GAP Pre-ICCA Forum
The Delos GAP Pre-ICCA Forum 2026 will take place on Friday 10 April 2026, in Madrid!
The full details of the theme and venue will follow in due course. In the meantime, we invite you to reserve your place early. Registration now open.
SPEAKERS
Thomas Granier, A French lawyer, Thomas Granier is a partner at dispute resolution firm Anima Dispute Resolution. He has rapidly established himself as a leading practitioner in compliance and ESG arbitrations and in disputes on regulated sectors, including energy (renewable, oil & gas and nuclear), mining, infrastructure, defense and pharmaceuticals. He has been described as “a leader of his generation who has rapidly become a reference in arbitration involving Africa”. Trilingual in English, French and German, he is part of the new generation of arbitrators. He has acted as president, sole arbitrator and co-arbitrator in a dozen ICC, DIS, Delos Disputes Resolution and ad hoc arbitrations. He is also a member of the Arbitration Advisory Committee of Delos Dispute Resolution, Vice-President of the Arbitration Court of the Casablanca International Mediation and Arbitration Center and Vice-President of the Arbitration Committee of the BVI International Arbitration Center. Prior to founding Anima Dispute Resolution, Thomas worked at McDermott Will & Emery and Asafo & Co. He was Counsel in charge of the ICC International Court of Arbitration Secretariat team, administering cases relating to Africa, the Middle East and France.
Prof. Joongi Kim, is a Professor of Law at Yonsei Law School in Seoul. His research focuses on international dispute resolution, international trade and investment, corporate governance and good governance. 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), Jus Mundi Arbitration Review, and Korean Arbitration Review. His treatise International Arbitration In Korea (OUP) received the 11th 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 CAS, GGGI, HKIAC, ICC, ICSID, JAMS, JCAA, KCAB, LMAA, QICCA, SIAC, UNCITRAL (PCA/HKIAC/SIAC/ad hoc), and VIAC. He served as an arbitrator for the Winter Olympic Games Milano Cortina 2026 CAS Ad Hoc Division. In 2019, he was selected as International Arbitrator of the Year by KCAB International and the Korea Economic Daily. A Member of the ICC Court, he serves as a Council Member for the ICC Institute of World Business, Co-Chair of the IBA Asia Pacific Arbitration Group, and Co-Chair of the IBA Privilege and Attorney Secrecy Guidelines Project. He was the 7th President of the Korean Council for International Arbitration (KOCIA), and Lexology ranks him as a Global Elite Thought Leader in Arbitration. He is empaneled on the panel of arbitrators for the ICSID, Korea-EU Free Trade Agreement, Korea-US Free Trade Agreement and GGGI, in addition to AIAC, CAA, CAfA, CIETAC, CRCICA, DIAC, eBRAM, HIAC, HZAC, HKIAC, JCAA, KCAB, PIAC, RIMA, SCCA, SCIA, SHIAC, SIAC, and VIAC, and the panel of mediators of HIAC International Mediation Center, KCAB, SIMC, and VMC.
Oliver Mosimann, co-chairs Kellerhals Carrard’s Arbitration Practice Group in Switzerland. He specializes in international commercial arbitration and has acted as counsel in numerous arbitrations involving various sectors (including pharmaceutical, chemical, high-tech, energy, construction, consumer-good, financial-service, insurance/reinsurance, maritime, defense and sport 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 (president, sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator and emergency arbitrator) and is experienced as legal expert. In addition, Olivier is Member of the Arbitration Court of the Swiss Arbitration Centre, Delegate of ICC Commission of Arbitration & ADR, co-chair of Swiss Arbitration Association Local Group Basel, and Regional Editor of DELOS GAP.
Prof. Maxi Scherer, forthcomming
Francisco Manuel Serrano, is the partner in charge of the international arbitration and ADR practice in the Dispute Resolution: Litigation and Arbitration Department of Garrigues. For almost 30 years he has provided advice to and defended some of the most important companies in the industrial, energy, construction, shipping, automotive, hotel and pharmaceutical sectors, in complex cross-border contractual disputes in multiple arbitration seats and in arbitration-related proceedings, as well as in domestic civil and commercial lawsuits and arbitrations involving contractual disputes, largely representing international clients. He is a member of the governing board of the Club Español e Iberoamericano de Arbitraje and of the Club’s Mediation Commission and has been singled out in publications such as Chambers&Partners, Legal500 and Best Lawyers.
Hafez Virjee, is the President and a co-Founder of Delos. Hafez also serves as an independent arbitrator at Virjee Arbitration, having acted for many years prior as counsel. The parties in his cases have spanned the range of listed companies, private equity firms, tech start-ups, industrial concerns, 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. Hafez 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 in London. He co-edits the Delos Guide to Arbitration Places (GAP) and regularly writes and speaks on international arbitration and legal risk management. He holds degrees from the University of Cambridge (M.A.), the Université Paris – Panthéon-Assas (Maîtrise) and the University of California – Berkeley (LL.M.). He is listed as an arbitration leader by Who’s Who Legal in multiple categories.
Dr. Diora Ziyaeva, is a Partner and U.S. Co-Lead of Mining & Natural Resources at Dentons LLP in New York. Licensed in New York and Uzbekistan and fluent in seven languages, Diora is recognized within the legal community as one of the top international lawyers of her generation. Diora has been practicing international arbitration for 17 years, representing parties before international tribunals all over the world. She is the ICC International Court of Arbitration Member and has been named last year a Global Elite Thought Leader by Lexology and Global Arbitration Review. Her main areas of practice include Investor-state arbitration, international commercial arbitration, complex commercial litigation, and public international law. In 2024, she was named a “Rising Star” by New York Law Journal, an award which recognizes lawyers who have “made a remarkable difference in the legal profession”. In 2023 she was also recognized by Law360 as one of the international arbitration law practitioners “Rising Stars”. She sits as arbitrator and serves as counsel in a broad range of international matters and is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. Diora teaches the International Arbitration at Cornell Law School, and is the first female from the Republic of Uzbekistan to graduate from Harvard Law School.
