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In January 2013, John Judge launched his independent practice as a Resident Arbitrator at Arbitration Place in Toronto, specializing in international arbitration. Prior to that, he enjoyed 35 years of counsel practice as a senior partner at Stikeman Elliott LLP in Toronto.
Mr. Judge has over ten years of experience in international commercial arbitration as counsel and as arbitrator. He has sat as an arbitrator and as chair on substantial international arbitrations through the International Chamber of Commerce, Paris, the London Court of International Arbitration and the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (the international arm of the American Arbitration Association), as well as ad hoc arbitrations.
He has appeared as counsel before trial and appellate courts, including the Supreme Court of Canada, and also before administrative and arbitral tribunals. He is well versed in all forms of injunctions and pre-emptive interim remedies. As many of his cases have involved international issues, he is adept in coordinating cross-border disputes and effectively dealing with jurisdictional issues. His experience includes shareholder and partnership disputes, corporate and commercial transactions, banking, insolvency, insurance and reinsurance claims, and civil fraud investigations and claims. He has handled a wide variety of technology disputes related to outsourcing, software development, licensing, software implementation and Internet and domain name issues. He has a broad background in real estate and complex construction project disputes, product liability and professional negligence claims.
Peer Recognition
His expertise has been recognized nationally and internationally:
David Arias is partner in Arias SLP. He is Co-Chair of the IBA Arbitration Committee and President of the Club Español del Arbitraje. He has served as arbitrator and counsel in more than 100 cases in venues across Europe, America and Africa, and he regularly participates in proceedings administered by the main arbitration institutions (ICC, PCA, LCIA, SCC and IACAC, among others).
He also has extensive experience as counsel in complex commercial litigation.
David Arias was the Chairman of the IBA Arbitration Committee’s Subcommittee on Conflicts of Interest, which published the 2014 IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration. Additionally, he helped draft the 2010 IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration.
David Arias is a Professor of Procedural Law and Arbitration. He obtained both his BA in Law, with Honours, and his PhD, also with Honours, from Universidad Complutense de Madrid. He was admitted to the Madrid Bar in 1991. He speaks Spanish, English and French. He also reads and understands Italian and Portuguese.
David Arias is regularly recognised as a Tier 1 litigation and arbitration lawyer and most in-demand arbitrator in leading international legal publications and directories including the Chambers and Partners publications, Chambers Global and Chambers Europe, and the Legal 500.
Elliot E. Polebaum leads Fried Frank's International Arbitration practice group and is chair of the Firm's Washington, DC litigation department. He divides his time between the Washington, DC and Paris offices of the Firm.
Mr. Polebaum frequently serves as arbitrator in both administered and ad hoc cases, including recent disputes between US and Indian pharmaceutical companies, a Japanese contractor and South American customer, and Canadian and Argentine parties to an acquisition agreement. He has served as co-arbitrator, chairman or sole arbitrator in more than 35 international arbitrations.
He has also appeared as counsel before tribunals throughout the world in approximately 100 cases. Some of his recent arbitrations include representing a European aerospace company in an ICC arbitration in New York arising out of an agreement for the supply of airframe components; US, Danish and Belgian claimants in an ICC arbitration in Paris against German and French respondents arising out of a stock and asset purchase agreement; the international owners of a large industrial project in a Middle Eastern country against an international engineering firm in an UNCITRAL arbitration in London; a French claimant in an UNCITRAL arbitration in Geneva arising out of a joint venture in Turkey with a major Turkish industrial group; a French respondent in an ad hoc arbitration in New York concerning patent disputes relating to avionics equipment; and Turkish claimants in ICC arbitrations in Istanbul, Helsinki and Frankfurt.
Mr. Polebaum has substantial experience, as arbitrator and as counsel, in the aerospace and defense, energy, telecom, pharmaceutical, construction and hospitality sectors.
He is Adjunct Professor of Law at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches international arbitration.
