Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Lord Neuberger. The recording is available here.

Lord Neuberger is a leading arbitrator, member of One Essex Court. From 2012 to 2017, he served as President of the Supreme Court of the United Kingdom. He was a Lord of Appeal in Ordinary until the House of Lords' judicial functions were transferred to the new Supreme Court in 2009, at which point he became Master of the Rolls. Since 2010, Lord Neuberger has been a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal. He is an honorary Fellow of the Royal Society, and an honorary member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Dr Michael Pryles AO PBM. The recording is available here.

Dr Michael Pryles is a leading independent arbitrator. Chambers Asia-Pacific has consistently rated him as one of the “star individuals” who are most in demand in the Asia-Pacific region. He was previously the chairman of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and then President of its Court of Arbitration. He has also served as a court member of the LCIA; board member of DIAC; President of ACICA and Chairman of ICC Australia. For over 8 years, he was a Commissioner of the United Nations Compensation Commission, adjudicating claims against Iraq following the first Gulf War, and he was also a Commissioner of the Australian Law Reform Commission. Prior to becoming a full-time arbitrator he was a partner in the Australian law firm Minter Ellison, and before that he held the Henry Bournes Higgins chair of law at Monash University in Melbourne.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Toby Landau QC. The recording is available here.

Toby Landau QC is a member of the Delos Board of Advisors. He is a barrister and arbitrator, and a member of the Bars of England & Wales, Singapore, New York, the BVI and Northern Ireland, and is registered in the DIFC.  He was the first QC to be admitted as a full member of the Singapore Bar, and practices from Essex Court Chambers in London, and Essex Court Chambers Duxton in Singapore.   As Counsel he has argued hundreds of major international commercial and investor-State arbitrations, as well as many ground-breaking arbitration cases in the Courts of England, Singapore, Pakistan and the Caribbean.  As Arbitrator, he has extensive experience sitting in commercial and investor-State disputes worldwide. He is Visiting Professor at Kings College London; Court Member of the LCIA and the SIAC; Fellow of the CIArb; UK delegate to the UNCITRAL Working Group on Arbitration (1994-2013); and a draftsman of the English Arbitration Act 1996; the Pakistan Arbitration (International Investment Disputes) Ordinance, 2006; the Mauritius International Arbitration Act 2008, as well as many institutional rules. He holds a first-class law degree and a first class BCL from Oxford University (Eldon Scholar), and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School (Kennedy Scholar).

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Wendy Miles QC. The recording is available here.

Wendy Miles QC is a partner at Debevoise & Plimpton, in London, and a member of the firm's International Dispute Resolution Group. With over 20 years of experience, Ms Miles has acted as counsel in arbitrations under all the major institutions, as well as ad hoc arbitrations and significant public international law cases. She has advised a wide range of multinationals, sovereign states and state entities in public and private international law and international dispute resolution, including commercial and investor state arbitration. Ms Miles is currently a Vice President of the ICC Court of Arbitration and a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR. She co-chaired the ICC Task Forces on Costs Allocation in Arbitration (report published in 2017) and Climate Change Related Disputes (report published in 2019). She is also active on various other professional bodies including the IBA, ICCA, Stockholm Arbitration Association, FIAA and the gender diversity initiative Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge. She regularly teaches and publishes. Ms Miles is admitted to practice in England & Wales, and New Zealand. She became Queen’s Counsel in 2015.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Lucy Reed. The recording is available here.

Lucy Reed joined Arbitration Chambers in New York in January 2020 as an independent arbitrator. She returned to the US after over seven years in Asia, first in Hong Kong and Singapore as head of the Freshfields global international arbitration group, and then as Director of the Centre for International Law and Professor of Practice on the Law Faculty of the National University of Singapore. Lucy is President of ICCA and a Vice-President of the SIAC Court, having formerly served as President of the American Society of International Law and a Vice President of the ICC Court. Over her career, Lucy has represented private and public clients in investment treaty and complex commercial arbitrations, and sat as arbitrator in some 50 cases, including on the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission (a Geneva Convention tribunal). Her earlier positions include Co-Director of the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland (the first Holocaust tribunal), general counsel of the Korean Peninsula Energy Development Organization (dealing with North Korea nuclear issues) and, while with the US State Department, the US Agent to the Iran-US Claims Tribunal. A New York qualified lawyer, she was educated at the University of Chicago Law School and Brown University.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. Bernard Hanotiau. The recording is available here.

Prof. Bernard Hanotiau is a member of the Brussels and Paris Bars. Since 1978, He has been actively involved in more than 500 international arbitration cases as party-appointed arbitrator, chairman, sole arbitrator, counsel and expert in all parts of the world. Prof. Hanotiau is professor emeritus of the law school of Louvain University (Belgium). He is a member of the ICCA Governing Board and of the Council of the ICC Institute and a member of the ICC International Arbitration Commission. He is also a former vice-president of the Institute of Transnational Arbitration (Dallas) and a former vice-president of the LCIA Court. He is a member of the Court of Arbitration of SIAC and of the Governing Board of DIAC (Dubai). He is the author of Complex Arbitrations: Multiparty, Multicontract, Multi-issue and Class Actions (Kluwer, 2006) and of more than 120 articles, most of them relating to international commercial law and arbitration. In March 2011, Prof. Hanotiau received the GAR “Arbitrator of the Year” award. In April 2016, he also received the Who’s Who Legal “Lawyer of the Year” for Arbitration award.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Sir Bernard Rix. The recording is available here.

Sir Bernard Rix is a leading arbitrator, member of Twenty Essex. He retired in 2013 as a Lord Justice of Appeal with 20 years’ experience in the Commercial Court and the Court of Appeal. He is also an International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court and a member of the Cayman Islands Court of Appeal. He is also Professor of International Commercial Law at The Centre of Commercial Law Studies at Queen Mary, University of London.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Loretta Malintoppi. The recording is available here.

Loretta Malintoppi is an arbitrator with 39 Essex Chambers, based in Singapore. She is dually qualified (Paris and Rome Bars) and her company is registered as a Foreign Law Practice in Singapore. She specializes in international commercial arbitration, investment arbitration and public international law. She sits as arbitrator in proceedings under a variety of arbitration rules, including ICSID, ICC, UNCITRAL, SIAC, LCIA and DIAC. Loretta also appears as counsel and advocate in State-to-State disputes before the International Court of Justice and in ad hoc arbitrations.

She was a Member for Italy of the ICC International Court of Arbitration from 2000 to 2009 and served as a Vice-President of the ICC Court from 2009 until 30 June 2015. She currently is a member of the Governing Board of ICCA, and a member of the Governing Board of the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore (NUS).

Loretta is one of the co-authors of The ICSID Convention – A Commentary published by Cambridge University Press in 2009. She is also a member of the Editorial Boards of The Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals and of the Singapore Arbitration Journal, editor of the International Litigation in Practice Series, and a member of the editorial advisory board of the Journal of World Investment and Trade and The Law and Practice of International Courts and Tribunals.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. Julian Lew QC. The recording is available here.

Professor Julian Lew QC is a full-time arbitrator in international commercial and investment disputes. He has been involved with international arbitration for more than 40 years as an academic, counsel and arbitrator. Before 2005, Julian was a partner and, for some years, the head of the international arbitration practice group of Herbert Smith. He is Professor of International Arbitration and Head of the School of International Arbitration, Centre for Commercial Law Studies, Queen Mary University of London. He has held these positions since the School’s creation in 1985. Prof. Lew received the GAR Award for Best Prepared and Most Responsive Arbitrator in 2015.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. Emmanuel Gaillard. The recording is available here.

Professor Emmanuel Gaillard founded and heads Shearman & Sterling’s 100-lawyer International Arbitration practice. He is also the Firm’s Global Head of Disputes. A Professor of Law in France, he serves as a Visiting Professor of Law at Yale Law School and Harvard Law School. Professor Gaillard is universally regarded as a leading authority in the fields of both commercial and investment treaty arbitration.

Over the course of his career, Professor Gaillard has acted on many international arbitration landmark cases. In addition to the USD 50 billion award secured for the majority shareholders of the former Yukos Oil Company, he acted on the ICC arbitration brought by The Dow Chemical Company against Petrochemical Industries Company of Kuwait, which led to a USD 2.47 billion award in favor of Dow Chemical.

Professor Gaillard is widely regarded as one of the top practitioners worldwide. He is one of the only two lawyers recognized as a ‘star individual’ in international arbitration worldwide by Chambers. He is also distinguished as the number one thought leader globally in Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration 2020. 

