skip to Main Content

Session Speakers and Moderators

Dr Martin Abend | Vice President of The German Federal Bar (GERMANY)

Dr Martin Abend, born in Heilbronn, studied law at the universities of Heidelberg, Lausanne, Geneva and completed his studies at Cornell Law School, Ithaca, New York, with a Master of Laws (LL.M.) degree in 1989. He obtained a Doctor of Law de-gree from the University Heidelberg in 1994. His doctoral dissertation was on inter-national contract law. In 1993 he was admitted to the Saxony Bar. Since 1997 he works as self-employed lawyer in the law firm Abend & Hausö in Dresden in particu-lar in the fields of company law, commercial law, international contract law as well as architectural and engineering contract law.

In 1999 he became member of the Board of the Saxony Bar and held the office of President of the Bar from 2007 to March 2015. Since 1996 Martin Abend is a mem-ber of the Committee of European Affairs of the German Federal Bar. In 2011 he was elected Vice President of the German Federal Bar.

Mr Sunil D.B. Abeyaratne | Co-Chair of LAWASIA Communications, Technology & Data Protection Subcommittee (SRI LANKA)

Sunil Dhajaya Bandara Abeyaratne (Justice of Peace and Unofficial Magistrate) enrolled as an Attorney-at-law of the Supreme Court of Sri Lanka in 1986. He holds LL.M (Queen Mary College of University of London), MBA (Indira Gandhi National Open University) and Diploma in Forensic Medicine, Science and Toxicology (Faculty of Medicine, University of Colombo). He is a PRIME graduate (International trainer) of Junior Chamber International.

He is a practicing Attorney-at-Law in the fields of civil, commercial and criminal law. He is a Commercial Arbitrator and visiting lecturer and examiner of Sri Lanka Law College, Faculty of Law and Faculty of Medicine of University of Colombo, Department of Law of University of Peradeniya and Bar Association of Sri Lanka (BASL) on ICT Law and related subjects. He is also a lecturer and examiner of the Institute for development of Commercial Laws & Practices (ICLP) and the Arbitration Centre of Kandy (TACK) on Construction and Arbitration Law. He has been appointed as a researcher of China-South Asia Law Research Center.

Sunil has presented over 100 conference & seminar papers at National and International Conferences including LAWASIA, IBA & 800th Anniversary celebration of Magna Carta Conferences and contributed over 100 articles to leading local and international law journals on ICT law, Intellectual Property Rights, employment law as well as many articles to the Sri Lankan press.

He was Vice-President and Exco member of LAWASIA, Secretary of the BASL and member of the Incorporated Council of Legal Education in Sri Lanka. Currently he holds the positions of Co-Chair of Data Protection, Communication and Technology Committee and Secretary of the Employment Law Committee of LAWASIA, Chairman of the Continuing Legal Education and Digitalisation of Court System Program and course coordinator of the ICT law course of the BASL, Chairman of the Arbitration Centre of Kandy, ICT Lawyers’ Guild of Sri Lanka and the Institute of Legal and Management Studies in Sri Lanka.

Ms Irum Ahsan | Office of the General Counsel | Asian Development Bank (PHILIPPINES)

Irum Ahsan completed her legal education from the London School of Economics and Political Science. Before joining the Asian Development Bank (ADB), she practiced on contentious and non-contentious legal matters in Pakistan. In addition, Irum taught law at various prestigious institutions. At ADB, she is working in the Office of the General Counsel where she advises on multi-sector projects for inclusive growth. Irum is currently leading the Law and Policy Reform Program (LPR) with her projects focused on areas such as environmental and climate change adjudication and enforcement, legal literacy for women, corporate governance, energy laws, and regional cooperation. ADB’s LPR work is based on the premise that a functioning legal system – anchored by the Rule of Law is an essential component of sustainable development. Her work led to the establishment of the Asian Judges Network on Environment, the first such network in the world, more than 6 green courts in Asia and Asia’s first Gender Based Violence Case Court in Pakistan. Irum has also organized several symposiums for Chief justices on environmental and climate change laws, and presented her work at numerous international forums. She is a member of ADB’s Governance, Gender and Environment Thematic Groups. Irum is an active advocate for gender consciousness and for women’s rights and passionately steers the gender discussion in ADB. Her work led to winning the 2018 Financial Times Most Innovative In-House Legal Team Award in Asia and the Pacific, and Innovation in Rule of Law and Access to Justice Award.

Mr Daniel Albert | Daniel & Wong Advocates and Solicitors / AIJA (MALAYSIA)

Daniel is a Barrister-at-law (Lincoln’s Inn) and was admitted to the Malaysian Bar in 2008. Daniel is a founding partner of the firm and heads the firm’s dispute resolution team.

He has appeared as counsel at all tiers of the Malaysian Courts. Daniel’s practice includes an extensive range of commercial and civil litigation involving companies, banking & finance, professional negligence, contractual, administrative law and probate disputes.

Daniel’s areas of interest are in corporate and shareholder disputes, fraud and insolvency. Daniel has notably acted in a variety of complex and high value shareholder and partnership disputes as well as derivative actions and oppression petitions. He is also regularly appointed in respect of liquidation and receivership related matters.

Daniel was previously the Deputy Chair of the Kuala Lumpur Bar Young Lawyers Committee. In 2017, Daniel was a finalist in the Young Lawyer of the Year category for the Asian Legal Business Malaysian Law Awards.

Mr Murad Ali | K’ Mura & Co. (MALAYSIA)

Murad Ali Bin Abdullah [LLB (Hons) University of London] is a practicing Advocate & Solicitor and the proprietor of the law firm K’MURA & CO. based at Suite 3006B, Persiaran Raja Muda Musa, 41100 Klang, Selangor, Malaysia.

Murad handles civil, commercial, and corporate litigations as senior counsel, and attends to real estate works, local and international investment, trade and commercial negotiations, and documentations.

Murad is a life member of Lawasia and currently the Chair of Real Estate and Transactions Law Committee of Lawasia. Formerly, Murad was the Chair for Lawasia Committee on Taxation Law, and Adhoc Chair of the Eco-Tourism Committee.

Murad was the Deputy Chairman of the Organising Committee of Lawasia Conference 2008, held in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia.

Murad serves in the Malaysian Bar Council Committees on Trade in Legal Services, Corporate and Commercial Law, Professional Standards and Development, Common Bar Course, Admiralty and Shipping Law, Court Liaison, Legal Profession, Anti Money Laundering and Anti Terrorism Financing Law, Islamic Finance and Banking Law, Law Reform, Tax Law, and Constitutional Law.

Murad presides as Chairman of the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Committee in Malaysia.

Murad serves as Legal Language Expert advising the Dewan Bahasa Dan Pustaka (National Language and Literature Institute of Malaysia).

Murad is a member of Transparency International Malaysia, advocating transparency and accountability, and fighting corruption all the way.
Murad serves as an Advisory Member of Professional Services and Development Corporation of Malaysia.

Murad is a Governor of the Methodist Secondary School, in Klang, Malaysia.

From time to time, Murad speaks on Law and Us programme on Malaysian Radio and appears on Malaysian Television in the Anti Corruption, Integrity and Transparency Debates.

Murad is a life member of ASEAN Law Association, and actively promotes ASEAN fellowship on democracy, rule of law, justice, and brotherhood.

Murad is an avid participant and contributor to the Asia Europe Institute, Malaysia.

Murad is an active principal financier and sponsor of university students, young law practitioners, and other deserving and inspiring persons in ASEAN, and in the Asia Pacific in their honest and noble quest to enhance their education, service to mankind, elevate poverty, and to make the world a better place for all.

Murad takes his mother’s words seriously: ‘in thinking good, feeling good, speaking good, doing good, and being good, it’s okay if you are the only man standing’!

And while there is life, may Murad be more.

Ms Pinky Anand | Office of Additional Solicitor General of India (INDIA)

Dr Pinky Anand is a designated Senior Advocate and incumbent Additional Solicitor General of India. A Doctorate of Law, graduate of the Harvard Law School and an Inlaks scholar, Honorary Professor at Amity Law School, she is the second woman in India holding this high Constitutional Law office.

Dr Anand is the Alternate Country Councillor (India) of LAWASIA and the Chair of ADR Committee (Business Law Section, LAWASIA). She is the Vice President of Bar Association of India and Incharge International Relations Bar Association of India (IBA, Lawasia, UIA, CLA, IPBA). She represented LAWASIA as Observer to 66th UNCITRAL Conference on Working Group II (Dispute Settlement) at New York in February, 2017 and was a speaker at UNCITRAL Flagship Conference in Incheon, Korea 2016. Dr Anand handles international and domestic major arbitrations in India.

Dr Anand has led India in several international forums including BRICS Legal Forum in Brazil, China and lastly in India. As an International Member of BRICS Legal Forum Steering Committee, she was Delegation Member of MOU signing between the Law Society of Hong Kong and the Bar Association of India January 2017; Speaker at ICH conference at Harvard Kennedy School 2017. Speaker at ICH conference at Harvard Business School 2017. Delivered lecture at HLS Cambridge 2017 on “Judicial Review–Judicial Activism – Judicial Restraint”.

A versatile multifaceted person, social activist, and a leading lawyer in diverse fields, Dr Anand’s accomplishments extend from legal expertise to media to politics to social activities. She has worked tirelessly for the cause of social development and has achieved numerous milestones including development of ADR, development of the country, right of free speech, eradication of malpractices or the protection of children. The causes espoused by her have led us towards milestone changes in the legal fabric. She has been honoured with several awards for excellence in law.

Mr P.E. Ashokan | KhattarWong LLP (SINGAPORE)

PE Ashokan is a partner in the litigation and arbitration team at international law firm, Withers KhattarWong. A seasoned practitioner of close to 30 years, he has vast experience in a wide range of contentious and non-contentious matters. He has represented clients in arbitration, civil and criminal trials and appeals at all levels of the Singapore Courts.

Ashokan has a deep understanding of the interplay between law, life and business and has a keen interest in using law to find bespoke solutions to a myriad of personal and commercial issues. He is able to resolve disputes in an amicable, expedient and confidential manner, while possessing the tenacity to represent clients in court or before an arbitral tribunal should the need arise. His active involvement in the community as a District Councilor, grassroots leader and member of the Public Transport Council, amongst other established organizations, has added a great dimension to his sound appreciation of human complexities, which augments his ability to provide clients with bespoke legal advice best tailored to their circumstances. The work undertaken by Ashokan in these organizations have exposed him to a wide cross section of people, where he honed his skills of looking at issues from the establishment’s point of view, as well as understanding the individual’s needs. This has added an element of empathy that is characteristic to his advocacy.

Ashokan’s client-centric solutions are achieved through his interpersonal skills, alongside his expertise in various areas of law, including (but not limited to) Administrative Law, Bankruptcy & Insolvency Law, Corporate and Commercial Law, Criminal Law, Defamation Law, Employment Law, Family Law, Immigration Law, Insurance & Reinsurance Law, Property Law including Landlord and Tenant Law, Tax Law, Negligence including professional liability of Doctors and Lawyers.

Ashokan’s clients include multi-national corporations, individuals, statutory boards and registered societies. An advocate of pro-bono work, he has also provided free legal counselling at community centers and legal clinics for more than 27 years.

Mr Morry Bailes | President of the Law Council of Australia (AUSTRALIA)

Morry Bailes was the President of the Law Society of South Australia and Law Council of Australia Director in 2014 when he was elected onto the Law Council Executive in November the same year.

Mr Bailes graduated with a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Adelaide and began working at Tindall Gask Bentley in 1987 during his final year of studies. He has been Managing Partner at the firm for 16 years, overseeing its significant expansion in that time, into Western Australia and the Northern Territory.

Mr Bailes’ firm is the largest family law and plaintiff practice in South Australia, also practising in the areas of succession, workplace and criminal law. His clients include the Police Association of South Australia, the Western Australian Police Union, the Northern Territory Police Association as well as the Correctional Officers’ Legal Fund, the South Australian State School Leaders Association, Nunkuwarrin Yunti, the Aboriginal Sobriety Group and the CFS Volunteers Association. Mr Bailes is a member of the Australia Institute of Company Directors and was the 2013 recipient of the Brian Withers Award for services to the legal profession in South Australia.

He is married to Melanie and his spare time is spent attempting to catch up to his young sons Hugo and Charlie, reading whenever possible and writing whenever necessary, publishing a regular column about law and law related issues in South Australia.

Mr Matthew Baird | Asian Research Institute for Environmental Law (THAILAND)

Matthew Baird is an environmental lawyer with over 30 years experience in both Australia and Asia. He was a practicing Barrister in Sydney from 1994 to 2014. Since 2010 he has been based in Asia as an environmental law consultant working with a number of governments, NGOs and international organisations such as ADB, UNDP, UN Environment and the Vermont Law School.

He has assisted with training for judges and environmental law professors and was involved in the drafting of the Cambodian draft Environmental and Natural Resources Code and with the Myanmar Ministry for Natural Resources and Environment Conservation. He has also worked with AICHR on EIA and human rights.

He was the editor with Earth Rights On the Manual on EIA in the Mekong Region and is currently the Director of the Asian Research Institute for Environmental Law. Matthew is also a Visiting Scholar of Vermont School Law.

Ms Lorybeth R. Baldrias-Serrano | Insights Philippines Legal Advisors (PHILIPPINES)

Lorybeth is a partner at Insights Philippines Legal Advisors, a member firm of ZICO Law. She is a lawyer and certified public accountant with a sixteen-year cumulative experience in tax, customs and international trade, data privacy and technology, trade consultancy, tax management and key account management.

As a tax practitioner, Lorybeth has experienced aspects of tax practice from various perspectives: tax planning, tax advisory, tax reporting and compliance, tax processes and tax advocacy, both as an external advisor and in-house tax manager. She is also a member of the Tax Management Association of the Philippines.

As an external tax advisor in Quisumbing Torres – Baker & McKenzie, Castillo Laman Tan Pantaleon & San Jose and Sycip Gorres & Velayo – Ernst and Young, Lorybeth has participated in a number of due diligence work and advised multinational clients on cross-border tax planning and restructuring initiatives, maximizing use of tax treaties and trade agreements, contract review, tax-efficient set up of local business entities, transfer pricing, economic zone and expatriate taxation, impact of direct and indirect taxes on various business transactions and industries. She has also advised on tax implications of disruptive technologies.

As head of the tax organization of Jollibee Foods Corporation, she led the creation and implementation of new and revised tax policies and processes, in relation to new revenue issuances, results of tax assessments and recurring issues. In her role as a Tax Operations Manager in Shell, she led a team of 60 people and interfaced with stakeholders from various tax jurisdictions.

Lorybeth was a speaker on Philippine Economic Zone taxation in the 14th and 15th Philippine Tax Summits. She also spoke on latest developments on Tax, Competition and FinTech at the M&A Roundtable Discussion sponsored by the ZICO Law Network at the IPBA in Manila last March 2018.

Lorybeth joined Insights Philippines Legal Advisors in March 2017 as one of its founding lawyers. She was promoted to Partnership in the ZICO Law Network in January 2018. Joining the ZICO Law Network has helped her broaden her practice to now include Technology and Special Projects.

Mr Bernard Banks | Gibson Sheat lawyers (NEW ZEALAND)

Bernard is a part time Consultant at Gibson Sheat Lawyers, in Wellington, New Zealand and a former Partner and Consultant at Kiely Thompson Caisley in Auckland and Wellington. His current role focuses on immigration law and he has previously worked in both employment and immigration law in practice.

Bernard consults issues of employment law and labour market regulation and reform in the Asia Pacific region. In recent years, this has included project roles for international organisations in Bangladesh, Indonesia and Fiji.

Bernard regularly travels to South East Asia, particularly Malaysia and Vietnam, and he greatly enjoys his professional relationships with employment law colleagues in the region.
He is Chair of LAWASIA’s Employment Law Committee and has been at the centre of the Committee’s activities in the Asia Pacific region for many years.

Bernard is an Executive Committee member of the ASEAN New Zealand Business Council and serves as the Council’s Laos Chapter Chair.

He is a co-author of Mazengarb’s Employment Law text book and a joint editor of the Employment Law Bulletin. He has presented papers on labour law, immigration law and related issues at numerous conferences in New Zealand and overseas.

The Honourable T F Bathurst AC | Chief Justice of New South Wales (AUSTRALIA)

Thomas Frederick Bathurst was appointed Chief Justice of New South Wales on 1 June 2011.

Graduating with degrees in Arts and Law from the University of Sydney in 1971, he went on to practise as a solicitor in 1972. He was admitted as a barrister in 1977, specialising in corporate law and litigation and was appointed Queen’s Counsel in 1987. His considerable experience in corporate law saw his appointment as a member of the Australian Government’s Takeovers Panel (2006-2011).

Prior to his appointment to the bench, the Chief Justice served as President of both the Australian Bar Association (2008-2010) and the New South Wales Bar Association (2009-2011), the Executive Committee of which he has been a member since 2002.

Professor Ben Boer | Wuhan University (CHINA)

Ben Boer was appointed as Emeritus Professor in Environmental Law in late 2008 at the University of Sydney. In 2011, he was appointed as National Distinguished Professor under the Chinese Government’s 1000 Talents Programme in the Research Institute of Environmental Law, at Wuhan University, Hubei Province. He was the Deputy Chair of the IUCN World Commission on Environmental Law from 2012 to 2016.

