About the Chairs _ About the Editors _ About the GAP Reviewers _ Acknowledgements

Download as PDF
Receive regular news and updates about the GAP

QUICK LINKS

GAP Contents  |  GAP Traffic Lights for All Jurisdictions
GAP Reports & Reference Sheets
Delos Rules of Arbitration & Delos Model Clauses
Full GAP (requires free membership)

ABOUT THE CHAIRS

This second edition of the GAP is chaired by Professor Joongi Kim and Professor Maxi Scherer. Their support and guidance have been key to the design and success of this publication and builds on the earlier work of Professor Maxi Scherer and the late Professor David D. Caron as Co-Chairs of the first edition of the GAP.

Professor Joongi Kim is Professor of Law at Yonsei Law School in Seoul, Korea. His research focuses on international dispute resolution, international trade and investment, corporate governance and good governance. His treatise International Arbitration in Korea (Oxford University Press 2017) received the 11^th Simdang International Trade and Business Research Award. He has acted as a presiding arbitrator, sole arbitrator, and co-arbitrator in institutional and ad hoc proceedings under the rules of the GGGI, HKIAC, ICC, ICSID, JCAA, KCAB, LMAA, SIAC and UNCITRAL and was selected as International Arbitrator of the Year by KCAB International in 2019 and as one of the Top 10 Arbitrators in Asia Pacific in 2019 by the Bali International Arbitration and Mediation Center. He sits on the editorial board of International Investment Law and Arbitration (Brill), Asian Journal of Comparative Law (Cambridge University Press), Dispute Resolution International (IBA) and Korean Arbitration Review. He has been a visiting professor at ESADE, Georgetown, Keio, the National University of Singapore, National Law School of India University (Bangalore), University of Florida and University of Hong Kong.

Professor Maxi Scherer is Special Counsel at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP, holds the Chair for International Arbitration, Dispute Resolution and Energy Law at Queen Mary, University of London, and serves on the Delos Board of Advisors. She has extensive experience with arbitral practice both in civil and common law systems, having represented clients, provided expert opinions and sat as arbitrator in more than 100 commercial and investor-state arbitrations.  She has been regularly ranked by Chambers Global, Who’s Who Legal, BestLawyers, The Legal 500 etc. as leading arbitration practitioner, including in the highest category of “Global Elite Thought Leader”.  Maxi is a Vice-President of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and the General Editor of the Kluwer Journal of International Arbitration. She holds many other public appointments of trust, including being a member of the panel of arbitrators (ICSID), the International Advisory Board of the Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC), and Drafting Committee for new protocols to the Arbitration Rules of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA).

Back to top

ABOUT THE EDITORS

The GAP General Editors are Thomas Granier and Hafez R Virjee, who initiated this publication in 2017. They can be reached for any enquiry at safeseats@delosdr.org.

Thomas Granier is Counsel at Asafo & Co. (Paris, France), a firm having a strong focus on Africa-related work. He is also a co-founder of Delos and member of its Arbitration Consultative Committee. Having a decade of experience in international arbitration, Mr Granier has acted both as arbitrator and counsel in several dozens of commercial and investment arbitrations under the rules of the ICC, LCIA, ICSID, HKIAC, DIS, Delos Dispute Resolution and CCJA. Fluent in English, French and German, Mr Granier has considerable experience of handling sensitive disputes in the renewable energy, pharmaceutical, oil & gas, mining, construction, telecoms, e-business sectors. This includes advising corporations and State-entities in pre-litigation phases and in arbitration-related litigation proceedings, including enforcement proceedings. Prior to joining Asafo & Co, Mr Granier was a senior associate in a top-tier US law firm in Paris. In addition, he headed the case management team of the ICC International Court of Arbitration dealing mainly with cases from Africa, the Middle East and France. He previously served as deputy counsel for the case management team dealing mainly with cases from Germany, Switzerland and Austria. Mr Granier has also been appointed as special adviser to the Casablanca International Mediation and Arbitration Centre (CIMAC). He has been consistently listed as a future leader in international arbitration by Who's Who Legal since 2018 and as a leading expert in commercial arbitration in Expert Guides, LMG Rising Star since 2019.

