Deminor Litigation Funding
The Arbitration Summit 2025
Comprehensively Address the Evolving Arbitration Ecosystem to Enhance Your Practice
13th May 2025 | The Dilly, London, United Kingdom
Complimentary attendance for In-House Counsel
Your Arbitration Experts for 2025
President / Chair
CIArb 2024 / LCAM
Jonathan is an independent arbitrator with over 40 years’ experience in the field, ranked Band 1 by Chambers. He is global President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), which has 19,000 members and 44 branches worldwide. He served as trustee for 8 years and chair of the board of trustees for 5 years, during which time he oversaw a governance review approved by the Privy Council. He started his career in criminal defence and human rights diversifying into shipping, insurance and reinsurance, offshore and onshore energy, international trade and regulation, intellectual property, art and cultural property law. He helped to establish an office in the UAE, practised in Singapore and taught in Tanzania. For 25 years he represented the British Government’s export credit agency around the globe in disputes involving commercial contracts, projects and government to government negotiations.
Jonathan chairs Reynolds Porter Chamberlain’s Arbitration Department and the Board of the London Chamber of Arbitration and Mediation (LCAM), and is a founding member of Legal UK and the Virtual Arbitrations forum. He was co-chair of the International Bar Association’s International Sales Committee
CIArb 2024 / LCAM
Partner
Jones Day
Michelle Bradfield has more than 20 years of experience as a lawyer, with a focus on complex international arbitration often involving public international law. She has been recognized in legal directories for more than a decade. The Legal 500 ranks her in the "Hall of Fame" for both international arbitration and public international law and describes her as "among the best in London" and "one of the few PIL practitioners in London who has appeared across almost all PIL areas — she is simply excellent and vastly experienced." Chambers says "The experience with Michelle Bradfield has been outstanding. She has an excellent knowledge of law and she has also got excellent interpersonal skills."
Michelle has significant experience in representing states and private entities on a wide array of matters, including investment treaty arbitration, international commercial arbitration, boundary and maritime disputes, and deep-sea mining and sovereignty issues. She is regularly involved in "bet-the-company" disputes and has worked for numerous FTSE 100 and Fortune 100 companies in disputes around the globe, including in the United States, Australia, India, Sudan, China, Spain, Brazil, Nigeria, and the United Arab Emirates. Additionally, she has worked for many States, including Australia, Malaysia, Croatia, Turkey, Barbados, Oman, China, and sovereign wealth funds.
Michelle lectures at various universities, including King's College London and has published extensively. She also started her international law career as a Fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law, the University of Cambridge, and was assistant to Sir Elihu Lauterpacht CBE KC.
Jones Day
Partner, Global Co-head of International Arbitration
Simmons & Simmons
Stuart is the Global co-head of our international arbitration practice.
Stuart has drafted complex choice of law clauses and multi-tier and multi-party arbitration and jurisdiction agreements for many transactions, including multi-million dollar M&A deals and international oil and gas projects in the Middle East, Nigeria, India and South America.
Stuart has conducted arbitrations under both common law and civil law in England, mainland Europe (including Sweden, Switzerland, Poland, Hungary and the Czech Republic), the Middle East, Africa and Australia. He has acted for and against parties from the UK, mainland Europe, Central Europe, Asia, North and South America, Australia and Africa.
Simmons & Simmons
Partner
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Claire Morel de Westgaver is a Partner within the firm’s International Arbitration Practice. She is dual-qualified (England & Wales and New York) and has a mixed common and civil law background, having completed her legal education in Belgium and the USA. She practices international arbitration as counsel, advocate and arbitrator, whilst also conducting proceedings in both English and French.
Claire has particular expertise in disputes relating to technology, corporate transactions, licenses, cross-border sale or service agreements, as well as disputes involving secrecy, intellectual property and cybersecurity issues. Her practice covers a broad spectrum of industries, including IT, pharmaceuticals, engineering, commodities, energy, agribusiness, media, art and defence. Claire’s experience also extends to acting in proceedings under the rules of the LCIA, ICC, AAA/ICDR, UNCITRAL and CCJA as well as in ad hoc proceedings. These arbitrations have involved the laws of multiple jurisdictions, including England & Wales, New York, Texas, France, Belgium, Luxembourg, Czech Republic, Japan, China, Qatar, Pakistan, Romania, Saint Lucia and Cyprus.
