Categoria: Speakers 2024

Laurence has practised international arbitration from law firms at three seats — London (Herbert Smith), New York City (Gibson Dunn, Herbert Smith Freehills), and, since 2017, Milan (BonelliErede). He began his career as a litigation associate at Williams and Connolly in Washington, DC. His law degree is from Emory University, where he served as editor-in-chief of the Emory Law Journal, and he has a doctorate in American history from Johns Hopkins University. Laurence acts as counsel and sits as arbitrator in disputes across many industry sectors — e.g., oil and gas, renewable energy, life sciences, infrastructure projects, civil engineering, sports, intellectual property and telecommunications. His arbitration publications include co-authorship of International Investment Arbitration: Substantive Principles (OUP, 2017, second edition).

Domenico Di Pietro is an Italian national qualified to practice in Italy, England & Wales, and registered as Foreign Legal Consultant with the Florida Bar in the United States.
He is an independent arbitrator and consultant working out of his offices in Miami and London. His expertise includes commercial arbitration and investment arbitration. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators. He taught international arbitration in Italy and in the United States. He also has published widely on his area of expertise.
Domenico is a co-founder of Arbit the Italian Forum for Arbitration and ADR.

Baiju Vasani is a barrister at Twenty Essex. His practice centres on ISDS, international commercial arbitration, and public international law as both counsel and arbitrator. Before he joined the Bar in November 2022, Baiju spent 20 years in international law firm practice, including 12 as partner, leading large teams of lawyers in dozens of international arbitration disputes worth several tens of billions of dollars in aggregate. Baiju also regularly sits as arbitrator in treaty and commercial arbitrations and welcomes such appointments through Twenty Essex.

Samantha is a partner in Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s international arbitration practice group, based in our Singapore office.
Samantha represents clients in international commercial and construction disputes. She also represents both investors and States in ISDS. She has represented and advised clients in commercial and treaty arbitration under a wide range of arbitral rules, including ICSID, UNCITRAL, ICC, SIAC, AIAC, and HKIAC. These have arisen from private and public M&A, investments, joint ventures, and shareholder disputes, and have involved the energy, financial, life sciences, technology, real estate, automotive, consumer goods, and other sectors.
Samantha also has years of experience practising in commercial litigation before the Singapore High Court and Court of Appeal, with a top-tier Singapore disputes practice. She also regularly acts as mediator.

Paolo Michele Patocchi (Dr. iur.; LL.M.) is one of the founding partners of Patocchi & Marzolini, Geneva, a law firm specialising in international arbitration and litigation. Prior to 2014, Michele has led the arbitration practice group of Lenz & Staehelin in Geneva (1997-2013). He has also worked as a foreign associate with Wilmer, Cutler & Pickering in London (1989-1991) and Pestalozzi Gmür & Patry in Zurich (1992-1994). Michele acts as counsel and sits as an arbitrator in cases conducted in English, French, German, Italian or Spanish. Michele has been involved in more than 240 arbitrations to date chiefly relating to JV and R&D agreements, EPC contracts, licensing (especially in the pharmaceutical and the fashion industries), disputes involving States (State contracts, privatisation and expropriation), price reviews in long-term GSAs, banking and finance disputes, sports and sponsoring disputes.
Aside from Swiss law and international law, Michele has had practical experience in number of other systems of law, including those of Albania, Algeria, Austria, Belgium, Brazil, China, Egypt, England and Wales, Ethiopia, France, Germany, Hungary, India, Italy, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Kuwait, Latvia, the Netherlands, Palestine, Peru, Poland, Portugal, Qatar, Romania, Russia, South Korea, Spain, Turkey, the UAE, the U.S.A. and Venezuela. Michele has been a lecturer at the Faculty of Law of Geneva (1989-2006) and at the Geneva School for Translators and Interpreters (ETI; 1990-1993) and he has been teaching international commercial arbitration at the Faculty of Law of İ. D. Bilkent University (Ankara) since 2013.
Michele has published extensively on international arbitration and litigation.
Michele has been listed amongst the Arbitration Thought Leaders by Who’s Who Legal (since 2017) and amongst “Most In Demand Arbitrators” and “Arbitration Counsel” by Chambers and Partners (since 2016).