Professor Gaillard has written extensively on all aspects of arbitration law, in French and in English. Co-author of a leading treatise in the field (Fouchard Gaillard Goldman On International Commercial Arbitration), he authored the first published essay on the legal theory of international arbitration. The volume, originally published in French (Aspects Philosophiques du droit de l’arbitrage international), was subsequently published in English (Legal Theory of International Arbitration), as well as in Arabic, Chinese, Spanish and a number of other languages. He co-authored, as expert acting for UNCITRAL, the UNCITRAL Secretariat Guide on the New York Convention, published in the six official languages of the United Nations.

Professor Gaillard also served as member of the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators, appointed by France (2006–2018). He chairs the International Arbitration Institute (IAI) and was the first President and one of the co-founders of the International Academy for Arbitration Law (AIDA).

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. Jan Paulsson. The recording is available here.

Professor Jan Paulsson is a founding partner of Three Crowns LLP, and has practised exclusively as an advocate and arbitrator in international cases since 1975. A member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague and the Court of Arbitration of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, he has notably served as President of the London Court of International Arbitration, President of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), and a Vice-President of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. A graduate of Yale Law School and the University of Paris II (law), he is an avocat honoraire of the Paris Bar and a member of the District of Columbia Bar.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. Brigitte Stern. The recording is available here.

Professor Brigitte Stern is an Emeritus Professor of International Law at the University of Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne and former Professor at the Geneva Graduate Institute for International and Development Studies (IHEID). She has also been invited as a visiting Professor in many universities or schools around the world. She is the author of numerous books and articles focusing on different areas of international law. She is a former member and Vice-President of the United Nations Administrative Tribunal (UNAT), and of the Administrative Tribunal of the Asian Development Bank. She has also served as President of the French Commission for the Elimination of Landmines. Brigitte Stern is one of the world’s leading arbitrators, having acted as arbitrator in numerous international arbitration proceedings, ad hoc (including UNCITRAL), under the rules of the ICC, SCC, SIAC, ICSID as well as in PCA and NAFTA proceedings.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted The Hon. Charles N. Brower. The recording is available here.

Judge Brower's 55-year career in the law has combined extensive practice at the bar with distinguished public service, both national and international. For nearly 40 years he has focused on public international law and international dispute resolution. As counsel or arbitrator he has handled cases on all six continents, principally under the rules of the ICC, UNCITRAL, LCIA, AAA, United Nations Compensation Commission, ICSID, Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, Insurance and Reinsurance Arbitration Society and LMAA.

Charles started his career with White & Case LLP in New York, before serving for four years in the United States Department of State in Washington, DC, concluding as its Acting Legal Adviser. He then rejoined White & Case LLP, co-founding its Washington, DC office, where his practice came to be comprised almost exclusively of substantial international arbitrations.

He has served continuously since 1983 as a judge of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal in The Hague, The Netherlands. That service was interrupted for some months in 1987 by White House service as Deputy Special Counsellor to President Reagan. Charles resumed partnership in White & Case LLP from 1988 until joining 20 Essex Street in 2001. Since 2014 he has also served as a Judge ad hoc at the International Court of Justice.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Dame Rosalyn Higgins. The recording is available here.

Dame Rosalyn Higgins was a member of Essex Court Chambers from 1975 up until her election to the International Court of Justice (ICJ) in 1995. She was the first female judge elected to the ICJ, and was elected President in 2006, a position she held until the expiry of her term of office in 2009. She has also served on the UN Human Rights Committee, as Honorary President of the American Society of International Law (ASIL), as President of the British Institute of International Comparative Law (BIICL) and as Vice President of the Institut de Droit International. She was previously a Professor of International Law at the University of Kent and at the London School of Economics (LSE).

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted J. Christopher Thomas QC. The recording is available here.

J. Christopher Thomas QC practices in the field of international trade and commercial law with an emphasis on trade and investment regulation and dispute settlement. After six years at the National University of Singapore’s Centre for International Law, he returned to Vancouver where he continues to practice as an international arbitrator. He has been counsel in many international disputes, in domestic administrative law procedures (anti-dumping and countervailing duty cases), and in contentious proceedings before the superior courts of Canada. From March 1993 until June 2008, he ran the law firm of Thomas & Partners. Since that time, he has been a sole practitioner, acting primarily as an arbitrator in international investment, trade and commercial disputes. He is Editor of Investor-State LawGuide, an on-line legal research database on investment treaty arbitration law.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Rod Bundy. The recording is available here.

Rod Bundy is a senior partner at global law firm Eversheds, based out of their Singapore office. Mr. Bundy specializes in public international law, international investment arbitration, commercial arbitration and upstream oil and gas matters. Consistently ranked in the top band of public international law specialists by Chambers and Legal 500, Mr. Bundy has appeared in numerous cases before the International Court of Justice (including as counsel for Singapore in the Pedra Branca case and Cambodia in the Temple of Preah Vihear case), the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal, the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, ICSID tribunals and State-to-State and commercial arbitral panels. He lectured for twenty years at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS) and King’s College in London before moving to Singapore, and is currently a member of the Board of the Centre for International Law at the National University of Singapore (NUS). He was one of the first practitioners invited to deliver the inaugural Public International Law lecture at The Hague Academy of International Law for its 2018 session.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Robert Spano. The recording is available here. For a write-up of this conversation, see Amelia Kelly, "Human Rights and Arbitration: A discussion between the President of the European Court of Human Rights and Neil Kaplan" (Kluwer Arbitration Blog, 30 November 2020).

Robert Spano is the President of the European Court of Human Rights. He has authored numerous papers and publications on the topics of human rights law, constitutional law, the interpretation of statutes, the evolution of the Convention system, and criminal procedure. He is often described as an expert on the interplay between the internet and human rights.

Having obtained a degree in Law from the University of Iceland in 1997, Robert Spano worked as a Deputy District Court Judge and Legal Adviser to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. In 2000, he graduated from the University of Oxford with distinction in European and Comparative law and two academic awards for his achievements. In his early career, Robert worked inter alia at the Ministry of Justice, and as an academic at the University of Iceland, Editor of the Law Review, District Court Judge, and Deputy to the Parliamentary Ombudsman. In 2012 and 2013, he was working as an Independent Expert to the Lanzarote Committee of the Council of Europe, an Icelandic Member of the European Committee on Crime Problems, and an ad hoc judge at the EFTA Court. Having been elected a Judge of the European Court of Human Rights, he began his nine-year mandate on 1 November 2013, and served as Vice-President of the Court from May 2019 until May 2020 when he became President of the Court.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted The Hon. Yves Fortier. The recording is available here.

The Honourable L Yves Fortier, PC, CC, OQ, QC is a graduate of Université de Montréal, McGill University and Oxford University (Rhodes Scholar). He became a member of the Quebec Bar in 1961 and joined the firm of Ogilvy Renault in Montreal where he practiced as a trial lawyer before all courts in Canada, arbitral tribunals and as counsel for Canada, before the International Court of Justice. Mr. Fortier was Chairman of the firm (now Norton Rose Fulbright) until 2011 when he left to found his own boutique, Cabinet Yves Fortier, where he practices today as mediator and arbitrator.

Yves is a past President of the Canadian Bar Association and the London Court of International Arbitration, Chairman of two Panels of the United Nations Compensation Commission, judge of the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland, and judge ad hoc of the International Court of Justice. From July 1988 until February 1992, he was Canada’s Ambassador and Permanent Representative to the United Nations in New York. In 1989, he was president of the Security Council of the United Nations. During the last 30 years, Yves has acted as arbitrator and mediator in numerous international arbitrations under the auspices of all major arbitral institutions in the world. Yves is a member of the ICCA Advisory Board and past member of the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators. From 2012 to 2015, Yves was Chairman of the Sanctions Board of the World Bank. In 2013, he was appointed as a member of the Security and Intelligence Review Committee of Canada and sworn in as a member of the Privy Council of Canada. In July 2016, he was appointed Chairman of the Enforcement Committee of the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development (EBRD).

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. William W. Park. The recording is available here.

Prof. William W. Park is a Professor of Law at Boston University and teaches in the areas of tax, finance and conflict of laws. After studies at Yale and Columbia, Prof. Park practiced in Paris and Geneva until returning home to direct the University’s Center for Banking Law Studies.

William Park is General Editor of Arbitration International and former President of the London Court of International Arbitration. Visiting academic appointments include the universities of Auckland, Cambridge, Dijon, Geneva and Hong Kong. Park served on the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Swiss Bank Accounts and the International Commission on Holocaust Era Insurance Claims, as well as the Panel of Arbitrators for the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Dispute. Park is an Honorary Fellow of Selwyn College, Cambridge, and a Trustee of King’s Chapel, Boston. His books include Arbitration of International Business Disputes, International Forum Selection, ICC Arbitration (with Craig and Paulsson), International Commercial Arbitration (with Reisman, Craig and Paulsson) and Income Tax Treaty Arbitration (with Tillinghast).