Claire regularly writes and speaks on arbitration-related subjects, including the use of technology and AI in arbitral proceedings, arbitrating technology disputes, cybersecurity in international arbitration and the preservation of trade secrets. She is also a board member of the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center (SVAMC) and a co-founder of the Global Arbitration Review’s award winning initiative ‘Mute Off Thursdays’. She also sits on the ICC Taskforce on the use of Information Technology in arbitral proceedings, on the IBA Arbitration Committee Taskforce on Privilege and on the Advisory Board of CyberArb.
Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner
Partner and Head of International Arbitration
RPC
Shai heads our International Arbitration department, specialising in large-scale complex arbitration disputes in key industries such as, oil and gas, energy, natural resources, commodities, media and telecoms, construction, insurance and retail. He regularly advises on investor-state disputes.
"I sit as an arbitrator and serve as counsel in arbitrations decided under the major arbitral rules, heard in different jurisdictions and applying different substantive laws."
"I have spent my entire career in the international arbitration world. As a young lawyer I served as a staff attorney to the Claims Resolution Tribunal for dormant accounts in Switzerland and later I drafted the arbitration rules for the appeals process of the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims. I am the co-author of the principal textbook commentary on LCIA Arbitration, and I am honoured to have been recognised as a leading international arbitration lawyer by my colleagues and by the best known legal directories.
I sit as an arbitrator and serve as counsel in arbitrations decided under the major arbitral rules, many different laws in jurisdictions across the globe
Clients trust me with repeated instructions because they know that I am an excellent strategist who will work tirelessly for them, to secure the best possible outcome."
‘Shai Wade is a superstar! A brilliant lawyer with exceptional knowledge and understanding of international arbitration in various industries.’- Legal500 2025
RPC
Partner, Dispute Resolution
Rosenblatt Law
Elizabeth Weeks is a Partner in our Dispute Resolution team, and ranked as a Next Generation Partner in Legal 500 2025.
Elizabeth has extensive experience acting on a wide range of complex, high-value, multi-jurisdictional commercial dispute resolution matters, including litigation, arbitration, and adjudication. She acts in proceedings brought in various divisions of the High Court together with appellate proceedings in the Court of Appeal and the Supreme Court. Elizabeth acts and advises in proceedings governed by various arbitral institutional rules including the ICC, LCIA, LMAA and CIArb.
Elizabeth acts on matters relating to contractual disputes, commercial fraud, breach of fiduciary duty, asset recovery, jurisdiction challenges, enforcement of foreign Judgments, company, shareholder, partnership and family business disputes and professional negligence disputes. Her work often involves urgent Court applications and the application of foreign law.
Elizabeth’s private wealth experience has also seen her acting for clients in the arts and luxury assets sector.
Elizabeth acts for a variety of private and public sector clients on a full range of contentious and non-contentious construction matters from advice on procurement methods and the negotiation of construction contracts through to dispute avoidance and resolution.
Elizabeth is a member of the LSLA, the Society of Construction Law and The Association of Women in the Arts
Rosenblatt Law
Associate
ADVANT Altana (France)
Chiraz is a PhD holder and a French qualified lawyer advising and representing French and foreign clients in various commercial arbitration proceedings, either ad hoc or institutional (ICC, CIAP, CMAP, DIAC, CRCICA, etc.) relating to a broad spectrum of industries (construction, infrastructures, defense, international sales, distribution, post-M&A) and covering numerous applicable laws and seats of arbitration.
Chiraz acts also in enforcement and annulment proceedings of international arbitral awards before French and Tunisian courts, and sits as arbitrator (co-arbitrator, sole arbitrator, chairman) in ad hoc or institutional arbitration.
She is a lecturer in arbitration law at the Paris Bar School and is also the author of numerous articles in the professional legal journals. She intervenes regularly as a speaker to discuss topics notably related to arbitration and mediation in the MENA region.
Before joining ADVANT Altana, Chiraz was a lecturer in civil law at several universities (University Panthéon-Assas, University Saint-Quentin en Yvelines, University of Le Mans, University of Orléans).
In another note, Chiraz is, since January 2023, the French national representative of the IBA Young Lawyer’s Committee.