Between 2006 and 2008, he was the international Co-Director of the IUCN (International Union for the Conservation of Nature) Academy of Environmental Law and Visiting Professor based at the University of Ottawa. Previously, he was Professor in Environmental Law, University of Sydney (Personal Chair, 1997-2008) and the Corrs Chambers Westgarth Professor of Environmental Law, University of Sydney (1992-1996). He co-founded the Australian Centre for Environmental Law between three Australian universities in 1992.

Ben has published widely in the area of environmental and natural resources law and policy, including International Environmental Law in the Asia Pacific (with Ross Ramsay and Donald Rothwell), and Heritage Law in Australia (with Graeme Wiffen, Oxford 2006). He contributed to Francioni, F. (Ed.) The World Heritage Convention; A Commentary (Oxford 2008). He edited Environmental Law Dimensions of Human Rights, Oxford 2014. In 2017 he was appointed as the co-editor of the Chinese Journal of Environmental Law, published by Brill/Nijhoff in collaboration with the Research Institute of Environmental Law at Wuhan University; see http://booksandjournals.brillonline.com/content/journals/24686042

Ben has served as a consultant to various intergovernmental and non-governmental organisations and has carried out research with respect to the following countries: Cambodia, China, Federated States of Micronesia, India, Indonesia, Kenya, Laos, Myanmar, Nepal, New Caledonia, Pakistan, Singapore, Solomon Islands, Sri Lanka, Trinidad and Tobago, Thailand, The Philippines, Vietnam and Samoa, as well as conducting environmental law projects for various departments of the Australian Federal Government. See further: https://sydney.edu.au/law/about/people/profiles/ben.boer.php and http://en.riel.whu.edu.cn/index.php/index-view-aid-10613.html

Dr Vicky Bowman | Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MYANMAR)

Vicky Bowman has been the Director of Myanmar Centre for Responsible Business (MCRB) since July 2013. MCRB is an initiative to encourage responsible business activities throughout Myanmar. The Centre is a joint initiative of the Institute for Human Rights and Business (IHRB) and the Danish Institute for Human Rights (DIHR). Based in Yangon, MCRB’s Theory of Change is intended to lead to Impacts relating to the Protect, Respect, Remedy framework of the UN Guiding Principles on Business and Human Rights, which were unanimously endorsed in June 2011 by the UN Human Rights Council. The Centre facilitates dialogue and processes aimed at building national and local capacity and partnerships on business and human rights related issues. MCRB has also undertaken research and published sector-wide impact assessments on the oil and gas, tourism, information and communications technologies (ICT) and mining sectors. A SWIA on oil palm is underway.

Prior to returning to Myanmar in 2013, Vicky led global mining company Rio Tinto’s policy approach to transparency, human rights and resource nationalism/resource curse issues, based in London. She was Director of Global & Economic Issues and G8 sous-Sherpa for the United Kingdom from 2008-2011 and Head of the Southern Africa Department in the Foreign and Commonwealth Office of the UK Government from 2006-2007. Vicky served as ambassador of the UK to Myanmar from 2002-2006 and as second secretary in the Embassy from 1990-1993. She has also worked in Brussels as Member of Cabinet of European Commissioner Chris Patten (1999-2002) and as press spokeswoman for the UK representation to the EU (1996-1999). Vicky has an MA in Natural Sciences (Pathology) from University of Cambridge, holds an honorary doctorate from the University of Bradford, and is an Honorary Fellow of Pembroke College. She speaks Burmese.

Mr Louis Bernard Buchman | President of French National Bar Council (FRANCE)

A French national, Louis received his legal education at the University of Paris.

He was admitted to the Paris Bar in 1974 and to the New York Bar in 1989.

He is a partner of Fieldfisher LLP and the author of several publications and articles.

In addition to French, he speaks English, Polish, and Italian, and has a working knowledge of German.

He currently chairs the International Legal Services Committee of the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe and the European and International Affairs Committee of the French National Bar Council.

A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, he is regularly appointed as arbitrator or mediator in international disputes and by WIPO as a neutral in Domain Name disputes.

Captain, French Navy (Ret).

Mr Youdy Bun | Bun & Associates (CAMBODIA)

At Bun & Associates, Youdy serves as the firm’s Practice Leader of the Banking & Finance, and Telecommunications & New Technology practice groups. He is currently a panel lawyer for numerous foreign banks operating in Cambodia. His expertise includes market entry for financial institutions, project finance, off shore financing as well as other complex financial products and regulatory matter in the financial sector. He has a vast range of clientele from large financial institutions, foreign EXIM banks, fund managers, and foreign and international development agencies. He has provided advice to some of the largest financial institutions and security firms in Asia relating to their business expansion and market entry strategies into Cambodia. Youdy regularly represents lenders in large financing transactions granted to Cambodian entities operating in various industries.

Bun & Associates has been engaged to assist in preparing legal commentary on the draft law of telecommunications to advocate for the industry best practices. Our team has always been active in the telecommunications industry including engagement with relevant stakeholders on a number of implementing sub-regulations. Youdy recently successfully advised a major telecom operator in a ground breaking transaction relating to the acquisition of a substantial asset in the form of frequencies. He also counseled numerous clients, from a submarine cable to Internet Service Providers with regard to their regulatory compliances.

Youdy is one of the first commercial arbitrators admitted to the National Commercial Arbitration Center (NCAC) and also a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb). He formerly served as a founding executive board member of the NCAC and currently as Secretary General of the European Chamber of Commerce in Cambodia (EuroCham). He is a former Secretary‐General of the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Youdy has been consistently ranked as a leading lawyer (first tier) in Cambodia by IFLR 1000, Asialaw and Chambers & Partners. In the Chambers & Partners’ Asia Pacific 2014 guide, according to an interviewee, “Youdy is well qualified, and his broad experience and knowledge in the banking industry allow us to move efficiently in our financing transactions. He is extremely intelligent and his advice is always of high quality.” He is fluent in Khmer, English and French.

Ms Joanna Caen | Herbert Smith Freehills (HONG KONG SAR)

Based in Hong Kong, Joanna has over 10 years’ experience of advising high-net-worth individuals, families, trustees and banks on all aspects of contentious and non-contentious private client matters.

Although she heads our private wealth practice in Greater China, Joanna has advised clients from across Asia, including Singapore, Malaysia, Japan, the Philippines, Australia and New Zealand.

Joanna’s experience includes advising:
-members of ultra-high-net-worth families on disputes relating to family companies, deceased estates and mentally incapacitated persons
-the mental health committee of mentally incapacitated ultra-high-net-worth individual on disputes involving her assets and terms of her will
-the administrator of a complex US$1 billion estate, the administration of which involves seven jurisdictions
-various banks and trustees on contentious and non-contentious matters involving their private clients

Mr Michael Scott Carl | SSEK Indonesian Legal Consultants (INDONESIA)

Michael S. Carl joined SSEK in 2004 and has more than 20 years of experience practicing law in Southeast Asia, principally in Indonesia. He is recognized by Chambers & Partners as a leading lawyer for Indonesian banking and finance, corporate law and mergers and acquisitions, projects and energy, and real estate, by IFLR1000 as a leading lawyer for banking, capital markets, project finance, and restructuring and insolvency, by The Legal 500 for corporate law and M&A, and restructuring and insolvency, and by Asialaw for corporate law and M&A. Michael has been selected for inclusion in Who’s Who Legal: Capital Markets and Who’s Who Legal: Mining, which recognize the world’s leading capital markets and mining lawyers. He was voted in 2012 as an Indonesian External Counsel of the Year by Asian-MENA Counsel readers, who cited his wide-ranging knowledge and experience with Indonesian law.

Michael’s practice is oriented toward corporate law and foreign investment, banking and finance, mergers and acquisitions, and energy and mining.

Michael obtained his B.A. in history from Harvard University in 1988 and received his J.D. in 1994 from the University of California at Berkeley (Boalt Hall) School of Law. Michael earned an S.H. (the equivalent of an LL.B.) in Indonesian law in 2012 from Atma Jaya University, Jakarta, where he was first in his class. He is a member of the California State Bar.

Before joining SSEK, Michael was associated with the international law firm Baker & McKenzie in its Singapore and Bangkok offices, where he handled capital markets and investment transactions and represented Indonesian and Thai companies in US debt and equity offerings and debt restructurings. He was also previously associated with Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy, as part of the firm’s capital markets group.

Michael obtained an M.A. in economics from the University of Hawaii in 1990, where he was a graduate fellow at the East-West Center. Prior to beginning his legal practice, Michael spent a year studying Indonesian commercial law at Gadjah Mada University in Yogyakarta. He is fluent in Indonesian.

Mr Tim Castle | Six St James Hall Chambers (AUSTRALIA)

Tim D. Castle is an Australian barrister practicing at 6 St James Hall in Sydney, and a qualified arbitrator (FCIarb), with over 30 years legal experience working in commercial disputes and litigation. His specialist areas include company, commercial, franchising, insolvency and insurance law, include trial and appellate work.

He is Chair of LAWASIA’s UNCITRAL and Franchising Committees, is currently Deputy Chair of the Law Council of Australia’s International Law Section, Immediate Past Chair of the UNCITRAL National Coordination Committee of Australia, a member of the Australian Bar Association’s International Law Committee and Australian Chapter Co-Chair for the New York State Bar Association. Tim is also a member of the Panel of Arbitrators for the Thailand Arbitration Centre (THAC).

Mr Niten Chauhan | JPC Law (UK)

Niten Chauhan is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution Department and Head of Insolvency and Restructuring at JPC Law. Prior to becoming a solicitor he worked with a multinational firm of accountants and a global investment bank before choosing to qualify as a lawyer.

The valuable financial experience he gained prior to entering the legal profession coupled with his strong legal acumen led him to a career in Commercial Litigation and Dispute Resolution with a particular specialism in Corporate Insolvency matters from liquidations to administrations.

In turn, Niten has acted for a multitude of clients, both foreign and domestic with cases having varied from matters in the County Courts to the High Court as well as the Court of Appeal.

In 2012, he successfully obtained a substantial Security of Costs Order against the petitioning party in a complex shareholders’ dispute which went on to be reported case handed down by the Chancery Division of the High Court of England and Wales.

In 2013, Niten was asked to advise a bridging lender who had fallen victim to a significant property fraud. Despite the fraudster’s conveyancers purporting not to have done anything wrong his keen eye for detail uncovered flaws in their arguments which lead to a swift and substantial settlement for his client.

In turn, Niten was approached a property development company who had similarly been defrauded as part of a fraudulent transaction. Since 2014, Niten has represented P&P Property Limited in their multi-million pound claim against both the solicitors acting for the fraudster and the estate agents that introduced him to them. In 2018, Niten succeeded in obtaining judgement from the Court of Appeal and, in turn, recovered the defrauded monies, consequential damages and costs for his innocent client.

Therefore, whether clients need a focused and methodical approach to urgently obtain a worldwide freezing order or the pragmatism and understanding to help reach a settlement in a case which has been litigated for years, Niten has utilised his commercial strengths and many more qualities in order to achieve successful outcomes for them.

Furthermore, as a the firm’s International Partner he has travelled to many countries, learning about their varied legal systems and, in turn, been instructed on a wide range of work for clients based in different jurisdictions, particularly cases of international arbitration and mediation.

As a result he is often invited to speak at overseas seminars, particularly LAWASIA where he has chaired both the Insolvency and Restructuring session and the Dispute Resolution session and is now a member of the Asia-Euro Business Law group providing key updates on the opportunities for the two regions to work closer together.
Niten also takes the time to help develop the next generation of legal professionals by giving seminars, leading panel discussions and judging Annual Moot Competitions.

He is also a keen promoter of diversity within the legal profession having been a former executive member of the Society of Asian Lawyers. In turn, he was pivotal in organising business and networking events, including the Society’s Annual Ball and continues to this day to help raise significant funds for charitable causes around the world.

Mr Rajan Chettiar | Rajan Chettiar LLC (SINGAPORE)

After having qualified as a barrister-at-law in England and admitted to the Singapore Bar in March 1997, Rajan Chettiar worked in one of the oldest and prestigious law firms in Singapore. Having caught the entrepreneur bug and a strong desire to use his legal skills to assist individuals, he then set up the firm of Rajan Chettiar & Co in 2003 which specialises in all aspects of family and personal laws. He is currently the Managing Director of Rajan Chettiar LLC.

He is an Associate Mediator of the Singapore Mediation Centre and a Court appointed volunteer mediator of the State Courts and Family Justice Courts in Singapore. He mediates civil, criminal and family matters. He also runs one of the first private mediation company in Singapore, Resolvers Pte Ltd which offers mediation services to assist parties to resolve their matters through mediation instead of resorting to litigation.

He is one of the first collaborative lawyers in Singapore and handled the first collaborative family law case in Singapore in early 2013. He is appointed as a Child Representative by the Family Justice Courts to assist the Court on complex child custody and access cases. He is a trained Parent Coordinator and a Singapore International Mediation Institute (SIMI) Certified Mediator. He is also qualified to mediate cross border family disputes.

In 2016, he was recognised as an Outstanding Volunteer (Advocate and Solicitor category) by the State Courts in Singapore. He has also been recognized for his contributions to the Law Society of Singapore on 2 occasions.

He has been appointed to be a director of the Board of the International Academy of Collaborative Professionals in the United States of America. He is the second Asian to serve on the Board.

An active member of the Law Society of Singapore, he was a past member of the Council of the Law Society of Singapore and currently serves in it is various committees.

He is regularly featured in the local newspapers, radio and television in Singapore on family related issues. A prolific writer, he writes a monthly column in the Singapore Law Gazette.

Mr Manoj K. Chhabra | Astra Law Offices (INDIA)

Mr. Chhabra is the founder of Astra Law Offices, a New Delhi based corporate/commercial firm.

Mr. Chhabra obtained his LL.B. degree in 1984 from the University of Delhi. He obtained an LL.M. degree in 1986 and a Juris Doctor degree in 1988 from Tulane University in New Orleans.

Mr. Chhabra has practiced law in India, New Orleans, Honolulu, Tokyo and Washington D.C. He is licensed to practice in India, State of Louisiana, State of Hawaii and Washington D.C.

 

Mr Shang Congcong | Suhao Law Offices (CHINA)

Lawyer, Partner,LLM. Gradueted from the Law School of the Uinversity of Macau. The vice-director of the international law Committee, Ningbo Lawyers Association. The director of the International Business Department of Zhejiang SuHao law firm. The member of the Lawasia, and the New York State Bar Association.Mr. Shang was awarded as the Leading Talent Lawyers in international law from All China Lawyers Association and the top 1000 lawyers in international law from the Ministry of Justice of China. Mr. Shang also was awarded the title of “Top”Lawyers of Ningbo.

Mr. Shang is good at international investment, merger and acquisition, arbitration and other legal businesses.

 

The Hon Justice Vinodh Coomaraswamy | Judge of the Supreme Court (SINGAPORE)

Justice Vinodh Coomaraswamy was appointed a Judicial Commissioner in 2012 and a Judge in 2013. His docket concentrates on domestic and cross-border insolvency and restructuring matters, commercial and contractual disputes, company law, trusts and arbitration. Before his appointment to the bench in 2012, he practised for 20 years as an advocate at the commercial bar in Singapore.

Dr Kirsten Davies | Macquarie Law School (AUSTRALIA)

Dr Kirsten Davies is an academic at Macquarie University’s Law School (Sydney Australia) and Director of International Engagement. At the centre of her work is the engagement of communities and their connections with nature. She is the architect of Intergenerational Democracy, a method of whole-of-community engagement and capacity building and the subject of her (2012) book, Intergenerational Democracy, rethinking sustainable development. She has extensive education, policy, governance, management, marketing and board experience. In her career she has held senior management, directorship and chair roles. Her depth of experience includes leading cultural institutions and community access programs in rural and urban localities.

Kirsten holds a Master’s Degree (USyd) ,PhD (USyd) in Sustainable Management and is currently undertaking a second PhD in Environmental Law (MQU) . She was awarded a Winston Churchill Fellowship to conduct research in USA, UK and Japan (2002) and was the recipient of the University of Sydney Agri-Management Scholarship for post graduate research (2005). Kirsten was awarded an Australian Government, Endeavour Award - Research Fellowship to undertake sustainability research in Vanuatu (2009) and maintains a close relationship with the South Pacific Region. She was appointed as an Expert Adviser and Co-ordinating Lead Author of the Asia- Pacific Regional Assessment for the Intergovernmental Platform on Biodiversity and Ecosystem Services (IPBES) from 2014 - 2018. Kirsten is a member of the Global Network for the Study of Human Rights and one of the drafting authors of the Declaration on Human Rights and Climate Change.

Mr Simon Davis | Vice President of The Law Society Of England and Wales (UK)

Simon Davis is a senior litigator at the London office of Clifford Chance after qualifying in 1984.

He joined the firm in 1982 and made partner in 1994. He was the firm’s recruitment partner between 1995 and 2000, and spent a year as president of the London Solicitors’ Litigation Association.

He won the 2017 presidential election and will be the first magic circle solicitor to take office since John Wotton, a consultant at Allen & Overy, who served in 2011-12.

Mr Wiebe de Vries | International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA) / BloomTax (THE NETHERLANDS)

Wiebe is a licensed tax and civil law attorney in the Netherlands, and founded his own Tax boutique, BloomTax B.V., based in Amsterdam, in April 2014. He is a tax advisor on international transactions, international structurings and investments in and through the Netherlands. Although his practice predominantly comprises Dutch and foreign based corporate clients, he also advises a considerable number of private clients on their personal income tax position and cross border tax aspects. Apart from tax advice, BloomTax B.V. also provides tax compliance services, more specific preparation and filing of corporate income tax and personal income tax returns.

