The Delos-Y Bratislava Breakfast took place on 7 June, at Squire Patton Boggs, Zochova 5, Bratislava. The topic for this event was: “Whose case is it after all? The art of successful work with clients in international arbitration”.

The event featured Matej Kosalko (Allen & Overy, Bratislava), Liana Cercel (Armesto & Asociados, Madrid), Ewelina Bzducha (Clifford Chance, Warsaw), Gabriel Fusea (Freshfields, Paris), Petra Lešová (International Legal Affairs Unit, Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic), and Jan Kadrnožka (BBH, Prague). The event will be moderated by Iuliana Iancu (Hanotiau & van den Berg, Brussels), Piotr Bytnerowicz (ByArb, Warsaw), and Eva Dragúňová (Squire Patton Boggs, Bratislava), and chaired by Maria Polakova (Squire Patton Boggs, Prague, and Chair of Delos-Y).

This Delos-Y Breakfast was held in conjunction with the launch of ArbCEE.

Short bios of our speakers and moderators can be found below.

With the support of

ABOUT OUR SPEAKERS

Matej Kosalko is a dual qualified (English and Slovak law) associate specialising in commercial and investment treaty arbitration as well as litigation. Matej has represented clients from various sectors in arbitration and litigation proceedings including energy, infrastructure, real estate, retail, finance, and technology and media. Matej has represented clients in commercial and investment arbitration proceedings seated in both civil and common law jurisdictions (e.g. London or Vienna) and under ICC, LCIA, VIAC and ICSID arbitration rules. He has extensive experience in complex construction disputes in PPP projects, and under FIDIC and other EPC forms of contracts. Matej frequently appears on behalf of the clients before adjudication boards (DABs), state courts and arbitral tribunals. He acted for contractors and employers in major construction projects in the Slovak Republic but also abroad.

Liana Cercel is a New York attorney (2020) with a qualifying English law degree and extensive training in International Arbitration, both treaty-based and commercial (focusing on common law matters). Alumni of the first generation of the Sciences Po LLM in Transnational Arbitration and Dispute Settlement (TADS). Graduated from City, University of London with an LLB degree (1st class), having completed a final year program at Sciences Po concentrating on public international law, EU law and economics.

Ewelina Bzducha focuses her practice on international and domestic arbitration including complex construction, infrastructure, and real estate disputes. She advises EPC contractors, subcontractors and investors in various sectors including pipelines, power plants, oil & gas and military facilities.
She also advises on issues concerning financial law. She has experience in representing clients in international arbitrations based on foreign substantive laws.

Gabriel Fusea is an associate in the firm’s International Arbitration Group and the Global Projects Disputes Practice. A member of the New York Bar, Gabriel is trained in both civil and common law, having initially qualified in Romania. His practice focuses on international investment and commercial arbitration. He has experience advising and representing States and private entities under various institutional rules and applicable laws, as well as advising non-governmental organizations on matters of public international law. Prior to joining Freshfields in March 2019, Gabriel was an associate in the dispute resolution practice of a leading Romanian law firm. Gabriel speaks fluent English and Romanian, as well as intermediate French.

Jan Kadrnožka is a Senior Associate with BBH focusing mainly on Litigation, Insolvency, Financial Regulation and Telecommunications Law. Mr. Kadrnožka has been involved, among other projects, in the representation of prominent BBH clients in Civil Litigation regarding claims for damages resulting mainly from unfair competition and frustrated investment opportunities. Jan has also participated in Legal Due Diligence within the process of BBH clients’ acquisitions of several major telecommunications providers and several banking and investment firm Licensing Proceedings before the Czech National Bank.