Hafez R Virjee is the President and a co-Founder of Delos. Mr Virjee also serves as an independent arbitrator at Virjee Arbitration. He previously acted mainly as counsel. His clients have spanned the range of private equity firms, tech start-ups, industrial concerns, listed companies, State entities and treaty organisations, in disputes across a wide range of sectors and relationships, including shareholder agreements, joint-ventures, agency, M&A, telecommunications, tech, energy, pharmaceutical, construction and defence. Mr Virjee is a solicitor of England & Wales and also qualified in France. He was previously at Dechert in Paris (with a secondment to Dubai in 2015) and prior to that at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in London. He regularly writes and speaks on international arbitration and legal risk management. He holds degrees from the University of Cambridge (M.A.), the Université Paris II – Panthéon-Assas (Maîtrise) and the University of California – Berkeley (LL.M.). He is listed among the Future Leaders of Arbitration by Who's Who Legal and was ranked by this publication in 2020 amongst the most highly regarded in Europe.

To ensure the academic rigour, practitioner relevance, coordination of the GAP working group and timely publication of the GAP chapters, Thomas Granier and Hafez Virjee have been working closely with the following colleagues:

Alejandra Lapunzina Veronelli is the Deputy Editor of the GAP at Delos. She has been working with Delos since 2017 on a variety of projects, including the GAP. She is also an in-house counsel for NGE, a French construction company, with projects worldwide, where she assists with the negotiation and drafting of international contracts as well as with contentious matters, including international litigations and arbitrations. She previously gained experience training at leading law firms in Paris and Buenos Aires, and then acted as counsel at a Paris boutique law firm in international commercial and investment arbitration, working on cases in English, Spanish and French. She also worked as a teaching assistant in International Economic Law at Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne (Paris) and Universidad de San Andrés (Buenos Aires). She holds a Masters’ degree in Global Business Law and Governance from the University of Paris 1 Panthéon Sorbonne, Columbia Law School and Ecole de Droit de Sciences Po and another one in Business Law and Management from the University of Paris 2 Panthéon Assas. She is admitted to practice in France.

Kate Apostolova is a Regional Editor of the GAP and a senior associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. Ranked #1 in Asia-Pacific by Who’s Who Legal 2020 and named 2021 Rising Star by Law360, Kate has extensive experience representing clients in a wide-range of industries, including oil & gas, mining, nuclear power, construction, finance, technology. She has been involved in cases before the US courts, ICTY, ECHR, ITLOS, and all major arbitral institutions. She has also undertaken sovereign advisory work in international law-related areas. Kate has a juris doctorate degree from the University of California, Berkeley School of Law, where she was editor-in-chief of the Berkeley Journal of International Law. She is admitted to practice in England & Wales, New York, before the Supreme Court of the United States and the Singapore International Commercial Court. Kate is described by clients as  “a sharp and eloquent arbitration practitioner” who is “extraordinarily bright and quick on her feet”, “a fine arbitration lawyer with outstanding knowledge in the field,” “articulate and responsive,” and “quick in analysing complex legal situations.”

Filipa Cansado-Carvalho is a Regional Editor of the GAP. She is an independent practitioner with over 20 years of experience in international dispute resolution. Filipa has worked in more than 50 arbitrations (including ICC, LCIA, ICSID, OHADA, Corte de Arbitraje de Madrid and ad hoc), in Portuguese, English, Spanish and French involving jurisdictions in Europe, Africa and Latin America and parties of these regions as well as Asia. In 2020, she left a leading Portuguese law firm to embrace an independent project in dispute prevention and resolution (FCCARB), focused mainly on her work as arbitrator and mediator (Filipa is also a CEDR-accredited mediator). Filipa is a member of the board of the Arbitration Centre of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry, and of the Portuguese chapter of Club Español del Arbitration (CEA). She co-chairs the mentoring programme of CEA Mujeres, and is a member of the arbitration practice committee of the Portuguese Arbitration Association (APA).