Markiyan Malskyy, PhD hab. is a partner in International disputes practice of Kochański & partners (Warsaw, Poland).
He is also the Head of Ukrainian desk and Honorary consul of Austria to Lviv, Ukraine.
He specializes in resolving disputes, predominantly in international commercial and investment arbitration. Markiyan started his career in the international arbitration department of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Paris, France. For 15 years, prior to the war, he practiced at a leading Ukrainian law firm Arzinger, where he was partner, leading the firm’s international dispute resolution practice and supervising the West Ukrainian Branch office in Lviv. In 2016 he was granted with diplomatic exequatur as Honorary consul of Austria to Lviv. In 2019 Markiyan was appointed by the President of Ukraine to serve as governor of Lviv region, after having completed his goals for the position he returned to legal, academic and diplomatic work.
He is the author of four books, more than 100 scientific papers and more than 300 articles and commentaries. Markiyan is regularly appointed as arbitrator, which now comprises the majority of his legal work, teaches courses in international commercial arbitration and private law.

Perenami is a Consultant within Gateley Plc’s International Arbitration Group where she is also the Head of Gateley’s Africa Practice. Prior to joining Gateley, she was a Partner at AELEX (Nigeria & Ghana) for four years. She has over 14 years’ experience in cross-border, complex, high stakes, arbitration and litigation within West Africa.

She represents clients in arbitrations in sectors such as energy, manufacturing, retail, maritime, infrastructure and foreign investments under institutional rules such as the LCIA, ICC, ICSID and UNCITRAL. She is currently handling complex arbitrations in Nigeria, Ghana, Uganda, Tanzania and Kenya arising out of related post Mergers & Acquisition transactions. She also regularly sits as arbitrator in domestic disputes.

She is ranked as a National Leader in both Litigation and Arbitration by Who’s Who Legal: Nigeria. She also advises on insolvency related disputes and in 2019, she received a Special Recognition Award from the Vice President of the Federal Republic of Nigeria for her involvement in the insolvency and business rescue reforms in Nigeria.

She is a member of the Disputes Resolution & Thematic Areas of the Nigerian National Assembly Business Environment Roundtable and a council member of the Nigerian Bar Association, Section on Business Law. She is also a Representative of the ICC YAAF, Africa Chapter.

Cristina Martinetti is expert in international commercial law and arbitration, in M&A and corporate matters, construction contracts, distribution agreements. Founding partner of ELEXI, a law firm based in Turin and in Brussels, she holds a PHD in Transnational Trade law.
She is Council member of the ICC Institute and leads the Institute’s Task Force on International Contracts. She is also delegate of the National Committee at ICC Commission on Arbitration in Paris.
Former chair of the International Commerce, Trade, Franchising and Product Law Committee of the IBA (International Bar Association).

Hamid Gharavi, co-founding Partner of the Paris based firm Derains & Gharavi, is member of the Paris & New York Bars, he has acted as counsel and arbitrator in over 250 ad hoc and institutional commercial and investment arbitrations.
Gharavi holds or has held Court or board positions at major institutions, teaches investment arbitration at the University of Paris II and is the author of books and essays in international arbitration and international law.

Valeria Galìndez is a dual national (Argentina and Brazil) and has focused her practice on arbitration since 2001. She has been particularly active in cases involving construction, energy (including eolic and solar energy), foreign investment and corporate acquisitions matters.
Valeria has participated in over 120 arbitration proceedings as party representative and arbitrator, including investment arbitrations.
She was Co-chair of the Arbitration Committee of the International Bar Association (2022 and 2023) and is currently Co-chair of the ICC Academy for Arbitrators (Latin America), a member of the ICC Arbitration Commission and the ICC Latin American Arbitration Group and collaborates to the governing bodies of other international institutions.
Since 2009, Valeria has been recognized by several publications as a leading practitioner in the field of international arbitration (Chambers and Partners, Band Global, Band 1; Chambers and Partners Latin America, Band 1; Chambers and Partners Brazil, Band 1; Whos’ Who of Commercial Arbitration,
Global Elite Thought Leaders).
Valeria is fluent in Portuguese, Spanish, English and French.