The audience will have the opportunity to hear from the Secretary General of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, and distinguished academia members and practitioners on recent developments in international commercial arbitration. The panel will address what arbitrators, attorneys and in-house counsel need to know.
Welcome Remarks
Antonia Tzinova, Partner, Holland & Knight LLP, Advisory Past President, WFLS
With the special participation of
Alexander G. Fessas, Secretary General of the ICC International Court of Arbitration (Paris, France)
Lorraine M. Brennan Esq., Arbitrator, JAMS New York, and Adjunct Professor of Law, Georgetown Law Center
Anne Marie Whitesell, Professor of Law, LL.M. Program and Faculty Director, Program on International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution, Georgetown Law Center
Moderator
Alexandra Bochnakova, Partner of SELAS BOCHNAKOVA, WFLS Co-Chair of Programs and Member of the Board of Governors
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Alexander G. Fessas is the Secretary General of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. As Secretary General, he is responsible for the operational management and coordination of the ICC Court’s Secretariat and other dispute resolution services in Paris, Hong Kong, New York, Sao Paolo and Singapore. He joined the Secretariat in late 2011 and held consecutive positions in three case management teams, of which two as counsel. Prior to his appointment as Secretary General, he was the Secretariat’s Managing Counsel over a three-year term. He read law at the University of Athens, Greece having specialized in international commercial transactions and conflict of laws. Prior to joining the ICC Court, he practised as counsel out of Athens where he established a sole practice in 2008. He was previously an associate at an Athens-based law firm. During the same period, he was also the editor-in-chief of the Revue hellénique de droit international. He is admitted to the Athens Bar and speaks English, French and Greek.
Lorraine M. Brennan, Esq. is an accomplished national and international dispute resolution professional. She is recognized and respected for her broad range of professional experience involving complex commercial litigation, domestic and international arbitration and mediation, and her service as a distinguished global member of law school faculties from the United States to China. Ms. Brennan was selected to the 2017 Experts Guide for Commercial Arbitration. Ms. Brennan is a highly sought-after speaker and frequent lecturer on complex commercial dispute resolution. She maintains leadership roles in multiple organizations, including ArbitralWomen, the International and Dispute Resolution Sections of the American Bar Association and the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (Advisory Board Member). Ms. Brennan is one of only eight members appointed by the U.S. State Department to serve on the NAFTA 2022 Advisory Committee on Private Commercial Disputes. She is proficient in French and has a working knowledge in Spanish. Ms. Brennan serves as an adjunct Professor teaching International Commercial Arbitration at the Georgetown University Law Center, and taught International Business Transactions at Cornell Law School and Shantou Law School, Guangdong, China.
Anne Marie Whitesell is Professor, LL.M. Program and Faculty Director, Program on International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution at Georgetown University Law Center in Washington D.C. Prior to joining Georgetown, she practised with the law firm Dechert LLP in Washington and Paris. Ms Whitesell was Secretary General of the ICC International Court of Arbitration from 2001 to 2007. She also previously taught at the Université de Paris I, the Institut de Droit Comparé and Georgetown. Ms Whitesell has practised with law firms in both the United States and in France, and has acted as arbitrator and counsel in numerous international arbitration cases. She serves as a member of various boards and committees related to dispute resolution and is the Director of the Alternative Dispute Resolution Center of the International Law Institute. Ms Whitesell received her A.B. from Smith College, her J.D. from the University of Virginia School of Law and her Doctorate in Law from the Université de Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne. She is admitted to the New York State Bar, the District of Columbia Bar and the US District Courts for the Southern and Eastern Districts of New York.