His client base ranges from start ups to listed companies. Before setting up his own firm, Wiebe worked for nine years at a top ten Dutch full service law firm, where he gained experience both in complicated cross border tax structuring as well as integrated advice with other legal disciplines.

Wiebe frequently lectures on Dutch and cross border tax law for an audience of experienced Dutch civil law notaries, lawyers and accountants. Wiebe is a member of the Dutch and Amsterdam Bar, the International Fiscal Association (IFA), and he was the President of the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA) between 1 September 2021 and 1 September 2018, where he previously was the President of the AIJA Tax Law Commission.

He studied Dutch civil law in Leiden and tax law in Amsterdam, he got his degrees in 2001 and 2004.

The Hon Jacqueline Gleeson | Federal Court of Australia (AUSTRALIA)

Jacqueline Sarah Gleeson was appointed to the Federal Court of Australia in April 2014.

Her Honour graduated from the University of Sydney with a Bachelor of Arts and a Bachelor of Laws in 1989 and a Master of Laws in 2007. Justice Gleeson was admitted to the New South Wales Bar in 1991, leaving the Bar after nine years to become general counsel at the Australian Broadcasting Authority and later a senior executive lawyer for the Australian Government Solicitor. Her Honour returned to the NSW Bar in 2007 and took silk in 2012.

Her Honour is located in the Sydney Registry of the Federal Court and is a Registry Coordinating Judge and Duty Judge for the Commercial & Corporations National Practice Area.

Mrs Madhavi Goradia Divan | Supreme Court of India (INDIA)

Madhavi Goradia Divan is the author of a leading book on media law titled “Facets of Media Law” published in 2006 by Eastern Book Company. The second edition of this book released in August 2013. The book is widely used by practitioners and media persons and this is also a recommended text book in several law schools across India.

Madhavi Divan practises in the Supreme Court of India on a range of subjects which include constitutional law, media law and environment law. She also represents two State Governments in the Supreme Court, the States of Maharashtra and Gujarat on whose behalf she has argued several cases. Prior to 2007 she was based in Mumbai where she practiced as a counsel before the Bombay High Court and had a largely commercial practice. She has also appeared pro bono in several public causes which include free speech related cases, environmental issues, child rights cases and rights of the visually challenged.

Apart from her law book, Madhavi Divan writes for leading law journals and newspapers. She has been a guest lecturer at several law colleges and has participated in several law conferences in India and overseas as a speaker on media law.

Mr Shyam Divan | Supreme Court of India (INDIA)

Shyam Divan is a senior advocate who practices before the Supreme Court of India. His areas of practice cover most branches of civil litigation including banking, securities law, arbitration, administrative law and environmental law. He appears for citizens’ groups in environmental cases and assists the Supreme Court as amicus curiae in the Bellary case involving illegal iron ore mining in the forests of Karnataka.

He is the co-author of Environmental Law and Policy in India (2nd Edition, 2001, Oxford) and has most recently authored a chapter on Public Interest Litigation in Oxford Handbook of the Indian Constitution (2016, Oxford).

Mr. Divan has taught environmental law at the graduate and post graduate levels at the University of Mumbai and has occasionally lectured on the subject at the National Law School of India University, Bangalore.

Mr. Divan is a member of the Executive Committee of LAWASIA.

The Hon Mr Justice Deepak Gupta | Judge of the Supreme Court of India (INDIA)

Justice Deepak Gupta did his schooling from St. Edward’s School and law from the Faculty of Law, Delhi University. He practised in the High Court of Himachal Pradesh and handled Constitutional, Commercial and Environmental matters. He was the President of the Himachal Pradesh High Court Bar Association. He is an active environmentalist and filed a number of public interest litigations to preserve the ecology and environment of Himachal Pradesh.

Justice Gupta was appointed Permanent Judge of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh in October, 2004. He headed the Green Bench of the High Court of Himachal Pradesh dealing with environmental matters for more than three years. He also headed the Himachal Pradesh Legal Services Authority and the Judicial Academy.

Justice Gupta was elevated as the First Chief Justice of the High Court of Tripura on 23rd March, 2013. He was transferred and took oath as the Chief Justice of the High Court of Chhattisgarh on 16.05.2016. He was the Chancellor of the Hidayatullah National Law University and is now a Member of the Executive Council of the University.

Justice Gupta was elevated as Judge of the Supreme Court of India on 17.02.2022 and is a member of the Committee to Oversee the Proper and Effective Implementation of the Juvenile Justice (Care and Protection of Children) Act, 2015 and the Supreme Court Gender Sensitization Internal Complaints Committee.

Justice Gupta has taken a lot of interest in legal programmes especially those relating to child rights and the rights of under privileged and preservation of the environment. At the invitation of the National Centre for Scientific Research (Centre National de la Recherché Scintifique [CNRS]), Justice Gupta delivered three lectures at Paris in October, 2012.

Justice Gupta is fond of reading, walking and is an avid photographer with keen interest in landscape and wildlife photography.

Mr Umang Gupta | BPG Law Chambers (INDIA)

Mr Umang Gupta began his career in the Supreme Court of India at the Chambers of Mr Uday U. Lalit and Mr K.V. Viswanathan, Senior Advocates. Afterwards, he pursued his interest in Corporate Law and went for his Masters in Law (LL.M.) in Business and Finance Law from The George Washington University Law School, Washington D.C. He was elected as the LL.M. Senator to represent the LLM community in the University. After coming back to India, Mr Gupta had joined India’s primer dispute resolution law firm, Agarwal Law Associates in New Delhi. Umang has previously trained at top-tier firms like Herbert Smith LLP, Singapore.

Mr Umang Gupta is presently the Founder of the Law Firm, BPG Law Chambers. The Firm is a leading National Law Firm in India, with offices in New Delhi and Jaipur.

Mr Gupta has an extensive practice and experience in Commercial Dispute Resolution, Litigation, International Arbitration, Intellectual Property Rights, Land acquisition, and Environmental matters. Mr Gupta has represented a broad range of multinational clients, global investors, medical practitioners and non-governmental organizations.

In addition to the commercial dispute resolution, Mr Gupta regularly advises on foreign investment projects and public international law issues relating International Trade and Commercial Law. As well as representing clients in disputes reaching Courts, Mr Gupta advises on dispute avoidance and tries to get disputes settle among the parties.

Umang also has considerable oral advocacy experience, and has conducted and argued matters before the Hon’ble Supreme Court of India, High Court of Delhi and various other Tribunals like Telecom Tribunal, Consumer Courts, Debt Recovery Tribunal, Competition Commission and National Green Tribunal, on behalf of his clients.

During his Law School, Umang has extensively participated in National and International Moot Court Competitions. He has represented his country for the Stetson International Environmental Moot Court Competition in Florida, USA. Further, he has extensively written and published articles on topics like the ‘Entry of Foreign Law Firms in India’, ‘Settlement of Foreign Investment Disputes through Arbitration’, ‘Road Map to a World Class Arbitration System in India’, ‘Recent Changes in the Arbitration and Mediation System in India’.

Mr Gupta has the honour of coming from an illustrious family of Jaipur. He is the grandson of Shri B.P. Gupta, who was a Senior Advocate of the Rajasthan High Court, and son of ShriSudhir Gupta, a Senior Counsel practicing at the Rajasthan High Court and the Supreme Court of India, who has inspired him for worshiping and practicing the profession of law in its true essence “Supremacy of Justice and Justice For all”.

Prof Yasushi Higashizawa | Meijigakuin University, Graduate School of Law (JAPAN)

Prof Yasushi Higashizawa, an attorney at law admitted in Japan, States of New York and California, USA, is a partner of the Nishi Tokyo Kyodo Law Offices (Tokyo) and a professor of the Meiji Gakuin University (Tokyo). He has been actively engaged in human rights advocacy at the Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA).

Prof Higashizawa serves as a Co-Chair of the Human Rights Section of the LAWASIA as well as a Counselor to the President of the Union Internationale des Avocats. He also served, among others, as a chair of the International Human Rights Committee (IHRC) of the JFBA, a Council Member of the International Bar Association’s Human Rights Institute (IBA-HRI) and a ExCo. Member of the International Criminal Bar (ICB). On the issue of business and human rights, he leads a project team on the issue at the JFBA, and co-chaired ‘IBA-JFBA Joint Conference: Cross Border Legal Services in the Asia Region’ and its session ‘Human Rights and Corruption: Responsible Business in Conflict- Affected or Weak Governance areas’ in 2013. Among his publications are “Just Business – Multi-National Corporations and Human Rights,” (translation into Japanese of a book with the same title by John G. Ruggie, Iwanami Shoten Publishing, 2014) and ‘Business and Human Rights – What is the Aim of the UN Guiding Principles,’ (the Meiji Gakuin Law Review, No. 22, 2015).

Mr Kenji Hirooka | Anderson Mori & Tomotsune / AIJA (JAPAN)

Kenji Hirooka has particular experience in cross-border public and private mergers and acquisitions, equity investments, and corporate finance transactions. He supports clients for the success of clients’ businesses from various aspects including setting up a business, risk management, or resolving disputes. He also has experience in the areas of FinTech, and financial regulations and fund regulatory matters.

Ms May Kim Ho | Duane Morris & Selvam (SINGAPORE)

Ho May Kim has an active commercial litigation and arbitration practice in complex corporate, commercial and fraud cases. She routinely handles shareholder disputes, employment disputes and joint venture disputes to name but a few in the Supreme Court of Singapore. She also has a keen interest in mediation and has successfully mediated a considerable number of matters.

May Kim’s clients say that she “does not beat around the bush.” A client also commended her written brief for being “highly persuasive, thoroughly researched and goes to the heart of the dispute.” She is a highly regarded lawyer who is “invaluable in securing a win for a complex international arbitration matter.”

May Kim read law at the University of Cambridge where she earned a B.A. (First Class Honours) and an LL.M (First Class, with a Commercial law specialisation). She also ranked in the top 5 percent of her cohort for the Singapore Practical Law Course. Before joining private practice, May Kim was a Justices’ Law Clerk to the Chief Justice, appellate judges and judges of the Supreme Court of Singapore. She also served as a judicial officer pursuant to her appointments as a Magistrate and Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court of Singapore. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a panel mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre.

Ms Sungmee Hong | Lee & Ko (KOREA)

Sungmee Hong is a partner in the Corporate and M&A Practice Groups of Lee & Ko. Since she joined Lee & Ko in 1999, she has represented numerous clients in a broad range of matters, including various types of investments into Korea as well as Korean companies’ outbound investments, company establishment, mergers & acquisitions, employment and labor law, and privacy laws. For the past several years, her practice has focused almost exclusively on representation of clients in investments in Vietnam, Cambodia and other Southeast Asian region and she represented several major Korean financial institutions, large corporations and private equity funds with their acquisitions and investments in various sectors in this region. She also advises her clients with various legal issues arising after acquisitions and investments, including management restructuring, corporate governance and compliance matters and practices. She is also a frequent speaker at various forums and conferences on topics related to cross-border M&As and financial sector restructuring and corporate governance.

Dr Gordon Hughes AM | Chairman of the South Pacific Lawyers Association (AUSTRALIA)

Dr Gordon Hughes was President of LAWASIA from 2001 – 2003. A Melbourne-based legal practitioner, he previously served as President of the Law Council of Australia from 1999 – 2000. Dr Hughes has been a member of the LAWASIA ExCo for 20 years, first as an elected member between 1997 and 2012, and since then as a special appointee.

Dr Hughes chaired the LAWASIA Human Rights Committee from 2005 – 2009 and is currently chair of the Business Law Section. He was made a Distinguished Member of LAWASIA in 2005 and an Honorary Life Member in 2007.

Dr Hughes has practised extensively in the area of intellectual property, technology contracts, dispute resolution and data protection, and is the author of leading texts on computer contracts and data privacy.

Mr Hans Hwang | Sok Xing & Hwang (CAMBODIA)

Hans S. Hwang is a Senior Director and co-founder of Sok Xing & Hwang. He is a U.S. attorney in good standing, admitted to the New York Bar, and holds a Juris Doctor degree from the University of Michigan Law School. Mr. Hwang has over two decades of professional legal experience and has been based in Cambodia since 2004.

Mr. Hwang advises corporations, governments, NGOs and international development agencies on matters ranging from private commercial transactions to sustainability strategies to select complex disputes. He is an expert in labor and employment law and international labor standards, and has been called on to draft labor legislation and design national systems for labor dispute resolution in Asia and Africa.

Mr. Hwang previously worked at the international law firm Weil, Gotshal & Manges in New York where he provided legal and governance advice in corporate restructurings and distressed situations. Mr. Hwang has also served as senior legal and strategic advisor to Cambodia’s labor Arbitration Council, as well as consultant to the Asian Development Bank, International Labour Organization and World Bank.

Sok Xing & Hwang is a premier full-service law and policy firm committed to the highest standards of integrity and excellence. Based in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, Sok Xing & Hwang works across practices, industries and jurisdictions in the region and beyond to help clients address complex legal and business challenges and achieve their objectives.

Ms Yunjeong Hwang | The Joeun Law Firm (KOREA)

Yunjeong Hwang is an attorney at Korean law, who practices primarily in the areas of Family Law, Labor and Employment and International Transactions. In particular, Ms. Hwang provides English legal services for expats in Korea and foreigners in foreign countries involved with Korean legal issues as well as Koreans. Ms. Hwang has an extensive experience to offer legal counselling to expats in Korea on a variety of legal issues. Ms. Hwang practices international divorce suit and provide legal consultation for international couples in Korea. In order to protect the clients’ asset and rights, Ms. Hwang uses various strategies including negotiation with the other party before lawsuits and preservative measures such as provisional attachments and injunctions if necessary. She has also actively involved in establishment of Joint Venture Company invested by foreign investors offering legal advices and drafting agreements between the parties.

Ms. Hwang has been a member of Young Laywers Special Committee and International Human Rights Special Committee at Korean Bar association. Ms. Hwang has actively participated in pro-bono activity. She also has worked as a legal counsel for Legal Tech Co. Ltd., in Korea.

Ms. Hwang Received BA from Sogang University, MA from Seoul National University, and JD from Sogang Lawschool in Korea.

Mr Ryu Ishida | Commons Law (JAPAN)

Ryu Ishida is a junior partner and currently an assistant manager of the Asia Practice Group of Commons Law Office, in Tokyo, Japan. He is also a member of Financial Instruments and Exchange Act Research Subcommittee of Legal Research Institute and International Exchange Committee of Dai-Ichi Tokyo Bar Association.

Ryu has been advising both Japanese and foreign clients from various industries, including the securities, international media, publishing, IoT, audit, aircraft, industrial waste disposal, trading, and food manufacturing industries. He handles both transactions and disputes in the areas of securities law, corporate governance, venture finance (including cross-border finance), IPO, M&A, anti-trust and competition law, personal data protection, employment law and other commercial areas.

He also has experience working for a global trading company with many M&A projects. Additionally, Ryu has abundant experience handling criminal cases.

Mr Shreyas Jayasimha | Aarna Law / Coordinator of the UNCITRAL National Coordination Committee (INDIA)

Shreyas is the Founding Partner of Aarna Law. His key practice areas include dispute resolution, white collar crimes, and aviation, among others. A Chevening Scholar from the University of Warwick, his expertise lies varied fields such as intellectual property law, regulatory investigations, company law. Shreyas’ impressive list of achievements include being listed in the International Who’s Who of Commercial Arbitration from 2010 to 2017. Shreyas was also selected as the only India-based practitioner by ICC FraudNet, Paris. In 2014, Shreyas was awarded Lawyer of the Year for Litigation and Dispute Resolution, and the Under 40 Rising Star in 2016. Shreyas has also sat as arbitrator in the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) and International Court of Arbitration (ICC). Further, he has been a speaker at numerous arbitration seminars in London, New York, Hong Kong, Tokyo, and Singapore to name a few.

Mr Sachit Jolly | DMD Advocates (INDIA)

Sachit Jolly is a Partner in the Taxation Group of DMD Advocates. He has over 11 years of experience in advising and representing various Indian and foreign clients from the aviation, media, finance, education, FMCG, IT, oil & gas and pharmaceutical sectors before the AAR, Income Tax Tribunal, High Courts and the Supreme Court on varied tax issues, concerning taxation of royalties, technical services, issues of permanent establishment and attribution of income thereof and transfer pricing.

He has represented and continues to represent the General Electric Group, Coca Cola India, Vodafone, Vedanta Group, Fiserv Group, Samsung, AT&T on their transfer pricing and international taxation matters in India.

Sachit has been rated as one of the top three upcoming lawyers in India in the field of taxation by Vahura (http://blf2018.vahura.com/)

He contributes regularly to Indian and International journals and has co-authored the India branch report on “Key Practical Issues to Eliminate Double Taxation of Business Income” published in “Cahiers de Droit Fiscal International”, at the 2011 IFA Congress in Paris. He has also authored the India chapter on “Transfer Pricing Global Guide” published by Thomson Reuters.