ADVANT Altana (France)
Partner
MAIO Legal (Spain)
MAIO Legal (Spain)
General Counsel and AI Governance Officer
Luminance
Harry Borovick is General Counsel and AI Governance Officer of Luminance, which provides advanced AI for the processing of legal documents. As well as working at the forefront of the development of AI for legal operations, Harry is a lecturer at Kings College London and Queen Mary University London on applied legal AI and AI ethics. Harry currently sits as an AI advisor to CiArb and most recently published his book AI and The Law: A Practical Guide to Using AI Safely.
Luminance
Founder
Bozoglu Law (Turkey)
Idil Bozoglu is a graduate of Istanbul University, Faculty of Law and she completed her master’s degree in Business Law at Bilgi University with her thesis titled “Contractors’ Right to Request Additional Payment under Turkish Law”. She is registered in the Istanbul Bar Association.
Her areas of practice covers mainly commercial arbitration as well as complex commercial litigation matters. She is vice president of the Society of Construction Law’s Turkey chapter. Ms. Bozoglu is a native Turkish speaker and she speaks English.
Bozoglu Law (Turkey)
Arbitrator and Counsel
Chinn Arbitration
Born and raised in Hawai’i, Christopher Chinn, FCIArb, is a Franco-American arbitrator and counsel admitted in Paris, England & Wales, and New York.
Christopher has been involved on the counsel side of international arbitrations at leading law firms in New York and Paris since 1999 and has acted as arbitrator since 2019 under the rules of the DIAC, HKIAC, ICC, KCAB, and SAKIG under common law and civil law legal systems in the French and English languages. Matters as arbitrator have included disputes in the construction, energy and commercial sectors involving States, individuals and international corporations. Christopher speaks Polish on a conversational level and has arbitrated disputes in Eastern Europe in addition to Western Europe, Asia and the Middle East.
Christopher has run his own boutique practice as arbitrator and counsel based in Paris since 2017. www.chinnarbitration.com
He is Vice Chair of the Executive Committee of the European Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and has been admitted to numerous institutional lists of arbitrators.
Chinn Arbitration
Managing Partner
Forgó, Damjanovic & Partners (Hungary)
Gábor has been practising international business law for more than 20 years. His primary focuses are transactional/projects work, dispute resolution and employment law. He has acted as lead counsel on numerous M&A transactions, joint ventures and projects, and represented a number of international clients and blue-chip companies in the resolution of their disputes.
Gábor is furthermore a specialist in the legal issues ofthe gaming/betting sector. He regularly advises operators, slot machine manufacturers, IT solution providers and concession holders, in addition to providing transactional support in the gaming sector and assisting other clients in gaming-related issues. He acts for both land-based and online clients.
Gábor is highly international oriented, having attended numerous conferences and being a regular delegate at the International Bar Association’s (IBA) annual conferences. During the past decade he has forged strong relationships with a number of highly respected foreign lawyers, thus making him well placed to provide solid cross-border advice to his Hungarian clients. A significant majority of his clients are multinational and foreign corporations and he is regularly instructed by foreign lawyers on a referral basis.
Forgó, Damjanovic & Partners (Hungary)
Founder and Managing Partner
PDLegal (Singapore)
Peter Doraisamy is the Founder and Managing Partner of PDLegal LLC, an award winning mid-sized full-service law firm based in Singapore. The Firm also maintains an office in Bangkok, Thailand.
With 25 years of practice experience, Peter is widely recognised as a leading advocate. He regularly acts as counsel in complex commercial litigation matters and international arbitration. He is frequently instructed on contentious matters in the areas of Maritime and Shipping, International Trade, Commodities, Restructuring and Insolvency, Insurance, Shareholders’ Dispute, Employment, Corporate Governance, and Fraud and Asset recovery.
Peter serves a diverse clientele across a wide array of industries. His clients include high net worth individuals, corporations, ranging from multi-national to publicly listed entities as well as international and local law firms who instruct him as counsel.
For non-contentious matters, clients look to Peter as a trusted business advisor and strategist in relation to joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and restructuring exercises.
Peter has also been invited to sit on committees, sub-committees, and advisory boards of various organisations, such as, the Law Society of Singapore, Maritime Law Association of Singapore, Singapore Shipping Association, National University of Singapore Centre for Maritime Law, and the Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration.
