Swiss Arbitration Summit 2024

Diana Akikol leads the Geneva International Arbitration Group.

Drawing on over 20 years of experience as an advocate, Ms. Akikol represents multinational corporations, national companies, states and state-owned entities in international arbitration proceedings under the major institutional rules and ad-hoc arbitrations under the UNCITRAL Rules. Additionally, she acts for clients in arbitration-related proceedings before the Geneva courts.

Ms. Akikol is also an accomplished arbitrator, having sat as tribunal member (often as president) in more than 60 arbitrations seated in various jurisdictions (Geneva, Zurich, London, Paris, Berlin, Vienna, Istanbul, Hong Kong, etc.) and conducted under a variety of rules (including ICC, Swiss, LCIA, HKIAC, VIAC and DIS).

Ms. Akikol’s practice spans a wide range of matters, with a particular focus on sales of goods, commodities and energy trading, mergers & acquisitions, shareholder agreements, joint ventures, construction and engineering, agency, licence and distribution agreements, as well as services and consultancy agreements.
Ranked as a leader in her field, both in Europe and globally, Diana Akikol “impresses peers with her mastery of complex technical facts and very profound legal knowledge” (Who’s Who Legal Arbitration 2019) and is described as “very quick in understanding and very dedicated” (Chambers Global 2020). She is recommended as “one of the best Swiss arbitration lawyers” (Who’s Who Legal Global Leader 2023), “a very strong practitioner” (Who’s Who Legal 2020 Switzerland Arbitration) and “a highly intelligent and accurate arbitrator” (Who’s Who Legal Arbitration Future Leaders Partners 2018).

Ms. Akikol serves as ICC Court member for Switzerland. She is also a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, the Arbitration Commission of ICC Switzerland, the Board of the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA), a Court member of the Swiss Arbitration Centre, and a member of the Board of the Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC).

Ms. Akikol has published a doctoral thesis on the warranty regime under Swiss law and the UN Sales Convention (CISG) and co-authored a commentary on the CISG. She regularly speaks and publishes in the arbitration field. Several of her contributions deal with award set aside proceedings before the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. She recently co-authored a commentary on the Swiss International Arbitration Act.

Ms. Akikol holds a law degree from the University of Fribourg and a doctorate degree from the University of Lucerne, both summa cum laude. She was admitted to the bar in 2002, ranked first of her class. Ms. Akikol started her professional career as law clerk on the Superior Court of Berne, Switzerland (2002-2005) and completed her PhD as a visiting scholar at the University of Michigan Law School (2005-2006), before specializing in international arbitration with another Swiss national law firm (2007-2014). She successfully continued her arbitration practice as a co-founder of a Geneva-based business law boutique (2014-2020) before joining Walder Wyss in 2020.

Diana Akikol is fluent in English, French and German (native).

Richard Allemann is Associate at Homburger. Richard specializes in international arbitration and litigation. He regularly acts as counsel or secretary to arbitral tribunals in arbitration proceedings and represents clients before state courts in a broad range of matters.

Mihaela Apostol is a civil and common law qualified lawyer (Avocat of the Bar of Bucharest, Romania; Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales) with nine years of practice in international arbitration. Mihaela has an all-round experience in international arbitration having worked as counsel, tribunal secretary and arbitrator.

Mihaela is an active member of the arbitration community and is involved in various projects and initiatives: she is a co-founder and moderator at ArbTech and member of the Vienna International Arbitration Centre’s Legal Tech Think Tank.

Nicole is currently General Counsel of Alpiq, an energy group based in Switzerland and active in the production and trading of energy (in particular electricity) in Europe.  As General Counsel, Nicole leads the legal, compliance and regulatory functions of the Alpiq Group.  She is based in Olten, Switzerland.

Before joining Alpiq in May 2022, Nicole was General Counsel of Puma Energy (an energy group operating a network of service stations, airport refuelling and terminals principally in Africa, Latin America and Asia Pacific), where she led the group’s legal and corporate secretarial functions.

