Friday, 18 October 2019, Vienna International Arbitral Centre (Sky Lounge), Wiedner Hauptstraße 63, 1040 Wien, Austria

For almost 20 years now, Dr. Christian Aschauer’s professional activities have focused on international arbitration. Since 2014, he has been a professor of arbitration law at the University of Graz, Austria. In addition to teaching at the University of Graz, Dr Aschauer frequently lectures at arbitral institutions and private seminar events. In his international publications, Dr Aschauer’s guiding philosophy is that an international arbitrator should not divide the world into categories of “domestic” and “foreign” law, but rather should take an open and impartial approach towards all of the world’s legal systems (and nationalities).

Dr Mercédeh Azeredo da Silveira is an attorney-at-law with fifteen years of experience in international arbitration. She is a partner at AZHA Attorneys-at-Law, a boutique law firm in Geneva that represents governments and state entities, as well as institutional and private clients in international arbitration proceedings, and offers legal advice on international transactions and economic sanctions.

Dr Azeredo da Silveira acts as arbitrator in international commercial arbitration proceedings and represents corporate entities and governments before arbitral tribunals in both commercial and investment arbitration proceedings. She has acted as counsel in the context of commercial disputes. She also acts as counsel before the Swiss Supreme Court in proceedings related to challenges of international arbitral awards, including sports-related awards. Finally, she regularly advises clients and serves as legal expert on issues pertaining to economic sanctions.

Dr Daniel Busse is the name partner of Busse Diputes and one of its founders. Previously, he was a partner at a "magic circle" firm and the head of their German disputes practice which he had built from scratch; he led this practice for more than eight years. He deals exclusively with arbitration and is one of Germany’s top arbitration lawyers. He is listed in the top band of all relevant directories, including Chambers (Global and Europe, where the top band for arbitration counsel in Germany consists of only three practitioners). Daniel Busse predominantly represents clients in investment treaty, corporate (especially "post-M&A"), energy, infrastructure projects and general commercial matters. He also frequently acts as an arbitrator; he has done so in more than 50 cases, ten of which as chairman of the tribunal or sole arbitrator. Daniel Busse also serves on the boards and/or task forces of international arbitration groups and institutions, such as the ICC, IBA, KLRCA and ARIAS Europe. He also was a member of the (three-member) DIS Appointing Committee and the Drafting Committee in charge of revising the DIS Arbitration Rules.

Eleonore Caroit is a lawyer specialized in international arbitration, including commercial and investment treaty arbitration. She has acted as arbitrator, counsel and as administrative secretary to arbitral tribunals in a number of international arbitral proceedings, both ad hoc and administered (ICC, Swiss rules, UNCITRAL, ICSID, SCC and CAM) governed by various procedural and substantive laws. Her experience covers a range of international contracts including sales, distribution and shareholder agreements notably in the banking, energy, telecommunications, construction and infrastructure sectors. She also has experience in cross-border litigation and corporate matters.

Nicole Dolenz focuses her practice on international dispute resolution. She has represented European, North American, and South American clients in commercial as well as investment arbitrations under ICC, UNCITRAL, ICSID, DIS, and VIAC rules.

Prior to joining Jones Day, Nicole practiced for six years in New York at a major international law firm and five years at an Austrian law firm in Vienna. Her cases have spanned a variety of industries including oil and gas, nuclear energy, aviation, construction, food and beverages, transportation, and insurance.

José is a partner in the International Dispute Resolution Practice Group of the firm based in our Paris office. He represents private and public entities in commercial and investment arbitration proceedings. He also sits as arbitrator in commercial ad-hoc and institutional arbitration proceedings.

Anne-Karin Grill is a partner at Vavrovsky Heine Marth Rechtsanwälte in Vienna. She is an experienced international arbitration lawyer and well-versed in other forms of alternative dispute resolution (ADR). Anne-Karin advises clients in commercial arbitration proceedings in accordance with the rules of key arbitration institutions as well as in investment arbitration matters. She also serves as (sole) arbitrator and acts as CEDR accredited mediator in international commercial disputes.

Anne-Karin is member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration and a member of the board of the Austrian Arbitration Association (Arb|Aut). She is a lecturer at the University of Vienna and a sought-after speaker at international conferences on current dispute resolution topics. Furthermore, she is the author of a number of publications on the subject.

Karlheinz Kopf's political career began as a member of the municipal council of Altach from 1985 to 1999. He has been a member of the Austrian National Council since 1994. He has held various positions in the ÖVP: From 2000, until his election as chairman of the ÖVP parliamentary group in 2008, he was secretary general of the ÖVP Wirtschaftsbund. He served as chairman of the parliamentary group until 2013. On 29 October 2013, Kopf was elected Second President of the National Council, a position he held until November 2017. Since that time, Kopf has been Chairman of the Finance Committee.

Kopf was appointed Secretary General of the Austrian Federal Economic Chamber in 2018.

Andrey Panov is a senior associate in Norton Rose Fulbright’s Moscow office. His practice spans construction, energy, technology and general commercial and shareholders disputes and focuses on commercial and investment arbitration as well as arbitration-related litigation. Andrey acted as an advocate in numerous complex cross-border cases and arbitral tribunals acting under the ICC, SCC, LCIA, SIAC and ICAC Rules, governed by English, Swiss, French, German, Dutch, Russian and Cypriot law. He is experienced in litigating before Russian courts of all levels, including on the matters relating to enforcement of arbitration clauses, setting aside and enforcement of arbitral awards, enforcement of foreign courts’ judgements and obtaining interim measures in support of foreign proceedings. He also sits as an arbitrator in domestic and international cases.

Nick is a Partner in the International Arbitration practice of Herbert Smith Freehills practising from London.  Nick is an English law qualified solicitor who has appeared before arbitral tribunals in Europe and Asia, as well as in the London High Court. 

His work as counsel has involved advising on various industry sectors, as well as acting for and against State governments on commercial disputes. 

Nick previously led the Singapore arbitration practice and is a member of the firm's India Executive.  He works closely with the Moscow office on English law Russian disputes, and also co-chairs the firm's Nordic Group.

Rikard Wikström-Hermansen is a Stockholm-based Partner focusing on Swedish and international commercial arbitration as well as Swedish court proceedings. He has represented Swedish, foreign and multinational corporations before courts and arbitral tribunals under various arbitration rules such as the SCC, the ICC, the SIAC and the UNCITRAL rules. The disputes have involved many different business sectors, such as oil & gas, construction, the automotive industry and M&A disputes.

Rikard also regularly sits as arbitrator and has chaired several international commercial arbitrations – governed by English, Swedish and Russian law – involving Danish, Egyptian, Estonian, German, Norwegian, Russian, Spanish and Swedish parties.

Galina Zukova’s practice concentrates on international commercial and investment arbitration. She represents clients, private and state entities alike, and sits as arbitrator in cases conducted in accordance with the rules of the ICC, VIAC, DIS, SCC, LCIA, UNCITRAL etc., pursuant to different procedural and substantive laws in a broad range of fields and sectors.

Galina is a member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, a Board Member of the Finland Arbitration Institute, and a member of the Arbitration Council of the Georgian International Arbitration Centre. She is also a member of the Organising Committee of the 2020 ICCA Congress. On academic front, Galina serves an Associate Professor at the University of Versailles and the Riga Graduate School of Law.