Peter read Law at the University of Nottingham and received an LL.M. (Maritime Law) from the National University of Singapore. Peter was admitted to the Middle Temple as a Barrister-at-Law in 1997 and became an Advocate and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in 1999.
Peter’s practice has received recognition in various leading independent legal directories including the Legal 500, Chambers & Partners, Benchmark Litigation, and Asialaw.
PDLegal (Singapore)
CEO
BVI International Arbitration Centre
Shan Greer is an international arbitrator and mediator associated with Arbitra International in London and serves as the Chief Executive Officer of the BVI International Arbitration Centre. Since assuming this role in January 2023, she has leveraged over two decades of experience to promote excellence in arbitration and dispute resolution globally.
Renowned for her pragmatic and commercially astute approach, Shan has advised and represented clients across a broad range of industries in diverse jurisdictions, including the Caribbean, Europe, and North America. Her ability to handle complex disputes with efficiency and fairness has positioned her as a trusted leader in the field.
Shan holds a Master’s degree in Construction Law and Dispute Resolution from King’s College London and is dually qualified as a barrister and solicitor in England, with admissions to practice in Saint Lucia, Saint Vincent, and Belize.
A sought-after arbitrator, adjudicator, and mediator, Shan’s practice includes ad hoc, institutional, international, and domestic arbitrations, seamlessly bridging civil and common law systems. Her dedication to equitable and effective dispute resolution has earned her widespread recognition and respect.
Shan’s deep expertise and strategic insights make her a valuable voice in advancing arbitration and dispute resolution, particularly within the offshore sector.
BVI International Arbitration Centre
Independent Arbitrator
Paula Hodges KC Arbitration
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.
Accolades
• “Paula Hodges KC is “is very bright and efficient.”; “She is a real star. She is excellent.” Chambers UK 2024 – International Arbitration: Arbitrators – UK-wide (Band 1)
• "Paula is a class act." Chambers UK 2023 – International Arbitration: Arbitrators – UK-wide (Band 1)
• Paula Hodges KC "is a very highly thought-of arbitrator and advocate. She has experience in complex commercial transactions, and this gives her a strength too. She is outstanding." Chambers UK 2022 – International Arbitration: Arbitrators – UK-wide (Band 1)
• "Paula Hodges KC is "one of the leading arbitrators globally" Chambers UK 2021 – International Arbitration: Arbitrators – UK-wide (Band 1)
• The 'superb' Paula Hodges KC "is a legend of the market" and a "very knowledgeable arbitrator". Who's Who Legal Arbitration 2020
Paula Hodges KC Arbitration
Senior Business Development Consultant
Opus 2
Kateryna Honcharenko joined Opus 2 in 2024 as a senior consultant in the EMEA region, specialising in legal technology and international dispute resolution. Immediately prior Kateryna worked as an Arbitration Professional Practice manager at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Ciarb) in London, where she led and contributed to numerous legal research and thought leadership initiatives, with a particular focus on international commercial arbitration, cybersecurity, technology and artificial intelligence.
She has extensive experience in developing soft law instruments, including Ciarb Guidance Note on Remote Dispute Resolution Proceedings and Ciarb Framework Guideline on the Use of Technology in International Arbitration. Additionally, she has authored numerous academic articles and served as production editor of Arbitration: The Journal of International Arbitration, Mediation and Dispute Management.
She is a frequent conference speaker and led the Ciarb delegation to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group II on Dispute Settlement for nearly three years.
Kateryna holds dual LL.M. degrees: in Comparative and International Dispute Resolution from Queen Mary University of London, and in International Trade Regulation from the Institute of International Relations at Taras Shevchenko National University of Kyiv, where she also did her LL.B. in International Private Law. Kateryna's early career included training at the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Ukraine and with the Litigation Department at Integrites in Kyiv, where she contributed to various cases involving bankruptcy, antitrust and intellectual property.
Opus 2
International Arbitrator
(Denmark)
Jacob C. Jørgensen is an international arbitration practitioner with extensive experience in disputes related to both offshore and onshore construction projects. Jacob is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a CAS arbitrator and is listed as a Certified Adjudicator on FIDIC’s “President’s List”. He has served as an arbitrator under the ICC rules, the rules of the Court of Arbitration for Sport, the rules of the Danish Institute of Arbitration and in ad hoc arbitrations.