Until 2020, Nicole held various positions in Alstom and GE in Switzerland and London/UK, including various General Counsel positions for different businesses and regions and senior legal positions covering supply chain, M&A, JVs and strategic alliances, project development and project finance, and investigations.

Before joining Alstom in January 2008, Nicole worked in international arbitration in private practice in Geneva (Tavernier Tschanz).

Nicole is a Swiss and English qualified lawyer (Geneva Bar, 2003 & Solicitor of England and Wales, 2017).  She speaks fluently English, French and German.

Juliette specialises in international arbitration, including both commercial and investment treaty arbitration, with a focus on complex disputes involving major construction projects in the energy, transportation, healthcare and telecom sectors. Her expertise also covers M&A-, IP- and distribution-related disputes, as well as technology-related disputes (including in relation to the blockchain technology, smart contracts and AI). She is ranked among “Arbitration Future Leaders – Non Partners” in Who’s Who Legal, 2023 and is co-chair of the CFA40 (Comité Français de l’Arbitrage).

Yves is a Senior Manager from the EY Forensics Team in Zurich. He has more than 8 years of experience in the prevention, detection and response to integrity related issues such as conducting fraud investigations, detecting white collar crime, auditing and improving compliance systems and the digital analysis and evaluation of structured and unstructured corporate data.

Lukas Beeler is a partner at NKF and has more than 10 years of experience in dispute resolution. He regularly acts as counsel in arbitration proceedings in various sectors and industries and represents clients in litigation proceedings and enforcement proceedings. Lukas Beeler advises clients on contractual matters, in particular in connection with sale and purchase agreements, agency agreements, manufacturing agreements and construction and distribution agreements, as well as on corporate and compliance matters.

Lukas Beeler is recognized for his exceptional dispute resolution skills by Chambers 2023 as “Up and Coming” and by Legal500 as a “Next Generation Partner”.

Lukas Beeler holds an LL.M. from Harvard, a doctorate in securities law from the University of Zurich and is a lecturer at the University of St. Gallen (HSG).

Christopher Boog is a Vice-Chair of the International Arbitration Practice Group and co-heads the Sports Practice. He is also a member of the Construction and Energy sector groups. He represents clients in complex international commercial, investment and sports arbitrations as well as in setting-aside proceedings before the Swiss Supreme Court. He was appointed President of the Arbitration Court of the Swiss Arbitration Centre, effective as of 1 January 2024.

As an entrepreneurial and tech-savvy legal expert, I am experienced with a multitude of legal services in the corporate context. I am passionate about the opportunities of digitization and how the possibilities of new technologies and data can be used strategically. I am convinced that Legal today has more potential than ever to become a strategic management function. As both a legal executive and operations innovator, I am responsible for developing the legal services of the future. I support legal departments in shaping their strategic core tasks from a customer centric perspective with simplicity, efficiency and effectiveness. The goal is to help unlock business opportunities and create more value for the organization.

• 10+ years as Country Head Legal & Compliance, Global Head Legal Operations & Strategy, Corporate Legal Counsel, for Implenia, Schellenberg Wittmer, FIFA, World Bank Group and Easylegal
• Member of the Country Executive Committee, Implenia Switzerland
• Initiator and facilitator of change & transformation processes for new legal ops services & teams

George is an international arbitration specialist, with 20 years’ experience in representing and advising clients of all types in a wide range of arbitral proceedings and across a range of sectors.  Those arbitrations have been seated in cities around the world and have been governed by well-known rules of arbitration (ICC, LCIA, ICSID, UNCITRAL, SIAC, Stockholm Chamber, Permanent Court of Arbitration etc), as well as less well-known rules.

George has a long track-record in investor-state arbitration, usually appearing for investors bringing claims under a variety of bilateral and multilateral investment treaties.  In those cases, he has led teams that have broken new ground on important jurisdictional issues and other questions of public international law, including addressing international criminal law issues and issues relating to INTERPOL Red Notices.