Mr. Polebaum is consistently recognized by Chambers USA: America's Leading Lawyers for Business in International Arbitration (National), where he is described as "a lawyer with superb writing skills," "outstanding on his feet," "always meticulously prepared," and "bring[ing] a wealth of experience to the table." He is also consistently recognized by Legal 500 in Litigation: International Arbitration (one of 17 Leading Lawyers in the United States) and recognized by Benchmark: Litigation as a National Star and a Washington, DC Litigation Star.
Prior to joining Fried Frank, Mr. Polebaum served as law clerk to Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, Jr. and United States Circuit Judge James L. Oakes.
Mr. Polebaum received his BA from Middlebury College, his MPA from Harvard University, and his JD from The New York University School of Law.
GERALD AKSEN is a full time independent arbitrator and ADR neutral.
He is a retired partner of the former law firm of Thelen Reid & Priest LLP, New York. At Thelen, he headed the firm's arbitration and alternative dispute resolution practice and was the principal litigator for international clients of the firm, representing companies in arbitrations throughout the world. He was a member of the firm and the predecessor firm Reid & Priest LLP from 1981 through 2002, and from 1964 until 1980 was General Counsel of the American Arbitration Association.
Mr. Aksen is co-founder and past-president of the College of Commercial Arbitrators, immediate past vice-chairman of the ICC International Court of Arbitration and a council member of the ICC Institute of World Business Law. He is a member of the New York regional panel of distinguished neutrals of the CPR Institute of Dispute Resolution, the AAA Large Complex Case Panel of Arbitrators and the World Intellectual Property Organization Arbitration Panel. He has also served as vice president of the London Court of International Arbitration, a member of the AAA Board of Directors, a member of the American Bar Association House of Delegates, Chairman of the ABA Section of International Law & Practice, and Chairman of the Ad Hoc Committee on Alternative Dispute Resolution and the Arbitration Committee of the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. Mr. Aksen is a 1958 graduate of New York University School of Law, where for thirty years he taught commercial and international arbitration as an adjunct professor of law.
He has experience in a broad spectrum of commercial disputes including: accounting audits; banking; construction (power plants and shipbuilding); energy, environment; executive employment; information technology; insurance and reinsurance; international joint ventures; trade, sales and agency; oil and petroleum; patent-license; pharmaceuticals; securities; satellites and telecommunications.
Mr. Aksen has chaired and acted as sole or co-arbitrator under the rules of numerous arbitral institutions, including the AAA, CPR, ICC, LCIA, Japan Commercial Arbitration Association, Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, and National Futures Association, as well as under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) rules ARIAS Rules, Bermuda Form, and other non-administered rules in over 250 international arbitration cases in 22 different countries. He is also on the panel of arbitrators of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Federal Economic Chamber Arbitral Centre, Vienna, Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration and Arbitration Court of the Hungarian Chamber of Commerce & Industry. He is experienced as a mediator, conciliator, and early neutral evaluator, and has written and lectured extensively on arbitration and alternative dispute resolution. Mr. Aksen is the 2005 recipient of the prestigious ABA Dispute Resolution Section's D'Alemberte/Raven Award and is consistently ranked as one of New York's notable international arbitrators, up to and including 2013, in Chambers Global, Chambers USA and Global Arbitration Review, Commercial Arbitration.
Hilary Heilbron QC is a commercial barrister practising from London and mostly now sits as an international arbitrator having accepted approximately 100 appointments relating to very substantial disputes as party nominated arbitrator, institution appointed, sole arbitrator and chair under the ICC, LCIA, SCC, HKIAC, SIAC and ICDR as well as ad hoc. She does however also still act as counsel in international arbitration and commercial litigation, principally arbitral related. She is currently a member of the LCIA Court, the ICC UK Arbitration and ADR Committee, the International Advisory Committee of the ICDR, a member of the ICCA-ASIL Task Force on Damages in International Arbitration and of the IBA-ICCA Joint Task force on Data Protection in International Arbitration Proceedings. Her experience extends over a wide range of contractual disputes, joint ventures, insurance, international trade and banking and various foreign laws. She has spoken and written widely on international arbitration and cross-border litigation around the world and is the author of “A Practical Guide to International Arbitration in London”. http://www.brickcourt.co.uk/our-people/profile/hilary-heilbron-qc
John Fellas is a partner in the New York office of Hughes Hubbard & Reed LLP, and co-chair of the Arbitration Practice and co-chair of the International Practice of that firm.
Mr. Fellas has practiced in both the U.S. and England, and as well as being a member of the New York Bar, he is also a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales. He has served as counsel, and as chair, sole arbitrator and co-arbitrator, in arbitrations under the AAA, ICC, LCIA, UNICTRAL, ICDR, SIAC and ad hoc rules. He also serves on the Mediation Panel of the District Court for the Southern District of New York. He has also been retained to act as an expert witness on U.S. law in proceedings in other countries.
He has been recognized for his practice in international arbitration by: Who’s Who Legal – The International Who’s Who Of Business Lawyers; Chambers USA - Guide to America’s Leading Business Lawyers; Chambers Global; The Best Lawyers In America; Euromoney Expert Guides -- Best of the Best USA. Chambers Global and Chambers USA have noted that he is “a wonderful lawyer with very thorough legal knowledge,” and that he is “one of the best--his reputation is phenomenal and deserved.”
He has also been recognized for his practice in commercial litigation by: Who’s Who Legal – The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers; New York Super Lawyers.
He is co-editor of International Commercial Arbitration in New York (Oxford University Press 2d edition 2016).
He received a B.A. (Hons.) from the University of Durham, England, and both an LL.M. and an S.J.D. from the Harvard Law School.
Laurence Shore is a partner in BonelliErede’s Milan office. He leads the firm’s International Arbitration Focus Team. Laurence previously practiced law in New York City, London, and Washington, D.C., has been counsel in many international cases, and also sits as an arbitrator. He is a member of the New York, Virginia, and District of Columbia Bars, and is a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales. Laurence’s law degree is from Emory University; he earned a Ph.D. in History from Johns Hopkins University.
Laurence has taught international commercial arbitration courses at NYU Law School and the Washington College of Law, American University. His publications on arbitration issues include (as a co-author), “International Investment Arbitration: Substantive Principles” (OUP, second edition, 2017), a leading text on treaty arbitration.
Louis Flannery is the head of international arbitration. He specialises in arbitration and litigation with a particular emphasis on fraud and/or conflict law issues. Louis is a regular speaker on arbitration and civil fraud at conferences all over the world. He has extensive experience of international commercial arbitration under the major institutional rules (AAA, ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL, Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, among others) as well as substantial High Court litigation in England. Louis was named as a leading international arbitration practitioner in "Who's Who Legal: Arbitration Lawyers 2018". As a practising solicitor advocate, he has undertaken advocacy before international tribunals and courts, including the High Court and Court of Appeal. Louis has acted or advised in relation to commercial disputes for over 25 years and has been involved in many reported decisions in England.
Martin Gusy combines more than a decade of experience as an international dispute resolution attorney and is the head of GVdZ's Litigation & Arbitration practice, which was the 2010 Corporate Intl Magazine Global Award Winner 'International Arbitration Advisory Firm of the Year in the USA'.
Mr. Gusy's arbitration experience includes legal work in more than 60 international arbitrations as counsel (both investment (ICSID, UNCITRAL) and commercial arbitration (AAA/ICDR, ICC, LCIA, DIS, VIAC, UNCITRAL, ad hoc)) and has served as an arbitrator in 14 international arbitrations.
In January 2011, Mr. Gusy was listed as a Leading LAWYER 100 in the field of Dispute Resolution by Lawyer Monthly. Mr. Gusy is a member of the AAA/ICDR Roster of Arbitrators and Mediators, the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb) and co-author of A Guide to the ICDR International Arbitration Rules published by Oxford University Press. Mr. Gusy was a member of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN) Drafting Committee for the revision of the 2002 Model Form International Operating Agreement.
Mr. Gusy started his legal work with Clifford Chance in Frankfurt, Germany in January 2000. Prior to co-founding GVdZ, Mr. Gusy worked in Shearman & Sterling and King & Spalding's international arbitration groups in Paris, France and Houston, Texas as well as in a Wall Street firm in New York. Mr. Gusy holds German law degrees and an LL.M. from Cornell Law School (2002).
Ollie Armas is the Managing Partner of the New York office of Hogan Lovells US LLP and a member of its International Arbitration practice. He has an extensive practice representing foreign and domestic clients in arbitrations before the ICSID, ICC, ICDR/AAA, LCIA, and other arbitral tribunals, as well as before U.S. federal and state courts.
Because Ollie is fluent in Spanish (and can understand Portuguese), he routinely counsels clients on matters involving Latin America. He has acted as a legal expert in certain aspects of U.S. law in foreign proceedings (e.g., Mexico and Peru), and has supervised litigation in almost every country in Latin America. Ollie also routinely serves as an arbitrator on commercial disputes.
Mr. Armas is recognized as a leading arbitration practitioner by Chambers Global, Chambers Latin America, Chambers USA, Global Arbitration Review, the Legal 500, the Latin Lawyer, and other publications and ranking services.
Practices
Litigation and Arbitration
Investigations, White Collar and Fraud
Latin America
Education
J.D., New York University School of Law, 1990
M.P.A., with honors, New York University, Wagner Graduate School of Public Administration, 1987
B.A., with honors, New York University, College of Arts and Sciences, 1986
PROFESSIONAL EXPERIENCE
PROFESSIONAL ADMISSIONS
SELECTIVE CONSTRUCTION AND OTHER DISPUTE RESOLUTION EXPERIENCES
SELECTIVE DISPUTE RESOLUTION EXPERIENCES IN NON-CONSTRUCTON FIELDS
Barry H. Garfinkel is the senior member of Skadden's International Litigation and Arbitration practice. He formerly headed the group. In addition to handling a broad
spectrum of U.S. and international litigation and arbitration, Mr. Garfinkel has been in
charge of many of the firm’s more significant appeals. He argues matters in federal and
state appellate courts. He formerly headed the firm’s U.S. litigation practice.
Mr. Garfinkel has served as lead counsel in international arbitrations for numerous
multinational companies (both U.S. and non-U.S. entities), among others. He has
appeared in ICC, UNCITRAL, ICSID, LCIA and AAA arbitrations. Mr. Garfinkel also has
served as party-nominated arbitrator in ICC, AAA and ad hoc arbitral tribunals and has
served as the chairman of tribunals. He has advised numerous firm clients on the
preparation of arbitral clauses in international commercial contracts and overall
arbitration strategy.
The matters in which he has acted as both counsel and arbitrator are a broad spectrum,
including: construction disputes; investment; joint ventures; sales and distribution;
insurance; securities law; oil and gas; corporate and commercial; power and energy;
and technology issues.
Mr. Garfinkel is listed as “Leading” in the Chambers USA and Global guides, in
Euromoney Publications’ Guide, International Who’s Who of Commercial Arbitrators and
The Best Lawyers in America. He is a frequent lecturer on AAA and ICC programs, which
he also has chaired. He has written on diverse international arbitration topics, which
have been published in Mealey’s and in AAA publications. He also has lectured on
international arbitration topics at the Second Circuit Judicial Conference.
Bar Admissions
New York
Education
LL.B., Yale University, 1955 (Managing Editor, Yale Law Journal)
B.S.S., College of the City of New York, 1950
Experience
Law Clerk, Hon. Edward Weinfeld, U.S. District Court for the Southern District of New
York (1955-1956)
Caline Mouawad is a Partner in King & Spalding's International Arbitration Group, residing in the New York office. Ms. Mouawad concentrates her practice on international arbitration. Her experience includes arbitrations involving claims and disputes in Europe, the CIS, Latin America, North Africa, and the Middle East, relating to public and private international law issues, bilateral investment treaties, breach of contract, financial transactions, and privatization agreements. Ms. Mouawad is involved in complex arbitrations in a variety of sectors including oil and gas, energy, telecommunications, and mining. She has represented clients in cases before the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the American Arbitration Association (AAA), and the International Commercial Arbitration Court of the Russian Chamber of Commerce (ICAC), as well as in ad hoc cases under the UNCITRAL Rules. In the 2010 edition of The Global Arbitration Review 100, she was named a "lawyer to know." She was "recommended" by Legal 500: Latin America 2012.
Practice Areas
Catherine Amirfar is a litigation partner based in New York in Debevoise &
Plimpton LLP’s International Dispute Resolution Group. Her practice focuses on
international commercial and treaty arbitration, and international and complex
commercial litigation. She routinely acts as counsel in arbitration cases arising
under the rules of the major arbitral institutions, and in a wide variety of
subjects, including investment treaties, gas and energy and financial industry
sectors. Her recent representations include disputes involving Brazil and disputes
arising under bilateral investment treaties in Europe and East Asia. Ms. Amirfar
also has acted as counsel in transnational commercial litigation in U.S. courts,
with a focus on international disputes and intellectual property.
Based on surveys of other practitioners, Ms. Amirfar is ranked among the leading
international arbitration practitioners by Chambers Global (2012), which
describes her as a “highly regarded young international lawyer,” and by
Chambers USA (2010), which said that she is “viewed as ‘an emerging star in
international arbitration’,” and “plays a key role” in the firm’s public international
law practice. She is described in the Legal 500 US (2011) as “highly regarded by
clients and peers alike,” in Chambers Latin America (2013) as “one of the leading
figures of the next generation” and in Legal 500 Latin America as being “very
hands on,” and “always pay[ing] great attention to the client.” Chambers Latin
America noted that she “impresses” with her “natural, educated and sophisticated
arguments.” She was also selected as a “Future Star” in Benchmark Litigation
(2012, 2013).
In 2011, Ms. Amirfar was recognized by the Global Arbitration Review in its “45
under 45,” a selection of the 45 leading figures of the international arbitration bar
under the age of 45.
Ms. Amirfar joined the firm in 2002 and became a partner in 2008. From 2000 to
2002, she clerked for the Hon. D.A. Batts, Federal Judge, Southern District of
New York. Ms. Amirfar received a J.D. cum laude from New York University Law
School in 2000, where she was a Root-Tilden-Snow scholar. She served as an
Editor for the NYU Law Review and was awarded top honors in the NYU Orison S.
Marden Moot Court Competition. She received a B.A, with honors, from Stanford
University in 1995.
Ms. Amirfar is the author or co-author of several publications, including: “The
Current Status of NAFTA Chapter 11 Arbitration” in New York International Law
Review (Winter 2007), “How Summary Adjudication Can Promote Fairness and
Efficiency in International Arbitration,” in International Bar Association Arbitration
Newsletter, September 2010, “Obtaining Evidence for Use in International
Arbitrations Through United States Courts,” in Global Arbitration Review (2011),
and “Current Challenges to Consumer Arbitration in the United States: Much Ado
About Nothing for International Arbitration?” in The Arbitration Review of the
Americas 2012. She is currently authoring, with Donald Donovan, a book to be
published by Cambridge University Press entitled From the World Court to the
United States Supreme Court: The Vienna Convention Litigation and Its Impact
on International Law. She is a frequent lecturer on international law and has
guest lectured at Yale Law School, NYU Law, Washington University in St. Louis
Law School, and Seton Hall Law School.
Ms. Amirfar has served on the Executive Committee of the American Society of
International Law (ASIL) (2009 – 2012) and was a member of the Council on
Foreign Relations. She currently serves on the Executive Council of the American
Branch of the International Law Association (ILA), as a director and Chair of the
Program Committee for the New York International Arbitration Center (NYIAC),
and the Steering Committee of the Young Arbitrators Forum. She was recently
elected as a Vice President of the ILA American Branch.
David Lindsey has practiced law for 22 years and is a founding partner of Chaffetz Lindsey LLP. David
represents plaintiff and defendant multinational companies in cross border disputes most often decided by
international arbitration tribunals under the rules of the ICDR, the ICC, the LCIA, and other top international
arbitral institutions. David also has an active U.S. litigation practice in New York federal and state courts,
and he has tried cases in the Florida courts. He is licensed to practice in New York, Florida, and the District
of Columbia. His clients are leaders in the power, oil and gas, engineering, manufacturing, automotive sales,
franchising, licensing, and pharmaceutical industries, and David has represented them in arbitrations or court
proceedings in North and South America, Europe, and Asia.
David also acts both for and against foreign sovereigns concerning, among other things, expropriation of a
foreign party’s investments, fair and equitable treatment under public international law, breach of a sovereign’s
obligations under treaty instruments, breach of contract, determination of applicable law, U.S. racketeering
laws, and the U.S. Foreign Sovereign Immunities Act. He represents private companies suing sovereigns, but
also represents foreign sovereigns, their political subdivisions, agencies, and instrumentalities in U.S. courts in
matters arising from enforcement of U.S. trade sanctions.
was voted by readers of Global Arbitration Review as one of the world’s top 45 arbitrators under 45
and is listed as a leader in his field by the global, U.S.A. and Latin American editions of Chambers, The Best
Lawyers in America, Super Lawyers, The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers, The International
Who’s Who of Commercial Arbitration, Benchmark, The Definitive Guide to America’s Leading Litigation Firms
and Attorneys, and Practical Law Company’s “Which Lawyer?”. He was co-editor International Arbitration
in Latin America (Kluwer) (2d edition due 2011). He recently co-authored the applicable law chapter in the
forthcoming book, International Arbitration in New York, Carter, Fellas, eds. David is co-chair of the Dispute
Resolution Interest Group of the American Society of International Law and is a member of the International
Dispute Resolution Committee of the New York City Bar and the International Arbitration Task Force of the
New York State Bar Association.
Before Chaffetz Lindsey, David was partner and head of the Clifford Chance international arbitration practice
group for the Americas from 1999 to 2009. He started his legal career at the leading Miami law firm Steel
Hector & Davis in 1987, made partner there in 1995, and left for Clifford Chance in New York in 1999. In the
late 1990s, David opened Steel Hector’s London office and he lived in England at various times from 1994 to
1999. David obtained his JD with honors from Florida State University College of Law in 1988 and obtained
his BA with honors from The University of Texas at Austin in 1985. He is a native of Tallahassee, Florida. He
has no children, but is devoted to his beloved adopted daughter Ella, a Hungarian Vizsla.
Dr Mark Hoyle is a partner in the international arbitration group, part of the litigation and dispute resolution department in Dubai.
A specialist in Arab and Islamic laws, Dr Hoyle has more than 25 years’ experience of expert advisory work in the laws of Egypt and other Arab and Islamic jurisdictions, including the UAE, Iraq, Kuwait and Afghanistan, and blends his expertise into his commercial dispute resolution practice. He sits as an arbitrator and a mediator, and as a Crown Court and Civil Recorder. He is the editor and co-founder of the Arab Law Quarterly and a visiting professor at the University of Leeds.
A respected advocate and adviser on all forms of dispute resolution, Dr. Hoyle’s prominent cases include:
Mark is a member of the Commercial Bar Association (COMBAR)
A 5th. Edition of his book Freezing & Search Orders (Informa/Lloyds of London Press) is underway.
Joe Neuhaus joined Sullivan & Cromwell LLP in 1987 and became a partner in 1992. His practice is focused on international commercial litigation in both arbitral and court settings, with particular emphasis on Latin American matters. He is coordinator of Sullivan & Cromwell LLP's arbitration practice and has served as counsel and arbitrator in numerous arbitral proceedings, including ad hoc proceedings, arbitrations administered by the International Chamber of Commerce and the American Arbitration Association and arbitrations involving sovereign entities. He also has served as counsel in a variety of arbitration-related disputes in court, as well as other commercial litigation and regulatory investigations.
Biographical Information
Education
J.D. Columbia Law School, 1982.
B.A. Dartmouth College, 1979.
Luciano Benetti Timm has undertaken Post-Doctorate studies at the University of California - Berkeley in
the fields of international and comparative law. He holds a Doctor of Laws degree in the field of Business
and Regional Integration Law from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS), having
developed part of his credits and research in the University of Sao Paulo (USP). He has concluded his
Master of Laws (LLM) in International Law from the University of Warwick (UK) and masters in Private
Law from the Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS). He has finished courses in the
Economics School of UFRGS. He is a lecturer at PUCRS and UNISINOS University, lecturing in Private
International Law and Contracts. He is a regular guest lecturer in the post-graduate studies courses at
the University of Sao Paulo (USP), Federal University of Rio Grande do Sul (UFRGS) and the Superior
Judges' School of the State of Rio Grande do Sul.
Mr. Timm has over fifteen years of experience, having commenced his professional career as Secretary
of a Justice in the State Court of Rio Grande do Sul, from where he moved on to join the Law firm
Cristóvão Colombo, Uhlmann, Matheus and Miller Advogados in São Paulo, in the firm's Property and
Construction section. Then he joined Sobral, Castro and Barros Advogados, working with the firm's civil
department. Later, he joined Machado, Meyer, Sendacz and Opice Advogados, in São Paulo and Porto
Alegre, where he was responsible for the litigation department. He is currently working on projects
related to financial instruments, structuring of securities, real estate transactions, complex commercial
contracts and legal opinions on competition and civil law and arbitration.
Voted one of the 17 most admired lawyers in the country in the area of Commercial Contracts and the
sub-areas of Machinery and Equipment and Pulp and Paper, according to research from the Análise
Magazine in 2011.
He is currently Director of the Brazilian Arbitration Committee (CBAr) and member of the Special
Committee on Arbitration of the Rio Grande do Sul Section of the Brazilian Bar Association.
Mr. Timm was the President of the Legislation Committee of Amcham/RS and the Brazilian Association of
Law and Economics (ABDE). Has acted as researcher for the National Justice Counsel in 20120 in a work
regarding the Brazilian judiciary system and for the Ministry of Justice in 2009 in a research on
Corporate Registration in Brazil. He was also a Visiting Professor at the Law School of Sciences Politiques
in Paris, 2011.
He was the coordinator of “Company Law and Contracts” (IOB Thompson, 2004), “Law and Economics in
Brazil” (Atlas, 2011) and “Studies on Public-Private Partnerships” (IOB Thompson, 2006), as well as the
author of “Provision of Services” (Forense, 2006), “The New Brazilian Contracts Law” (Forense, 2008),
among others, and several articles published in national legal journals. He had his master's thesis
published in the renowned Computer and Telecommunications Law Review (England, 1999). He was
granted a scholarship from the British Council and the National Council for Research and Post-Graduate
Studies (CNPq).
He is fluent in English and Portuguese, and possesses a working knowledge of French, Spanish and
Italian.
Recognition
Análise Advocacia2012 - One of the three most admired attorneys in Brazil, cited in the áreas of
commercial contracts, dispute resolution and import/export.
Chambers and Partners: Latin America 2012 - Ranked in “band 1” for corporate/commercial law in
South Brazil and was described as “a corporate specialist who earns praise for his brilliant client service
and business acumen”
Legal 500: Latin America 2012 –Recommended attorney in the field of Corporate Law/M&A receiving
praise as an “extremely solid and competent professional”.
PROFESSIONAL & ACADEMIC EXPERIENCE
Dr. Hafez is a full-time international arbitration lawyer. He is the Senior Partner of
Hafez, working out of the Cairo office.
Dr. Hafez regularly acts as chairman, sole, and party-appointed arbitrator in disputes
spanning the economic spectrum. As counsel, he is instructed by states, state-owned
entities, private investors and corporations, and has prosecuted, defended, and advised on
scores of large-value complex arbitrations in most industries, with an emphasis on
telecom, investment, construction, project finance, power generation, oil and gas, and
corporate disputes.
Dr. Hafez has handled cases under most major arbitration rules, including the rules of the
International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the International
Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the
American Arbitration Association (AAA), the International Centre for Dispute
Resolution (ICDR), the Dubai International Arbitration Center (DIAC), the Arbitration
Centre of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC), the London Maritime
March 2013
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Arbitration Association (LMAA), the Cairo Regional Centre for International
Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA), the Lebanese Centre of International Commercial
Arbitration (LAC), and the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), and the arbitration
rules of United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). A
sample list of his recent caseload is appended.
PROFESSIONAL RECOGNITION
Dr. Hafez is regularly recognized in industry publications as a leading international
arbitration lawyer. He has received recognition in Who’s Who of International
Arbitration. Legal 500 says “Karim Hafez is one of the most knowledgeable and skilled
lawyers around….. his grasp of the law and strategies are second-to-none” (2013); it
also says “Hafez is widely acknowledged as the pre-eminent arbitration practice in many
sectors, as is Karim Hafez personally as an arbitrator and counsel of international
standard”(2012); it also calls him “The outstanding arbitrator of the younger
generation”(2010), “a very, very good lawyer”(2009), “universally acknowledged to be
one of the country's rising stars in arbitration”(2007), and says he “has a ‘superlative’
reputation: both as counsel and as arbitrator”. Chambers and Partners says “he has been
going like a rocket – he is a bright and up-and-coming force in arbitration who will one
day get to the top”, and “ a brilliant guy – English-educated, very precise,
knowledgeable, well spoken and generally impressive” (2012).
PROFFESSIONAL ASSOCATIONS & PANEL MEMBERSHIP
Dr. Hafez is a member of the London Court of International Arbitration (London);
member of the Board of Trustees of the Dubai International Arbitration Center (Dubai);
member of the Advisory Committee of the Cairo Regional Center for International
Commercial Arbitration (Cairo); member of the Comité Français de l’Arbitrage; member
of the Distinguished Panel of Neutrals of International Center for Dispute Resolution
(New York/Dublin); member of the editorial board of the Global Arbitration Review
(London); board member of the Arab Intellectual Property Mediation and Arbitration
Society (Amman); coordinator of the Egyptian Arbitration Forum (Cairo); fellow of the
Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (London); and former member of the Court of Sport
Arbitration (Lausanne); and former Vice President of the Arbitration Court of
International Arbitration Arab User Council (London).
EDUCATION
Dr. Hafez was educated in Cairo, Cambridge, and Harvard. His PhD, from Cambridge
University, is for a dissertation entitled ‘Complex Arbitration.’
LANGUAGES
Dr. Hafez handles cases in Arabic, English and French.
Professor Franco Ferrari is a member of the full-time faculty of NYU School of Law as well as chaired professor of international law at Verona University School of Law (on leave). Previously, he was chaired professor of comparative law at Tilburg University in the Netherlands and Bologna University in Italy. After serving as member of the Italian Delegation to various sessions of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) from 1995 to 2000, he served as Legal Officer at the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, International Trade Law Branch (2000-2002). Professor Ferrari has published more than 260 law review articles in various languages and 15 books in the areas of international commercial law, conflict of laws, comparative law and international commercial arbitration. Professor Ferrari is a member of the editorial board of various peer reviewed European law journals (Internationales Handelsrecht, European Review of Private Law, Contratto e impresa/Europa). Prof. Ferrari also acts as an arbitrator both in administered and ad hoc international commercial arbitrations and, most recently, also in an investment arbitration.