He regularly publishes within his areas of expertise and speaks at international conferences and as a guest lecturer at the University of Copenhagen. In 2023, Jacob joined FIDIC’s Task Group 14, which is drafting a new standard contract for offshore wind projects. In 2024, he was appointed vice chairman of the European Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
(Denmark)
Founding Partner
WJ Avocats (France)
Member of the Paris Bar since 2000, William JULIÉ is a Franco-British lawyer, who worked mainly in criminal law, before focusing his practice on International and European Criminal Law.
After studying International Law at the University of Paris-Sorbonne (Paris I), William JULIÉ turned to Criminal Law, obtaining a doctoral certification (Doctorat d’études approfondies) in European Criminal Justice Policy directed by Professor Mireille Delmas-Marty while also attending the Institute of Criminology at the University of Paris-Assas (Paris II).
His first years fine-tuning his skills as a criminal and fundamental rights lawyer were spent working alongside renowned professionals, amongst whom Maître Henri Leclerc (President of the Human Rights League).
He has developed a strong practice in International and European criminal litigation, especially in extradition proceedings, international and European arrest warrants, and withdrawal of INTERPOL Red Notices.
He has since extended his practice to complex and technical international and transnational litigation cases, in particular international and European sanctions, including before the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the recovery of frozen assets.
He regularly intervenes as a legal expert in criminal law and human rights law before foreign courts.
William JULIÉ is on the List of Counsel to the International Criminal Court.
WJ Avocats (France)
Senior Partner
AKT Law (Turkey)
M. Cem Kaspi obtained his law degree from Istanbul University in 1997 and he was admitted to the Istanbul Bar Association in 2000.
He offers high-quality legal assistance to his clients in both contract consulting and dispute resolution. He has a wealth of knowledge in many different legal fields, particularly in those related to maritime and transportation law, labor law, real estate law and international commercial law and represents his clients in both courts and arbitration tribunals.
M. Cem Kaspi, a member of the Board of Directors of the Istanbul Arbitration Association, has been the Marshall Islands Authorized Representative since 2009.
AKT Law (Turkey)
Partner
Teynier Pic (France)
Raphael Kaminsky specialises in commercial litigation, international arbitration and alternative dispute resolution (ADR).
Raphael has acted as counsel in a large number of domestic and international commercial arbitrations, both institutional and ad hoc. He also regularly sits as arbitrator. His experience encompasses disputes in the telecommunications, defence, energy, aerospace and distribution sectors, relating to project in Europe, Africa and the Middle East. Raphael also has a broad experience in pre- and post-arbitration litigation before the French courts and has been involved in dozens of set-aside proceedings, appeals against exequatur orders and in the enforcement of arbitral awards, including against sovereigns.
Raphael is also a recognised expert in domestic and international commercial litigation. He has acted in a large number of proceedings before French courts and his experience includes post-M&A disputes, and disputes in the telecommunication, distribution and heavy industry sectors. He has extensive experience in private international law in areas such as the taking evidence and the service of judicial or extra-judicial documents abroad (Hague Conventions and blocking statutes).
He has also represented clients in numerous institutional and ad hoc mediations and conciliations.
Teynier Pic (France)
Partner
Rajah & Tann (Singapore)
Matthew practices primarily in the sphere of international arbitration and construction law. He has experience in arbitrations conducted under various arbitration rules, statutory adjudication of construction disputes, as well as in general commercial litigation. Matthew has also acted for claimants in the enforcement of investor-state arbitration awards and interlocutory applications arising out of investor-state arbitrations in the Singapore courts. Matthew is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.
Rajah & Tann (Singapore)
Head of Legal - Europe
GLP Capital Partners
Ofei Kwafo-Akoto is a senior lawyer with broad corporate experience, as well as more specific real estate experience in acquisitions, disposals, development and asset management. He is currently Head of Legal - Europe at GLP Capital Partners, a leading investment manager in alternative asset classes such as logistics assets, infrastructure investing and renewable energy. In this role Ofei has responsibility for a wide range of legal matters across the GLP business, including management of litigation and contentious matters.