For the 20th episode of In conversation with Neil, the series host, leading arbitrator and Delos Board member Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS was interviewed by Chiann Bao. The recording is available here.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. Philippe Sands QC. The recording is available here. For a write-up of this conversation, see Anna Jermak, "Philippe Sands QC in Conversation with Neil, on 10 September 2020, by Webinar" (ArbitralWomen Newsletter, Issue 42 p. 29, 30 November 2020).

Prof. Philippe Sands QC is a prominent arbitrator, member of Matrix Chambers, and co-director of the Project on International Courts and Tribunals (PICT) at London University and New York University.

He has appeared before many international courts, including the European Court of Justice; the International Court of Justice; the World Trade Organisation dispute settlement organs; the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea; the International Criminal Court; and the Special Court for Sierra Leone. He has appeared in arbitrations under the rules of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes, the Permanent Court of Arbitration and the International Chamber of Commerce; the World Bank Inspection Panel; and the Special Court for Sierra Leone). Philippe also appears before the English courts. More recently Philippe has accepted appointments as an arbitrator in several cases under ICSID and UNCITRAL rules. He is on the list of arbitrators in the field of natural resources and the environment maintained by the Secretary General to the Permanent Court of Arbitration and is a designated Member of the Panel of Arbitrators established by the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes.

Having accepted an appointment as ICSID arbitrator, since July 2007 he has not accepted new instructions to act as counsel in investment treaty arbitrations. In June 2011, he was appointed to the panel of arbitrators of the International Court of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS), and has been appointed as arbitrator in several cases since September 2011. He has served as Specialist Adviser to the House of Lords Select Committee on Science and Technology. In 2011, Philippe was appointed by the UK government as a member of the Commission on a Bill of Rights.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS, Chiann Bao and Hafez Virjee hosted Sir Vivian Ramsey. The recording is available here.

Sir Vivian Ramsey is a former member of Keating Chambers and had enjoyed a notable career in civil engineering prior to joining chambers in 1981.

Gaining a degree in Engineering Science from Oriel College, Oxford, he went on to work with Ove Arup in both London and Libya. Following his move to the Bar, Sir Vivian Ramsey quickly established his expertise in construction and engineering disputes. Showing a particular affinity for international cases, he was soon practising in many parts of the world, including appearances before courts in the Far East and West Indies and arbitrations in four continents Sir Vivian Ramsey became a Queen’s Counsel in 1992, rapidly consolidating his practice as a global leader, and including appearances in the House of Lords in Lafarge Redland v Shepherd Hill Civil Engineering [2000] BLR 385 and in the Court of Appeal, in AMEC Civil Engineering v Secretary of State for Transport [2005] BLR 227. Appointed to the High Court Bench in 2005, Sir Vivian Ramsey was voted Construction Silk of the Year by Chambers Directory. He served as Head of Chambers from 2002 until his appointment to the Bench in 2005. He was appointed the Judge in charge of the Technology and Construction Court in 2007. In 2011, he was appointed the Judge in charge of the Estates and Chairman of the Judicial Advisory Group on IT. In 2012, he was appointed the Judge in charge of the implementation of the reforms arising from Sir Rupert Jackson’s Review of Civil Litigation Costs: Final Report. Sir Vivian Ramsey retired from the UK bench in late 2014 and appointed to the new Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC) in early 2015. He continues as joint editor, with Stephen Furst QC, of the latest edition of Keating on Construction Contracts.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Funke Adekoya SAN. The recording is available here.

Funke Adekoya SAN is a founding Partner at Nigerian law firm ǼLEX, one of the largest full service commercial law firms in Nigeria where she heads the Dispute Resolution practice group. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, also a Chartered Arbitrator, a past Chairman of its Nigerian Branch, and a member of the ICCA Governing Board. Funke has over 45 years’ experience in Litigation and Arbitration. Funke received her legal education at University of Ile, Nigeria and Harvard Law School (LL.M.). She was elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria (SAN) in 2001. She has been a member of Nigeria’s Body of Benchers since 1999 and was elevated to Life Bencher in March, 2007. She is also a frequent speaker at conferences in the fields of litigation and arbitration. 

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. Klaus Sachs. The recording is available here.

Prof. Klaus Sachs is one of Germany’s most distinguished experts for national and international arbitration with more than 25 years of experience as counselor and arbitrator in more than 200 institutional and ad hoc arbitrations under DIS, ICC, LCIA, SCC, CRCICA, JCAA, SCAI and ICAC rules as well as Swiss, Vienna and UNCITRAL rules. He has particular expertise handling disputes arising out of joint ventures, M&A and other corporate activities. Klaus also regularly acts in proceedings related to licence and cooperation agreements as they often occur in the industrial plants construction and energy sectors.

Acting as chairman and co-arbitrator in so far 15 investment disputes under ICSID and UNCITRAL rules as well as acting as chairman in the third arbitration proceeding USA vs. Canada regarding the Softwood Lumber Agreement are examples of his outstanding work and experience.

Klaus joined CMS in 1985 and became a partner in 1987. He started his legal career with Schilling, Zutt & Anschütz in 1977 before joining the Paris office of Curtis, Mallet-Prévost, Colt & Mosle for four years. Klaus is an honorary professor for arbitration at the University of Munich and co-editor of the German arbitration journal SchiedsVZ.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Michael E. Schneider. The recording is available here.

Michael Schneider is a founding partner of LALIVE and now senior counsel. He has practised in international arbitration for more than 40 years as counsel in ad hoc proceedings and under various rules, including those of the ICC, ICSID, LCIA, Swiss Rules, Stockholm Institute, the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA), Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), European Development Fund, UNCITRAL, and before other international bodies, including the WTO Appellate Body and the United Nations Compensation Commission (UNCC). He has also acted in many cases as arbitrator (chair, sole or co-arbitrator) under the rules of many institutions both in Switzerland and abroad, including arbitration proceedings seated in Dubai and applying the law of the UAE.

Mr Schneider is honorary president of the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA). At ASA, he developed inter alia the Arbitration Practice Seminar organised annually since 1997 with civil law and common law practitioners. He was vice chair of the ICC Commission on Arbitration until 2014 and has been a member of several of its working groups (1998 and 2012 revisions of the ICC rules, construction, pre-arbitral referee). He chaired the UNCITRAL Working Group II (Arbitration) at its Sessions in New York and Vienna (2006-2010) on the revision of the Arbitration Rules and on the revision of the Notes on Organizing Arbitral Proceedings (2014-2015) and was Vice-Chair of the Commission (2015-2017). He is past president of the International Academy of Construction Lawyers (IACL) and was co-chair of the IBA Committee on international Construction Projects.  He is member of the Board of Trustees of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA) and of the Court of Arbitration of the Singapore Arbitration Centre; he was a member of the Board of Trustees and the Executive Committee of the Dubai International Arbitration Centre. He also was advising as inhouse counsel Universal Engineering and Finance Corporation (UNEFICO) on all contract matters.

Mr Schneider lectures at the University of Fribourg LLM Programme and was Director of Studies at the Centre for Studies and Research at the Hague Academy of International Law (Transnational Arbitration and State Contracts). He studied law and history at the universities of Munich, Bonn and Geneva and completed the 1st and 2nd State examination (capacity to hold office as a judge). He completed postgraduate studies at the Graduate Institute of International Studies in Geneva and is a former AIESEC trainee with the Shell Company in Sierra Leone.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Chiann Bao hosted Jean Kalicki. The recording is available here.

Jean Kalicki is an independent arbitrator in New York and Washington, DC, specializing in investor-State, international and complex commercial disputes. Until April 2016, she was a Partner at Arnold & Porter LLP, serving as counsel in highstakes international disputes; she thereafter transitioned exclusively to arbitrator work. In January 2020, she joined Arbitration Chambers, an association of independent arbitrators with offices in Hong Kong, London and New York.

Over more than 25 years, Ms. Kalicki has conducted arbitrations involving six continents, across a wide range of industries and disputed issues, addressing issues of public international law and the laws of dozens of different countries. She is listed on the roster of arbitrators of many institutions around the world. Ms. Kalicki is a Vice President of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and a member of the American Arbitration Association (AAA) Council and previously its Board of Directors, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Commission on Arbitration and the Board of Directors of SICANA, Inc. (ICC North America), and the Governing Board of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA). She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and the College of Commercial Arbitrators (CCA) and taught arbitration and advocacy for many years as an adjunct professor at Georgetown and American University law schools.

Ms. Kalicki was selected as Chambers’ only “Star Arbitrator” (above Band 1) in the USA for both 2019 and 2020, and a Band 1 (“Most In-Demand”) Arbitrator for Global and Public International Law (2017-2020); Global Arbitration Review’s “Best Prepared/Most Responsive Arbitrator” for 2017; and Best Lawyers’ “Lawyer of the Year” for International Arbitration-Governmental in both New York (2017 and 2019) and Washington DC (2016).