Mr Toyohisa Kaminiwa | Inaba & Partners (JAPAN)

Toyohisa Kaminiwa has been advising IP, FinTech and IT related business companies in Japan for various legal issues. He has also been advising sponsors, lenders and developers on complex renewable energy transactions and disputes in Japan. Further, he has handled general civil and commercial dispute, litigation and arbitration, cases related to the antitrust acts and competition acts, (including prevention of bribery by foreign public officials), intellectual property right disputes and agreements, compliance projects for global companies including implementation of strategic internal investigations, preparation for compliance workshops. He represents both of the international and domestic corporations.

Mr Vira Kammee | Siam City Law Offices Limited (THAILAND)

Mr Vira Kammee is one of the founding partners of SCL Law Group, a full service international law firm with its headquarters in Bangkok, Thailand, as well as three offices internationally; one in Lao PDR, another in Myanmar and our latest edition in Cambodia.

Vira Kammee is a leading litigator with a broad practice encompassing criminal, civil, administrative, bankruptcy and business reorganisation, corporate, banking & finance, as well as real estate development and construction for various corporate clients. In more than three decades of practice, he has also advocated on matters such as labour, administrative, intellectual property, civil and criminal laws. He appears frequently in the Court of Justice and the Administrative Court as lead counsel, and he has represented many local and foreign institutions in corporate and commercial dispute resolution matters. In addition to practicing law, Vira Kammee has gained considerable experience in teaching law students and supervising lawyers of the firm.

Prior to the group’s establishment, Vira Kammee was a partner and member of the Litigation & Arbitration Department at International Legal Counsellors Thailand Ltd. (ILCT) (Russin&Vecchi).

With this vast experience in the legal field, it is only natural that Vira Kammee was appointed by the chairmen of various committees to be on such committees, i.e. Committee of the House of Representatives (HR); Sub-committee for People Involvement in Media; and Political and Sub-committee of the House of Senate (HS) for Sports and Education. He was Chairman of the Committee for the LAW Magazine of the Thammasat University Law Association and Chairman of the Legal Standing Committee of the Football Association of Thailand (FAT). Currently he is on the Appeals Committee of the Thai Premier League (TPL), a private and sole authorised organisation for FAT professional competitions.

Vira Kammee gained his law degree from Thammasat University, Bangkok in 1979 and was thereafter admitted to the Thai Bar Association. He also obtained a Diploma in Economics from Putney College, London, England, UK, in 1973. In addition to this, he has a certificate in international and comparative law from The South Western Legal Foundation, Dallas, USA.

Mr Ryan Il Kang | Bae, Kim & Lee LLC (KOREA)

Il KANG is a partner in Bae, Kim and Lee LLC’s Antitrust team. His practice focuses on competition law, intellectual property rights, merger and acquisition and telecommunications, media & technology.

Since he joined Bae, Kim and Lee LLC in 2006, he has represented domestic and foreign clients in a wide variety of industries in connection with market dominance, cartel matters, merger and acquisition, unfair trade activities, litigation, counselling and compliance before the Korean Fair Trade Commission and various foreign competition authorities. Recently he has also defended substantive investigation involving license agreements of intellectual property rights and antitrust issues in the pharmaceuticals and medical devices industries.

He has delivered lectures on competition law in the master of intellectual property course of the Korea Advanced Institute of Science and Technology (KAIST) and is a frequent speaker at diverse institutes. He regularly writes articles on competition issues and participated in writing the legal publication, “Fair Transaction Act in Large distribution Industry, cases and theories, with lawyers in Bae, Kim and Lee LLC’s Antitrust team.

Mr Prashant Kumar | KPA Legal (INDIA)

Prashant Kumar was President of LAWASIA from 2015-2017. A policy economist turned lawyer, Mr Prashant Kumar specialises in constitutional law, commercial and civil matters, arbitration and intellectual property, as well as matters relating to information technology law, infrastructure agreements, public-private partnerships and anti-dumping laws.

Mr Kumar’s law firm seconded three domain consultants to the Asian Development Bank led project team to carry out IT reform in the Delhi judiciary as a pilot project in 2003-2005 and he actively engages in assisting infusion of technology in judicial systems on informal basis.

He has taken keen interest in using technology to carry out legal processes and his firm has developed and worked successfully IT based dispute resolution model for resolving mass auto loan disputes in which statements of claim and documentation is generated in a fully automated manner involving a range of legal and fact variations. Arbitrators are also made available award assist programme, which produces a template award which arbitrators can validate, improve and utilise as a base to pass an appropriate award.

Mr Kumar heads KPA Legal, a boutique law firm with a clientele that includes MNCs and major corporate houses in India.

Mr Kumar is a Life Member of both the Bar Association of India and the Supreme Court Bar Association. He has held various positions in the Bar Association of India and currently serves as its President Elect.

Mr Saravana Kumar | Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill (MALAYSIA)

Saravana has appeared in benchmark litigations with a sizeable volume of wins in tax disputes. Praised for his ability to “think outside the box” and “innovative approach” in interpreting the law, Chambers Asia Pacific 2016 acknowledged Saravana for being “dynamic, efficient and helpful”. Meanwhile, Chambers Asia Pacific 2017 commented that clients have remarked, “His tax knowledge is very in-depth and he is fast at responding.”

Saravana is an Adjunct Professor with Universiti Tenaga Nasional (UNITEN) and chairs the Taxation Section of LAWASIA.

Ms Antje Kunst | Bretton Woods Law (GERMANY/UK)

In practice since 1998, Ms Antje Kunst is a legal counsel with a public international law barristers’ chambers, Bretton Woods Law, and a former senior legal adviser with the United Nations in the Balkans and the Middle East.

Ms Kunst is an acknowledged expert in public international law, in particular international administrative law and international human rights law representing individuals and international organisations (IOs).

She practices in a wide range of areas, including advising on employment disputes between international civil servants and IOs. She conducts litigation before the EU Court of Justice, UN Dispute/ Appeals Tribunals and other International Administrative Tribunals, with a strong commitment to improve the internal justice system of IOs and to ensure an effective remedy for staff. A recent case involved an action on behalf of a staff member before the EU General Court on complex jurisdiction issues.

Furthermore Ms Kunst has a strong background in international human rights law advising on various human rights matters related to the European Convention of Human Rights (ECHR), ICCPR, ICESCR (e.g. non-discrimination cases), the UNCRPD and the UNCRC. Recently she worked on a strategic litigation case involving the right to inclusive education and non-discrimination pursuant to the UNCRPD and the ECHR in relation to children with special educational needs and disabilities. In her human rights work Ms Kunst takes a strong interest in access to effective remedies for persons in situations of vulnerability such as children and disabled persons including those who are institutionalised. In 2017 she started to work with civil society actors on a project related to the de-institutionalisation of children in Sri Lanka.

Ms Kunst holds an LLM from King’s College London in international law. She is admitted as European Registered Lawyer to the Bar of England and Wales and as Rechtsanwältin in Berlin. She lives with her husband and her daughter in Berlin.

Ms Eleanor Lau | Lander & Rogers (AUSTRALIA)

Eleanor is a Partner in the Family & Relationship Law team at Lander & Rogers Lawyers, Australia. She is an Accredited Family Law Specialist who assists clients in all areas of family law including property settlement, spousal maintenance, parenting matters, child support, and financial agreements.

Eleanor is a member of the Specialist Accreditation Family Law Advisory Committee (Law Society of NSW, Australia), which is responsible for overseeing and assessing other family lawyers in gaining their Specialist Accreditation in Family Law.

Eleanor completed a Master of Laws (Corporation and Commercial) in 2007, and has a special interest in financial matters involving trusts, companies, partnerships, and where assets are held both in Australia and overseas.

Eleanor has successfully represented clients in complex parenting matters, involving issues including international relocation, family violence, and contravention applications. She has been named as a NSW Leading Family Lawyer in complex parenting matters in Doyles Guide 2018.

Mr Christopher Leong | President of LAWASIA (MALAYSIA)

Christopher Leong is an advocate and solicitor of the High Court in Malaya of more than 27 years standing.

Christopher has extensive experience in the fields of corporate and commercial litigation, shareholders’ disputes, banking litigation and insolvency. Christopher is well-versed with issues that customarily arise in litigation with cross-border elements. Additionally, he practices in the area of constitutional and administrative law, and public interest litigation.

Christopher also acts as counsel in domestic and international arbitrations, both in Malaysia and overseas. Christopher is empanelled as an arbitrator with the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration.

In the field of dispute resolution, Christopher has been named as a Leading Individual/Lawyer in Malaysia by Asia Pacific Legal 500 since 2004, Chambers Asia since 2009, The Asialaw Leading Lawyer since 2008, and is a Recommended Individual in the 2015 and 2016 editions of Asialaw Profiles, and a Market-leading Lawyer in its 2017 edition.

He is also named in the 2014 edition of Benchmark Asia Pacific as a Local Disputes Star and is listed as one of the World’s Leading Litigation and Product Liability Lawyers in the Expert Guides, 2012 edition.

Christopher is the 30th President of the Malaysian Bar (2013 – 2015) and was the Chairman of the Bar Council of Malaysia (2013 – 2015), which is the governing body of the Malaysian Bar.

Christopher is currently the President of LAWASIA, the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific.

He is a member of the Taylor’s University Law School Legal Profession Advisory Panel, and a member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Democracy and Economic Affairs (IDEAS), a non-profit cross-partisan think tank foundation in Malaysia.

Mr Jeff Leong | Jeff Leong, Poon & Wong (MALAYSIA)

Jeff is the senior partner of Messrs Jeff Leong, Poon & Wong, Malaysia.

He is also actively serving with the Law Association for Asia and The Pacific (LAWASIA), the peak body for national bar associations and law societies in more than 40 jurisdictions in the Asia Pacific region as Chair of the Corporate, Securities & Investment Law and Co-Chair of the Belt And Road Initiative Standing Committees.

He lead a Special Projects team, structure and run complex M&A deals, resolve critical problems faced by clients such as crisis management, regulatory investigations, shareholder fights and board tussles and advise founders, business owners and senior management on business transactions. With numerous IPOs and M&A deals over 30 years, He often consulted by clients in Shipping and Logistics, Technology and Digital Economy, Oil & Gas and other heavily regulated industries on complex, urgent and critical matters.

He is also leading the China Services Group and regional JLPW Belt and Road Services Group assisting Chinese companies investing and undertaking Belt and Road projects in Malaysia and other ASEAN countries.

Ms Angela Lin | Taiwan Bar Association / Lee and Li, Attorneys-at Law (TAIWAN)

Ms. Angela Y. Lin is a partner of Lee and Li, Attorneys-at-Law who is in the firm’s Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department. Ms. Lin constantly advised local and foreign clients on family law issues and disputes resolution. She also assisted many large Taiwan infrastructure projects including the Taipei MRT project, the Kaoshiung MRT project, the CKS International Airport MRT project, the Taiwan High Speed Railway project, the 4th Nuclear Power Plant project, and several independent power plant projects.

Mr Chong Kin Lim | Drew & Napier (SINGAPORE)

Lim Chong Kin heads Drew & Napier’s Competition & Regulatory (Contentious & Non-Contentious) Practice Group, as well as the Telecommunications, Media and Technology Practice Group.

Chong Kin is highly regarded by his peers, clients and rivals alike as a leading competition lawyer in Singapore. He is featured in various ranking publications, including: Chambers Asia Pacific, Who’s Who Legal: Competition, Asialaw Leading Lawyers, The Legal 500: Asia Pacific, and Expert Guides’ World’s Leading Competition & Antitrust Lawyers/Economists.

Some of his plaudits include: “[Chong Kin] thoroughly understands the requirements of an international company seeking to do business in Singapore and provides excellent practical, pithy and timely advice”; “[Chong Kin] is a very technically proficient and commercially savvy lawyer. He is also very entrenched in the competition space, giving him unique insights into policy direction and interpretation”; and, “[Chong Kin has] excellent legal knowledge and in-depth understanding of the regulator”.

Since 1999, Chong Kin has played a key role in the development of competition regulation in Singapore, particularly in the telecommunications, media and postal industries in Singapore.

His diverse client portfolio spans competition regulators and private sector companies. He undertakes a whole range of contentious and non-contentious competition law matters for private sector clients, including cartel investigations, merger filings, transaction advisory and reviews, and compliance, audit and dawn raid programmes in Singapore and the ASEAN region. He also regularly acts for sectoral competition regulators on liberalisation, market access, merger reviews, appeals and enforcement matters.

Chong Kin is co-editor of Singapore’s first comprehensive competition law textbook, Competition Law and Policy in Singapore (2009). He also co-authored the competition chapter in Law Relating to Specific Contracts in Singapore (2008).

Ms Z.J. Jennifer Lim | Debevoise & Plimpton (HONG KONG SAR)

Z.J. Jennifer Lim is a litigation associate whose practice focuses on international dispute resolution and arbitration.

Ms. Lim joined Debevoise in the New York Office in 2013 and transferred to the firm’s Hong Kong office in June 2016. From 2012 to 2013, she clerked for Judge Hisashi Owada and Judge Leonid Skotnikov at the International Court of Justice in The Hague, Netherlands. Ms. Lim received a J.D. from Columbia Law School, where she was a James Kent Scholar, recipient of the David Berger Memorial Prize, and a Senior Editor of the American Review of International Arbitration. She received an LL.B. with First Class Honors from University College London in 2012. While in law school, Ms. Lim participated in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, and remains the only person in the history of the competition to receive the Stephen M. Schwebel Award for Best Oralist in the Championship Round for two years in a row.

Ms. Lim is a co-author of a chapter on “Investment Treaty Arbitration in the Asia-Pacific,” as part of The Asia-Pacific Arbitration Review 2019 (June, 2018); “Iura Novit Curia in Hong Kong Arbitration Law” in the book “Iura Novit Curia in International Arbitration,” edited by Franco Ferrari and Giuditta Cordero-Moss and published by Juris (March, 2018). She is also a co-author of Model Extradition Treaty published by the International Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association (March, 2017). Other recent articles include “GAR Know-How – Enforcement: Hong Kong Chapter,” Global Arbitration Review Know-How Series (April, 2018); “A new kind of risk? Recent approaches to country risk in the valuation of damages,” Arbitration News (February, 2016) and “Perenco v. Ecuador Deters 2nd-Guessing Arbitration Tribunal,” Law360 (May, 2015).
Ms. Lim is fluent in Mandarin Chinese. She is a member of the HK45 Committee for the 2018-2020 term. From 2014 to 2016, she was a member of the International Law Committee of the New York City Bar Association. She also served on the Program Committee for the 2016 Annual Meeting of the American Society of International Law.

Dr Georgina Lloyd Rivera | SFS Center For Environmental Research In Conservation And Development Studies (CAMBODIA)

Dr Georgina Lloyd Rivera is the Director of the SFS Center for Environmental Research in Conservation and Development Studies in Siem Reap, Cambodia. Georgina has spent the last 11 years living in Siem Reap during which time she has conducted research on environmental law and policy, heritage law, heritage and tourism management, and the development of good environmental governance. She has conducted both doctoral and postdoctoral research on intangible cultural heritage at Angkor. During this time she has been the recipient of an Endeavour doctoral research fellowship and UNESCO research fellowship. Her doctoral research examined legal and policy approaches for the safeguarding of intangible cultural heritage across Asia and particularly in Cambodia. During her postdoctoral fellowship she collaborated with the management authority for the Angkor World Heritage Site, the APSARA Authority, to develop a safeguarding policy for intangible cultural heritage. Georgina’s recent research has focused on community based natural resource management, traditional practice and environmental governance in Cambodia.

Ms Geeta Luthra | Supreme Court of India (INDIA)

Ms. Geeta Luthra is a designated Senior Advocate, in the Supreme Court of India. She has an LL, M (Masters in Law) and M. Phil. in International Relations from the University of Cambridge, UK. She has been practicing law since 1980, in the Supreme Court of India and various High Courts of India. She is the Vice President of the Indian Council of Arbitration FICCI , member ICC India chapter Core committee, member Lawasia and International Association of Family Lawyers. She has appeared as a counsel in several landmark cases, and has expertise in myriad facets of law, including Criminal Law, Constitutional Law, Arbitration Law, Human Rights.

Special Counsel in several leading environmental matters in the Supreme Court for Delhi Govt. including “Quiet flows the maili Yamuna” for cleaning Yamuna .Special Counsel of the Delhi Government in Supreme Court of India in MC Mehta for Matters Pertaining to Water Pollution including installing Sewage Treatment Plants, Effluent Water Treatment Plants and Acquisition of Land for the said purpose. Counsel in mining matters and infrastructure related issues in National Green Tribunal (NGT).

She has been a speaker at various international fora and has spoken on various burning issues like the Criminal Justice System, recent amendments in the Arbitration and Conciliation Act 1996, on the need for institutional Arbitration, Gender Rights in employment and Migration, changes in Rape Laws.

She has attended various Lawasia conferences, has delivered lectures at George Washington , USA and several other international fora, at University College , London, UK and on the Rights of Transgenders at SOAS University London UK (The School of Oriental and African Studies).

Dato' Weng Kwai Mah | MahWengKwai & Associates (MALAYSIA)

Dato’ Mah Weng Kwai was called to the English Bar as a Barrister-at-Law in 1971 and to the Malaysian Bar as an Advocate and solicitor of the High Court of Malaya in July 1972.

In 1973 Dato’ Mah joined the Judicial and Legal Services of Malaysia and held, inter alia, the posts of Magistrate, President of the Sessions Court and Senior Assistant Registrar of the High Court. He also served as a Deputy Public Prosecutor and Senior Federal Counsel in the Attorney General’s Chambers.