Corina Bölsterli is an independent mediator and coach. Her services include mediation in commercial and general matters and coaching for lawyers and executives. Corina holds a Swiss law degree, an LL.M. from New York University, a NY bar exam and a master in coaching. She is a member of the international panel of mediators of CEDR and its Swiss partner. Corina is a CEDR lead trainer and director of the specialization training in mediation of the Swiss Bar Association (FSA). She is a certified meditator with the Swiss Chamber of Commercial Mediation (SCCM), the Federation Suisse Mediation (FSM) and the Deutsche Gesellschaft für Wirtschaftsmediation (DGWM). Corina is a board member of the SCCM and a partner at Ponschab + Partner, Kanzlei für Mediation und Konfliktlösung.

Michael Bösch is the Managing Partner of Thouvenin Rechtsanwälte and heads the firm’s Arbitration Practice. He is specialized in arbitration as well as in corporate and commercial and has extensive expertise in national and international arbitration conducted under the most common rules such as ICC, LCIA and Swiss Rules but also ad hoc.

Cecilia Carrara is Partner at Legance, based in the Rome office. Cecilia 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 ourts, 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.

Barbara Concolino is Partner at BonelliErede, based in the Milan office. Before joining BonelliErede in 2014, Barbara worked as legal counsel at the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal. (2008-2013). Her professional experience has developed in various fields and industries, including international disputes, energy and international procurement.

Utku Coşar is an independent arbitrator at Arbitration Chambers. She is a member of the Arbitration Court of the Swiss Arbitration Centre, the LCIA Court and Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre Court of Arbitration; and Vice Chair of the IBA’s Arbitration Committee. She serves on the editorial boards of Arbitration International, the official journal of the LCIA, Dispute Resolution International, the journal of the dispute resolution section of the IBA, and on the ICCA Publications Advisory Board.

Nadia Darwazeh is a Managing Partner and Head of Arbitration in the Paris office of Clyde & Co. Nadia has 25 years of experience acting as counsel and sitting as arbitrator in commercial and investor-state arbitrations covering numerous applicable laws and seats of arbitration.

Felix Dasser is President of the Swiss Arbitration Association since 2020. He is a senior member and former head of the dispute resolution practice of Swiss firm Homburger. He has more than 30 years of experience with a focus on litigating and arbitrating international commercial disputes. He sits as arbitrator and acts as counsel in arbitral proceedings under various arbitration rules.
Felix Dasser is also an adjunct professor at the University of Zurich, and is often retained as expert on Swiss substantive and procedural law. He taught e.g. at the Hague Academy of International Law and is a visiting professor at the China University of Political Science and Law on international commercial arbitration. He studied law at the University of Zurich (PhD 1989 s.c.l.) and at the Harvard Law School (LL.M. ’90).

Secretary General, ICC International Court of Arbitration

Director of ICC Dispute Resolution Services

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 Paulo 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.

Sarah-Jane specialises in managing legal risks arising from energy and infrastructure projects, and complex construction arbitrations. She is a Senior Associate in the Global Projects team at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer and advises clients on construction and engineering disputes arising from projects across the Middle East and South East Asia. She has recently written a book chapter on the use of technology in the preparation and presentation of claims for delay and disruption, and is an advocate for technology innovation within the legal and construction industries. Sarah-Jane is an English qualified lawyer and a registered Foreign Legal Practitioner in Singapore and Dubai.

Dr. Simon Gabriel LL.M. is a partner at Gabriel Arbitration, a boutique law firm for international arbitration founded in Zurich in 2012.

Simon specializes in representing parties in complex disputes and regularly sits as arbitrator. He has participated in more than 100 international arbitrations and numerous state court litigations.

Some of his preferred practice areas are post M&A-disputes, energy-disputes, construction-disputes, disputes on sales of technical equipment as well as licensing- and IP-related disputes.

Simon is the President of the ICC Swiss Commission of Arbitration and ADR and Swiss delegate in the ICC Commission of Arbitration and ADR in Paris.

For a full CV and further information, please see www.gabriel-arbitration.ch.