Aksel Doruk is a Regional Editor of the GAP and a partner at MELTEM Avocats, a boutique law firm based in Marseille and Paris, dedicated to the prevention and resolution of commercial disputes. Aksel assists his clients in the context of arbitration proceedings as well as international commercial litigation, with a focus on the energy, construction, engineering, shipping and agri-food sectors. He also acts as an arbitrator.  In addition, Aksel regularly advises his clients in relation to international sales and distribution and in the review and drafting of international contracts. Trained in Italy and France, Aksel has worked for two international law firms specialised in international arbitration before founding MELTEM.

Sara Koleilat-Aranjo is a Regional Editor of the GAP and a partner with Al Tamimi & Company. Sara regularly advises and represents clients in arbitration and arbitration-related court proceedings, including recognition, enforcement and set aside proceedings. She also sits as an arbitrator and acts in mediation proceedings, both as mediator and counsel. Sara is a member of several professional organizations. She is appointed as a Member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. Sara serves as an IBA Officer of the IBA Arab Regional Forum as well as a Member of the IBA Subcommittee on International Arbitration Case Law. Sara is an expert member of the DIFC Courts’ Arbitration Division Working Group. She is featured in Who’s Who Legal for her experience in arbitration and has been awarded the Middle East Rising Star Lawyer of the Year Award (2019) by The Association of Corporate Counsel, the American Lawyer and the Legal Week (UK). Sara is an Adjunct Professor of Law at the Université Paris II – Panthéon-Assas where she lectures on comparative judicial systems (civil law and common law) and Islamic law. She holds an LL.B. in French and Lebanese Law from the University of Saint Joseph (USJ), a M.A. in International Business Law from the University of Paris, a M.S. in Finance and Management from the ESSEC Business School in Paris and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Harvard Law School. Sara is admitted to the New York, Paris and Beirut Bars and is a registered foreign counsel in the Emirate of Dubai.

Jonathan Lim is a Regional Editor of the GAP. He is Counsel at WilmerHale in London. He has represented governments and private corporations in commercial and investment arbitrations under all major arbitration rules sited across Africa, Asia, Europe and South America. He has also advised governments in Africa and Asia on a range of public international law issues and the drafting of arbitration legislation. In addition to his practice as counsel, Jonathan has a developing practice as an arbitrator, with appointments as sole and party-appointed arbitrator in proceedings seated in Europe and Asia. Jonathan also co-teaches a course on international arbitration at the National University of Singapore each January. He is listed in Who's Who Legal 2018 as a Future Leader in International Arbitration.

Olivier Mosimann is a Regional Editor of the GAP. He co-heads Kellerhals Carrard’s Arbitration Practice Group. He specializes in international commercial arbitration and has acted as counsel in numerous arbitration proceedings conducted under institutional rules (including ICC and Swiss Rules) as well as in ad hoc proceedings, involving various sectors (including pharmaceutical, chemical, high-tech, energy, construction, consumer goods, financial-service, defense and sport sectors) and concerning diverse legal fields (including sales, joint ventures, construction, distribution, corporate, M&A, IP/IT, public procurement, competition and financing). Olivier has acted as counsel for parties from around the world in arbitrations involving companies, individuals, states and state-owned entities, and he is used to handling complex cases, including involving multiple proceedings, parties, contracts, jurisdictions and laws. He is also experienced as arbitrator (president, co-arbitrator and sole arbitrator) and as legal expert. Olivier is the current co-chair of Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA)’s Local Group Basel. He co-chaired ASA’s young practitioners’ group ASA Below 40 and German Arbitration Association’s Young Practitioners Initiative DIS40 from 2017-2020. He holds a master of laws (LL.M.) degree with a certificate of specialization in Law and Technology from University of California, Berkeley, School of Law, a Doctor of Laws (Dr. iur.) degree from University of Basel for his thesis “Anti-Suit Injunctions in International Commercial Arbitration” (summa cum laude, awarded the 2010 faculty prize), and a licentiate in law (lic. iur.) from University of Basel (summa cum laude). He is admitted to practice before all Swiss courts.