Prior to this, Ofei worked as a corporate lawyer in the City where he advised private equity houses, and real estate and sovereign wealth funds. Ofei is also a non-executive director at Metropolitan Thames Valley Housing and a trustee of the Duke of Edinburgh’s Award.
GLP Capital Partners
Partner
Lead Up Avocats (France)
Julien Maire du Poset, a member of the Paris Bar and a Solicitor of England and Wales, has over 15 years of experience. Julien has developed a practice in complex international contracts and cross-border litigation.
Julien focuses his practice on negotiating contracts and resolving disputes through arbitration, litigation or through the means of amicable dispute resolution. Julien provides strategic counsel to diverse clients spanning various industries, such as telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, SaaS software, online gaming, construction, distribution, automotive, and transport.
After working for renowned Parisian law firms in litigation and international law, Julien’s appetite for entrepreneurship led him to establish Lead up in 2017.
Julien was involved in drafting some of the International Chamber of Commerce’s main model contracts, including the ICC Model International Sale Contract and the ICC Model Turnkey Contract for Major Projects.
Julien is also a member of the LCIA’s European Users’ Council and serves on the organising committee for Tel Aviv Arbitration Week.
Lead Up Avocats (France)
Arbitrator
Arbitra International
Brandon Malone is a Barrister, Advocate and Arbitrator with over thirty years’ experience in commercial dispute resolution. He was the architect and founding Chairman of the Scottish Arbitration Center from 2011 to 2022. He proposed and chairs the ICCA-NYC Bar-CPR Institute Working Group on Cybersecurity in International Arbitration. He has experience as a wing, sole, and presiding arbitrator in major international arbitrations under the rules of AAA, ICDR, SIAC, LCIA and various other institutions with cases seated in Europe, the Middle East, the Americas and Asia. His experience ranges from construction, engineering, energy and infrastructure to blockchain and cryptocurrency arbitrations and agency, partnership and shareholder disputes. Brandon is a member of the FIDIC President’s Panel of Approved Dispute Adjudicators, and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is a member of Arbitra International and Ampersand Advocates, and a door tenant with Quadrant Chambers. Brandon writes and lectures on a variety of dispute resolution topics.
Arbitra International
Senior Counsel, EMEA & LATAM
Adobe
Sebastián is a legal expert with over a decade of experience navigating complex legal landscapes. Currently serving as Senior Counsel for EMEA and LATAM at Adobe, he brings extensive expertise in international arbitration, IT contracts, and conflict resolution.
Before joining Adobe, Sebastian held key roles in the tech sector at HPE, the oil industry, and international law firms, where he negotiated high-stakes deals across private and public sectors. A published scholar with a PhD in International Arbitration Law, he has also taught at the Paris Bar School and participated as an expert in the ICC's In-House Working Group.
Adobe
Managing Partner
Triple OK Law (Kenya)
John has been described by clients as “one of the foremost litigators in the country” and “…an absolutely superb disputes lawyer”.
John has 34 years of dispute experience and is an acknowledged expert in high-stakes domestic and international cases. His broad practice focuses on banking, finance, technology, procurement, energy, and commercial. He is a Chartered Arbitrator, an accredited mediator, and a member of the governing board of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration.
John is ranked in Band 1: Dispute Resolution and in Band 1: Arbitrator by Chambers and Partners. In addition, he has been featured as one of the Top 50 Arbitrators in Africa by Legal 500: Arbitration Powerlist and the Africa Arbitration Academy. He sits on boards and committees of several arbitration organisations. These include a role as the Chairperson of the National Steering Committee for Formulation of the ADR Policy. He is nominated by Kenya to the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators and Mediators, as well as to the ICC Commission on Arbitration.
He has advised multinational companies, blue-chip companies listed on the Nairobi Securities Exchange, and various other private companies besides Kenya’s largest state corporations. In addition, he has provided expert opinions and appeared as an expert witness on Kenyan law before the courts of England and Wales and the United States of America.
He also served on the inaugural board of the Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration for eight years. He is also the Convenor of the Law Society of Kenya’s Alternative Dispute Resolution Committee and as well as a member of the Mediation Accreditation Committee and the Judiciary Task Force on Court-Annexed Mediation. In 2013, he was appointed the Chairman of the Kenya Sports Disputes Tribunal.
