Wednesday, 27 November 2019, 15 Rue de Laborde 75008, Paris, France

Mathias Audit is a law professor at the Sorbonne School of Law. Mathias also acts as arbitrator or counsel in arbitration or court proceedings involving state entities and/or commercial companies. He is a partner at Steering Legal, a Paris-based firm. Mathias specializes in the field of international litigation and arbitration and is widely recognized as an expert in International Commercial Law, International Arbitration and Investment Law. He is the author of numerous books and publications, including a treatise on International Commercial Law and Foreign Investment Law (Droit du commerce international et des investissements étrangers, with S. Bollée et P. Callé).

Julie Bédard is head of Skadden’s International Litigation and Arbitration Group for the Americas. A French and Canadian national, she is fluent in four languages and trained in civil and common law, practicing in complex international litigation and arbitration matters. She serves as senior co-chair of the Arbitration Committee of the International Bar Association and is a member of its task force on “Addressing Issues of Corruption in International Arbitration." Repeatedly listed in Chambers USA, Chambers Global and Chambers Latin America, she acts as counsel and sits as an arbitrator in international arbitration proceedings around the world.

Nadia Darwazeh is a Partner and Head of Arbitration of Clyde & Co's Paris office. Nadia has extensive experience acting as counsel and sitting as arbitrator in commercial and investor-state arbitrations. Before joining Clyde & Co, Nadia practiced for two decades in the International Arbitration Groups of leading international law firms in Paris, Shanghai, Frankfurt and London and as Counsel at the ICC, where she headed up the MENA team.

Nadia is dual-qualified in England & Wales (Solicitor-Advocate) and Germany (Rechtsanwältin). She earned her LLM in International Public Law from the University of Cambridge and her LLB from the University of Warwick. She conducts arbitrations in French, German and English and speaks Dutch and Mandarin Chinese.

Alexander G. Fessas is the Secretary General of the ICC International Court of Arbitration.

As Secretary General, he is responsible for the operational management and coordination of the ICC Court’s Secretariat and other dispute resolution services in Paris, Hong Kong, New York, Sao Paolo and Singapore.

He joined the Secretariat in late 2011 and held consecutive positions in three case management teams, of which two as counsel. Prior to his appointment as Secretary General, he was the Secretariat’s Managing Counsel over a three-year term.

He read law at the University of Athens, Greece having specialized in international commercial transactions and conflict of laws.

Prior to joining the ICC Court, he practised as counsel out of Athens where he established a sole practice in 2008. He was previously an associate at an Athens-based law firm. During the same period, he was also the editor-in-chief of the Revue hellénique de droit international.

He is admitted to the Athens Bar and speaks English, French and Greek.

Matthieu Gregoire is a barrister at 4 New Square Chambers specialising in international arbitration, public international law and commercial litigation.  He is routinely instructed in complex international commercial and investment arbitrations, across many industries and under a wide range of rules (including ICSID, SCC, LCIA, ICC, UNCITRAL and ad hoc Rules). 

Matthieu acts as part of a team or as sole counsel.  He was appointed to the Attorney General's Public International Law C Panel of Counsel in 2017 and is recognised as a leading barrister for arbitration in WWL.

Prior to joining the bar, Matthieu qualified as a New York Attorney and worked as an associate in the international arbitration team of Cleary Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton, in Paris and as a consultant for the World Bank.  He holds degrees from the University of Cambridge, Sciences Po Paris and Georgetown University, D.C.  

Jacob Grierson heads Asafo & Co.‘s international arbitration practice and is based in the Firm’s Paris office. A graduate of Balliol College, Oxford University, and the College of Europe in Bruges, and a qualified English barrister and French avocat, Mr Grierson has extensive experience in arbitrations under the ICC Rules of Arbitration, as well as in many other types of arbitrations, both as counsel and arbitrator.

Mr Grierson is Vice-President of the Casablanca International Mediation and Arbitration Center (CIMAC), a Council Member of the ICC Institute and a Member of the ICC Arbitration Commission. He is also the co-author of “Arbitrating under the 2012 ICC Rules: An Introductory User's Guide” (Kluwer Law International).

