Please meet our talented and diverse group of participants in ROAP EMEA 2024, both practising attorneys and testifying experts (their short bios, where available, are linked and set out below, and some of them are also pictured below in no particular order): Badar Al Raisi, Sarah Alaiwat, Kerem Alev, Rana Anous, Selma Baccari, Kimberley Bazelais, Kelly Benguigui, Christopher Birks, Cristian Boruzi, Edouard Bruc, Karolina Brzeska, Maren Burtoft, VeraBy kova, Federico Alberto Cabona, Jennifer Carnegie, Robert Cruse, Noha Elgendy, Myriam Feinberg, Anirudh Krishan Gandhi, Karris Graham-Moore, Pietro Grassi, Nada Hashim, Andreas Holst, Sarah Lemoine, Erica Li, Kirstin McGoldrick, Joy Mgbado, Engie Mohsen, Nusaybah Muti, Lilit Nagapetyan, Alessia Norsa, Saoirse O'Dea, Emily Palmer, Ana Karina Parra, Adeleresimi Philips-Adeleye, Mina Popova, Zofia Porada, Laura Powell, Bradley Price, Paul Quiry, Daniel Rezania, Jesus Rosales, Lucy Rothwell, Letizia Santin, Poorvi Satija, Alexandra Seymour, Patricia Snell, Bakhtawar Bilal Soofi, Sanya Sud, Alvin Tan, Maanya Tandon, Eva Valter, Bianca Vasilache, Vadim Vunukainen, Charlotte Ward, and Lucia Yau.

ALEV Kerem: is a Barrister practising in high-value and complex disputes covering energy, construction, mining and corporate. He has over a decade of experience in English Court litigation and advocacy as well as domestic and international arbitrations. He is now based in Muscat, Sultanate of Oman. Before coming to the Bar, he was a Solicitor for over eight years also working in disputes and counsel at a listed global technology company Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

ANOUS Rana: is an Associate within the International Arbitration Group of Zulficar & Partners Law Firm, in Cairo, Egypt. She has over three years of experience in domestic and international arbitration. She earned a Bachelor of laws degree from both Cairo University and Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University in 2019. She also earned a Master’s degree in International Economic Law from Paris 1 Panthéon-Sorbonne University in 2020.  Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

BRUC Édouard:Édouard Bruc’s practice focuses primarily on litigation, with a particular emphasis on regulatory and antitrust matters. His practice covers a wide range of industries, including pharmaceutical, transport, digital, telecommunications, electricity and gas and financial services. Mr Bruc has a deep interest in international arbitration, class actions, intellectual property rights and due process issues in antitrust enforcement, and has written several academic articles on these subjects. He is a dual-qualified Solicitor in England and Wales and Paris Bar Avocat à la Cour.  Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

BURTOFT Maren: is a Director in Accuracy’s Frankfurt office and has almost 20 years of professional experience. She joined Accuracy in 2011, having previously worked for KPMG in Germany and England. Maren is specialised in damage assessments and the preparation of expert reports in the context of international arbitral proceedings (ICC, SIAC, ICDR, DIS) and litigation cases. Her experience covers commercial disputes, post-M&A disputes and construction claims. Maren also has expertise in advising financial and strategic investors on complex cross-border acquisitions and disposals: buy-side and sell-side financial due diligence, vendor assistance, carve-outs as well as SPA Advice. Maren is a Fellow Chartered Accountant (FCA) of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and a Certified Valuation Analyst (CVA) (inactive). Further, Maren is a member of the German Arbitration Institute (DIS). Maren has the dual German and British nationality. Next to her German and English mother tongues, she is fluent in French. Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

CRUSE Robert: is a Director with Alvarez & Marsal‘s Disputes and Investigations practice in London. He has over twelve years of experience specialising in forensic accounting for private and public sector clients globally. Mr. Cruse has worked with clients across a wide range of industries including construction, cryptocurrency, hospitality, shipping, consumer goods, engineering, telecoms, media, financial services, oil and gas, banking and professional services. He has extensive international experience in Africa, Central and East Asia, Europe, GCC and the Middle East. Mr. Cruse’s expert witness experience has included the preparation of accounting expert reports for High Court litigation and international arbitration on a range of matters involving business and asset valuations, contractual and post-transaction disputes and the accounting treatment of complex transactions under international and UK accounting standards and principles. Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

