Gray’s Inn in 2023.

Melissa Magliana - Italy/Switzerland (Switzerland)

Melissa Magliana is a partner and a co-chair of the international arbitration group at LALIVE. She has experience in both common and civil law jurisdictions, holds legal degrees in US and Swiss law, and advises and represents clients in ad hoc and institutional arbitration proceedings under all major rules of arbitration. She also acts as arbitrator.

Melissa is a member of the board of ASA (the Swiss Arbitration Association) and represents Switzerland in the UNCITRAL working group dedicated to dispute settlement (working group II). She is a former member of the court of the Swiss Arbitration Centre and of its executive committee.

Kevin Nash - Canada (UK)

Kevin Nash is the Director General of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA). The Director General fulfils the role of Chief Executive Officer, with day-to-day responsibility for the conduct of the business of the LCIA, serves as the principal point of contact between the institution and its Board and Court, and represents the LCIA on the international stage.

Kevin joined the LCIA after 13 years in Singapore where he served as the Registrar of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC). Prior to his time in Singapore, Kevin worked at a prominent ‘Seven Sister’ law firm in Toronto, Canada.

Recognised for being ‘in a league of his own’ who ‘knows everything there is to know about international arbitration’ Kevin is listed by Who’s Who Legal as a Global Leader and a National Leader for Singapore and the United Kingdom. Peers and clients have described him as a ‘rock star of arbitration’ who is ‘smart and practical’ and ‘willing to get his hands dirty and do the hard work’.

Kevin is qualified as a Barrister and Solicitor with the Law Society of Ontario.

Godwin Omoaka SAN - Nigeria

Godwin Omoaka, SAN, is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution Practice Group at Templars in Lagos, Nigeria. Godwin has over twenty (20) years of active experience in domestic and international arbitration, mediation relating to a wide range of disputes in the oil and gas industry, construction industry, taxation, anti-bribery, and corruption. He has a stellar track record in arbitration, as well as other forms of alternative dispute resolution such as mediation and expert determination. He has acted as counsel in both institutional and ad hoc arbitrations.

Godwin is recognised by all major directories including The Legal 500, Chambers and Global, and IFLR1000 as a leading arbitration practitioner in Nigeria. He was elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (the equivalent of King's Counsel) in 2019 and is the current President of the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators (ICMC) Nigeria.

Godwin is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, the Institute of Construction Arbitrators of Nigeria and the Institute of Chartered Mediators and Conciliators. He is also a CEDR accredited mediator.

Nania Owusu-Ankomah - Ghana

Nania is a litigation and arbitration practitioner and a Partner at Bentsi-Enchill, Letsa & Ankomah, a first tier law firm in Ghana. She regularly advises and represents clients in a range of high value litigation and arbitration disputes, and is particularly noted for her innovative approach to solving complex legal issues. She has served as a Member of the Electronic Communications Tribunal of Ghana, quasi-judicial body that hears appeals in respect of the regulation and licensing of telecommunications companies, television and radio stations in Ghana. Nania sits as an arbitrator and is listed on CPR’s Panels of Distinguished Neutrals and the Ghana ADR Hub List of Arbitrators.

She is a board member of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre, a Councillor of the LCIA Africa Users’ Council and was recently appointed Co-Chair of the Africa Arbitration Group of the IBA Arbitration Committee, after serving as Editor of the IBA Arbitration Committee Newsletter. She has been recognised as one of Africa’s 50 Most Promising Young Arbitration Practitioners (2020) by the Association of Young Arbitrators and was named a Rising Star by Africa Arbitration (July 2019). She has also been featured as a ‘Woman to Watch’ by the African Institute of Women in Law and was part of the Task Force for the Commonwealth International Arbitration Study commissioned by the Commonwealth Secretariat.

Nania is a lecturer in Alternative Dispute Resolution at the Ghana School of Law. She is called to the bar in England and Wales and in Ghana.

Dharshini Prasad - Singapore (UK)

Dharshini is a partner in the International Arbitration Group at Willkie Farr & Gallagher. She is triple qualified to practice in Singapore, England and Wales and New York and regularly draws on her multi-jurisdictional experience to advice clients on complex, high-value disputes with a cross-border element. Dharshini has acted as counsel in several billion dollar arbitrations in different industries, from energy and mining to technology, pharmaceuticals and private equity, and for clients in Europe, Asia, the Middle East and the Americas. Clients and peers commend Dharshini for being a “brilliant and talented advocate” (Who’s Who Legal) and “a very intelligent, driven and relentless professional” with “deep knowledge about the international arbitration forum and strong analytical skills” (Legal500 UK).