Dato’ Mah obtained his Master of Laws degree with Honours in 1985 from the University of Sydney, Australia and in 1999 was appointed a Fellow of the Senate of the University of Sydney. He left the Judicial and Legal Services in 1985 and commenced private practice as an advocate and solicitor as the principal of Mah Weng Kwai & Associates.

Dato’ Mah is a past-President of the Malaysian Bar and of LAWASIA, the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific. He was also a member of the Legal Profession Qualifying Board and the Advocates and Solicitors Disciplinary Board both established under the Legal Profession Act 1976.

On 4 Jan 2022 Dato’ Mah was appointed a Judicial Commissioner of the High Court of Malaya and on 10 Aug 2021 a Judge of the High Court of Malaya in Kuala Lumpur. He was elevated to the Court of Appeal, Malaysia on 21 Sep 2012.

Dato’ Mah returned to MahWengKwai & Associates as a Consultant after his retirement as a Court of Appeal Judge in February 2015. He is on the KLRCA’s panel of arbitrators and is certified as a mediator by the Malaysian Mediation Centre.

Ms Adlin Abdul Majid | Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill (MALAYSIA)

Adlin Abdul Majid is a partner of Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill and heads the Information & Communications Technology / Regulatory & Compliance department of the firm.

Adlin graduated from the University of Oxford and qualified as an advocate and solicitor in Malaysia in 1999. She commenced her legal career in civil and commercial litigation, with emphasis on contractual disputes and banking litigation. In 2002, she left legal practice to join the Malaysian government agency responsible for the Multimedia Super Corridor (MSC Malaysia) initiative and the development of the information and communications technology industry in Malaysia and headed the compliance and enforcement team there.

Adlin regularly conducts regulatory and compliance programmes for clients, with focus on the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 and the Competition Act 2010. She has implemented compliance programmes on the Personal Data Protection Act 2010 for clients in various industries, including technology, telecommunications, banking and finance, insurance and public infrastructure, healthcare and tourism. She also advises on numerous issues related to privacy and personal data protection, including cross-border transfer of personal data, online marketing, business process outsourcing, cloud computing and street level data collection.

Adlin speaks regularly on the areas of privacy and data protection and contributes to various journals and publications on this area.

Mr Guillaume Massin | DFDL (CAMBODIA)

Guillaume Massin is Partner; Managing Director, Cambodia and Head of the Regional Real Estate Practice Group. His practice covers Property, Corporate and Commercial, Criminal Law and Procedures and technical assistance consultancies.

Guillaume is a team leader on a number of major real estate and agriculture-related projects in Cambodia. He has played an important role in landmark deals including advising Ciputra in the development of a multi-million dollar integrated community in Phnom Penh, has advised international groups on land use rights and construction permits, has assisted banks and private equity funds for the structuring of property projects, supervised the acquisition and structuring of hotel and resort projects, including negotiations with the Royal Government of Cambodia for the lease of state land to investors, worked on land development projects for factories in Special Economic Zones, as well as advised numerous international and local investors in the retail and construction sectors.

The Hon Justice Robert McDougall | Judge of the Supreme Court Of New South Wales (AUSTRALIA)

Justice Robert McDougall is a Judge of the Supreme Court of New South Wales. He was appointed to the Court in August 2003, and since then has sat as a Judge in the Commercial and Technology & Construction Lists. He commenced practice at the Bar in 1975, and was appointed Queens Counsel in 1990.

As Counsel, particularly since taking Silk, and as a judge of the Supreme Court, he has appeared in or presided over some of the most significant commercial and construction cases, in New South Wales and elsewhere in Australia, of the last 25 years. Many of those cases have required the development and implementation of innovative case and documentary management techniques.

Outside the law, his Honour enjoys music, the theatre, and other activities removed as far as possible from the day to day work of the courts.

Datuk D.P. Naban | Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill (MALAYSIA)

A highly experienced practitioner, Naban enjoys a strong reputation in the market. He offers a broad practice including litigation and advisory work. Clients note that “his litigation, advocacy and cross-examination skills are par excellence”. He co-led the team acting for Petronas in an appeal regarding taxpayers’ interest income.

One of two senior partners of the firm, Naban is a highly-acclaimed Band 1 tax lawyer, as ranked by Chambers Asia. He has appeared in some of Malaysia’s most significant recent tax disputes, where clients describe him as “outstanding” and recommend him for his “superb” advocacy skills.

A client remarked to the Legal 500 that, “Despite many years at the Bar, [Naban] still exudes a fresh and tireless enthusiasm for the law, which translates to immaculate service”.

Dato' Nitin Nadkarni | Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill (MALAYSIA)

Nitin Nadkarni heads the Energy, Projects and Infrastructure, and International Arbitration Practice Group at Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill. He is Co-Chairman of Bar Council Sub-committee on Arbitration and Construction and is often described by global legal directories as a renowned figure in the Malaysian arbitration scene.

His practice covers a wide range of dispute resolution, including acting and advising on cross-border commercial and investor-state disputes. Over his 30 years’ experience, Nitin has been involved in cases against state-owned enterprises in all aspects of the construction, engineering, energy, and electricity sectors across the Middle East, North Africa, and even international arbitration hubs, such as Switzerland. He also regularly advises and acts in Malaysian Court proceedings at all higher court levels and has a large arbitration practice, primarily as counsel. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK), and is registered on the Asian International Arbitration Centre panels for arbitrators and mediators respectively.

Mr Amirali B Nasir | Vice-President of The Law Society of Hong Kong (HONG KONG SAR)

Mr. Amirali B. Nasir first joined the Law Society Council in 2005 and has since been involved in the work of Standing Committee on Practitioners Affairs, Standing Committee on Policy and Resources, Standing Committee on Compliance, Standing Committee on External Affairs, Belt and Road Committee, Guidance Committee, Consents Committee, Constitutional Affairs and Human Rights Committee, International Legal Affairs Committee, Innotech Committee, Working Party on Islamic Finance and various other committees. Mr. Nasir was elected as Vice-President of the Law Society in 2016 and re-elected in 2017.

Mr. Nasir is the founder of Nasirs Solicitors. His main areas of practice are litigation, company, commercial, islamic finance, property, trusts and notarial services.

Mr. Nasir was educated in, and first qualified as a solicitor, in London, UK. He moved to Hong Kong and first practised as a solicitor at a prominent local firm of solicitors after which he established the firm of AB Nasir & Co later renamed NASIRS. In addition to his practise as a Solicitor in Hong Kong, he is enrolled as a solicitor in England and Wales and as a Notary Public by faculty granted in Hong Kong and in England and Wales. Mr. Nasir is also a trustee of a local charitable trust serving the local community in all aspects of life. Mr. Nasir was appointed a Justice of the Peace in July 2005.

Ms Quynh Anh (Annie) Ngo | EPLegal Law Firm (VIETNAM)

Annie is a commercial, contract and corporate lawyer in the Vietnam oil and gas sector with over 15 years of working experience. Annie used to work for Unocal Houston, an oil company in the USA.

Annie’s career highlights include establishing the Supply Chain Management System and advising on all Legal, Commercial, Contract and Procurement matters as the Procurement Manager in Cuulong Joint Operating Company (CLJOC), an operator in the oil & gas industry which operates in Block 15-1, Cuu Long Basin, Vietnam. CLJOC is a joint operating company with PetroVietnam, ConocoPhillips (now, it is Perenco), KNOC, SK & Geopetrol as shareholders. Procurement activities in CLJOC cover all areas of upstream operations such as project development, subsurface, well operations, production operations and crude oil export.

Another project that Annie has worked on is with PetroVietnam Exploration and Production Corporation (PVEP) as Commercial Manager, in charge of all commercial activities in the Corporation. PVEP is the Exploration and Production Corporation of PetroVietnam, which presents PetroVietnam in all offshore operations inside and outside Vietnam. PVEP is shareholder of all JOCs and PSCs contracts in Vietnam, which holds up to 50% shares in these contracts. PVEP is also operating some blocks internationally. Annie has been involved in procurement and bidding activities for the development of upstream operations of PVEP to make sure the projects are in good order.

Annie has joined the Gas Project with Bien Dong Petroleum Company, a Gas Operator in Vietnam which is owned 51% by PetroVietnam and 49% by Gazprom International EP. Corporation. She gained experience in Gas Transportation and Allocation, Gas Selling and Purchases with Gas Buyer, as well as in Condensate Commercial activities. Annie also worked as consultant on the Commercial and Contractual aspects of the Petroleum Sharing Contract in this project, developing all Commercial Agreements for the joint operation between PetroVietnam and Gazprom.

Annie also works on numerous high-profiled M&A projects, investment and divestment projects with cross-border elements. She have also dealt with several complex cross-border insolvency matters.

Mr Duc Minh Nguyen | Lee & Ko Vietnam LLC (VIETNAM)

As a member of Lee & Ko’s Vietnam office, NGUYEN DUC MINH’s practice focuses on foreign direct investment, real estate, banking, finance, tax, mergers and acquisitions, and labor law.

Prior to joining Lee & Ko in 2016, Mr. Minh acquired more than 10 years of experience at other foreign law firms based in Ho Chi Minh City, Vietnam, where he advised foreign investors and companies on Vietnamese legal/regulatory-compliance issues relating to various cross-border investments and corporate transactions.

Mr. Minh graduated from Ho Chi Minh City Law University in 2000 and received an LL.M. degree from the Transnational Law & Business University in Korea in 2005.

Mr Phuoc Bao Tri Nguyen | JLPW VINH AN LEGAL (VIETNAM)

Tri has extensive experience as legal advisor for foreign investors doing business in manufacturing sector in Vietnam including establishment of foreign own company, factory construction, tax planning, employment, and customs declaration.

Tri also has experience acting in cross-border merger and acquisition transactions, joint ventures, and foreign investment transactions.

Tri is regularly requested to undertake legal due diligence work in mergers and acquisitions, investment and securities offering by foreign investors both private companies and State-Owned Enterprises.

Mr Tony Nguyen | EPLegal (VIETNAM)

Tony practices in the area of project finance and commercial contracts with a heavy emphasis on international trade law, contract/tax planning for cross-border transactions and offshore petroleum transactions.

Tony spent fourteen years practicing in the Oil & Gas – energy industry. Prior to co-founding EPLegal, Tony worked in managerial and legal positions in the leading oil & gas operators and contractors in Vietnam such as PTSC, Cuu Long JOC, and PVTrans. He has legal and contracting experience through various projects related to drilling campaigns; oil and gas production operations; sales and purchasing and technical services contracts; chartering of vessels/FPSO/FSO; production services; and EPC/EPIC contracts. Tony also played the driving legal role in various Mio financing projects and investment projects within the energy and infrastructure sector. Furthermore, Tony is one of only a few counsels in Vietnam who developed strong relationships with oil and gas operators, partners, and with the State-owned giant, PetroVietnam.

Tony is the author of numerous legal articles relating to legal, contracts risks management and banking and finance. He won the Best Memorial Award at the 2001 Asia Law Moot Court competition, and was a candidate for the Clive M. Schmitthoff Essay Competition held by PACE.

Mr Takehiko Nishimura | Lupinus Law Office (JAPAN)

Attorney at Law admitted in Japan, focusing on disability rights as well as labor rights for around 20 years.

Mr. Nishimura became interested in labour rights issues when he took part in activities of a labor union. Even before qualified as a lawyer, in 1979, he established a community-based organization providing livelihood support to persons with disabilities. In 2001, he founded “Protection and Advocacy Japan” to support persons with intellectual disabilities in their community life. He was also involved in the establishment of the ombudsman of a care house for persons with intellectual disabilities “Naganuma Yo-fu En” in Hokkaido where six ombudsmen provide support for realizing community living. He is the secretary general of Human Rights Protection Centre for Persons with Disabilities and the executive director of an NPO “Owl Guardian Centre,” both of which he set up.

From 2002, he has been a member of Special Investigating Committee on the Act of Prohibition of Discrimination against Persons with Disabilities organized by Japan Federation of Bar Associations.

He is the co-representative of the counsel for the lawsuits filed in 2018 by the persons with disabilities who were victims of forced sterilization.

He has been dealing with a number of civil and criminal cases for his clients who have some disabilities. He has been advocating strongly for ensuring that fundamental human rights of persons with disabilities are protected through initiatives being taken by multi-stakeholders including lawyers, social workers and other activists.

Mr Carlos T. Ocampo | Ocampo & Manalo (PHILIPPINES)

Mr. Ocampo is the Founding Partner of the firm. He currently handles the firm’s corporate law and commercial litigation practice and in particular projects involving infrastructure, public-private partnerships, official development assistance, energy and transportation law. He likewise supervises the conduct of due diligence audits and advises in mergers and acquisitions. He is credited for his role in deregulating the Philippine aviation industry in the early 1990s when he secured several franchises for new airline operators, ending a monopoly of the national carrier spanning over 50 years. In 2014, AsiaLaw named him as a market leading lawyer in the Philippines primarily for his contributions in commercial and aviation law. Recently, in June 2018, the Asia Business Law Journal acknowledged him as among the top 100 lawyers in the Philippines.

He obtained his Bachelor of Arts in Economics, cum laude, and his Bachelor of Laws from the University of the Philippines. In 1997, he completed an executive management program at the Asian Institute of Management. He also completed the Mastering Negotiation Program (MN Program) and as well as the Infrastructure in a Market Economy Program (IME Program) at the John F. Kennedy School of Government, Harvard University, Executive Education in April 2016 and July 2017, respectively.

Mr. Ocampo is a Director in various private corporations and an Independent Director in two publicly listed companies in the Philippines.

Mr Akitsuyu Ogawa | Sakura Partners Law Office (JAPAN)

Associate Professor A. Ogawa graduated from the School of Law at Chuo University in March 1995, and passed the National Bar Examination in November 1997 He also completed the national judiciary training in March 2000 and began his career as an attorney-at-law at Shimizu Law Office.In April 2004 he obtained a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in intellectual property law at SOAS at the University of London, where he mainly studied comparative international law of copyright, patent law, trademark rights, and commercial law.He was registered with the Aichi Bar Association in the same year.In September 2005, he acquired another Master of Laws (LL.M.) from UCL at the University of London in Commercial Law and Company Law. He expanded his areas of expertise in the field of corporate law by studying international bankruptcy and intellectual property law regulation in the electronic age and the music industry.In 2008, he was admitted to the patent attorney.Currently, he is a partner at Sakura Godo/Sakura International Patent Law Firm. He also acts as an Associate Professor at Nagoya University of Commerce and Business, a Lecturer at the Nagoya University Graduate School of Law.He is also presently the Vice Chairperson of the Committee on International Relations, Japan Federation of Bar Associations (JFBA), chairman of the Japan Federation of Bar Associations, Russian Relations PT, as well as a member of the Center for the Promotion of International Operations.

Mr Eu Jin Ong | Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill (MALAYSIA)

Mr Ong Eu Jin is a partner of Lee Hishammuddin Allen & Gledhill, one of the largest law firms in Malaysia. Prior to joining the firm, he headed a subsidiary of a financial services group, holding the position of Chief Operating Officer and Executive Director.

As a partner in the firm’s Corporate Department, Mr Ong advises on various financing transactions including in relation to acquisition of real estate, purchase of aircraft and project financing as well as capital markets exercises such as initial public offering (IPO), rights issue and bond issuance.

Mr Jalalullail Othman | Shook Lin & Bok (MALAYSIA)

JAL OTHMAN, 48 years old, heads the Islamic Finance practice in Shook Lin & Bok, one of the oldest and largest law firm in Malaysia. Jal was instrumental in setting up the Islamic Finance practice and continues to chart the course of this practice area within the Firm. His task include setting the policy direction for the incremental development of this area of practice within the Firm and developing a structured research and development unit to promote an effective continuing legal education scheme within the Firm.

Jal heads a team of approximately 20 lawyers advising on Islamic finance deals. Leveraging on 16 years of experience as a banking and finance lawyer, Jal guides and leads his team in the retail, mezzanine and tier one financing deals, both for onshore and cross border clients. His portfolio of work includes advising on a wide range of sukuk issuances for financing power plants in Malaysia and China, vessel construction, project fnancing for the automotive industry, the textile and garment industry, the downstream and upstream palm oil industry, advising on Islamic structured products and Islamic syndicated financing.

Jal is also actively involved in the drive for innovation in the industry and in this respect Jal leads the team advising on various product developments for Islamic banks, both in Malaysia and abroad.

Jal started as a conventional banking and finance lawyer and kindled his passion for Islamic Finance at the same time that Malaysia embraced this form of financing. Given the inherent interplay between Shariah and Common Law in Malaysia, Jal’s experience in conventional financing has held him in good stead in the area of Islamic Finance.

In addition to Islamic Finance, Jal’s other major areas of practice are corporate commercial law and real estate. His experience in advising on some major cross border mergers and acquisition and real estate acquisitions have benefited him in his role as an Islamic Finance lawyer. Jal is the deputy head of the conventional banking and finance department.

Concurrent with managing his portfolio in the Firm, Jal is also very much involved in the Islamic finance industry. Jal holds positions in INCEIF University (an institution established under the auspices of the Malaysian Central Bank). Jal has also been commissioned by the Malaysian Securities Commission and the Rating Agency of Malaysia in relation to product development and regulatory requirements. Jal is also involved in law reform with his involvement in the Malaysian Central Bank committee for Islamic Finance Law Reform.