FEINBERG Myriam (Dr): is an associate in international arbitration at Gornitzky & Co in Tel Aviv. Myriam has experience in commercial and investment arbitration and as Tribunal secretary. Myriam holds a PhD in international law from the University of London, an LL.M. from Trinity College Dublin, a law degree from the Université Pantheon-Assass, Paris II and speaks French, English and Hebrew. Myriam previously was an Adjunct Lecturer at the Hebrew University, the University of Haifa, and King's College London and has published extensively on topics of Counterterrorism and Human Rights. Myriam is a member of the Business and Human Rights Lawyers Association and a founding committee member of IL VYAP, the Israel branch of the Global VYAP Network. Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

GRAHAM-MOORE Karris:is a Managing Associate in the Litigation, Arbitration & Investigations practice at Linklaters LLP (London office). He specialises in international commercial arbitration, investment treaty arbitration and public international law and has extensive experience in resolving his clients’ most complex and important issues. He has represented clients in a wide range of industries, including energy, utilities, water, mining, infrastructure, finance, agriculture, technology and telecoms. Karris has acted for clients in international commercial arbitrations under the LCIA Rules. He has expertise in acting and advising on investment arbitrations and public international law matters, involving various international investment treaties and jurisdictions. This includes advising on investment structures in emerging markets and issues regarding the enforcement of arbitral awards. Karris has a wealth of English litigation experience, acting for multinationals before the Competition Appeal Tribunal, English High Court, Court of Appeal and Supreme Court. Karris is an active member of the international arbitration community and is a member of the YIAG, ICC YAAF and VYAP organisations.  Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

GRASSI Pietro:is a Senior Associate at Signature with experience in public international law, investor-State arbitration, and international commercial Arbitration. He has advised and represented corporations, individuals, and States on matters of public international law before national and international courts and tribunals, as well as arbitral tribunals constituted under major arbitration rules (eg ICC, ICSID, LCIA, SCC, and UNCITRAL). He is also often engaged in pro bono litigation involving human rights issues. Highlights of his career include securing US$455 million for an US-based bottle maker in an ICSID claim against a Latin American State and successfully obtaining provisional measures for a politically persecuted South American individual in proceedings before the Inter-American Commission on Human Rights. Before joining Signature, Pietro was an Associate at Morrison & Foerster LLP. Prior to entering private practice, he worked at the European Union Delegation to the Organisation for Security and Co-operation in Europe (OSCE) and at the Special Tribunal for Lebanon (STL). Pietro is admitted to practice in Brazil and Portugal, and is a Registered Foreign Lawyer with the Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA) in England and Wales. He is fluent in Italian and Portuguese, and speaks Spanish. Pietro is recognised as a Recommended Lawyer for international arbitration in The Legal 500 UK 2024 Guide, where he is described as “excellent” and as having “fantastic drafting skills” and “an eye to the bigger strategic picture“. Pietro has also been ranked in The Legal 500 UK 2022 guide as a Recognised Practitioner for Dispute Resolution: Commercial Litigation (Premium) and an Associate to Note for Dispute Resolution: International Arbitration. He has been described as “very approachable” and someone who “stands out for his extreme knowledge of details of a case, his level of coordinating all process matters and very friendly attitude” Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

HASHIM Nada W.: is a senior Associate and qualified lawyer in the International Arbitration Group at Zulficar and Partners Law Firm, Egypt. Obtained a double LLB in French and Egyptian Laws from Université Jean-Moulin Lyon III and Ain Shams University School of Law in 2013. In 2015 completed the Master’s degree in “Droit Public des Secteures Startégiques et des Affaires” from the Université Jean-Moulin Lyon III. Her practice focuses on commercial and investment arbitration and alternative dispute resolution across a variety of industries, with more than nine years of experience. She regularly represents clients in complex arbitration cases whether Ad-hoc arbitrations or under the auspices of various Arbitral Institutions including the ICC, LCIA, CRCICA, DIAC and ICSID. She has experience of enforcement and annulment proceedings before the Egyptian Courts. She also advises clients on a wide array of laws of different countries in the MENA region including Egyptian, UAE, Iraqi, Kuwaiti, Omani, Qatari, and Saudi laws.” Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