Myriam Seers is a Regional Editor of the GAP. She is a partner at Savoie Laporte LLP in Toronto. She specializes in investment treaty arbitration and international commercial arbitration, with a particular focus on disputes arising from the mining, electricity (including renewable energy), oil & gas and transportation sectors. She has experience with disputes involving projects all over the world, with a particular emphasis on Latin America. She also appears before Canadian courts in proceedings to set aside or enforce foreign arbitral awards. In addition to her counsel practice, Myriam sits as an arbitrator and is part of Arbitration Place’s NextGen roster of arbitrators. She has been appointed arbitrator by the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC. She is the Vice-Chair of the ICC Canada Arbitration Committee, Canada’s Representative on the Institute for Transnational Arbitration’s Americas Initiative and a frequent guest lecturer on investment treaty arbitration at Osgoode Hall Law School and McGill University.

Dr Galina Zukova is a Regional Editor of the GAP. She is a leading arbitration practitioner with twenty years of legal experience, practising at her own firm, Zukova Legal. She has served as an arbitrator (president, sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator and emergency arbitrator alike) in cases conducted under the most major institutional rules, including the ICC, LCIA, DIS, VIAC, SCC and Milan Chamber of Arbitration. She also regularly represents clients (individuals, corporate and state entities), and acts as expert in international arbitration proceedings.

David de Freitas is an Associate Editor of the GAP. Based in Geneva, he works as an associate at White & Case, specializing in commercial litigation and international arbitration. He is qualified in Brazil and in Portugal and holds a Master’s degree in Global Business Law and Governance from the University Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne and an LL.M from the City University of Hong Kong. David is fluent in French, English, Portuguese and Spanish and has a good proficiency of Italian.

Sofia de Murard is an Associate Editor of the GAP. After working on investment and commercial arbitrations in leading international law firms in Paris, Sofia is now an in-house counsel for Oikocredit, a Dutch micro-credit institution, where she assists with the negotiation and drafting of international contracts for transactions in Africa and Asia. Sofia holds an LLB in English law from King’s College London, a Licence in French law and a Masters in Private International Law from La Sorbonne University. She also holds an LL.M. in International Legal Studies from New York University, where she received the Jerome Lipper Award for excellence in international law. Sofia is fluent in English, French, and Spanish and is admitted to the New York Bar.

The Editorial team finally includes the following Assistant Editors, whose efforts have been critical to the coordination of this publication: Melina Bellaguarda Kotzias, Anna Cossi, Ana Karine Froz, Amelia J. Kelly and Sarah Voulaz.

Back to top

ABOUT THE REVIEWERS

Delos has been privileged to benefit from the energy and talent of an international group of experienced practitioners (the “GAP Reviewers”) who, together, performed the editorial review of the GAP chapters. Their role is more fully explained in the Methodology section below.

The GAP Reviewers are as follows. Many have been with the publication since the start. Please note that the first column indicates their countries of nationality, the second column states their first name and LAST NAME and is linked to their LinkedIn profiles, where available, and the third column indicates the name of their firm or other professional organisation (save for independent practitioners) and is linked to their firm bio or equivalent should you wish to contact them via their professional e-mail address.

Back to top

ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS

A number of individuals have played a significant role in this initiative, most particularly Martin Guermonprez, Anna Jermak, Fatima Malik, Facundo Marcone, Ezequiel Pien and Arjun Solanki.

The publication has also benefitted from the kind assistance of Mihaela Apostol and Nicolás Raul Costabile.

We finally acknowledge the help of Sofía Guadalupe García, María Belén Huber, Clara Leban Vázquez, Katherine Marami and Dionisio Antonio Mulone.

Anna Senno advised on the design and artwork and designed the main cover page.

Back to top