Anne-Karin specializes in international dispute prevention and resolution. She has a proven track-record as counsel in both commercial and ISDS arbitration settings. She also disposes of first-hand experience in hybrid ADR process design. As an IMI certified mediation advocate, Anne-Karin accompanies clients in negotiation and solution-generating processes, managing party dynamics and assisting in the formulation of legally sustainable solutions. As a CEDR accredited mediator, she acts as neutral in multi-jurisdictional commercial disputes and is also active in investor-state mediation. Her arbitrator work focuses on multi-jurisdictional commercial disputes.

Anne-Karin is a member of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Mediation Advisory Board of the Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC), and President of the Austrian Arbitration Association (Arb|Aut). She also serves on the Panel of Conciliators of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). In 2022, the European Commission selected her for its pool of arbitrators for appointment in bilateral disputes under EU trade agreements with third countries. Before pursuing her career as an international dispute resolution professional, Anne-Karin worked in the legal advisory department of the Austrian diplomatic mission to the United Nations (UN) in New York.

For a full CV and further information, please see www-akg-advisory.at.

Balz Gross is Partner at Homburger and the Head of Homburger’s Litigation / Arbitration and of the Employment and Executive Compensation team. He has extensive experience regarding all aspects of international arbitration (ICSID, ICC, LCIA, Swiss Rules, ad hoc, etc.) and complex litigation before Swiss state courts and authorities, including criminal proceedings and employment (compensation) related disputes.

Simon Hohler is Counsel at Thouvenin Rechtsanwälte. His practice focuses in particular on commercial arbitration and state court litigation. He has been involved in numerous institutional arbitrations (e.g. Swiss Arbitration Centre, ICC, CAS and HKIAC) and ad hoc arbitrations where he advised parties or acted as counsel or arbitrator. He is also co-chair of the ASA Local Group Central Switzerland.

Jorge Ibarrola is a Swiss qualified lawyer, registered with the Bar of the Canton of Vaud, Switzerland. He is one of the founding partners of Libra Law, a law firm based in Lausanne, Switzerland, specialising in commercial and sports law. He is also a sworn mediator, accredited by the CEDR (London, 2019), IEMEDEP (Madrid, 2021) and SBA (Swiss Bar Association, Berne, 2023).

Jorge Ibarrola practises sports and commercial law, as a counsel, arbitrator and mediator. He is on the list of the FIFA mediators.

Gonzalo Jaspe was born in Buenos Aires, Argentina in 1969. He holds a law degree from the University of Buenos Aires and a degree in business law from the University Panthéon-Assas Paris II. After initial experience in a law firm, Gonzalo joined the former GTM Group in 1998 as a lawyer and worked on numerous large concession and construction projects around the world. In 2010, Gonzalo was appointed deputy legal director of VINCI Construction Grands Projets. Between 2013 and early 2021, he gained practical experience as Contracts and Claims Manager of two large construction projects in Central and South America. In June 2021, Gonzalo was appointed legal director of VINCI Construction Grands Projets.

Julia Jung founded Jung Legal Solutions based in Zurich in 2020. She serves as independent mediator and arbitrator in international commercial and investor-State matters. She is a Swiss qualified Attorney-at Law and holds an LL.M. in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University’s Straus Institute. She is a certified mediator with the Swiss Bar Association (SBA) and the Swiss Chamber of Commercial Mediation (SCCM). In 2020 she took the ICSID/ECT/CEDR investor-State mediator training. She is a board member of the Swiss Chamber of Commercial Mediation, a member of the Swiss Bar Association’s expert committee on mediation and a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration & ADR for Switzerland.

Amy Kläsener, Partner at Jones Day, is a seasoned international arbitration partner with deep experience in engineering and construction disputes in the nuclear, energy, chemical, and manufacturing sectors. She also advises frequently in software development and M&A disputes. Amy takes a pragmatic and solution-oriented approach to dispute resolution. As a U.S. lawyer based in Europe for over 15 years, she has developed a deep understanding of multiple legal cultures.

Gisela Knuts is an independent arbitrator based in Helsinki, Finland. During more than twenty years at leading Nordic law-firm Roschier, Attorneys Ltd., at which she was partner and head of the dispute resolution practice in Finland until end of May 2022, she acted as lead counsel in multi-million-euro disputes in various fields. As of June 2022, she practices as a full-time arbitrator. Gisela is recognised as a leading expert in dispute resolution in Finland by multiple international legal directories.