Apart from her work as counsel, Dharshini has an active practice as arbitrator and sits on the Board of Editors for the AAA Dispute Resolution Journal. She teaches seminars on energy and investor-State arbitration at Queen Mary University and has previously taught at New York University (Paris) and the London School of Economics, SIAC and Austrian arbitration academies. Between 2018-2020, Dharshini served as Executive Secretary on the Commonwealth Secretariat’s study on international arbitration across the Commonwealth, which resulted in a first of its kind report of over 650-pages with chapters on the arbitration landscape in each of the 53 Commonwealth members States. She also represented the Government of Somalia at the third consultation of the ICSID Rule Amendments process in 2019. Prior to her appointment to the LCIA Court, Dharshini was involved in the work of SIAC for several years, including to help draft the 2016 Arbitration Rules and 2017 Investment Arbitration Rules.

Gitta Satryani - Indonesia (Singapore)

Gitta Satryani is a partner at Herbert Smith Freehills Kramer LLP and the Southeast Asia Head of the firm's International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution Practice. Gitta is bilingual in English and Indonesian, working and presenting regularly in both languages, and is admitted as an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore.

Gitta has over 15 years' experience of acting for clients in international arbitration and complex cross-border proceedings in Asia Pacific across a wide range of industries, with expertise in energy, private capital, and projects and infrastructure. She has a particular focus on disputes involving Indonesia, and advises Indonesian and international clients on disputes and dispute-related aspects of transactional work relating to their investments.

She also advises commercial entities, states, state owned enterprises, and sovereign wealth funds, on a broad range of issues including dispute avoidance strategies and investment structuring. Gitta has been recognised as an Arbitration Future Leader, Global Elite Thought Leader (Under 45) and National Leader (Southeast Asia, Arbitration) by Who's Who Legal and has been described by clients as "an impressive lawyer with unique skills in the market" and "very pragmatic and business-oriented in terms of suggesting strategies to resolve a problem and providing good practical guidance".

Kamal Shah - Kenya/UK

Kamal is an arbitration partner, and the Head of Stephenson Harwood's Africa and India groups. He has been the President and Vice President of the African Users’ Council of the LCIA between 2016-2023, and is a Court Member since 2018, having been re-elected in May 2023. He is also a Court Member of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre. Kamal is a Board Member of the Eastern Africa Association and the Rhino Ark UK.

Kamal is highly ranked in the Legal directories including The Legal 500, Chambers UK and Global and IFLR1000, and was listed in the Lawyer’s Hot 100 list of leading lawyers in the UK for 2009 and 2014. He has been in the Africa and Arbitration Power lists for the Legal 500, and in Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration - Future Leaders for the past few years. In addition to Africa, Kamal has extensive experience of advising Indian corporates and Government entities. He has been recognised as a leading name by the India Business Law Journal for several years.

Kamal acts for governments, government entities, national and independent energy companies, banks and financial institutions, private corporations and high net worth individuals in a range of arbitrations and litigations as counsel as well as arbitrator. He has experience in a diverse range of sectors and industries including energy, banking and finance, projects and infrastructure, tech and fintech, Agriculture and FMCG.

Hi-Taek Shin - South Korea

Professor Hi-Taek Shin is an independent arbitrator at Twenty Essex Chambers, based in Seoul, Korea. He has a rare blend of experience as a practitioner, academic, and public official. Formerly a partner at Kim & Chang, he specialized in cross-border transactions and related disputes. From 2007 to 2017, he taught international business law and investor-State dispute settlement at Seoul National University. He served as Chairman of the Korea Trade Commission, the Korean trade remedy agency, from 2016 to 2019 and has been serving as the member of the Governing Board of ICCA.

He has acted as an arbitrator in numerous international commercial and investment disputes cases before the leading arbitral institutions including HKIAC, ICC, ICSID, LCIA, PCA, SIAC, and KCAB INTERNATIONAL, which he chaired from 2018 to 2022. Professor Shin holds law degrees from Seoul National University and Yale Law School (LL.M., J.S.D.).

George Spalton KC - UK

George Spalton KC is a barrister and arbitrator based in London. He was called to the Bar of England & Wales in 2004 and was called to the BVI Bar 2015. He was appointed as King’s Counsel in 2021 and was nominated for barrister of the year by The Lawyer in 2024.

His practice focuses on complex, multi-jurisdictional commercial disputes (both litigation and arbitration) and also investor/state work. He has extensive expertise across a range of underlying practice areas and sectors - whether civil fraud, M&A disputes, commodities, insurance, energy/mining related work, sports and offshore work. He has acted as Lead Counsel in a number of heavy and high-profile trials in recent years, including a successful 20 week trial in London (worth $1BN) and an investor-state claim worth $100BN+.