Petra Lešová  (International Legal Affairs Unit, Ministry of Finance of the Slovak Republic): Forthcoming

MODERATORS

Iuliana Iancu has over ten years of experience in international arbitration. She has acted as arbitrator, counsel and tribunal secretary. Her experience includes several dozen high-stakes, high-value and complex international commercial and investment arbitrations, both ad hoc and under a variety of arbitration rules (ICC, CEPANI, ICSID, UNCITRAL, NAI). These spanned various industry sectors, such as banking, telecommunications, insurance, energy, infrastructure, information technology, construction, mining, distribution, luxury and pharmaceuticals. Ms. Iancu’s arbitration experience includes disputes involving both States and private parties, as well as various procedural and substantive laws. Some of her recent work includes acting as counsel in arbitration proceedings concerning the wrongful termination of a distribution agreement governed by Belgian law; acting as sole arbitrator in a dispute concerning a cultural event in an Eastern European State; acting as sole arbitrator in a dispute concerning a license agreement for the exploitation of various intellectual property rights. Ms. Iancu is also a lecturer at the University of Bucharest’s International Arbitration LL.M., teaching Comparative International Commercial Arbitration. Ms. Iancu is an active member of the international arbitration community. She is a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, ICCA and the CEPANI. She is a member of the ICC Working Group on Leveraging Technology for Fair, Effective and Efficient International Arbitration Proceedings. In September 2021, Ms. Iancu was elected as ICC YAF representative for Belgium, Luxembourg, Romania and Bulgaria. In 2021, she co-founded the Young Romanian Arbitration Practitioners, an initiative intended to develop and support the community of Romanian arbitration practitioners from Romania and abroad, as well as the ARBinBRIEF initiative, a practical video guide featuring conversations between female arbitrators on arbitration procedure and practice. Ms. Iancu cooperates with multiple other international arbitration groups (Young ICCA, Young ITA, Arbitral Women, AIJA, CEPANI40) through various diversity initiatives and mentoring programs. Ms. Iancu is also a founding member of the Romanian Chapter of the Spanish Arbitration Club and the Vice President of the Belgian Chapter of the Spanish Arbitration Club. Ms. Iancu has been praised by Who’s Who Legal – Arbitration 2021 as one of the Future Leaders in the arbitration community.

Piotr Bytnerowicz is a counsel in the White & Case Dispute Resolution and International Arbitration practice, a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a member of the Society of Construction Law and the ICC Commission for Arbitration and ADR. He has over 15 years of experience in various commercial disputes before state and arbitration courts (involving, in particular, general commercial, construction, M&A and real estate-related disputes). He also has significant in-house experience as for nearly two years he was seconded to White & Case’s client in Western Australia where he managed a team working on a multi-billion dollar arbitration. Piotr serves as counsel, arbitrator or mediator in commercial and construction arbitration. He has worked with clients in a wide range of industries including logistics, oil & gas, mining, infrastructure, construction, real estate development, telecommunications, and insurance. Prior to joining White & Case in 2011, he worked at the litigation and dispute resolution departments of two renowned international law firms, including a “magic circle” law firm. The prestigious international legal rankings, Chambers Global and Chambers Europe, ranked Piotr in their latest editions as one of the best specialists in Dispute Resolution. The Legal 500 ranking recommended him for Dispute Resolution in its 2022 edition. Who’s Who Legal listed him in the 2019, 2020 and 2021 Arbitration Future Leaders – Non-partners ranking.

Eva Dragúňová‘s practice focuses on international and domestic dispute resolution, including commercial and investor-state arbitration and court litigation. Eva serves as counsel in disputes involving a wide range of sectors, institutions, arbitral rules and treaties. Her practical experience includes drafting substantive and procedural submissions in litigation cases and arbitration proceedings under the rules of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) and the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law Rules (UNCITRAL), working on assessments of prospective claims and representing clients at international arbitration hearings. She has been recognised as a Rising Star in Dispute Resolution in The Legal 500 EMEA 2020-2023.

CHAIR

Maria Polakova‘s practice primarily focuses on investor-state arbitration. She has represented clients in numerous high-profile cases before tribunals constituted under the ICSID and UNCITRAL Rules and has also advised on prospective investor-state claims. In addition, Mária has acted for clients in international commercial arbitration and domestic litigation proceedings. Mária is the chair of Delos-Y, a platform within the innovative arbitration institution Delos seated in Paris and dedicated to networking and career mentoring for younger arbitration practitioners and professionals interested in arbitration. She previously served as a co-chair of the Young International Council for Commercial Arbitration (Young ICCA).