He sits on the boards of several companies and is a Trustee of the M-PESA Foundation and is a director of the M-PESA Foundation Academy, which aims to provide a world-class education to gifted but economically disadvantaged students from across Kenya.
Triple OK Law (Kenya)
Founder
Ekaas Resolve (Canada)
Praveen is the founder of Ekaas Resolve, where she serves as an arbitrator and mediator. Based in Canada with a global practice, Praveen has handled a range of commercial matters, including corporate disputes, contracts, insurance claims, and construction and real estate projects. She is also a Professor of Business Law at the Sauder School of Business, University of British Columbia.
Praveen is fluent in English, French, and Punjabi, and has a working knowledge of Hindi. She serves as a director on her local chapter of the ADR Institute of Canada.
On a personal note, she finds immense joy in meditation and yoga, embraces the wonders of travel, and considers living in Paris for three and a half years one of her most cherished life experiences.
A career highlight came in December 2024, when Praveen was nominated for the prestigious King Charles III’s Coronation Medal, recognizing her work and achievements within Canada and abroad that bring credit to Canada.
Ekaas Resolve (Canada)
Arbitrator / Vice-President
SURDEK Arbitration / ICC International Court of Arbitration
Małgorzata Surdek-Janicka is an arbitrator at SURDEK Arbitration and Vice-President of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. She is also Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR. Before establishing her own independent arbitrator’s practice in autumn 2022, Małgorzata was a dispute resolution partner at CMS with 25 years of experience in the field, and a member of its global International Arbitration Group. She has 10 years of management experience as member of the global Board of CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP in London. Małgorzata has sat as arbitrator in infrastructure and construction, post-M&A and commercial disputes in the energy, mining, transportation, technology, retail, insurance & reinsurance, banking, and manufacturing sectors under the ICC, DIAC, SCC, VIAC, UNCITRAL, LCIA, FCC, and PCC arbitration rules and involving parties from Western and Eastern Europe, Central Asia, Sub-Saharan Africa, Middle East, and Northern America. She represented parties in investment arbitrations (most recently as lead counsel in the mining industry under the Canada-Poland Bilateral Investment Treaty).
SURDEK Arbitration / ICC International Court of Arbitration
Deputy Registrar
London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)
Wing joined the LCIA as Counsel in 2009. Prior to this, she spent three years at the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims (ICHEIC), where she worked with European insurance companies, claimants and arbitrators, and administered arbitrations in her role as Case Analyst and Appeals Process Advisor. Wing holds an LLB from Queen Mary University of London and an LLM from the School of Oriental and African Studies.
London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)
Managing Partner
Vardar Sanli (Turkey)
Çağdaş is the Managing Partner of Vardar Sanli that is an independent law firm based in Istanbul.
Çağdaş has an extensive track record of representing reputable corporations and private clients in complex white-collar crime and commercial arbitration matters. His expertise also spans competition, corporate and finance law, covering both regulatory and transactional aspects thereof.
Çağdaş regularly represents the Firm’s clients in international arbitration proceedings under ICC, LCIA and ICAC Rules, as well as in ad hoc proceedings. His practice focuses on the energy, healthcare and insurance sectors. As part of his practice, Çağdaş also handles enforcement claims and serves as a mediator.
Çağdaş has a trilingual capability to advise clients in English, French and Turkish.
Vardar Sanli (Turkey)
General Counsel UK
Deminor
David is the Head of Arbitration and Investment Manager in Deminor’s London office. David focuses on litigation funding opportunities in international arbitration and UK litigation. He sources potential opportunities, carries out diligence on cases, and monitors funded cases. David has more than ten years of experience in international commercial arbitration and investor state arbitration, having practised as an international arbitration solicitor and as in-house legal advisor for litigation funders.
Deminor
Contact Us
Speaking
For Speaking enquiries please contact Melody on +44 (0)20 3997 8527 or email melody@thoughtleaders4.com
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For Booking & General enquiries please contact Amy on +44 (0) 20 3059 9796 or email info@thoughtleaders4.com
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For Partnership enquiries please contact Ben Jobson on +44 (0) 20 3059 9525 or email ben.jobson@thoughtleaders4.com
Venue & Logistics
For Venue & Logistics enquiries please contact Ewan on +44 (0) 20 3433 2292 or email ewan@thoughtleaders4.com