George is a Vice President of the LCIA European Users’ Council and sits on the Executive Committee of the English Commercial Bar Association (COMBAR). He is a graduate of Oxford University (MA) and Columbia University, New York (LLM).

Christopher Style KC - UK

Christopher Style is a King’s Counsel and arbitrator practicing at One Essex Court. He has more than 35 years’ experience of International dispute resolution, including acting as counsel and arbitrator in institutional and ad hoc references with seats in many of the centres of International arbitration. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and one of the UK’s representatives on the ICC Commission on Arbitration.

Between 1977 and 2012, Christopher Style practised at Linklater’s in London. He became a partner in 1985 and held a number of senior management positions. He acquired solicitor’s higher courts rights of advocacy in 1997 and was appointed silk in 2006. He was called to the Bar to develop his practice as arbitrator in international commercial arbitration. He has been rated a leading practitioner by Chambers, the Legal 500 and GAR.

Anna-Maria Tamminen - Finland

Anna-Maria specialises in dispute resolution, with a special focus on complex, international disputes. She currently represents parties in mediations, national and international arbitrations, as well as administrative and civil litigations both in Finland and Sweden. She has also acted for clients before the ECJ and the Finnish and Swedish Supreme Courts. She has worked with clients active in many industries, including telecoms, energy and renewables, forestry, construction, pharmaceuticals, logistics, technology and financial services.

Anna-Maria also acts as arbitrator in both international and domestic disputes. She has acted as sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator and chairperson in over 30 international arbitrations. Anna-Maria is trained in both common and civil law legal systems and is admitted to practice as an attorney both in Finland and the State of New York. Due to her training and work experience in Finland, Sweden, Austria, United Kingdom and the United States, Anna-Maria has an in-depth understanding of both common and civil law legal systems.

Sami Tannous - UAE

Sami is an international arbitration specialist focusing on international commercial arbitration and investor-State arbitration. He has represented clients in arbitrations under all major arbitration rules including the ICC, LCIA, ICSID, DIAC, SCC and UNCITRAL rules, with seats in London, Paris, Dubai, DIFC, Geneva, The Hague and Washington.

Sami has particular expertise of disputes involving the Middle East and North Africa. His experience includes advising clients on a broad range of commercial disputes including joint venture and shareholder agreements, SPAs, production sharing agreements and distribution/agency agreements, in various sectors including oil and gas, banking, real-estate, telecoms, defence, travel, media, and construction.

Sami has been based in Dubai for over ten years. Before relocating to Dubai, Sami worked in Freshfields’ Paris office, and in London.

Patrick Taylor - UK/Ireland (UK)

Patrick Taylor is a partner in the London office of Debevoise & Plimpton LLP, Co-Chair of Debevoise’s Africa practice, and is part of Debevoise’s France Desk. He has been representing parties in disputes throughout the world for more than 20 years, focusing on commercial and investment treaty arbitration, and working frequently on matters relating to the energy, pharmaceuticals, and telecommunications industries. Patrick regularly advises companies, investors and States on investment protection and investment dispute settlements in high-risk jurisdictions, tax-related disputes, fiscal and legislative stabilisation rights, shareholder, joint venture, distribution, licensing, post-M&A and general contractual disputes, as well as complex damages analysis. Patrick also sits frequently as an arbitrator. He is qualified in England & Wales as a solicitor-advocate, and in Ireland.

Patrick is recommended by the directories as a leading practitioner for arbitration. He is a current member of the IBA’s Arbitration Subcommittee on Investment Arbitration, and past member of the IBA’s Arb40 Subcommittee and IBA Arbitration Subcommittee on Arbitration and Insolvency. As well as regularly presenting and publishing on international dispute resolution issues, Patrick teaches on investment arbitration at Science Po in Paris. Patrick is bi-lingual in English and French, and fluent in Spanish, working and presenting regularly in each of these languages.

Nicolas Wiegand - Germany (Hong Kong)

Nicolas specialises in international commercial and investment arbitration with a focus on corporate, joint venture, IP, sales and distribution as well as the life sciences, energy, technology, construction and infrastructure sectors.

Having lived and worked for many years in both civil law (Germany, Switzerland) and common law (Hong Kong, Singapore, California, New York, Australia) jurisdictions, Nicolas is experienced in handling cases under both legal traditions. Alongside his work as a party representative, Nicolas is a very experienced arbitrator. To date, he has sat in well over 40 cases covering a wide range of both civil and common law jurisdictions and seated at the major arbitration hubs worldwide.

Nicolas has been head of the CMS Hong Kong presence and the firm’s arbitration practice in the Asia-Pacific region for almost a decade. In January 2020, he has been appointed as co-head for the firm's dispute resolution practice, and in January 2024, Nicolas has also become the head of the firm's US representative office and arbitration practice.

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