Dr Jacomijn van Haersolte-van Hof has been the Director General of the LCIA since 2014; having previously last practised as counsel and arbitrator in the Netherlands at her GAR 100 boutique, HaersolteHof. She has arbitrated cases under the ICSID, ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL and NAI Rules and has, in particular, experience in commodities, transport and maritime arbitration. She sits on the ICSID roster of arbitrators. She is a member of GAR’s editorial board and member of the Advisory Council for the Pledge on Equal Representation in Arbitration. 

Mr Hennessee is SVP Litigation, Investigations & Regulatory Affairs at Airbus, where he leads the Group’s global activities in these areas.  Separately, he occasionally sits as arbitrator.  Until July, 2019, he also served as Chairman of the Governing Body of the ICC Court of International Arbitration.  In a three year hiatus from Airbus, Mr. Hennessee was VP Public Law & Technology of Halliburton (2013-2016).  He gives guest lectures in law and public policy at Oxford, Cambridge, Paris Assas, Sciences Po, and University of Toulouse Capitole.  Mr Hennessee has previously practiced law in Germany and in the United States on behalf of institutions including the German Government and private law firms. Educated at the University of Göttingen, Germany, the London School of Economics and SMU Law School, he holds degrees in history, economics/econometrics, and law.  He is a trustee of Houston Grand Opera, a cancer survivor-mentor, Fellow of the Robert Bosch Foundation and Phi Beta Kappa. Mr. Hennessee is the winner of the ILO Award for Litigation “Individual of the Year” for 2009 and the 2018 winner of the Golden Quill award from the Business and Legal Forum for published article of the year. He has published over 100 articles on various legal subjects and is a frequent speaker on law, technology and public policy. 

Admitted to the Paris Bar, Dany Khayat is the head of the Litigation and International Arbitration practice in Paris and the co-leader of the Middle-East dispute practice with the Firm.

Dany has extensive experience in commercial arbitration and has acted as lead counsel in dozens of cases under a variety of applicable laws. Dany also has substantive knowledge of investment treaty arbitration and the protection of foreign investments and has been involved, as lead counsel, in more than a dozen investor/State disputes, representing both States and investors. He has written extensively on ICSID awards and decisions for fifteen years.

He also acts as arbitrator in ICC, DIAC, CRCICA, BCDR-AAA and ad hoc proceedings.

Mr. Khvalei is a partner in the Moscow office of Baker McKenzie and heads the Firm’s CIS Dispute Resolution Practice. Vladimir is Vice-Chair of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, Co-Chair of the Task Force “Addressing Issues of Corruption in International Arbitration”, Council Member of the ICC Institute of World Business Law, ICCA Board Member, the Chairman of the Board of the Arbitration Association.

Wendy J. Miles, QC is a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton. Her practice focuses on international arbitration and public international law.

With over twenty years of experience, Ms. Miles has conducted arbitrations under all the major institutions, as well as conducting ad hoc arbitrations and undertaking significant public international law cases.

Ms. Miles represents clients across numerous sectors, including energy, natural resources, gaming, manufacturing, financial services, pharmaceutical, licensing, telecommunications, insurance and construction.

Ms. Miles is described by Chambers Global (2019) as “a leading light in the arbitration community” and “visionary in terms of the final goal.”

Yasmin Mohammad is the Head of International Arbitration at Vannin Capital. She advises clients on third party funding options internationally and manages Vannin Capital's team of Managing Directors specialised in International Arbitration across the globe. She has particular expertise in disputes involving telecommunications, food and beverages, oil and gas and infrastructure industries based in the USA, Europe, Africa, China or the Middle East. Yasmin is also the founding member of the Organisation Committee of the Paris Arbitration Week.

Thierry Tomasi is a partner in the International Arbitration team at Herbert Smith Freehills in Paris. He has extensive experience advising French and international clients in complex arbitrations, particularly relating to aerospace, defence, rail, infrastructure and engineering. Thierry's practice is strongly linked with Africa and Brazil. Thierry also sits as an arbitrator on a regular basis, and represents clients in arbitration-related proceedings before French courts.