Jal also sits on the technical committees of the Malaysia Accounting Standards Board (“MASB”) and the Malaysia Institute of Accountants (“MIA”). Additionally, he is also a moderator with the Finance Accreditation Agency (“FAA”) and an arbitrator for Islamic Finance with the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (“KLRCA”). Jal is also a chapter reviewer and contributor for the International Shariah Research Academy (“ISRA”).

Consistent with the Firm’s policy of driving a global presence, Jal has participated on various international platforms as a speaker, moderator, panelist and commentator. These include conferences, workshops and forums in Australia, China, Hong Kong, Indonesia, Egypt and Singapore.

After graduating from Queen Mary & Westfield College of the University of London and after completing the Malaysian Bar examinations, Jal commenced his pupilage in Shook Lin & Bok and continued his employment with the Firm, culminating in his admission as a partner in 2001. He continued his progression within the Firm with his elevation as a senior partner of the Firm in 2004.

Mrs Gallianne Palayret | The Office of the United Nations High Commissioner for Human Rights (CAMBODIA)

Ms Gallianne Palayret is a Human Rights Officer with the Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in Cambodia. She started as a French Diplomat at the French Permanent Mission to the United Nations in Geneva and has been working for the UN (UNDP, UNICEF and OHCHR) for the last 15 years in both development (Iran, Trinidad and Tobago, Cameroon, Fiji, Chile and Cambodia) and humanitarian (Haiti and Central African Republic) settings. She has two Masters Degrees including one in Human Rights from the European Master in Human Rights and Democratization in Venice, Italy.

Ms Andrea Pane | Piper Alderman (AUSTRALIA)

Andrea’s primary focus since 1996 has been to assist businesses wanting to expand both in Australia and overseas, through franchising and other business models, and advising her clients across a broad range of areas of commercial law. Andrea is ranked as one of Australia’s best lawyers for Franchise law in the Australian Financial Review’s peer-reviewed Best Lawyers® Australia.

She has an extensive track record of assisting businesses across a diverse range of industries including Food industry, Bulky goods industry, Automotive industry, Financial services sector, Real estate industry, Solar, Tourism and hospitality, Cleaning and other home services and many more. With over 20 years’ experience there are few industries in which Andrea has not been involved.

Andrea’s key areas of experience include Competition and Consumer Act and the Franchising Code of Conduct, intellectual property (particularly trade mark) advice, registration and licensing (Australia and international), manufacturing and supply arrangements, acquisitions of businesses and chains and sales to both to private and public companies and dispute resolution.

Andrea regularly presents seminars and workshops to within the legal industry and the franchising sector, as a recognised franchising expert. She is also the author of Thomson Reuters’ Australian Commercial Precedents: Franchising Precedents.

Andrea has over the years become an integral part of her clients’ businesses, with a commitment to client service and practical advice.

Ms Melissa K Pang | President of The Law Society of Hong Kong (HONG KONG SAR)

Ms. Melissa K. Pang has been serving as a Law Society Council member since 2005. Ms Pang was elected Vice-President of the Law Society on 2 September 2021 and re-elected in 2015, 2016 and 2017. Ms. Pang currently serves as the Chairperson of Consents Committee and Pro Bono and Community Work Recognition Committee. She is also a member of several other committees overseeing compliance, policy and resources, external affairs, constitutional affairs and human rights, Greater China legal affairs and international legal affairs.

Ms. Pang is qualified to practise as a solicitor in Australia, England and Wales, and Hong Kong. She is also a Notary Public, Civil Celebrant, accredited mediator, associate member of the Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators, and China Appointed Attesting Officer. Her main areas of practice are commercial law, property law and litigation. She is a Partner of Pang & Associates.

Ms. Pang is at present Vice-President of LAWASIA and represents the Law Society in Hong Kong Legal Aid Services Council. With her devotion to public service, Ms. Pang was awarded the Medal of Honor in 2006 and Justice of the Peace in Hong Kong in 2010.

Ms Gina Golda Pangaila | ZICO Law (MYANMAR)

Gina’s specialisation is in real estate and property law. Representing large land developers and private equity houses, she has been lead counsel on various land acquisition transactions and projects in Indonesia involving five stars hotels, office buildings, mixed developments and factories. With this specialisation, Gina has extensive experience in assisting clients in foreign direct investments, corporate and commercial matters, mergers and acquisitions, due diligence transactions as well as employment and corporate restructuring work. For the preceding two years, Gina has been a key member of the Japan Desk of ZICOlaw network firm where she has been instrumental in advising and assisting on a wide-array of complex legal issues and investments from Japan into Indonesia.

Prior to joining Roosdiono & Partners, Gina worked in a law firm in Jakarta specialising in litigation. She joined Roosdiono & Partners in April 2013 immediately after completing her Masters in Law at Erasmus University Rotterdam (Netherlands) and was subsequently promoted to Senior Associate 2 in 2015. During the period from September to November 2015, Gina was selected for secondment to a ZICOlaw network firm in Kuala Lumpur where she worked on various cross-border corporate and commercial transactions.

Mr Sovath Phin | Bun & Associates (CAMBODIA)

Sovath PHIN holds a Doctor of Laws (Comparative Law) from Nagoya University Graduate School of Law, Japan. He is an Adjunct Professor at Paññāsāstra University of Cambodia. He has taught corporate and intellectual property law within and outside Cambodia, and published articles on intellectual property in Cambodia and ASEAN. At Bun & Associates, Sovath leads intellectual property and co-leads corporate and dispute resolution practice groups. He has acted as a Short-Term Consultant to provide Technical Assistance to the Ministry of Commerce, Department of Intellectual Property, in a Trademark Data Validation Project, which is involved in the screening, verification, reporting and validation of 55,000 registered marks and 45,000 post activities. Sovath acted as a National Legal Adviser for international organizations by assisting the Ministry of Commerce of Cambodia in drafting competition law and the law on food safety and the Ministry of Health of Cambodia in drafting food safety regulations and the law concerning public health and intellectual property. Sovath is admitted to the Bar Association of Cambodia. He is one of the first selected commercial arbitrators in Cambodia and has become a member of the National Commercial Arbitration Centre (NCAC). He is currently the Vice Chairman of the Executive Board of the NCAC and a Fellow of the Singapore Institute of Arbitration (SIArb). Sovath is a qualified Trademark Agent in Cambodia, member of ASEAN Intellectual Property Association (ASEAN IPA) and Asian Patent Attorneys Association (APAA).

Mr Sotheapal Pho | SCL SP&P; (CAMBODIA)

Sotheaphal Pho is an Attorney-At-Law admitted to the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia and a Notary Public at Nitei Niron Notary Public of the Kingdom of Cambodia.

His areas of active practice include banking & finance, telecommunications, real estate, due diligence, intellectual property, labour, and merger & acquisition. He possesses extensive knowledge and experience of Cambodian law, custom, and practice, having commenced his legal career in 2000 and intensively practiced law since 2008, starting at an international advisory firm prior to joining SCL SP&P as a Partner. He holds Bachelor of Laws degree from Norton University of Cambodia (2000) and Master of Laws degree from National University of Singapore (2004).

Sotheaphal has authored textbooks on property and labour laws, has been teaching laws at a leading university, and has attended numerous workshops in Cambodia and overseas. He was a Scholar and member of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association.

The Honourable Justice Brian J Preston SC | Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales (AUSTRALIA)

Justice Preston is the Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court in New South Wales. Prior to being appointed in November 2005, he was a senior counsel practising primarily in New South Wales in environmental, planning, administrative and property law.

He holds a BA and LLB (1st class honours) from Macquarie University, practised as a solicitor from 1982-1987, and then at the bar from 1987-2005. He was appointed senior counsel in 1999. He was awarded a Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) from Macquarie University in 2018.

He has lectured in post-graduate, environmental law for over 26 years, principally at the University of Sydney, but also at other universities in Australia and overseas. He established two law courses: environmental dispute resolution and biodiversity law. He is currently an Adjunct Professor at the University of Sydney, Western Sydney University and Southern Cross University.

Justice Preston is the author of Australia’s first book on environmental litigation (in 1989) and 123 articles, book chapters and reviews on environmental law, administrative and criminal law. The subjects of his writings include: the law and the environment; sustainable development; biodiversity; climate change; heritage; environmental impact assessment; environmental crime; the courts and the environment; public interest litigation; and administrative law and environmental law.

He holds editorial positions in environmental law publications, including General Editor of the Local Government Planning and Environment NSW Service, Title Editor for the Laws of Australia, Title 14 – Environment and Natural Resources, and is a member of the editorial advisory boards of the Asia Pacific Journal of Environmental Law and Legal Perspectives on Global Challenges, Eleven International Publishing, Netherlands.

He has been involved in a number of international environmental consultancies and capacity-building programs, including for the judiciaries in China, Indonesia, Kenya, Pakistan, Sri Lanka, Thailand and Trinidad and Tobago.

Justice Preston is an Official Member of the Judicial Commission of NSW; Chair of the Environmental Law Standing Committee of the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (LAWASIA); member of the Interim Governing Committee of the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment (GJIE); member of the Environmental Law Commission of the International Union for Conservation of Nature (IUCN); member of the Australian Centre for Climate and Environmental Law (ACCEL); member of the Advisory Committee of the Asia Pacific Centre for Environmental Law (National University of Singapore); member of the Adhoc Advisory Committee of Judges, United Nations Environment Programme (UNEP) Judges Program; member of the Advisory Group on the Guide to the UNEP Bali Guidelines on Rio Principle 10; member of the International Bar Association (IBA) President’s Climate Change Justice and Human Rights Task Force; member of the United Nations/United Nations International Crimes Research Institute (UN/UNICRI) Technical Advisory Committee on combating crimes that have serious impacts on the environment: state of knowledge on approaches; and member of the Bangladesh Judicial Capacity Building and Research Partnerships Advisory Committee at Western Sydney University. He has been inducted as a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law (FAAL) and a Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW. He has also been awarded an Honorary Fellowship of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand (EIANZ).

He is the recipient of a Commendation in the 2010 Australasian Institute of Judicial Administration, Award for Excellence in Court Administration, for his work in implementing the International Framework for Court Excellence in the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales. He is also the recipient in 2010 of an award by the Asian Environmental Compliance and Enforcement Network (AECEN) in recognition of his outstanding leadership and commitment in promoting effective environmental adjudication in Asia.

Mrs Judith Preston | Macquarie University (AUSTRALIA)

Judith Preston is a solicitor admitted to practice in New South Wales and the Northern Territory, since 1982. She holds a BA LLB from Macquarie University (1981) and a MEL from the University of Sydney (1994). Judith commenced work with the Northern Land Council (NLC) primarily representing Aboriginal Traditional owners in land claims in the Northern Territory and related to the needs of Aboriginal communities in the NLC area. She was instrumental in establishing the first public interest environmental law centre, the Environmental Defender’s Office (EDO), in NSW in 1984-85. Judith then worked in a number of leading legal practices including Baker & McKenzie, DLA Piper and undertook a range of commercial matters which included litigation. For the last twelve years she has taught at a range of educational institutions. Judith’s primary teaching is at Macquarie University in a variety of environmental law subjects at undergraduate and postgraduate level. She is currently undertaking a PhD at Western Sydney University researching the question of how Indigenous knowledge can be effectively integrated into environmental decision-making to achieve both beneficial outcomes for environmental protection and Aboriginal self determination.

Mr Sythan Prou | Manulife (CAMBODIA)

Sythan Prou has more than 10 years of professional experience in the private sector, government and academia. He has joined Manulife in 2012 and established Legal & Compliance function for the Company. He is in charge of regulatory affairs, industry lobbying, legal affairs and compliance. Prior to that, he worked in the Royal Government of Cambodia since 2004.

In 2018, Sythan was included in the “40 Under 40” of Asian Legal Business (ALB) of Thomson Reuters. Every year, ALB features 40 outstanding legal professionals in the region who are under the age of 40. In 2015 and 2017, he was awarded a prestigious Star of Excellence of Manulife Asia and Insurance & Reinsurance Lawyer of the Year of Finance Monthly, respectively.

Sythan holds Master of International and Business Law from Yokohama National University (Japan) and Diploma in Public Administration from prestigious Royal School of Administration (Cambodia). He was a Principal Debater representing Yokohama National University in International Moot Court Competition on WTO Law. In 2017, he graduated from Manulife’s well-crafted executive leadership program called IGNITE. He is currently doing Executive LLM at King’s College London.

Sythan is active in academic and charitable activities. He frequently speaks in international conferences, lectures in Cambodia’s leading universities and has written articles in international publication. He is a member of Corporate Law Committee of the Bar Association of the Kingdom of Cambodia. Since 2015, he has been the Vice President of JICA Alumni of Cambodia (JICA-AC).

Mr Anand Raj | Shearn Delamore & Co. (MALAYSIA)

Anand Raj was called to the Malaysian Bar in 1996 and was admitted as a partner of Shearn Delamore & Co. in 2003.

Anand regularly represents and advises MNCs, GLCs, foreign and Malaysian enterprises on Competition Law in industries as diverse as financial services, telecommunications and multimedia, pharmaceuticals, insurance, logistics, hospitality, FMCG, manufacturing and the automotive sector, amongst others. He is actively engaged in conducting competition law audit and review exercises, trainings, and workshops for clients and event organisers. Anand has successfully handled several competition law investigations resulting in closures without findings of infringement, and also represents several clients in respect of on-going investigation defence cases. He is also active in providing feedback to the relevant authorities and agencies on issues relating to Competition Law in Malaysia.

For his work in this field Anand has been recognized by Chambers Asia Pacific as being a Band 1 Leading Individual for Antitrust in 2015 - 2018, a “Leading Lawyer” in Competition & Antitrust between 2015 - 2018, and an “Expert” by the International Who’s Who of Competition Lawyers from 2013 - 2018. Anand is the inaugural chair of LAWASIA’s Antitrust Committee and is also the Co-Chair of The Inter-Pacific Bar Association (IPBA’s) Competition Law Committee.

His Firm, Shearn Delamore & Co.’s Competition and Anti-trust practice group is recognized by the Global Competition Review in 2017 and 2018 as being an “Elite” firm and by Asialaw Profiles as an “Outstanding Firm” in 2017 and 2018.

Anand also has vast experiences in tax law. In 2017, Anand was named Asia Tax Litigation and Disputes Practice Leader of the Year by the International Tax Review and has been recognized as a Band 1 Leading Individual by Chambers Asia Pacific for Tax between 2011 - 2018. He has also been recognized as a Tax Controversy Practice Leader by the International Tax Review from 2013 - 2017 and as an “Expert” in the Who’s Who of Corporate Tax Lawyers between 2016 - 2018.

Professor Lavanya Rajamani | Centre for Policy Research (INDIA)

Lavanya Rajamani is professor at the Centre for Policy Research, New Delhi. Lavanya is an expert in the field of international environmental and climate change law. Her scholarship focuses on mutlilateral environmental treaty-making processes, differentiatiation, compliance, and the intersections of international environmental law with human rights. She has authored several books and articles in these areas. Her latest book, International Climate Change Law (OUP, 2017, co-authored with Daniel Bodansky and Jutta Brunnée) was awarded the ASIL Certificate of Merit in a Specialized Area of International Law. In July 2018 she delivered a Hague Academy of International Law Special course on the ‘International Climate Change Regime’ - she is one of only a handful of Indians to have been invited to deliver a course at the Academy since it’s foundation in 1923.

She served as Rapporteur of the ILA Committee on Legal Principles Relating to Climate Change(2008-2014) and has also served as a consultant to the UN Climate Change Secretariat, a negotiator for the Alliance of Small Island States, and a legal adviser to the Chairs of Ad Hoc Working Groups under the Framework Convention on Climate Change (FCCC) She was part of the UNFCCC core drafting and advisory team for the Paris Agreement. Further biographical details are available at: http://cprindia.org/people/lavanya-rajamani

Ms Gaythri Raman | LexisNexis Southeast Asia (MALAYSIA)

Gaythri Raman is the Managing Director of LexisNexis Southeast Asia, a leading provider of information analytics to law firms, corporations, governments, and academic institutions. Globally, LexisNexis serves customers in over 175 countries and employs over 10,0000 people. In Malaysia, the Malayan Law Journal has been reporting case law since 1932 and continues to provide premier legal content in multiple platforms serving the legal profession.

Gaythri is responsible for leading the Southeast Asia business in the development and execution of strategies to deliver innovative information analytics solutions to customers in helping them increase productivity and improve decision-making outcomes. She is also driving growth in the ASEAN region, working with partners across the multiple jurisdictions to enable access to laws and analytical tools. She speaks frequently on the topics of rule of law, legal technologies, artificial intelligence, digital transformations, and technological innovation at various events and platforms across the region.

Gaythri is legally trained and extremely passionate about the rule of law. She is a big believer in combining technology and the law to empower individuals for the betterment of society. She is a founding member of the Businesses for the Rule of Law (B4ROL) Steering Committee - an initiative by the United Nations Global Compact to support the growth of developing countries by enabling the business community to engender legal reform, transparency and rule of law. She has also led various programs and initiatives on capacity building, access to laws and justice, legal reform and education in Sri Lanka, Maldives, South Africa, Myanmar, to name a few.

Dr Derek Ritzmann | Economic Partners (HONG KONG SAR)

Dr. Derek Ritzmann is an Economic Expert at Economics Partners, working across the Asia-Pacific region based in Hong Kong.