Silvia Lain is the owner and CEO of ABF Elettronica s.r.l., an Italian company founded in 1986 that specializes in the design and manufacturing of customized passive microwave components for the Telecom market. With over 35 years of experience in the industry, ABF’s components are supplied to leading Telecom companies for use in Radio Links and Mobile Network infrastructure, and its main customers are multinational companies that require ABF’s components to be delivered worldwide. Silvia’s focus at ABF is on product design, utilizing a highly specialized R&D team to provide the best possible service to customers. She also oversees all operational activities, ensuring the highest quality standards are met. Thanks to Silvia’s leadership, ABF has established itself as a trusted provider of high-quality passive microwave components in the Telecom market.

Johannes Landbrecht acts as counsel in complex international arbitration proceedings and also sits as arbitrator (e.g. under the ICC, LCIA, and Swiss Rules). Experienced in a wide variety of commercial disputes, under most of the leading arbitration rules, and involving more than a dozen different jurisdictions from around the globe, Johannes has developed expertise especially in energy and IP. Johannes’s civil law (Germany and Switzerland) as well as common law qualifications (Barrister, England & Wales, non-practising) enable him to handle and manage efficiently, in particular in a cross-border and cross-cultural setting, complex disputes and large teams.

By his clients and peers, Johannes is recommended as “a lawyer who you know will never miss a factual or legal point that helps your case” (WWL 2021). He is considered “an extremely bright lawyer and academic with dual common and civil law background and knowledge” (WWL 2022). Serving our clients is thereby Johannes’s top priority, as a client recently confirmed: “Thank you for making us feel like our case was at the top of your priority list.” (WWL 2022)

Johannes holds law degrees from the University of Constance (First State Examination, MJur), the University of London International Programmes (LL.B.), and the University of Geneva (PhD, summa cum laude). He is also a private lecturer (Privatdozent) at the University of Fribourg/Switzerland. He regularly publishes, appears as speaker, and teaches at university level in his fields of expertise. He also serves as a co-editor of the ASA Bulletin, the quarterly journal of the Swiss Arbitration Association. Before joining Walder Wyss in Geneva in 2023, he practiced for almost fifteen years at leading international arbitration firms in Frankfurt/Main, Paris, Geneva, Singapore, and Zurich, advising and representing, among others, several Fortune 500 companies, involving amounts in dispute of up to several billion US dollars.

Johannes is a native German speaker and fluent in English and French. He has good passive knowledge of Italian and Spanish.
He is registered with the Geneva Bar Registry and admitted to practice in all Swiss courts.

Tanya Landon has nearly two decades of experience in international dispute resolution and focuses her practice on international commercial and investment treaty arbitration. She acts as counsel and arbitrator in a wide range of disputes before the major arbitral institutions, involving: investment law; general contract law; shareholder and joint venture agreements; construction contracts; international sales contracts and supply agreements; and licensing and distribution agreements, including those between life sciences, healthcare, and medical device companies and their partners. Her practice also includes state-to-state disputes and complex cross-border litigation. A Fellow with the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Tanya is regularly asked to speak on topics of international arbitration and teaches a legal writing seminar at the prestigious MIDS LL.M. program in Geneva. She is fluent in English and French.

Nicholas Lawn joined LALIVE in 2023. He specialises in international arbitration and litigation with a particular focus on investment arbitration and public international law.

Over the course of nearly 20 years, he has advised a range of clients – companies, individuals and governments – in relation to international disputes across numerous sectors including telecoms, energy, banking and finance, infrastructure, pharmaceuticals and mining and under a variety of different arbitral rules including under the ICSID, UNCITRAL, ICC and LCIA Arbitration Rules.

Nicholas has won some of the largest investment arbitration awards of recent years. Most recently, he successfully acted for Vodafone in its landmark arbitral victory against the Republic of India. In its award, the UNCITRAL Tribunal held that India’s attempts to impose a US$ 5.5 billion tax liability on Vodafone through retroactive legislation was in breach of international law.