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted John Beechey CBE. The recording is available here.

John Beechey CBE is among the best-known arbitrators in the world. He has served as chairman, party-appointed arbitrator, or sole arbitrator on international arbitral tribunals in both ‘ad hoc’ (including UNCITRAL) and institutional arbitrations under the Rules of all major arbitral institutions including, inter alia, the EDF, ICC, ICDR/AAA, ICSID, LCIA, PCA, SIAC and Stockholm Chamber. John has served, or is currently serving, as an arbitrator on the panels for 20 investor-state disputes, seven of which are pending.

John is a past President of the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC (2009-2015). His term of office at the ICC is regarded as one which brought about significant reform to, and the reinvigoration of, the ICC Court. He had previously served on the Executive Committee of the Board of the AAA in New York and as a Vice-President and member of the Board of the LCIA. He is the current Chairman of the Board of the BVI International Arbitration Centre. In March 2018, John was elected to serve a four year term on the Governing Board of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA). Before his retirement from private practice in the City of London, he was the founding partner and Head of the highly-regarded International Arbitration Group of Clifford-Turner (subsequently, Clifford Chance LLP) (1983-2008). In June 2016, John was appointed CBE (Commander of the Order of the British Empire) in the Queen’s Birthday Honours List for services to international arbitration.

Neil Kaplan, Chiann Bao and Hafez Virjee hosted The Hon. Fali Sam Nariman. The recording is available here.

The Hon. Fali Sam Nariman is an internationally recognised jurist on international arbitration and senior advocate to the Supreme Court of India. He was the Additional Solicitor General of India, Member of Rajya Sabha (from 1995 to 2005), the Upper House of the Parliament of India, and President of the Bar Association of India. He has played a key role in establishing and enforcing the law in India. Mr. Nariman has been honoured with the Padma Vibhushan, the second-highest civilian award of India, and the Gruber Prize for Justice. In 2018, he was honored with the 19th Lal Bahadur Shastri National Award for Excellence in Public Administration 2018.

Fali Nariman was enrolled as an Advocate of the Bombay High Court in November 1950 and designed Senior Advocate in 1961. He has practiced law for more than sixty years, initially in the High Court of Bombay, and since 1972, in the Supreme Court of India at New Delhi. He was appointed the Additional Solicitor–General of India in May 1972 – when he shifted to Delhi. He resigned from this office a day after the imposition of the Internal Emergency of 26th June 1975 and has been in private practice since then.

Neil Kaplan, Chiann Bao and Hafez Virjee hosted Juliet Blanch. The recording is available here.

Juliet Blanch is a full time arbitrator having chaired the international dispute resolution practice at Weil, Gotshal & Manges from 2010 to 2016 and before that the international dispute resolution practice at McDermott, Will & Emery and the international arbitration practice at Norton Rose.  Juliet has over 30 years’ experience in the arbitration of international commercial disputes with a particular focus on energy and infrastructure, mining, commodities, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, hospitality, maritime and shareholder disputes. Juliet has acted as lead Counsel and/or sat as arbitrator in arbitrations held under HKIAC, ICC, ICSID, LCIA, LMAA, SCC, SIAC, UNCITRAL and other rules and which have been seated in a variety of jurisdictions including London, Hong Kong, Paris, Singapore, Stockholm, Washington DC and Zurich.

Juliet is a member of the ICC Court, a former Director of the LCIA and chair of the International Arbitral Appointments Committee of the Scottish Arbitration Center and she also chairs the review committee of the Energy Arbitrators List.  She is Vice Chair of the Oil and Gas Arbitration Club, sits on the editorial board of Dispute Resolution International and is a member of the FDI Moot Advisory Board and is a past Chair of the Dispute Resolution and Arbitration Committee of the Inter Pacific Bar Association.

Juliet is consistently ranked highly in legal directories for International Arbitration, Litigation, and Projects and Energy in the UK, Europe and globally, and is recognised as “a well-known figure in the market and is respected for her depth of knowledge in both litigation and arbitration”, as well as for “her enthusiasm, dedication and magnificent reputation”, “a rare blend of practicality and technical excellence” and as “a joy to work with, a good leader of people with fantastic judgement and a very sharp intellect.” Juliet was featured in The Lawyer’s “The Hot 100 2015: Litigation”, was included in the 2014 London Super Lawyers list as one of the Top 50 Women Lawyers, was awarded the standout entry by the FT in the category of most innovative dispute resolution lawyer and was named by Chambers Global as a “Leading” Lawyer for Dispute Resolution: Litigation and International Arbitration in London and Energy & Natural Resources: Disputes UK-wide.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. Albert Jan van den Berg . The recording is available here.

Professor Albert Jan van den Bergis a partner at Hanotiau & van den Berg (Brussels, Belgium). He is Honorary President of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration, having served as President from 2014–2016. He is a Visiting Professor at Georgetown University Law Center, Tsinghua University School of Law, University of Miami School of Law, and National University of Singapore Faculty of Law; Emeritus Professor (Arbitration Chair) at Erasmus University, Rotterdam; and member of the faculty and the advisory board of the University of Geneva Master in International Dispute Settlement Program. Professor van den Berg is presiding and party-appointed arbitrator in numerous international commercial and investment arbitrations. He also acts as counsel in international commercial arbitrations. He is Honorary President of the Netherlands Arbitration Institute, having served as its President and Secretary General, and former Vice-President of the London Court of International Arbitration. Professor van den Berg has published extensively on international arbitration (see www.hvdb.com), in particular, the New York Convention of 1958. His awards include: Global Arbitration Review, “Best Prepared and Most Responsive Arbitrator” in 2013; The International Who’s Who Legal, Arbitration: Lawyer of the Year in 2006, 2011 and 2017.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Makhdoom Ali Khan. The recording is available here.

Makhdoom Ali Khan is a Senior Advocate of the Supreme Court of Pakistan and a former Attorney General for Pakistan. During his tenure as Attorney General he advised the Government of Pakistan on all Bilateral Investment Treaty issues and Public International Law matters and was involved in BIT negotiations with other states. He was also involved in the drafting of the laws that incorporated in Pakistan law the New York Convention and the International Convention on the Settlement of Investment Disputes between States and the Nationals of other States.

He was a member of the Court of the London Court of International Arbitration and is a member of the Board of AAA. He is a former Member of the Board of DIAC. He is a member of the Governing Body of ICCA. He is on the panel of arbitrators of SIAC and KLRCA and has been designated as an arbitrator on the ICSID panel. Since his return to private practice in 2007, he has appeared in many important commercial cases before the High Courts and the Supreme Court. He is also sitting as an arbitrator in ad hoc and institutional domestic, international commercial and investment arbitrations.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Hilary Heilbron QC. The recording is available here.

Hilary Heilbron QC of Brick Court Chambers now focuses on international arbitration, primarily as an international arbitrator sitting in major cases all over the world both under the main arbitral institutions and ad hoc. She occasionally still acts as counsel in which capacity she has a wealth of experience of major commercial and arbitral disputes under many foreign laws such as appearing in the UK Supreme Court in Dallah Real Estate Tourism Holding Co v Government of Pakistan . She is currently a member of various international task forces on current topics in international arbitration and a former member of the LCIA Court and the ICC UK Arbitration and ADR Committee.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. Nayla Comair-Obeid. The recording is available here.

Professor Dr. Nayla Comair-Obeid, the founding partner of Obeid Law Firm, heads the firm’s dispute resolution practice. Author of ‘The Law of Business Contracts in the Middle East’, Prof. Comair-Obeid is Professor at the Lebanese University, she publishes prolifically and is regularly invited to lecture at world-renowned academic institutions where her articles and scholarly publications are often cited as reference works.

Throughout her career, Prof. Comair-Obeid has held and continues to hold prominent positions in several major international arbitration institutions. Most recently, Prof. Comair-Obeid was elected as International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Executive Board Member. Prior to this, she was appointed as a member of China’s International Commercial Expert Committee of the Supreme People’s Court in August 2018. Prof. Comair-Obeid is also a Member of the LCIA Court, Trustee of the Cairo Regional Centre for International Arbitration, Council Member of the Institute of World Business Law of the ICC and a Member of the ICSID panel of arbitrators and conciliators. Prof. Comair-Obeid was also appointed in 2018 as Companion for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb). She was elected President of the CIArb in 2017, after chairing its Board of Trustees in 2014. Prof. Comair-Obeid also served as Commissioner at the United Nations Compensation Commission in Geneva from 2002 to 2005.

A specialist in international business law and Islamic and Middle Eastern legislation, Prof. Comair-Obeid is admitted to the Beirut and Paris bar and she is an associate member of 3 Verulam Buildings (3VB). She regularly serves as counsel or arbitrator in complex international arbitrations conducted in Arabic, French, or English, both ad hoc and under a variety of international arbitration rules. Prof. Comair-Obeid is also often called upon as a legal expert on various aspects of Lebanese law and Middle Eastern legislation in foreign courts and arbitral proceedings. Prof. Comair-Obeid is referred to as “pre-eminent in her field” and a “leading authority in international arbitration” by international legal publications.

In this first conversation in 2021, we turned the tables: Chiann Bao joined Neil Kaplan in conversation. The recording is available here.

Chiann Bao, a member of Arbitration Chambers, practices exclusively as an arbitrator and has served as tribunal chair, co-arbitrator, sole arbitrator and emergency arbitrator in ad hoc arbitrations as well as arbitrations under the rules of most of the major institutions. She is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a CEDR-accredited mediator. In addition to private practice experience both in Hong Kong and New York, Chiann currently serves as a Vice President of the ICC Court of Arbitration and is the chair of the ICC Commission’s Task Force on ADR and Arbitration. From 2010 to 2016, she served as the Secretary General of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre. Chiann is an honorary senior fellow at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law.

Neil Kaplan, Chiann Bao and Hafez Virjee hosted Claudia Salomon. The recording is available here.

Claudia Salomon is an independent arbitrator, specializing in international, investor-state and complex commercial disputes. She is widely recognized as one of the leading arbitration practitioners of her generation. She is known for her sound judgment, effective case management and ability to quickly reach the crux of an issue.

Ms. Salomon has been recommended for election as President of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) International Court of Arbitration, effective July 1, 2021, putting her on a path to becoming the first woman President of the ICC Court in its almost 100-year history.

Ms. Salomon was formerly Partner and Global Co-Chair of Latham & Watkins’ International Arbitration Practice, where she was engaged in some of the most complex, high value and significant disputes. She has acted as arbitrator and counsel in arbitrations around the globe, under all of the major arbitral rules, governed by common law and civil law.

Ms. Salomon is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She is a sought after speaker and writer on international arbitration and is the co-editor of Choice of Venue in International Arbitration, published by Oxford University Press.

Ms. Salomon is a member of the New York Bar and a solicitor in England and Wales. She graduated from Harvard Law School, cum laude, and Brandeis University, summa cum laude with honors. She also studied at Somerville College, Oxford University.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler. The recording is available here.

Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler is the immediate past President and now Honorary President of ICCA, the International Council for Commercial Arbitration. She practices international commercial, investment and sports arbitration and has acted in over 220 international arbitrations, mainly as arbitrator. Gabrielle appears on numerous institutional arbitration panels (including ICC, ICSID, AAA, LCIA, SIAC, CIETAC) and conducts arbitrations under the rules of all major institutions. She is regularly ranked among the top ten arbitrators worldwide; a study of investment arbitration released in 2016 concluded that she was the “most influential arbitrator in the world”.

A Professor Emerita at Geneva University Law School, Gabrielle is also the founder, former director and a current faculty member of the Geneva LLM in International Dispute Settlement (MIDS), a joint program of the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and Geneva Law School. She is also a visiting professor at National University of Singapore, Tsinghua University in Beijing, and Georgetown University and the President of the Council of the Center for International Dispute Settlement (CIDS). Gabrielle teaches courses on international commercial and investment arbitration and heads research projects in the area of arbitration.

She is Honorary President of the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA) and was ASA President from 2001 to 2005. Gabrielle is also a founder of the FIAA (Foundation for International Arbitration Advocacy) and the President of its Advisory Board, as well as a former member of the ICC Court, LCIA Court, and AAA Board. She was and is a member of the Swiss delegation to UNCITRAL, including within Working Group II on transparency (until 2014), and presently Working Group III on the reform of investor-state arbitration, for which she has co-authored two CIDS reports.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted The Hon. James Spigelman AC QC. The recording is available here.

The Honourable James Spigelman AC QC served as Chief Justice of New South Wales, Australia’s largest state, from 1998 until the end May 2011, and as a Non-Permanent Judge of the Hong Kong Court of Final Appeal from 2013 to 2020.

After his retirement as Chief Justice he joined One Essex Court, The Temple, London as an arbitrator. He has since been appointed Chair of panels with seats in London (x6), Singapore (x5), Dubai, Sydney (x2), Perth and ICSID, as an umpire in Singapore, as sole arbitrator in one case in Singapore and one case in Melbourne, and in two, related, disputes in Sydney and to determine a privilege issue in a NAFTA arbitration. He has also been a party appointed arbitrator on five panels in London, five panels in Singapore and panels in Sydney, Melbourne, Kuala Lumpur, Frankfurt, the Court of Arbiration for Sport and in two ICSID and two UNCITRAL investment treaty cases. 

From 1972 James Spigelman was Senior Advisor and Principal Private Secretary to the Prime Minister of Australia, before appointment as Permanent Secretary of the Department of Media in 1975. He was a member of the Australian Law Reform Commission from 1976 to 1979. He commenced practice at the NSW Bar in 1980.  He was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1986. He was acting Solicitor General of New South Wales in 1997. He has served on the boards and as chair of a number of cultural and educational institutions. 

James Spigelman is the author of three books, co-author of a fourth and of some 170 published articles, including on a range of aspects of commercial and corporate law such as contractual interpretation, insurance law, commercial arbitration, insolvency, international commercial litigation, freezing orders and proof of foreign law. Three volumes of his speeches as Chief Justice have been published.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Sir Franklin Berman QC. The recording is available here.

Sir Franklin (Frank) Berman joined HM Diplomatic Service in 1965 and was the Legal Adviser to the Foreign & Commonwealth Office from 1991-99. For the past 20 years he has been in practice in Essex Court Chambers specializing in international arbitration and advisory work in international law. He is Visiting Professor of International Law at Oxford and the University of Cape Town.

His over 50-year career in international law and diplomacy has spanned a wide and varied field, including settlement of disputes; the law of treaties; State responsibility; diplomatic and State immunity; maritime delimitation; the law of the Continental shelf; outer space and nuclear energy; the law of international organisations; the UN Security Council; the laws of war and neutrality; international criminal tribunals; and numerous other areas. In the light of this extensive experience, he is highly qualified for advisory work in all areas of public international law, for international dispute-settlement proceedings of all kinds and for international commercial and investment arbitration.

Sir Frank has served as an ad hoc Judge in the International Court of Justice: in the Case concerning Certain Property (Liechtenstein v. Germany) and recently in the two Appeals Related to the Jurisdiction of the ICAO Council. He was appointed by the Lord Chief Justice as the Legal Member of the Court of Arbitration in the Kishenganga dispute between Pakistan and India under the Indus Waters Treaty. He successfully represented Cambodia before the International Court in the Case concerning the Temple of Préah Vihear (Interpretation).

He was appointed by the British Government from 2004-2020 to the list of Arbitrators under the ICSID Convention, and has sat as Chairman and Party-appointed arbitrator in many ICSID arbitrations for both the claimant and host State.  He has also sat in ICSID annulment proceedings, as well as in arbitrations under the ICC, PCA, Stockholm Arbitration Institute and LCIA (sole arbitrator), and ad hoc rules.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Matthew Gearing QC. The recording is available here.

Matthew Gearing QC is a partner in Allen & Overy’s Global Arbitration group. He is widely regarded as a leading arbitration practitioner; in particular he was appointed Queen’s Counsel (England & Wales) in February 2014. Matthew has acted in many complex and high-profile arbitrations around the world, both commercial arbitrations and investment treaty arbitrations. His experience includes arbitrations under the ICC, UNCITRAL, SIAC, HKIAC, KLRCA, SCC, LCIA and ICSID Rules.

Matthew was Chairperson of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre from 2017 to 2020. In addition, he is a past Co-Chair of the LCIA Young International Arbitration Group. He is on the HKIAC, SIAC and KLRCA panel of arbitrators. He is also on Prime Finance’s panel of Dispute Resolution experts.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted The Hon. Robert French AC. The recording is available here.

The Honourable Robert Shenton French AC was appointed Chief Justice of the High Court of Australia in September 2008. At the time of his appointment he was a judge of the Federal Court of Australia, having been appointed to that office in November 1986.

He graduated from the University of Western Australia in science and law. He was admitted in 1972 and practised as a barrister and solicitor in Western Australia until 1983 when he went to the Western Australian Bar. From 1994 to 1998 he was President of the National Native Title Tribunal. At the time of his appointment, he was an additional member of the Supreme Court of the Australian Capital Territory and a member of the Supreme Court of Fiji. He was also a Deputy President of the Australian Competition Tribunal and a part-time member of the Australian Law Reform Commission. From 2001 to January 2005 he was president of the Australian Association of Constitutional Law. Chief Justice French was appointed a Companion in the General Division of the Order of Australia in 2010.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Edna Sussman. The recording is available here.

Edna Sussman serves full-time as an arbitrator and mediator and has been appointed as the Distinguished ADR Practitioner in Residence by the Fordham University School of Law. She started her career as an associate and litigation partner at the international law firm of White & Case. Over the past 15 years she has served as an arbitrator in well over 300 arbitrations and as a mediator in well over 200 mediations in both domestic and international complex commercial disputes.

Ms. Sussman serves on leading ADR panels around the world and has conducted arbitrations under many institutional rules and in ad hoc arbitrations. Ms. Sussman has served as one of six arbitration trainers nationwide for the American Arbitration Association’s new arbitrators and for advanced training for the ICDR, as the President of the College of Commercial Arbitrators, on the board of the American Arbitration Association, as Chair of the New York International Arbitration Center and Chair of the AAA-ICDR Foundation. She has published and lectured extensively on arbitration and mediation and wins annual recognition for her work as an arbitrator and mediator in many rankings including being listed as Band 1 in Chambers Global for Arbitration, Who’s Who of International Arbitration, and Mediation, Best Lawyers and Super Lawyers. Ms. Sussman was awarded the 2020 Neutral of the Year Award by the National Association of Distinguished Neutrals (NADN).

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Dr Michael Hwang SC. The recording is available here.

Dr Michael Hwang SC currently practices as an international arbitrator and mediator based in Singapore. He was the Chief Justice of the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts from 2010 to 2018. He sits as arbitrator in domestic and international disputes, including investment treaty disputes, under a wide variety of arbitral rules. Michael was called to the Singapore Bar in 1968, when he joined Allen & Gledhill. He became a partner in 1972 and retired from the firm in 2002 after serving as head of its Litigation and Arbitration Department for 10 years.

Michael’s past appointments include: a former Vice Chairman of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), a former Vice President of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), a former member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), a former Court Member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), a former panel member on the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) Panel, and a former Trustee of the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC). He has also served as a United Nations Compensation Commissioner (adjudicating claims against Iraq arising from the First Gulf War) and a Vice-Chair of the International Bar Association’s (IBA) Arbitration Committee, as well as a Council Member of International Council of Arbitration for Sport (ICAS). He is on the Users Council of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), and is also a Board Member of the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA) and the Hainan international Arbitration Court. Michael has also previously served as Singapore’s Non-Resident Ambassador to Switzerland and Argentina, as a Judicial Commissioner (fixed-term High Court Judge) of the Supreme Court of Singapore, and as President of the Law Society of Singapore.

Michael has published two books of essays on international arbitration, which are available for download from http://www.mhwang.com/. He was educated at undergraduate and postgraduate levels at Oxford University, where he was a college scholar by open competitive examination. He has also been conferred an Honorary LLD by the University of Sydney where he commenced his legal career as a Teaching Fellow.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. Guido Santiago Tawil. The recording is available here.

Prof. Guido Santiago Tawil has been an Independent Arbitrator since November 2018. Previously, he was a Senior Partner and member of the Executive Committee at M. & M. Bomchil, in Buenos Aires (1993-2018), a Commissioner of Argentina’s Securities & Exchange Commission (1991-1993) and a Secretary of Argentina’s Federal Supreme Court of Justice (a position equivalent to federal judge) (1989-1991). Until his retirement in December 2019, he was a Chair Professor of Administrative Law at the Universidad de Buenos Aires School of Law (U.B.A) and a member of its Ph.D. and Awards Committees.

Prof. Tawil actively appears as chair, arbitrator, or legal expert both in ad hoc and institutional arbitrations. He is an Advisory Council Member of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), Member of its Nominations Committee, Co-chair of its Task Force on Standards of Practice and former Co-chair of its Initiatives Committee; Former Co-chair of the IBA’s Arbitration Committee (2009-2010); of its Latin American Forum (2008) and member of the IBA’s LPD Council; Founding member and former Chair of the Latin American Arbitration Association (ALArb) (where he currently co-chairs its Observatory on the Status of Arbitration in Latin America), Former Court Member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and current member of the LCIA Company; Former Member of the Academic Council of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA); Member of the ICC´s Latin American Arbitration Group; Member of the Foundation for International Arbitration Advocacy´s (FIAA) Board of Trustees; Member of the Administrative Law Institute of Argentina’s National Law Academy, among other institutions.

He was appointed by different Argentine Presidents and Ministers of Justice as a member of the Scholars Committees responsible for drafting the country’s Uniform Code of Legislation, the Law of International Commercial Arbitration, the Code of Administrative Procedure, among other legislation and regulation. He was also appointed as a member of the Ministry of Justice’s Advisory Committee on Administrative Regulation.

Prof. Tawil has published seven books and over 140 articles and other papers related to his areas of practice. He has been awarded the Universidad de Buenos Aires School of Law Award for the best doctoral dissertation in 1991, with the “Alejandro E. Shaw Award” by the Buenos Aires Bar for his legal contribution and with the Konex Award (2016).

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. George A. Bermann. The recording is available here.

George A. Bermann is a professor of law at Columbia Law School, where he directs the Center for International Commercial and Investment Arbitration.  He is also a member of the faculty of the Ecole de droit, Sciences Po (Paris), the Geneva LL.M. in International Dispute Settlement (MIDS), and the Sciences Po LL.M.in Transnational Arbitration and Dispute Settlement.

Professor Bermann is an active and experienced international commercial and investment arbitrator and member of the panels of most leading international arbitral institutions. He is a Council member of the American Arbitration Association (and ICDR arbitrator) and Board Member of CPR. He is head of the global advisory board of the New York International Arbitration Center (NYIAC), fellow of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and founding member of the Governing Board of the ICC International Court of Arbitration (Paris) and current member of its Standing Committee. He also heads the international board of the Thai Arbitration Center

Professor Bermann was Chief Reporter of the recently approved ALI Restatement of the US Law of International Commercial Arbitration, co-editor-in-chief American Review of International Arbitration and member of board of editors of Revue de l’Arbitrage. He co-authored (with E. Gaillard) the UNCITRAL Guide to the New York Convention. He serves frequently as attorney- and tribunal-appointed expert witness on foreign law and the law of international arbitration.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. Doug Jones, Richard Boulton QC, Andrew Flower, Brent Kaczmarek, Liz Perks and Neill Poole in a Conversation Special on Quantum Experts. The recording is available here.

Professor Doug Jones AO (chair)
Doug Jones AO is a leading independent international commercial and investor-state arbitrator with over 40 years’ prior experience as an international transactional and disputes project lawyer. Doug is a door tenant at Atkin Chambers London and has offices in Sydney and Toronto. Doug is also an International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court. He has been involved in over 140 arbitrations spanning over 30 jurisdictions in disputes of values exceeding some billions $US. In addition, Doug has held appointments at several international professional associations, including as President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA).

Richard Boulton QC
Richard Boulton QC is the Honorary Chairman of Berkeley Research Group (UK) Ltd and a commercial barrister at One Essex Court. He is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants and a Fellow of the Academy of Experts. As an expert, Mr Boulton advises clients on economic, accounting and valuation issues, specialising in the calculation and communication of complex damages. He has been engaged as an expert in over 300 cases, including many of the world’s largest commercial disputes. He has given oral evidence on more than 60 occasions in the English High Court, the Copyright Tribunal and the European Commission (Competition Directorate), and before over 30 international arbitration tribunals. Mr Boulton was with Arthur Andersen for 20 years, including 11 years as a partner. He spent three years (1997-2000) as the number-two executive, responsible for over 70,000 people worldwide. Mr Boulton has expertise in multiple jurisdictions. For four years, he spent half his time in the USA (principally Chicago and New York). He has led major client assignments in the USA (Seattle, Los Angeles, Salt Lake City, New York, Minneapolis, Midland), Eastern Europe, the Bahamas, the Middle East, Libya, India, Hong Kong, Singapore, the Philippines and Japan. As a barrister, Mr Boulton specializes in commercial disputes, particularly those involving valuations and large damages claims. He has cross-examined over 50 experts across a range of professional disciplines.

Andrew Flower
Andrew Flower is a Managing Director with Alvarez & Marsal Disputes and Investigations in Paris. He has more than 25 years of experience in forensic accounting and in providing expert evidence in international arbitration (commercial and investor state). He has been listed as a leading expert witnesses in international arbitration in Europe by “Who’s Who Legal,” since inception of the list and is equally recognised as a Thought Leader in International Arbitration. Mr. Flower has provided expert evidence in arbitrations conducted under the auspices of institutions including ICC, ICDR, ICSID, DIAC, NAI, DIS, and under UNCITRAL rules. He has provided written evidence in over 150 disputes, and has testified and been cross-examined on his evidence before tribunals in New York, Washington DC, London, Paris, Stockholm, The Hague, Geneva, Zurich, Dubai, Singapore and Brisbane. Throughout his career, Mr. Flower has also provided advice to parties in post transaction disputes, both in connection with arbitrations and in the context of expert determinations.  He acted both as an advisor to one of the parties and as the appointed determining expert. Prior to joining A&M, Mr. Flower was the global head of the disputes practice in one of the Big Four accounting firms working out of their Paris, New York and London offices. Mr. Flower has also been appointed as an independent expert by the ICC Centre of Expertise and as a tribunal appointed expert in an ICC arbitration. Mr. Flower has also acted as mediator in a royalty dispute.

Brent Kaczmarek
Mr. Kaczmarek has been appointed as a financial and valuation expert for private companies as well as sovereign states in more than 160 disputes including more than 120 international arbitrations between investors and states, more than 30 international commercial arbitrations, and 5 foreign and 5 US litigation matters.  These disputes include many of the largest and most contentious international disputes to arise between investors and states and as well as significant commercial arbitration matters.  Mr. Kaczmarek has given oral testimony on more than 110 occasions in international arbitration, 4 times in US courts or depositions, and once in foreign court (Sweden) for 5 days. Mr. Kaczmarek received the internationally-recognized designation of Chartered Financial Analyst from the CFA Institute in 1998. The disputes Mr. Kaczmarek has helped clients and arbitral tribunals resolve have required valuations (or valuation impairment analysis) of companies, real estate, or financial securities located in more than 65 countries.

Liz Perks
Liz Perks, FCA, is a Managing Director in Haberman Ilett.  She has been working in the forensic accounting field since 2000 and is recognised as a Global Elite Thought Leader in the Arbitration expert witness category of Who’s Who Legal. She has been involved in over 80 cases, including contractual disputes, investment treaty arbitrations, claims for breach of warranty, earnouts, expert determinations and other disputes arising out of transactions, accounting irregularities, intellectual property disputes, shareholder disputes, assessments of solvency of companies and valuations. Liz has extensive experience in advising clients on the financial aspects and quantification of loss in commercial and contractual disputes before the English Courts and LCIA, ICC and UNCITRAL tribunals.  She has acted both for parties and as a tribunal appointed expert in arbitration. She also has experience of valuing loss in bi-lateral investment treaty claims under ICSID and acts as the expert to determine completion accounts, earn outs and other disputes subject to an independent determination process. Liz is a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales.  Liz is a trustee and Chair of the Finance and Audit Committee of the British institute of International and Comparative Law (BIICL).

Neill Poole
Neill Poole is a Senior Managing Director based in Hong Kong and has worked in Asia for 19 years. He has accumulated extensive regional experience in dispute services, forensic accounting, and financial investigations. Prior to relocating to Asia from the United Kingdom, Neill trained as a Chartered Accountant on the audit team of a Big 4 accountancy practice and, soon after qualifying in 1988, specialised in forensic accounting. Neill has been involved in a number of complex and high-profile dispute cases in the Asia region, and elsewhere, and has given expert accounting witness evidence on more than 25 occasions in tribunals in Australia, Hong Kong, Korea, Malaysia, Singapore, Sweden, Switzerland and the United Kingdom. In addition to Neill’s expert witness roles in disputes, he has led many investigations into fraud and corruption in the APAC region, North America and in the UK.  Neill has also advised prosecutors and defendants in criminal proceedings and given expert evidence in criminal cases. Neill has also taken appointments as a liquidator and was heavily involved in the wind-down and realisation of the assets of Lehman Brothers entities in Asia following the bankruptcy of Lehman Brothers in August 2008.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Justin D’Agostino. The recording is available here.

Justin D’Agostino is the global Chief Executive Officer at Herbert Smith Freehills. During his lifelong career with the firm, Justin has overseen the growth of the firm’s market-leading Disputes practice and rapid expansion in Asia becoming global CEO on 1 May 2020. He has also established a market-leading reputation in the field of international arbitration – as a thought leader, as arbitrator and having appeared before tribunals all over the world.

Justin is a member of the ICC’s Governing Body for Dispute Resolution Services, an alternate member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration and immediate past Chairman of its Belt & Road Commission, a member of the Hong Kong Department of Justice’s Advisory Committee on Promotion of Arbitration, Vice President of the LCIA Asia Pacific Users’ Council and is on the Advisory Board of OUP’s InvestmentClaims.

Justin is passionate about diversity and inclusion and has been recognised as an executive having made a difference in the LGBT+ community including as a recipient of the Lifetime Achievement Award for LGBT+ inclusion at the inaugural Chambers D&I Asia Pacific Awards 2020. He is a member of the 30% Club HK, a group committed to bringing more women onto corporate boards, and is a member of BritCham’s HK Women in Business Committee. He is also at the forefront of the thinking in the legal profession around the evolving nature of the workplace.

Justin is admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and solicitor advocate in England.  He is a native of Edinburgh, Scotland.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. Doug Jones, John Lancaster, Wendy MacLaughlin, Ian McIntyre and Jon Prudhoe in a Conversation Special on Construction Experts. The recording is available here.

Professor Doug Jones AO (chair)
Doug Jones AO is a leading independent international commercial and investor-state arbitrator with over 40 years’ prior experience as an international transactional and disputes project lawyer. Doug is a door tenant at Atkin Chambers London and has offices in Sydney and Toronto. Doug is also an International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court. He has been involved in over 140 arbitrations spanning over 30 jurisdictions in disputes of values exceeding some billions $US. In addition, Doug has held appointments at several international professional associations, including as President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA).

John Lancaster
John is a Chartered Mechanical Engineer with 37 years of experience spanning roles from a full mechanical apprenticeship, Design Engineer, Project Engineer and Project Manager, Functional Director of Project Controls & Planning (EPC/EPCM), General Management (EPC) and Delay Analyst Consultant including provision of Testifying Expert Witness Services. John has vast cross-border international experience having advised in relation to projects in 30 countries living and working in Asia, the Middle East, Africa, Europe, U.S. and Australia. In particular, he has extensive oil & gas experience transcending both onshore and offshore projects including: oil refineries, tank farms, LNG liquefaction, LNG import terminals, LPG plants, pipelines, FPSO and FSOs (conversion and new build), FLNG, shipyard fabrication, semi-submersibles, jack-ups, platforms, exploration drilling, offshore installation, and petrochemicals (Ammonia, Urea, Polysilicon). John also has a significant track record with respect to mining & metallurgy, including mining processing facilities and extractive metallurgy process plants, as well as in the power and energy sector including nuclear, fossil fuel and cogeneration power plants. John has provided Expert evidence in international arbitrations under the rules of ICC, LCIA, SIAC, AAA, AIAC, LMAA etc. John has been appointed on 31 occasions. The matters that John has been instructed on include a number of multi-billion-dollar disputes heard in London and New York. John’s expert evidence has related to issues of delay and disruption analysis and project execution.

Wendy MacLaughlin
Wendy is a senior partner at gb².  She is a Chartered Civil Engineer and a Member of the Institution of Civil Engineers.  She has over 25 years of experience in the engineering and construction industry, specifically on major projects in the power sector during her time with Arup, in both site based roles and project office roles.  Her years working as a consulting civil engineer provides her with a sound basis for her primary role as a programming and delay expert. Wendy specialises in delay and disruption analyses and is known for her pragmatic and proportionate approach to her analyses, and her ability to absorb a large amount of information in a short period of time. She has undertaken analyses on major projects around the world in most sectors. Wendy has been appointed to provide independent expert programming and delay analysis advice to court, arbitration, adjudication and other tribunals and has testified in the Supreme Court of Western Australia, and in arbitration hearings at London, Singapore, Dubai, Bucharest, Johannesburg, Brisbane, Sydney, Santiago and Stockholm.  She has experience as a party and Tribunal appointed expert, and has given evidence to arbitral tribunals on numerous occasions. She was cited in Who’s Who Legal: Construction 2016 as an “intellectually rigorous authority”, in 2017 as “able to explain the complexities of her analysis to lay people in an accessible and persuasive manner, and everything you would expect of an expert”,  in 2018 as “awesome on the delay side” and a “delay superstar” and more recently that “she continues to amaze in the way she performs as an expert” and “phenomenal”.

Ian McIntyre
Ian is a Civil Engineer with more than 40 years of experience in major civil engineering and multi-disciplinary resources, transportation, power and industrial infrastructure projects throughout Australia, Asia and Dubai as a construction contractor executive and as a consultant. Ian is an experienced expert witness. He has prepared expert reports related to project scheduling issues, project management decisions, project management processes, the effect of various events or factors on project performance, causation, delay, disruption, construction methods, productivity, loss of production, quality of work, contract administration, the cost and valuation of variations, the  reasonable cost of work carried out, delay costs, project overheads, corporate overheads, loss of profit, and quantum of damages. He is a member of three current Dispute Boards on major projects and was previously a member of three Dispute Boards on major projects now completed. He is a member of the Board in Region 3 (Australia and New Zealand) of the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation. Ian is also Chairman of the Industry Advisory Committee to the School of Civil and Environmental Engineering at the University of New South Wales (UNSW).

Jon Prudhoe
Jon Prudhoe, FRICS, CIArb, FAE is a Senior Managing Director and the Asia Pacific leader of Ankura Consulting’s Construction Disputes and Advisory Practice. Based in Asia for almost 20 years, he is one of the few experts, worldwide, equally capable of opining on matters of both Quantum and Delay. He holds an extensive portfolio of over 100 expert witness appointments, including many of the region’s most high profile and complex disputes. Jon has over 35 years of experience in building, civil engineering, on / offshore oil and gas, marine, shipbuilding, petrochemical, infrastructure, transportation, and utility projects. His depth and extent of technical knowledge, combined with his robust testifying experience, make him one of APACs most highly sought-after construction experts. He has given evidence under ICC, SIAC, SCMA, DIAC, HKIAC, SCC, UNCITRAL, AIAC (f.k.a. KLRCA) and LCIA rules and, court / arbitration proceedings in Singapore, UK, Hong Kong, Australia, Malaysia, India, UAE and Sweden. Mr Prudhoe’s experience also includes engagements as Expert Determiner as well as Dispute Board appointments and he continues to provide contract advice on live projects. Who’s Who Legal, Expert Witnesses 2020 says: “Jon Prudhoe is a world-leading expert on Quantum and Delay issues with a sensational track record of appointments in high-value construction, infrastructure, marine and natural resources disputes”.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. Doug Jones. The recording is available here.

Professor Doug Jones AO is a leading independent international commercial and investor-state arbitrator with over 40 years’ prior experience as an international transactional and disputes project lawyer. Doug is a door tenant at Atkin Chambers London and has offices in Sydney and Toronto. Doug is also an International Judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court. He has been involved in over 140 arbitrations spanning over 30 jurisdictions in disputes of values exceeding some billions $US. In addition, Doug has held appointments at several international professional associations, including as President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA).

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Aisha Abdallah. The recording is available here.

Aisha Abdallah heads the Disputes Resolution department at Anjarwalla & Khanna. Her practice focuses on commercial litigation, with a particular emphasis on fraud, economic crime and disputes over land, the environment and natural resources. Aisha is dual qualified as an Advocate of the High Court of Kenya and Solicitor of England and Wales. Aisha was appointed to the MARC Court in 2017, the ADR arm of the Mauritius Chamber of Commerce and Industry. She is the lead author of the Kenyan chapter of the 6th, 7th, 8th, 9th and 10th editions of the International Arbitration Review. She is also a member of the Africa Users Group for the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. Aisha is part of an expert team that has drafted Anti-Money Laundering, Remittances and Mobile Money Bills for Somaliland and is the lead author of the Kenya chapter of the 2018 Chambers Anti-Corruption Global Practice Guide. She is also the lead author of the ALN Anti-Corruption Guide 2019. Aisha provides training and writes and speaks on a wide range of contentious issues, including international arbitration, corruption, economic crime and pro bono work. Aisha is rated and recognised by both Chambers Global and Legal 500 for her work.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. Pierre Mayer. The recording is available here.

Prof. Pierre Mayer is a founding partner of Mayer Greenberg. He acts as an independent arbitrator and occasionally as counsel. He was previously a partner at Dechert, after having spent many years as counsel at Coudert Brothers and Clifford Chance. He was formerly the President of the International Academy for Arbitration Law, the President of the French Committee on International Private Law, the President of the Committee on International Commercial Arbitration of the International Law Association (ILA) and the President of the Committee on Private International Law of the Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA). Prof. Mayer also taught arbitration, international law and contract law for close to 30 years at the University Paris-I Panthéon Sorbonne. Prof. Mayer is a Council Member of the ICC Institute of World Business Law and an Associate Member of the Institut de Droit International. 

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Sir Christopher Greenwood GBE CMG QC. The recording is available here.

Sir Christopher Greenwood GBE CMG QC read law at Magdalene College, Cambridge, where he was awarded a BA (Law) (First Class Hons) in 1976, LLB (International Law) (First Class Hons) in 1977, and became an MA in 1981.  As an undergraduate, he was elected President of the Cambridge Union in 1976.   Elected a Fellow of Magdalene College in 1978, he taught law there and at the Cambridge University Law Faculty for nearly twenty years.  He was appointed Professor of International Law at the London School of Economics in 1996, where he remained until becoming a Judge of the International Court of Justice in 2009.  He returned to Magdalene College as Master in October 2020.

Sir Christopher was called to the Bar by Middle Temple in 1978 and appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1999.  He became a Bencher of Middle Temple in 2003 and was Reader in 2020.  He was a member of Lamb Building from 1984 to 1995 and of Essex Court Chambers from 1995 to 2009.  During his years as a barrister he regularly appeared as counsel before the International Court of Justice, the European Court of Human Rights, the English courts, arbitral and other tribunals.

On 6 November 2008, Sir Christopher was elected a judge at the International Court of Justice, where he served from February 2009 to February 2018, when he joined the Arbitrators at 24 Lincoln’s Inn Fields as an arbitrator specializing in public international law, including investor-State disputes.  He has extensive experience as an arbitrator both in inter-State and investor-State cases.  He sits as a Member of the Iran-United States Claims Tribunal and is a Member of the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators.  He has acted as President of twenty arbitration tribunals or ICSID ad hoc committees, as well as sitting as a Member of several other tribunals.

Sir Christopher was appointed Companion of the Order of St Michael and St George (CMG) in 2002 and knighted in 2009 for services to international law.   In 2018 he was created GBE (Knight Grand Cross) for his services to international justice.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Prof. Pierre Tercier. The recording is available here.

Prof. Pierre Tercier is a Professor emeritus at the University of Friborg and Honorary President of the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC. He now works mainly as an independent arbitrator. For over a generation, Pierre Tercier has been one of the most respected legal scholars in the Switzerland. He has authored more than 250 legal writings, focusing on contract law and international arbitration, among which there are several treatises that have become instant classics.

Pierre Tercier has extensive experience in international arbitration, having chaired the ICC International Court of Arbitration and having served many times in ICC cases. He was also Chairman of the Swiss Commission on Competition, the Swiss Cartel Commission and the Swiss Insurance Law Society. Prof. Tercier has researched and taught law at many universities, including Cambridge University, Columbia Law School, the Max-Planck Institute for private international law in Hamburg and the Universities of Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne), Paris II (Panthéon-Assas) and Paris IV. He also has been Dean of Fribourg University Law School.

Neil Kaplan and Chiann Bao hosted Sarah Grimmer. The recording is available here.

Sarah Grimmer is Secretary-General of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre responsible for its international dispute resolution services and operations from Hong Kong, Seoul, and Shanghai. She was formerly Senior Legal Counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague where she administered inter-state, investor-state, and commercial arbitrations involving states or state-entities. Prior to joining the PCA, Sarah was a member of the Secretariat at the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris where she administered commercial arbitrations under the ICC Rules. She was also a member of the international arbitration group at Shearman & Sterling LLP in Paris, prior to which she worked in private practice in Auckland.

In 2021, 2020 and 2019, Sarah was recognized by Who’s Who Legal as a Global Leader and Global Elite Thought Leader in arbitration. She is currently a member of the ICCA-ASIL Task Force on Damages (2016) and the ICCA Diversity Task Force (2019). She previously served on the Special Tribunal for Lebanon Disciplinary Board (2015-2017) and was a member of the IBA Investment Arbitration Subcommittee (2014-2016).

Sarah has an LLM from Cambridge University and an LLB/BA (Criminology) from Victoria University of Wellington. She is admitted to practice law in New Zealand.

Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS, in the final episode in this series, hosted The Hon. Julia Gillard AC. The recording is available here.

The Hon. Julia Gillard AC was the 27th Prime Minister of Australia. She is currently the inaugural Chair of the Global Institute for Women’s Leadership at Kings College London, and the Australian National University. Ms Gillard is also the co-author of “Women and Leadership” with Ngozi Okonjo-Iweala, which analyses the influence of gender on women’s access to positions of leadership, the perceptions of them as leaders, the trajectory of their leadership and the circumstances in which it comes to an end. She also currently serves as the Chair of Beyond Blue, one of Australia’s leading mental health awareness bodies and is Chair of the global funding body for education in developing countries, the Global Partnership for Education.