Dr. Ritzmann has been practicing as an economist for over 20 years and specializes in the economics of competition, regulation, and arbitration. He has worked on a wide range of competition and regulation matters as an economist in both the private and public sectors, including many mergers, anti-competitive agreements, abuse of dominance cases, and economic regulation.

Dr. Ritzmann spent over a decade as a senior economist at competition and regulatory agencies and consequently has significant expertise in dealing with agencies on such matters. He was the first Chief Economist of the Hong Kong Competition Commission, in the Chief Economist Team at the European Commission’s Competition Directorate, and the Principal Economist (for both competition and telecommunications regulation) at the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission. Most recently, he headed the Asia-Pacific practice based in Hong Kong of a large economic consulting firm; previously, he worked in private practice as an economist at two leading consulting firms in Europe and as a competition lawyer in Australia.

He is listed in the Who’s Who Legal Directory as a Competition Economist and is a recent winner of a Concurrences Antitrust Writing Award.

He holds a Ph.D. in Economics from Oxford University, an M.Sc. in Economics from the London School of Economics, and is a qualified lawyer in the USA, the UK, and Australia.

Ms Courtney Robertson | Gilbert + Tobin (AUSTRALIA)

Courtney J. Robertson is a litigation lawyer at Gilbert + Tobin in Sydney, and a registered migration agent. She holds a Master of Laws from Columbia University in the City of New York. Courtney has a broad range of experience in all forms of dispute resolution across a variety of practice areas including competition and regulation, corporate and regulatory investigations, cyber security, data and privacy, employment, energy and resources, government, and healthcare.

Courtney is an active member of the legal community, particularly with respect to gender equality. She recently undertook a six month contract position as a consultant with UN Women in New York and is a council member of Gilbert + Tobin’s inaugural Diversity Council. Courtney is the Secretary of the UNCITRAL Committee of LAWASIA. Courtney has significant pro bono experience including with the Refugee Advice & Casework Service, the Top End Women’s Legal Service, and the Aboriginal Legal Service of Western Australia.

Mr Severin Roelli | Pestalozzi Law (SWITZERLAND)

Severin Roelli is a partner and member of the Zurich Corporate/M&A group of Pestalozzi, one of the best-qualified, independent Swiss law firms, with offices in Zurich and Geneva. He advises both foreign and domestic clients on private and public m&a transactions, acquisition finance, capital market, securities and stock exchange law, corporate reorganizations, joint venture and general corporate law. He is an authorized issuer’s representative at the SIX Swiss Exchange.

Severin Roelli graduated from the University of Zurich in 1998 (lic.iur.) and from the Columbia University School of Law, New York in 2002 (LL.M., Harlan Fiske Stone Scholar). He was admitted to the bar in 2000, after which he joined Pestalozzi in 2002 and became partner in 2007. From 2008 to 2010 he was Vice-Chair of the Banking, Finance and Securities Law Commission of AIJA and is currently Chair of AIJA’s M&A Commission. Severin Roelli is also member of several other professional associations. His professional languages are German and English.

Mr Johannes C. Sahetapy-Engel | Arfidea Kadri Sahetapy-engel Tisnadisastra (INDONESIA)

Johannes practiced as an international lawyer in Singapore and US firms in Singapore for approximately six years, during which time he was involved in various cross‐border transactions.

Johannes advises clients on upstream oil and gas transactions, financings, mergers & acquisitions, and other project works. More recently, Johannes has developed considerable experience in labor and employment matters as well as commercial dispute resolutions (including commercial litigation and labor disputes).

Chambers & Partners quoted that “Johannes has been commended for his top‐notch communication skills and outstanding client service” (Chambers & Partners, 2010).

Johannes maintains close contact with Government officials at various Ministries and agencies. He was actively involved in the revisions of the Presidential Regulations regarding the list of business fields that open or closed for investments and the establishment of the One‐Stop Investment Service. Johannes is also the Vice Chairperson of Forum Hukum Energi, a not‐for‐profit organization which maintains close relationship with the Ministry of Energy and Mineral Resources and its Directorate Generals in analyzing and providing input in connection with natural resources‐related regulations and policies.

His experience, expertise, and active involvement in the industry support the firm’s total legal solution for natural resources clients.

Ms Akiko Sato | Kotonoha Law (JAPAN)

Attorney at Law admitted in Japan, engaged in human rights issues both in Japan and Cambodia; specialized in Access to Justice for socially vulnerable people including persons with disabilities, and Business and Human Rights such as Human Rights Due Diligence.
Gained an MA in Development Studies major in Human Rights from International Institute of Social Studies of Erasmus University Rotterdam in The Hague and a JD from Hitotsubashi University in Tokyo. A fellow of Asia Centre, a think tank focusing on politics and human rights in Asia based in Bangkok. From 2018, an officer of the Office of International Affairs of Japan Federation of Bar Associations.

In 2010, Akiko worked as a part-time lecturer of Japanese Laws in the Research and Education Centre for Japanese Law located in the Royal University of Law and Economics in Phnom Penh, Cambodia.

As a lawyer, she has dealt with a wide range of civil and criminal cases in relation to persons with disabilities. She served as a Legal Commissioner of Psychiatric Review Board established under the Act on Mental and Welfare for persons with mental disabilities in 2014-2015; reviewed claims for discharge from persons under involuntary hospitalisations. In the process of reviewing, she heard opinions of the patient and a psychiatrist examining the patient, and in some cases conducted interviews with family members of the patient and social workers.

She also conducted some field research on land grabbing and labour exploitation cases in Cambodia as a member of Human Rights Now, Japan-based human rights NGO. She got involved in Business and Human Rights project in UNDP Asia-Pacific in 2017. She provides advice toward companies from the perspective of international human rights law to hold them accountable for any human rights violations throughout their supply chain in Japan and abroad.

Mr Winston Seow | KhattarWong LLP (SINGAPORE)

Winston Seow leads the Asia corporate team at international law firm, Withers KhattarWong. His practice covers a wide spectrum of corporate work including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, corporate finance, and banking and corporate restructuring.

Winston has extensive experience advising on cross border transactions and foreign direct investment in Asia, in particular, Indonesia, China, Malaysia, Thailand and Vietnam. His clients include local and foreign small and medium enterprises, multinational corporations and state-owned enterprises, the majority of which are in the energy and shipping industries.

Mr Tao Shan | Yingke Law Firm (CHINA)

Davy Shan, Senior Partner of Yingke Law Firm Guangzhou Office, which is one of the largest law firms in China, and has 47 offices all over the country and nearly 6000 lawyers and assistants. Mr Shan is the Director of the International Legal Affairs Department and Director of Legal Pro bono Center of the firm.

Starting from studying law in Zhongnan University of Economics and Law in 1999, which is one of the top law universities in China, Mr Shan obtained his Bachelor’s degree of law in 2003 and obtained a Master’s Degree of Civil and Commercial Law in the same University. Besides, he has been a Doctor of Administrative Law in Zhongnan University of Economics and Law since 2012. Through more than ten years’ studying on laws, Mr Shan has a good knowledge of different comprehensive laws and regulations of China, development of legal system of China, and court system of China.

During his more than ten years’ practice career, Mr Shan has been active and professional in legal services from disputes resolution to non-litigation areas, especially in civil, commercial and financial aspects, such as company governance, share transfer, dissolution, bankruptcy, liquidation, finance and investment, securities, private equity and so on.

Due to his outstanding performance, he has been enrolled in many national talent pools including National Lawyers Association’s Foreign Legal Affairs Leadership Talents, China Ministry of Justice “National Directory of Thousand Foreign-related Lawyers” and the “Belt and Road” cross-border lawyers pool of China Ministry of Justice and the National Lawyers Association.

He has also participated and graduated in several international professional training courses and activities held in the UK (BPP University)and the USA(Temple University) and sponsored by China Lawyer Association.

As the Director of Legal Pro Bono Center of Yingke Guangzhou Office, Mr Shan has organized and participated in many activities of legal assistance to commonweal organizations and those vulnerable people and group for public interest and responsibilities.

Mr Jack Sheehan | DFDL (LAOS)

Jack is a Partner and the Head of the Regional Tax Practice. He specializes in providing advice on international tax planning, mergers and acquisitions and general tax advisory. Jack has extensive experience in advising clients on inbound and outbound investments and complex tax matters in Asia.

He is featured regularly as a speaker and writer on international tax in the Asia region. Jack is a member of the Editorial Board for Bloomberg BNA on tax treaties, a contributor for the International Bureau for Fiscal Documentation, and a member of the International Fiscal Association.

Jack was shortlisted as Asia Tax Leader 2016 and is listed as a leader for tax controversy by International Tax Review. He is a post graduate student at the University of Oxford where he reads Tax Law and is a Fellow of the Association of Chartered Certified Accountants.

Jack and his team have received a number of awards and accolades including Cambodia Tax Firm of the Year 2018, Jack shortlisted as Asia Tax Leader 2018 and 2018 Innovation and Excellence Award.

Mr Leslie Shen | Wintell & Co (CHINA)

From 2009 to 2010, Leslie was selected by the Ministry of Justice and the National Lawyers’ Association to participate in the prestigious Lord Chancellor’s Training Scheme with ten other outstanding lawyers. During his one year in London, Leslie worked in a world-renowned law firm and a leading Barristers’ Chambers and studied English law at the University of London.

After returning to China in 2010, Leslie joined the Shanghai representative office of a leading international law firm. In the past seven years since he has been with the firm, he has handled a good number of complex multi-jurisdictional cases, covering areas of supply chain finance and trade, finance lease, banking, insurance and E-commerce legal services etc, many of which have significant impact in both China and abroad. He counts amongst his clients internet finance companies, large trading companies, insurance and reinsurance companies, commodities companies, energy companies, shipping and logistics companies, etc.

Leslie has handled quite a few challenging disputes in connection with the developments in financing and banking business areas, such as supply chain financing and financing platform services. He has therefore a very good understanding of the financing and banking industries as well as their nature and characteristics under Chinese law. Leslie is also clever at combining his extensive experience in traditional finance with the rising internet finance, E-commerce and IP markets in China. Leslie has given a speech at the Global Counsel Conference in Geneva, and has been a guest speaker at the annual meeting of the national maritime law lawyers for several years.

Clients recommend Leslie for his solid legal skills, rigorous thinking, superior capability and quick response. Leslie was also recently rated by Legal 500 as the “Next Generation Lawyer” for “Dispute Resolution” and “Shipping” in 2016. He is one of only four lawyers to receive such recognition.

Mr Phanna Sok | The School For Field Students—Center For Environmental Research In Conservation And Development Studies (CAMBODIA)

Holding a Master of Environmental Law from The University of Melbourne, Australia, and two Bachelor’s Degrees from Cambodian universities (one in law and the other in education), Mr. Phanna Sok has been working in the field of human rights and environmental law for more than a decade. Throughout his professional experience, Mr. Sok has been in management, advisory and research roles where he has run law firms and non-governmental organizations. Besides, he was a member of the Sub-Technical Working Group to draft the Environment and Natural Resources Code of Cambodia where he provided legal inputs into the draft Code. He was also a coordinator and member of the Technical Working Group to draft the Law on Environmental Impact Assessment of Cambodia from 2011 to 2014. Moreover, he has done some research on climate change litigation in Cambodia for the Asian Development Bank and provided advice on various human rights and environmental law issues to non-governmental organizations, government agencies, and interested individuals. Apart from this, he has been teaching law, including environmental law, since 2016. His research interests include environmental rights; environmental justice; and public participation in environmental impact assessment.

Dr Siphana Sok | Soksiphana&associates; (CAMBODIA)

Dr. SOK Siphana is a practicing attorney and the Managing Partner at SokSiphana&associates/a member of ZICO Law, a law and consulting firm in Phnom Penh.

Dr. Sok has unique experiences and insights related to the development of the Cambodian legal system, the business environment and the intricacy of the commercial and investment law evolution in Cambodia. His vast hands on experiences currently as a Senior Advisor of the Royal Government of Cambodia and formerly as a Secretary of State in the Ministry of Commerce, where he worked extensively on issues related to commercial and investment legal framework, trade policies, and economic integration, gives him a unique perspective on both the macro and micro needs of businesses and foreign investors alike. In the area of policy formulation and policy mainstreaming he was responsible for negotiating successfully Cambodia’s accession to the WTO in 2004.

Mr Paul Sugden | Monash Business School, Monash University (AUSTRALIA)

Paul Sugden is a lecturer of the Department of Business Law and Taxation, Monash University. He completed a BA and LLB (Qld), and completed a Master of Laws at Queen Mary College, University of London. He has practices in the United Kingdom and Australia, both in the private and public arenas. He practiced in commercial law specialising in intellectual property joint ventures. His field of research is issues in intellectual property, particularly the issues of copyright piracy, protection of fashion and remedial issues. He was the legal columnist for 16 years on legal issues affecting textile artists for the Australian Form of Textile Arts.

Ms Winnie Tam SC JP | Des Voeux Chambers (HONG KONG SAR)

Winnie is a Senior Counsel of the Hong Kong Bar, appointed by the Chief Justice in 2006. She is also a barrister of England and Wales, and admitted as solicitor and advocate in Singapore and the Australian Capital Territory.

She was the Chairman of the Hong Kong Bar Association between January 2015 to January 2017 and in that capacity spearheaded a number of significant reforms. In 2015, she was appointed a Recorder of the Court of First Instance, High Court of the Hong Kong SAR. In 2016, she was honoured as an Overseas Bencher of the Middle Temple Society.

Winnie’s legal practice is in international arbitration and civil and commercial litigation with an emphasis on joint venture disputes and intellectual property. She is fully bilingual in Chinese and English, and has an excellent command of Putonghua and written Chinese.

Winnie is a panel arbitrator of a number of established Arbitral institutions, and has been invited many times as speaker in major international arbitration events. She was a member of the working group of the Department of Justice on the arbitrability of intellectual property rights, and has contributed to the drafting of a bill presented to LegCo in December 2016.

In arbitration practice, Winnie has been appointed presiding arbitrator and co-arbitrator in arbitrations governed by various rules including UNCITRAL, HKIAC, SCIA and ICC rules. These involve international commercial and joint-venture disputes, international intellectual property disputes, international gaming rights licensing disputes and foreign investment disputes in the PRC. She has been appointed as arbitrator in arbitrations to be conducted both in English and in Chinese. She has acted as leading counsel and co-counsel in international arbitrations and court actions in aid of international arbitration.

In addition to her legal practice, Winnie also serves as the Chairman of Hong Kong’s Communications Authority, overseeing public and licensing issues in the broadcasting and telecommunication industry. In 2018, she was awarded the title one of “The World’s Outstanding Chinese” by the International Chinese Chamber of Commerce.

Mr Kentaro Tanaka | TMI Associates (JAPAN)

Kentaro Tanaka concentrates his practice on franchising, M&A and alliance transactions. He had worked more than seven years at the Tokyo office of TMI Associates and dealt with not only Japanese domestic transactions but also international transactions. In 2016, he was awarded the John Baer Franchising Scholarship at the ABA Franchising Forum. To expand the field to be more global, he attended the LL.M. program of the University of Michigan Law School and graduated in May of 2018. Currently, he is working as a foreign associate at Mayer Brown LLP in the Corporate practice of their Chicago office and is mainly involved in transactions in the U.S. He is a co-author of the Japan portions of the Franchise Law Review Edition V (2018), Getting the Deal Through - Commercial Contracts (2018) and the International Franchise Handbook 2nd Edition (2017). In addition to these English articles, he authored more than 30 articles or books in Japanese. Recently, he co-authored A Guide for Legal Due Diligence in M&A According to Business Type (2018). He gave lectures on Development in Asia Using Franchises in 2016, and Points to Keep in Mind, and Analyzing and Organizing Judicial Precedents Concerning Representations and Warranties in M&A and Intercompany Transactions in 2015.

Mr Zi Li Tay | ZICO Law (VIETNAM)

Zi Li is a partner in ZICO Law Vietnam and at 28 years old, is the youngest partner in the ZICO Law network. Based in Ho Chi Minh City, Zi Li regularly advises on a range of cross border corporate and commercial transactions including joint venture projects, shareholders agreements, takeovers and mergers, and foreign investments into Vietnam. One of the notable recent transaction that Zi Li advised on is AAPICO Hitech Public Company Limited’s joint venture on auto body stamping and welding with VinFast Manufacturing and Trading Company, a subsidiary of Vingroup, which is the largest conglomerate in Vietnam.

Zi Li has extensive experience in advising foreign and local sponsors, lenders, borrowers and issuers in banking transactions, project financing transactions and debt capital markets transactions, both conventional and Islamic.

Zi Li regularly delivers presentations to international audiences, having recently presented at the IPBA in Manila on Islamic Finance. He also conducts in-house training sessions for financial institutions such as HSBC and CIMB.

Zi Li joined Zaid Ibrahim & Co in 2011 as a Trainee Associate and was retained in the Debt Capital Markets & Structured Finance department in 2012. He was made a co-executive partner of ZICO Law Vietnam in 2018.

Ms Jenny Tsin | WongPartnership LLP (SINGAPORE)

Jenny TSIN is the Joint Head of the Employment Practice and a Partner in both the Commercial & Corporate Disputes Practice and the Corporate Governance & Compliance Practice. Jenny’s dispute resolution experience extends to both litigation and arbitration, across a wide range of matters including employment law, directors’ duties and liabilities, commercial and corporate disputes and regulatory matters.