In addition to substantial India-related disputes experience, his expertise and experience extends to matters involving Africa, Russia / CIS and Latin America (where he spent time working in one of Argentina’s leading law firms with one of Latin America’s leading arbitrators).

For a number of years, Nicholas has been identified as one of London’s leading arbitration practitioners. Most recently, he was included in the International Arbitration Powerlist (2019) and named as a Rising Star for International Arbitration and Public International Law by Legal 500 UK (2023).

Nicholas is a Solicitor-Advocate with rights of audience in the Higher Courts of England and Wales.

Prior to joining LALIVE as a Partner, Nicholas was global head of international arbitration at Van Bael & Bellis. He was also previously Counsel in Skadden’s international arbitration and litigation team, based in London. He graduated from the University of Oxford and the University of London, and holds an LLM degree from Columbia Law School.

Katrina Limond is a solicitor-advocate in Allen & Overy’s international arbitration and public international law team with extensive experience advising on international commercial and investment treaty arbitration, public international law, and business and human rights. She has acted for a wide range of clients including States, companies and international organisations across a wide range of geographies including in Europe, South-east Asia, Africa and the Middle East.

Katrina has experience as counsel and advocate in multi-jurisdictional arbitration proceedings under the ICSID, UNCITRAL, LCIA, ICC, CIArb, SCC, SIAC and LMAA rules, as well as specialised experience in the energy, telecommunications, extractive industries, intellectual property and technology sectors.  She has experience in English Court litigation, including in arbitration-related court proceedings before the Commercial Court and Supreme Court.

As a member of A&O’s Future Disputes Group, a multi-disciplinary, cross-practice working group considering the future of commercial disputes, she focuses on disputes arising out of emerging technology, in particular artificial intelligence (AI) and the metaverse. She has co-written the chapter on evidentiary issues and prospects for using AI in arbitration for GAR’s Guide to Evidence (2nd edition).

She is recognised as Rising Star and Future Leader with Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal and acts as Regional Representative for the London Court of International Arbitration’s Young International Arbitration Group.

She studied English law at the University of Cambridge (MA, 1st Class) and Université Paris II (Panthéon-Assas)

Dr. Greg Lourie is a German qualified international arbitration lawyer. He leads the ICA3 case management team of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, responsible for the administration of approximately 200 arbitrations, primarily in connection with Germany, Austria, Switzerland, Benelux, Scandinavia and other European jurisdictions.

Prior to joining the ICC, Greg worked as an attorney with Cleary Gottlieb in Paris, where he represented clients in complex international commercial and investor-state arbitrations across a broad range of industries, and advised Governments on issues of public international law, including sovereign and diplomatic immunities and human rights.

Greg holds a PhD (summa cum laude) in public international law from the University of Frankfurt am Main. He frequently publishes on arbitration-related issues and lectures international arbitration and public international law at several universities, including, the International Training Centre of the ILO in Torino, the Ecole de Formation du Barreau de Paris (EFB) and the Europa-Institute of Saarland University.

Michael Lüders holds a doctorate in Oriental Studies and was for many years Middle East editor of Die Zeit. Today he lives in Berlin as a publicist and author. Lüders is a member of the German Bundestag’s Committee of Inquiry into Afghanistan.

www. michael-lueders.de

Melissa Magliana is a partner at LALIVE specializing in international commercial arbitration.

Professor Sébastien Marcel is a senior researcher at the Idiap Research Institute (Switzerland), he heads the Biometrics Security and Privacy group and conducts research on face recognition, speaker recognition, vein recognition, attack detection (presentation attacks, morphing attacks, deepfakes) and template protection. He is also Professor at the University de Lausanne (UNIL) at the School of Criminal Justice and lecturer at the Ecole Polytechnique Fédérale de Lausanne (EPFL). He received his Ph.D. degree in signal processing from Université de Rennes I in France (2000) at CNET, the research center of France Telecom (now Orange Labs). He is also the Director of the Swiss Center for Biometrics Research and Testing, which conducts certifications of biometric products. He is Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Biometrics and Identity Science. He was Associate Editor of IEEE Signal Processing Letters, Associate Editor of IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security, a Guest Editor of the IEEE Transactions on Information Forensics and Security Special Issue on “Biometric Spoofing and Countermeasures”, and Co-editor of the IEEE Signal Processing Magazine Special Issue on “Biometric Security and Privacy”. He was also the lead Editor of the Springer Handbook of Biometrics Anti-Spoofing (Editions 1, 2 and 3).

Anna acts as lead counsel in international commercial arbitrations, in particular in the energy, plant engineering and renewable energies sectors. She also advises on disputes under long-term contracts in general. She has experience of conducting arbitrations under a wide range of rules including those of the ICC, SCAI, DIS, LCIA, SCC, as well as in ad hoc arbitrations also under UNCITRAL rules. She was qualified in Switzerland until 2016 and advises on German and Swiss law issues. She equally deals with issues relating to the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards and judgments and is regularly appointed as arbitrator. Anna is a CEDR Accredited Mediator.

Anna is one of three “Global Elite Thought Leaders” in Germany noted by Who’s Who Legal in the 2024 edition. She is ranked by Chambers as Band 4 counsel Europe wide and is singled out by JUVE. She is member of the ASA board, serves as a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR and is a Vice President of the Asian European Arbitration Center.

Olivier Mosimann is a partner at Kellerhals Carrard and co-chairs the firm’s Arbitration Practice Group. He has acted as counsel in numerous arbitrations involving various sectors (including pharmaceutical, chemical, high-tech, energy, construction, consumer goods, financial-service, maritime, defense, sport and insurance/reinsurance sectors) and concerning diverse legal fields (including sales, joint ventures, construction, distribution/franchise, corporate/M&A, IP/IT, public procurement, antitrust/competition and financing). He also regularly sits as arbitrator (presiding, sole, co-arbitrator and emergency arbitrator) and is experienced as legal expert.

Jeremy Maetzener is a versatile and experienced tech lawyer and corporate generalist, with a strong expertise in litigation, AI, copyright, data protection, competition and contract law. He has worked as in-house counsel for Google since 2018 and is the GC of Google Switzerland since 2022. Before joining Google, Jeremy practiced in a top tier law firm based in Geneva, Zurich and London and specialized in cross-border disputes and international commercial arbitration. Jeremy studied law in Zurich and Hong Kong and holds a master of arts degree in classical piano performance.

Mariella Orelli is Partner at Homburger. Mariella’s practice focuses on international commercial arbitration. She regularly acts as party counsel and arbitrator in institutional and ad hoc proceedings relating to disputes governed by a variety of substantive laws. She has extensive experience in large international proceedings before state courts, in particular in the Commercial Courts.

Olivia is General Counsel Belgium and France at Deminor. She is in charge of sourcing, reviewing and managing cases that could be eligible to litigation funding. She is also involved in our Investment Recovery cases in the same jurisdictions. Olivia opened Deminor’s office in Hong Kong in 2018 and was then in charge of Deminor’s activities in Asia as she was based there. In January 2021, she relocated to Brussels and now oversees Deminor’s activities in Belgium and France, with a focus on arbitration cases (investor-state disputes and commercial arbitration) and court litigation. Olivia is a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR since September 2022. She holds a LL.M. of Queen Mary University (London) and has been working for an international law firm for almost 9 years before joining Deminor.

Maria Irene is a double qualified lawyer (in Milan, Italy and Paris, France), an currently works as in-house counsel for the International Affairs of Europe and Americas of Webuild S.p.A. (former Salini Impregilo S.p.A.). She previously worked as Deputy Counsel of the Swiss-Italian Team of the Secretariat of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. Before that, she was working in the International Arbitration department of White&Case LLP, in Paris, where she specialized in international arbitration and litigation in the areas of energy (mainly oil & gas) and construction. She regularly lectures at Paris I University and Turin University. She is co-founder and vice-president of YPCP (Young Practitioners of Construction in Paris), co-founder and former co-chair of AIA-ArbIt-below40 (the Italian below-40 association for arbitration), member of the In-House focus group of ICC YAF, member of the ASA Users Council, member of the BVI International Arbitration Committee.

Philippe Pinsolle is the head of international arbitration for continental Europe and is based in the firm’s Geneva office.

Charles Poncet is a Swiss lawyer and former Swiss MP specializing in international arbitration, commercial and contractual litigation, and white-collar matters. He practiced at Staehelin, Hafter & Partners and in 1975 he joined his family law firm in Geneva (Poncet, Turrettini, Amaudruz & Neyroud) founded by his father and led by his brother. In 1981 he joined Lalive & Budin in Geneva, until he started his own law firm in 1986 which eventually became ZPG in Geneva and then CMS von Erlach Poncet after the merger with CMS von Erlach Henrici in 2014. Dr. Poncet has retired from CMS at the end of 2017 and practices as Poncet SARL. Charles Poncet has been active in international arbitration for over twenty years, initially as secretary of several international arbitral tribunals and subsequently as arbitrator, chairman or counsel. He appeared in several leading cases concerning large scale investments, joint ventures and other issues.

Noradèle Radjai is a partner in the international arbitration team, specialising in commercial and investment arbitration in the energy (in particular oil and gas), construction and telecommunications sectors. She also advises clients from the Middle East or in relation to contracts or projects in the Middle East.

Ms Radjai has acted as counsel, advocate and arbitrator in about 100 international arbitration proceedings, both ad hoc and institutional (under the ICC, LCIA, SCC, ICSID, AAA/ICDR, UNCITRAL and Swiss Rules), including disputes arising from share sales and acquisitions, joint ventures, and large projects, governed by a variety of procedural and substantive laws.

Ms Radjai is highly recognised by the leading legal directories. She was ranked as one of the top 5 arbitration partners globally under the age of 45 in Who’s Who Legal: Future Leaders – Arbitration 2017 and has been ranked since several years in Who’s Who Legal’s global ranking for all arbitration practitioners.  She is also included by Chambers Global and Europe in their Europe-wide and Switzerland rankings of leading arbitration counsel.

Ms Radjai is a member of the Executive Board of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA), a member of the Executive Committee of the Board of ASA (Swiss Arbitration Association), former Vice-Chair of the IBA Arbitration Committee (as well as former co-chair of its Corporate Counsel Subcommittee), a member of the Pledge Steering Committee and the CPR European Advisory Board. In addition, she is a member of several other professional associations, including the LCIA, the BIICL, the American Bar Association and Arbitral Women.

Prior to joining LALIVE, Ms Radjai worked in the international arbitration group of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Flom LLP in London, and with Simmons & Simmons in London.  Noradèle Radjai is fluent in both common and civil law, being dual-qualified in Switzerland as well as a Solicitor-Advocate of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. She holds a Diploma in Law, with distinction, from the College of Law, London, and an LL.B., with honours, from King’s College London (1999).

Lawyer, entrepreneur, and lifelong tech learner, Paula is the CEO of Neur.on. She was born and raised in Geneva, studied law in Fribourg, passed her bar in Zurich, and worked in the M&A and Capital Markets Team of a large Swiss law firm, before completing an MBA at INSEAD in 2007. Upon graduating, she founded her first company, Hieronymus – Translations by Lawyers for Lawyers, a high-end legal language service provider. In 2020, she created LexMachina, the first Neural Machine Translation engine for Swiss lawyers; two years later, with the support of a select panel of investors from the international LegalTech and legal publishing industries, she founded Neur.on, a SaaS empowering lawyers in their translation tasks. Paula is the Vice-President of the Swiss LegalTech Association and a “Digital Shaper 2023”.

Patrick is a Senior Legal Counsel at Deminor and is responsible for sourcing, reviewing, and managing cases that could be eligible to litigation funding in the DACH region. Before joining Deminor Patrick was a litigation associate with Latham & Watkins and litigation partner at a German law firm. He focusses on complex commercial claims, corporate and post M&A disputes, international arbitration as well as investment recovery cases.