PALMER Emily:is a Director with Alvarez & Marsal Disputes and Investigations practice in London. She brings more than 12 years of experience in forensic accounting investigations and asset tracing assignments, in both litigation and extrajudicial proceedings, specializing in cross-border & multilingual forensic projects. Her primary areas of concentration are fraud, bribery & corruption enquiries, in-depth compliance due diligence work, as well as the identification tracing and preservation of assets in complex investigation, involving the analysis of a significant amount of documentation and fact finding. Ms. Palmer has worked with clients across a range of industries, including healthcare, heavy manufacturing, storage & security services, aviation, insurance, oil & gas, pharmaceutical and automotive. Ms Palmer is currently assisting the administrators of a former FTSE-100 healthcare company based in the Middle East, including for the tracing of cash and other asset dissipations from the company, reporting on various claim issues in matters in the Abu Dhabi International Global Market (ADGM) and London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), and preparing detailed analyses following extensive investigatory work. Recently, Ms. Palmer has also worked on a number of asset identification and tracing exercises involving property, cash and corporate holdings, amongst other asset types. She has also been involved in work related to two high court receiverships whereby three A&M partners were appointed as receivers and managers over companies in Russia and other jurisdictions to trace, recover, manage and transfer assets stolen from JSC BTA Bank. A&M’s position involved complex asset tracing, preservation and recovery work in multiple jurisdictions. The assets in question included an oil port and a land plot in Russia, other corporate holdings, vessels and other financial assets. Ms. Palmer has also led a number of pre-acquisition due diligence projects. This work has included the use of international intelligence tools including the use of company and sanctions databases, asset locator sources, social media searching and other OSINT tools to assist in her work. Previously, Ms. Palmer has worked on a high-profile divorce case, where was involved in tracing and recovering allegedly misappropriated assets, where she travelled to France and Monaco to investigate property ownerships and interview related parties and other potential business associates. In addition to her work, Ms. Palmer has led training and advised on the topic of Research and Online Intelligence in the EMEA region both internally at A&M and externally. Prior to joining A&M, Ms. Palmer earned a bachelor's degree in economics and politics from the University of Southampton and a bachelor's degree in Law from the University of Law in London. She is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. A German national, Ms. Palmer is fluent in English, German and French, and speaks Italian at an advanced level. Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

PHILIPS-ADELEYE Adeleresimi: is a Senior Associate and core member of the Dispute Resolution Practice of ALN Nigeria| Aluko & Oyebode, one of Nigeria's largest and most integrated law firms, and a member of the Africa Legal Network. She is also a member of the Firm’s Construction & Infrastructure, and Energy & Natural Resources Practice Groups.Adeleresimi specialises in commercial litigation and alternative dispute resolution. She has extensive experience litigating complex commercial cases and has acted as trial and appellate counsel representing global and local clients in suits involving claims in various practice areas, including those pertaining to oil and gas, construction and infrastructure, banking and Fintech, contracts, employment, judgment enforcement and human rights enforcement. In addition, Adeleresimi also advises a diverse range of clients on project development and dispute resolution issues, through the full life cycle of construction projects.

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

POWELL Laura: is a Manager in Mazars’ Forensic and Valuation Services team based in London. She has nearly six years’ experience as a forensic accountant. She is experienced in a wide range of matters, including loss of profits disputes, post-acquisition disputes, audit negligence and fraud cases. Laura also has experience working across a wide range of sectors, including pharmaceuticals, financial services, aviation, retail and consumer, technology, and construction. Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

QUIRY Paul: is a Senior Managing Consultant in HKA’s Forensic Accounting and Commercial Damages practice based in Paris. He has assisted experts in numerous international arbitration and litigation proceedings. His expertise spans the assessment of damages and complex valuation issues across various industries. Prior to joining HKA, Paul gained seven years of experience in litigation financial services. During this time, he spent five years in the forensic team at one of the big four firms in Paris and an additional two years in the dispute resolution team of a French financial consulting boutique. Beyond his work on litigation matters, Paul has also supported experts in corporate fraud investigations and post-M&A disputes. Additionally, Paul has actively participated in multiple eDiscovery investigations using the Relativity tool, supervising several teams of reviewers. Paul holds a master in management from HEC Paris and a dual degree in business law and taxation from Panthéon Sorbonne University. Paul is also a former student of Ecole normale supérieure de Cachan. Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

ROTHWELL Lucy: is a Chartered Accountant and a Fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales. She is a Director at Mazars LLP in the UK and has over fifteen years of professional experience of undertaking forensic accountancy and external audit assignments. Lucy worked in the context of a wide range of dispute resolution and investigation cases. Her dispute resolution experience includes accounting disputes, professional negligence claims, loss of profits claims, post-acquisition disputes and contentious valuations. Her investigations experience includes instructions relating to allegations of fraud, accounting irregularities and forensic audits. Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