Jenny is recognised as a leading lawyer for Employment in Singapore by Chambers Asia-Pacific and The Legal 500, as well as a leading practitioner in the area of Labour & Employment in Best Lawyers, Asialaw Leading Lawyer, Asialaw Profiles and Who’s Who Legal. Jenny is also the only Singapore practitioner identified as a Thought Leader in Labour & Employment by Who’s Who Legal. Chambers Asia-Pacific applauds Jenny for her “very good technical knowledge” and for being “very mindful of the possible adverse publicity that these matters can generate and advises accordingly.” Who’s Who Legal also praises her for giving “very timely responses”, offering “high-quality advice” and that she “demonstrates deep subject matter knowledge.” Jenny is a Vice-Chair of the International Pacific Bar Association’s Employment & Immigration Committee. She is also is a facilitator with the Singapore Institute of Legal Education.

Jenny graduated from the National University of Singapore and is admitted to the Singapore Bar. Before joining WongPartnership, Jenny served as State Counsel and Deputy Public Prosecutor with the Attorney General’s Chambers.

Mr Ravin Vello | Vello & Associates (MALAYSIA)

RAVIN VELLO is an Advocate & Solicitor in Malaysia who practices mainly in the area of Technology Litigation and Corporate Cybercrime Infrastructures with particular emphasis on risk management on information systems. He has covered numerous technology litigation cases and issues since the year 2000 relating to Internet Defamation; Identity Theft; Distributed Denial of Service Litigation and Software Systems Failure Disputes; Theft of Confidential Information; Theft of Source Codes; Cybercrimes; Copyright Infringement Involving Technology; Admissibility of Digital Evidence; Challenging Digital Forensic Experts etc. Apart from litigation, Ravin also gives private and public talks in seminars and conferences on the topics of electronic evidence, computer forensics, cross examining computer forensic experts; information security litigation, data theft, blockchain analysis and tracking bitcoin; IOT and cybercrime and cybersecurity technology litigation. He also advises on the development of information society platforms.

Ms Laarni Victoria Q. Vinas | SHUSAKU·YAMAMOTO (JAPAN)

Laarni Victoria Quidoles Vinas is a triple-qualified (Attorney-at-Law Philippines and New York and Solicitor of the Supreme Court in England and Wales) Senior Attorney working in SHUSAKU·YAMAMOTO Law Firm, one of the most prominent Intellectual Property firms in Japan. She became one of the youngest recipient to receive the Naga City Government, Leon SA Aureus Award for the Legal Category, which she received for her legal service earlier this year.

She finished her bachelor’s degree, with a scholarship in Ateneo de Manila University and thereafter obtained her Juris Doctor from University of the Philippines. She completed a diploma course in Advance Study of Comparative Patent Laws (Japan, Europe and US Patent Laws) and Advance Study of US Intellectual Property Laws in Osaka Institute of Technology and was also one of the select participants for the WIPO Intensive Summer School Program in Singapore.

Ms. Vinas have been invited and given various trainings to inventors, paralegals and lawyers regarding different Intellectual Property issues including, among others, cross-border transactions and licensing, prosecution matters and post-grant challenges.

Ms. Vinas manages a team of attorneys from different jurisdictions to provide integrated strategy on IP enforcement. She also has a demonstrated history of working on food, pharmaceutical and healthcare matters, providing transactional and regulatory advice to various multi-national companies. In the course of her work, she was one of the lawyers named in the Japanese Business Law Journal, the 2016 Lawyers Guide. She was acknowledged in an article in the Horitsu Jiho Journal, one of the oldest and most prestigious legal journal in Japan, for her contribution on an article regarding the Hatch-Waxman Act, a United States federal law on the manufacture of generic drugs by the pharmaceutical industries.

Mr Jun Wang | Capital Alliance ADR Advisory Services (HONG KONG SAR)

Jun Wang, a PRC-born Australian national, is the founder and director of Hong Kong-based boutique arbitration and dispute management firm Capital Alliance ADR Advisory Services (“Capital Alliance”). He also serves as a Senior Instructor at the Legal Practice Education Centre of Macau University of Science and Technology on a part-time basis. Jun splits his time between Greater China and Australasia and frequently travels to Singapore and other parts of the Asia Pacific to work with his clients.

Jun is a Mandarin-English bilingual disputes specialist who read law in China, Australia and England. Prior to setting up Capital Alliance in 2012, Jun has had extensive experience working with leading Chinese and UK/US international law firms in China, Australia, Singapore and Hong Kong offices for twelve years.

Jun is experienced in advising clients on China/Asia-related international commercial arbitrations taking place in various arbitral seats in Asia Pacific and Europe under various arbitration rules. He has been involved in the representation of multinational companies and high net worth individuals to conduct legal proceedings through court systems in China, Hong Kong, Macau, Taiwan, Singapore, India, Thailand, Australia, Canada and the European Union. He is also well versed in international investment and trade law disputes.

Jun is the first ever (and the only) PRC-born individual admitted as a Fellow and panel arbitrator by the Australian Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (ACICA) and serves as Greater China representative of ACICA’s Practice & Procedures Board. He is the first ever (and the only) PRC-born individual approved as a Fellow of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand (FAMINZ). He is the first ever (and the only) PRC-born individual admitted to the panel of accredited mediators of the Singapore International Mediation Institute. Jun is one of the first PRC-born individuals admitted as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (FSIArb). Jun has also been appointed to the panel of arbitrators of the Asian International Arbitration Centre as well as panels of arbitrators of several PRC domestic arbitration commissions. Jun is also an International Accredited Professional Mediator at the Mainland-Hong Kong Joint Mediation Centre (MHJMC) and an Accredited Mediator at Singapore Mediation Centre.

Jun is the only PRC-born individual appointed as an Ambassador to the ICC Belt & Road Commission.

Jun was admitted as an attorney-at-law in China in 2001. He was admitted as a Lawyer in the Supreme Court of New South Wales and as a Barrister and Solicitor in the High Court of Australia in 2006. Jun was admitted as a Solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales in 2009. Jun was admitted as a Barrister and Solicitor in the High Court of New Zealand in 2014.

Ms Aswini Weereratne QC | Doughty Street Chambers (UK)

Aswini Weereratne QC practises at Doughty Street Chambers in London and is an acknowledged expert in human rights, mental health and capacity law, focusing, in particular, on the protection of vulnerable adults and young people in many different spheres of life. She utilises her expertise in a wide range of practice areas and cases, including in the Court of Protection, and concerning public and private law issues, actions against state bodies, including assault and unlawful detention claims, historic child abuse claims, inquests and inquiries, reporting restrictions and international law. In addition she has a strong background in investigatory, and regulatory work and is a qualified mediator.

Mr Anthony Wong | AGW Lawyers & Consultants (AUSTRALIA)

Anthony is the CEO of AGW Lawyers & Consultants, a multidisciplinary law and consulting practice advising in many aspects of IT and the Digital Economy, including commercial, intellectual property law, privacy and data protection, cybersecurity law, contracts and licensing, and the emerging issues arising from the convergence of technologies including the Internet of Things (IoT), Big Data, Artificial Intelligence (AI), Machine Learning, Cloud and Blockchain.

A IT lawyer and an ex-CIO, Anthony brings unique experiences and skills to assist organisation and government both in Australia and internationally. He recognises the need for leading edge thinking and innovative solutions that enable clients to maximise the opportunities from the Digital Economy but still minimise the risks propagated by the rapidly changing sphere of technological advancement and its deployment in business, government and society.

Anthony has held senior management positions in multinational corporations and government. He has advised on and managed many of the technological challenges, legal, policy and regulatory issues confronting business and government. As CIO for the Australian Tourist Commission he spearheaded the organization through the era of digital marketing during the Sydney 2000 Olympics and led the digital transformation of Thomson in the Asia Pacific.

Anthony served on the IT Industry Innovation Council for the Australian Government. He also chaired the NSW Government ICT Advisory Panel and served on the NSW Digital Transformation Taskforce. He is the Immediate Past President of the Australian Computer Society and Past Presidents of SEARCC - a confederation of technology professional associations in the Asia Pacific region and the NZ Society for Computers and The Law.

Anthony is also a Board member of the International Federation for Information Processing (IFIP) established under the auspices of UNESCO.

Anthony graduated with double degrees in Computer Science and Law from Monash University, Master of Laws in Media, Communications and IT from University of New South Wales and a Master of Intellectual Property from University Technology Sydney.

He is a regular commentator and presenter on topical issues on various print and online media, radio and TV, and speaker at various national and international forums including at the UN Internet Governance Forum (IGF), World Summit on the Information Society (WSIS) in Geneva, and the World Chinese Economic Forum.

Mr Evan Xian Yifan | Loeb & Loeb (HONG KONG SAR)

Evan is dual qualified in Mainland China and Hong Kong.

Evan uses English and Chinese (Mandarin and Cantonese) fluently as working languages.

Evan maintains a diverse litigation practice, with a particular focus on intellectual property, corporate and commercial transactions. He has also extensive experience in domestic and cross-border litigation, arbitration and enforcement involving intellectual property law and commercial law, and regularly represents clients before various Chinese courts, Hong Kong courts and Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre.

Prior to private practice, Evan worked in the judiciary of Mainland China, judging various complex cases in trial and appellate proceedings. He thereafter went to the University of Hong Kong for further study and passed the qualification examination of Hong Kong Solicitor. He had worked in Deacons, which is the biggest law firm in Hong Kong, and now he is the senior partner of Lian Yue Law Firm which is headquartered in Guangdong, and the consultant solicitor of Hong Kong office of Loeb & Loeb.

Evan is in the list of 1000 Elite International Lawyers named by the Ministry of Justice of China. Widely viewed as a thought leader in the legal community, Evan has been invited by the Hong Kong General Chamber of Commerce and Hong Kong Legislative Councilors to lead numerous seminars spanning a variety of topics.

Mr Atsushi Yamada | Anderson Mori & Tomotsune (JAPAN)

Atsushi Yamada is a partner at the Tokyo office of Anderson Mori & Tomotsune focusing on competition law. Prior to joining Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, he has worked at a Tokyo office of a US law firm and a local Japanese firm after serving as a judge at the Tokyo District Court as well as other courts. With such background, Mr. Yamada has extensive experience in litigation and general corporate matters.

His competition law practice covers all aspects of competition law including assisting clients in investigations by competition authorities (cartels/dominance/unfair trade practices), representation in courts/tribunals challenging decisions made by competition authorities, follow-on civil litigation, and merger filings. He also provides advice relating to structuring new businesses and compliance programs. His clients include both multinational and Japanese companies in various industries, such as information technology, pharmaceutical, manufacturing, construction, transportation, financial institutions and trading houses.

Mr Teong Liang Yap | Chair of LAWASIA Family Law & Family Rights Section (SINGAPORE)

Yap Teong Liang was called to the Bar of England and Wales (Middle Temple) in 1991 and admitted as an Advocate & Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Singapore in June 1992. On 10th June 2002, he set up his boutique law firm specialising in Family Law.

Teong Liang has represented high net worth clients and handles cases involving foreign marriages, cross-border international jurisdictional and forum issues (Australia, China, France, Germany, Hong Kong, United Kingdom, United States of America), complex child abduction and relocation cases, child custody and access cases, maintenance for the child and wife, division of matrimonial assets and family violence.

He is listed as a Preeminent and Leading Family & Divorce Lawyer in the Doyle’s Guide.

Teong Liang also practices as a Collaborative Family Practitioner, Parenting Coordinator and is an Associate Mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre and an Accredited Mediator with the Family Justice Courts and Regent’s University, London (Mediation and Psychology). He is on the panel of Cross-Border Family Mediators of Mediation bei Internationalen Kindschaftskonflikten (MiKK), Berlin, Germany and the Cross-Border Family Mediator’s Network.
He was Chairperson of the Family Law Practice Committee of the Law Society of Singapore from 2006 to 2015 and is currently the Chairperson of the Family Law Section and Vice-President of LAWASIA.
He is appointed by the Chief Justice as a member of the Family Justice Rules Committee constituted pursuant to Section 46(1) of the Family Justice Act and appointed onto the panel of Child Representatives by the Family Justice Courts since October 2014.

Mr Baohu Yin | China Legal Exchange Center, China Law Society (CHINA)

Yin Baohu currently serves as Director General of China Legal Exchange Center. He is also the Secretary General of the Law Association for Relations across the Taiwan Straits and a part-time research fellow at Law School of Tsinghua University.

Mr Yin has Personal academic research fields and concerns include jurisprudence, international human rights law and law for relations across the Taiwan Straits.

In 2014, Yin Baohu presided over the China Law Society’s research on Legal Risks and Strategies for Economic and Trade Investment in Five Central Asian Countries, and has been well published on the websites of China Law Society and China News Review among others.

Mr Yin was elected to LAWASIA’s Executive Committee by Council in September 2017.

Mr George Varughese | President of the Malaysian Bar (MALAYSIA)

George Varughese graduated with an LLB (Hons) (Manchester) degree in 1988 and thereafter obtained his LLM degree from University Malaya in 1998. His professional qualifications include Barrister-at-Law from Lincoln’s Inn and MMI Arbs. He is also a certified Adjudicator with the Kuala Lumpur Regional Centre for Arbitration (“KLRCA”) and a certified Mediator of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (“CIArb”).

George was the Chairman of the Selangor Bar Committee from 2004 to 2007. He also served as the Treasurer, Secretary, and Vice-President of the Malaysian Bar, before being elected as the current President.

Mr Henning von Zanthier | VON ZANTHIER & SCHULZ (GERMANY)

Founding Partner of VON ZANTHIER & SCHULZ with offices in Berlin, Germany and Poznań, Poland.

Following his legal studies in Germany and France, Henning von Zanthier obtained the LL.M. degree at Tulane University in the United States in 1989. In 1991, he was admitted to the Berlin bar and started working at a large international law firm. He founded the law firm “VON ZANTHIER & SCHULZ” in Berlin in 1992, with its focus on business law for companies. In 1995, he established the first German linked law firm in Poznań. In 2003, he was the first member as a foreign lawyer at the Poznań bar, Poland. He is the first non-Polish lawyer who has also been fully admitted to the chamber in Poznań. He lectured on Polish law at the Free University of Berlin between 2004 - 2007. He focuses on corporate law, commercial law and Polish renewable energy law. Henning von Zanthier was the chairman of the Polish-German Association of Legal Experts between 1993 and 1998. He is one of the founders and current president of the League of Lawyers – an association of medium-sized business law firms from Asia and Europe. He has authored a number of articles on Polish-German Business. He regularly gives lectures on this subject for various institutions. He also lectures at the Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań on UN Convention on International Sales of Goods (CISG). His law firm has also clients from China, Japan and India, who invest in Germany or Poland.

Languages: German, English, Polish, French

Mr Kaung Htet Zaw | Bae, Kim & Lee LLC (MYANMAR)

Kaung Htet Zaw is a foreign (Myanmar) attorney of Bae, Kim & Lee LLC, a Korea law firm. He received both his LL.B and LL.M. from University of Dagon (Myanmar) and from University of Yangon (Myanmar) in 2006 and 2009 respectively. He then completed his studies at the Transnational Law and Business University (Korea) where he received master of international business law (LL.M.) in 2012. In 2013, he has obtained his Myanmar lawyer license. In 2017, he was also appointed, by legal counsel commission of Ministry of Justice of Korea, as a member of International Legal Affairs Division which provides free legal counseling and legal assistance service for Korea small or middle sized companies investing abroad.

He is also a director of the BKL Myanmar which is a subsidiary company of Bae, Kim & Lee LLC. His practice includes construction, investment and arbitration relating to Myanmar. He has provided advisory services for many companies for variety of projects including residential/commercial complex development project, hotel BOT project, microfinance project, livestock breeding project, forestry business and Power Plant project in Myanmar. He also published a booklet on research of Myanmar legal system relating to domestic/overseas investment as contracted by the National Competitiveness Promotion Committee.

Mr Libin Zhang | Broad & Bright (CHINA)

Mr. Zhang received his J.D. from the University of Texas at Austin School of Law in 1997 and B.A. in economics from the University of International Business and Economics in 1987.

Mr. Zhang has been practicing law in China since 1997. His practice covers foreign direct investment (JVs and WFOE), M&A (including shares acquisitions and assets purchases, carve-out, restructuring, assets sales and spin-offs), technology licensing and transfer and dispute resolution with strength in energy sector. He advises multinational and Chinese corporate clients on their cross-border direct investments and M&A projects.

Mr. Zhang has more than 20 years of experience in both private legal practice and in-house corporate experience. He started his legal career as associate with Paul, Weiss (New York and Beijing) and subsequently with White & Case (Shanghai). In 2006, Mr. Zhang joined Baker Botts (Beijing) as partner and Beijing Chief Representative after working as in-house counsel at ABB. Prior to joining Broad & Bright to head its energy practice in 2015, Mr. Zhang served as Head of Legal M&A, Asia & Australia at Siemens and supervised more than 20 M&A and JV projects in less than 3 years.

Mr. Zhang is arbitrator for CIETAC and Beijing Arbitration Commission, and also a member of Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN). He was specially recognized as an arbitrator in the energy-related disputes. He is the reporter of the Beijing Arbitration Commission Energy Dispute Resolution Annual Observation Reports in 2013, 2014, 2015, 2016 and 2017, and author of a chapter on China’s oil and gas industry in Chambers’ 2017 publication, the Global Practice Guide: Energy: Oil and Gas.

Back To Top