SEYMOUR Alexandra: is a senior manager in the commercial expert analysis team at Kroll, based in London.  She has been working in disputes for five years, where she has assisted the expert in a number of cases in the aerospace, manufacturing, oil and gas, and energy sectors.  She has experience across a variety of quantum matters including modelling loss of profits, post-transaction disputes, and various accounting matters.  Alexandra qualified as an accountant in the audit department of a mid-tier London accountancy firm, where she gained over four years of experience in audit and other assurance engagements across a diverse range of industries including manufacturing, IT infrastructure, media and not-for-profit.  Alexandra is a member of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales and graduated from the University of York with a BA (Hons) in French and German Language with a Year Abroad.  Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

SNELL Patricia: is a senior associate and solicitor-advocate in Covington’s International Arbitration Group, admitted in England and Wales, New York, and Ontario. Patricia's practice covers a broad range of contentious matters, including international commercial arbitration and investor-state disputes. She has acted for clients in complex international disputes under many of the major institutional rules including ICC, LCIA, DIFC-LCIA, DIAC, ICSID, and ad hoc proceedings under the UNCITRAL Rules across a variety of seats. She has significant international experience having previously worked in international arbitration in the Paris and Dubai offices of another international law firm. She advises clients across numerous sectors, including energy and infrastructure, life sciences, media, technology, consumer products, and financial services. Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

VASILACHE Bianca: is an Associate at A&O Shearman, London, practising international investment treaty and commercial arbitration, as well as English and international litigation. She studied law at King’s College London, and then trained and qualified as an English solicitor at Allen & Overy. Bianca advises on a broad range of commercial disputes and has particular experience in the energy sector. She has a keen interest in legal tech and has developed and leveraged legal tech tools to improve efficiencies on her matters.  Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

WARD Charlotte: is an Associate Director in the FACD team of HKA based in London. She is a Chartered Accountant and has 11 years of accounting experience, specialising in the provision of forensic accounting and financial investigations since 2015. Charlotte routinely manages and interrogates large volumes of financial data and is responsible for drafting expert reports in the context of mediations, determinations, tribunal and court proceedings. She has worked across various sectors both nationally and internationally and has been responsible for project managing multi-disciplinary teams from across advisory service lines. Follow on LinkedIn

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

YAU Lucia: is a Director with Alvarez & Marsal’s Disputes and Investigations practice in London. She has over 13 years of professional experience in expert accounting, contentious valuation, financial investigations and insolvency management. She has been involved in a diverse range of dispute resolution and financial crime matters across various industries, including oil and gas, mining, hotel and leisure, property investment, financial services, and retail.Ms. Yau’s notable expert witness assignments include: (i)valuation of several Ukraine-based businesses in the steel manufacturing, transportation, steel trading as well as hotel & resort industries in the context of a shareholder dispute; (ii)post-acquisition breach of warranty claims over the sales of companies in various sectors, including oil and gas (upstream and downstream), pharmaceutical, solar cell manufacturing; (iii)valuation of a joint venture investment in a PBM (pharmacy benefits manager) with business operations in the Middle East in the course of a Cayman winding-up petition; and (iv)a financial fraud prosecution against an individual, involving sales of unbuilt resort properties in the Caribbean to over 9,000 UK nationals who have given out their savings of approximately £400 million in total as investment. Other matters Ms. Yau has been involved in include claims against directors or others where expert advice/opinion on technical accounting, solvency and quantum of damages was sought. Ms. Yau has also worked on a range of financial and regulatory investigations in relation to, for example, fraud, accounting manipulation, bribery and corruption (including FCPA allegations), asset identification and tracing. Some of the work was performed in parallel with or in the context of insolvency (both corporates and individuals) or other asset preservation/recovery proceedings. Her work often requires forensic review and analysis of large volumes of data and documents, interaction and/or collaboration with law enforcement agents and lawyers, interviewing management and employees.Prior to joining A&M, Ms. Yau worked in Hong Kong, where she focused on insolvency management as well as asset and fund tracing investigations.Ms. Yau earned a BBA and a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Hong Kong. She is a member of Hong Kong Institute of Certified Public Accountants (HKICPA) and holds a Specialist Qualification in Insolvency from the HKICPA.She speaks native Cantonese and is fluent in Mandarin.

Back to top | Back to Mock Hearings

SUPPORTING ORGANISATIONS

We are grateful for the support of the following organisations in designing and delivering this innovative programme: