Ben is an experienced counsel at the English Bar and an arbitrator in international commercial disputes. He is a member of 39 Essex Chambers and is English qualified, however, he has lived and worked in Asia for more than 10 years. In his counsel work, he provides advisory and advocacy services across a broad range of sectors, principally general commercial, international trade and commodities, business sales and purchases, joint venture and other commercial agreements, energy, and insurance and re-insurance. He has acted for private and state-owned enterprises in many jurisdictions. Most of his work is multi-jurisdictional and involves issues of private international and foreign law. Ben also sits regularly as an arbitrator (50+ appointments) and has been appointed under all of the leading arbitral rules in matters with seats in Singapore, Australia, India, Hong Kong, Vietnam, Russia, France and England among others. He is recommended as counsel and/or as arbitrator in the leading regional directories.

Ms. WANG Weijun, Secretary-General of Shanghai International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (Shanghai International Arbitration Center), Vice President of Shanghai Arbitration Association, Vice Chairman of Permanent Forum of China Construction Law (PFCCL). Ms. Wang is listed arbitrator of several arbitration institutions with senior experience in arbitration. She actively promotes the development and innovation of arbitration mechanism by establishing China (Shanghai) Pilot Free Trade Zone Court of Arbitration and CAJAC Shanghai Center, promulgating Free Trade Arbitration Rules, and launching the international aviation arbitration mechanism etc. Ms. Wang is the member of the Shanghai Law Society Arbitration Law Research Association and Aviation Law Research Association and serves as part-time graduate tutors in Fudan University, East China University of Political Science and Law etc. Ms. Wang is listed in the Shanghai Young Talent Pool of Jurisprudence and Law and Shanghai Oriental Top Talent Program.

Adrian Cole is an Independent Arbitrator, Mediator and Dispute Board member and a specialist in energy, real estate and infrastructure development and formerly led King & Spalding’s highly rated Middle East Dispute Resolution Practice. Mr Cole is listed by Who’s Who Legal as one of the top 25 construction dispute resolution lawyers in the World and ranked tier one by Chambers Global and Legal 500. As arbitrator, Mr Cole has decided over 90 significant and complex cases sitting with some of the world’s leading arbitrators and is listed by Chambers Global as one of the most in demand arbitrators. He has recently successfully mediated a complex commercial dispute between a major Japanese trading house and four European companies. Mr Cole is a member of the Commission on Arbitration and ADR at the ICC and was a task force leader on a project to widen awareness and use of ADR. Mr Cole is an international Judge in the Court of Cassation, in the Kingdom of Bahrain.

Leonora Riesenburg is a seasoned, independent Chartered Arbitrator and Accredited Mediator, empanelled on arbitration and mediation panels across the globe. A UK qualified barrister, Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England & Wales, in the UAE since 2007, Leonora is an International Tenant at 4-5 Gray’s Inn Square in London, a Chartered Arbitrator and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), and a Certified ADR Practitioner and Fellow of the Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution (AIADR). Her practice is international, and routed cross jurisdiction, encompassing both civil and common law systems. Previously Branch Chair of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in the UAE, and a member of Board of Management for CIArb London, Leonora holds pivotal roles for the CIArb as a Regional Pathway Leader (International Arbitration, Commercial Mediation) in the MENA region and is a highly sought after faculty member for the Institute. She also trains and assesses for the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS), both in MENA and in the UK. Leonora is honoured to be a serving member of Governing Council of HAC in Hyderabad, India, and on the Global Advisory Panel of ADR Practitioners for MICADR in Karachi, Pakistan. She is also a member of the DIFC Courts Arbitration Working Group and the LCIA Users’ Council.

Edward Epstein has lived in China and Hong Kong for more than 35 years, including more than 20 years in Shanghai. He was first an M&A corporate partner managing the Shanghai office of an AmLaw 100 firm and then re-qualified as a Hong Kong barrister and arbitrator and practises at QED Chambers. He is on the arbitrator lists of several international arbitration centers, including Hong Kong, Singapore, Beijing, Shanghai and Shenzhen and has acted as sole arbitrator in cases concerning cross-border corporate and commercial disputes. He has received numerous legal accolades, including being voted one of China’s top 100 Lawyers in 2016 and 2017 and a BTI Client Service All-Star. Edward was among the first western scholars to study law at the Chinese Renmin University in Beijing and is fluent in written and spoken Mandarin Chinese. He received a B.A. and LL.B. from the Australian National University, an LL.M. from Columbia University, and is also admitted as a solicitor in England & Wales (practising), the Republic of Ireland and Australia. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Prior to joining the Hong Kong Bar in 1999 Jeremy was in private practice at Herbert Smith and from 1994 to 1999 an international equity partner with Coudert Brothers where he was Head of the Litigation Department and Co-Head of the firm’s Asia Region Arbitration Practice Group (9 regional offices). Following upon his extensive experience as advocate/counsel in arbitrations, Jeremy acts as arbitrator (sole, co-arbitrator or and presiding arbitrator) in international commercial arbitrations and has accepted appointments under the rules of various institutions as well as in ad hoc arbitrations. Jeremy acts in a broad range of commercial litigation, including company and shareholder disputes, insolvency, trusts and estates, international trade and shipping, conflict of laws, defamation, employment/restraint of trade, professional negligence and securities regulatory matters. His practice has involved numerous appearances in the appellate Courts, including in the Court of Final Appeal [1] . He has been a contributing editor to Hong Kong Civil Procedure. Jeremy has received rankings in successive editions of Chambers and Partners, Legal 500 (Commercial Disputes: Tier 1 leading silk; Family and Private Client : Tier 2 leading silk), Legal 500 Arbitration Power List and Who’s Who Legal as well as in Euromoney’s Guide to Experts in Commercial Arbitration. He regularly speaks at international conferences and gives lectures at Mainland Chinese universities and law firms on arbitration topics.

Ms. Boltenko is a barrister, arbitrator, and mediator with over a decade of experience in cross-border dispute resolution and international arbitration. Most recently with Fangda Partners in Hong Kong, Ms. Boltenko has also practised with leading arbitration teams in Paris and Singapore. With a particular focus on public international law, investor-State dispute resolution, and commercial arbitration, Ms Boltenko has acted as legal counsel in investor-State disputes under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the ICSID, the SCC, the ICC, the LCIA, and in various capacities in dozens of commercial disputes in a wide array of industries including oil and gas, mining, infrastructure, construction, telecommunications and pharmaceuticals, across Asia and beyond. Ms. Boltenko teaches a master of laws degree in arbitration and ADR with a focus on Belt & Road investment law at The University of Hong Kong, where she is a deputy executive director. She is also a professor of law at the Royal University of Law and Economics in Phnom Penh, Cambodia, where she teaches a course in investment law at the dual degree program with the Free University of Brussels. Ms. Boltenko has been consistently recognized in legal rankings, including by Who’s Who Legal, where she has been ranked over the years as a National Leader for Hong Kong and a Thought Leader Global Elite - Under 45. She is described as a “highly motivated and hard-working practitioner who stands out as an excellent choice for investor-state disputes”.

Mr. Gary GAO is the Partner and the Head of Compliance & Regulatory Department of Zhong Lun Law Firm. Gary is a skilled litigator and arbitrator with over 28 years experiences handling complex, cross-border arbitration, litigation as well as sophisticated commercial disputes. He has represented clients in commercial arbitration before the ICC, HKIAC, SHIAC and other arbitral institutions. He has rich experience in international arbitration, litigation and mediation, familiar with the strategic planning of dispute resolution in multiple jurisdictions, the collection, screening and rules of proof of cross-border evidence production. In particular, Gary is good at dealing with disputes involving corporate equity, partnership private equity investment, procurement contracts, cross-border mergers and acquisitions, insurance claims, etc., and often acts as an expert witness on Chinese law in international litigation or arbitration proceedings. Furthermore, Gary also provide legal advice on Chinese substantive and procedural law to foreign clients or international law firms. In addition, Gary has served as arbitrator in arbitrations conducted under HKIAC, SHIAC, SHAC and other arbitral institutions, and is included in the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre’s List of Arbitrators, the LCIA Database of Arbitrators, the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board’s Panel of Arbitrators, the List of WIPO Mediators and Arbitrators, the Shanghai International Arbitration Center’s List of Arbitrators and the Shanghai Arbitration Commission’s List of Arbitrators.

Scott Warren is a partner in our Tokyo and Shanghai offices, specializing in cybersecurity, data privacy and digital data disclosures in Asia and the Middle East. He also has significant experience in compliance, intellectual property (IP), litigation, dispute resolution, and government regulatory and internal investigations. Scott started his career as a civil litigator in California. He moved to Japan in 1993, where he has lived since. He served seven years as general counsel at Sega Corporation and six years as a senior attorney at Microsoft. He serves on the executive board of The Society for the Policing of Cyberspace, a nonprofit organization. He headed Kroll in Japan and Kroll Ontrack across Asia, and later opened Epiq Systems in Japan, providing IP protection, computer forensics and e-discovery solutions. Scott is a California-licensed lawyer and a licensed foreign lawyer in Japan. He is a Certified International Counter-Cyber Crime Professional and certified as a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb). Since 2004, he has served on the Society for the Policing of Cyberspace, a non-profit organization dedicated to working with its global members towards a more secure Internet. He serves at the American Chamber of Commerce in Japan, where he was awarded Leader of the Year for 2020, as Co-Chair of the Legal Services & Intellectual Property Committee; Vice-Chair of the Secure Digital Infrastructure Committee; Vice-Chair of the Information, Communication and Technology Committee; and Vice Chair of the Digital Forum.

Zijin Yu is Counsel of HKIAC. She administers cases in English and Chinese. She also assists with HKIAC’s business development activities in Mainland China. In addition, Zijin is responsible for event coordination and promotion for Women in Arbitration (WIA).

Marcus Antoine Khoury is Head of Legal at Averda. Marcus has been working as an inhouse legal counsel in the construction industry in the GCC, in particular in Saudi Arabia and in the UAE, for the past 20 years. He is both German and Lebanese and has graduated at the Sorbonne in Paris and the Universities of Cologne and Munich. In his spare time Marcus loves to hike and considers having walked more than 1000 km to the Spanish city of Santiago de Compostela as one of his greatest experiences.

Md. Imam Hossain is In-house Legal Counsel of Bangladesh House Building Finance Corporation (BHBFC) and specializes in International Commercial Arbitration, International Investment and Development Law and Public International Law. Mr. Hossain has worked on cases representing BHBFC in litigation and arbitration matters. Before joining in BHBFC, Mr. Hossain served as an Assistant Attorney General of Bangladesh Attorney General Office. Furthermore, Mr. Hossain was the Chief Editor of Counsel, A monthly Law Report. Mr. Hossain has a publication on “The Impact of OBOR Initiative in the Asia Pacific Region”1, Hors Serie Volume XXV, 2019, Modernization of National Commercial Laws and the Role of International Legal Harmonization and “Pursuing Sustainable Economic Development through “Right to Development,” Chevening Journal Volume 1 2012, Bangladesh. Mr. Hossain has attended numerous International Congress and Conferences, including “Round Table Discussion on Strengthening Constitutional Institutions – Malaysia’s Reform Programme” held in Petaling Jaya, Malaysia, October 5, 2019 as a Speaker, UNCITRAL 2017 Congress held in Vienna, Austria from 4-6 July 2017 as a speaker. Mr. Hossain attended 30th and 35th LAWASIA Conference as a speaker and 32nd LAWASIA conference as delegate. Mr. Hossain participated in 12th LAWASIA International Moot held in Tokyo, Japan on 19-20 September, 2017 and 16th LAWASIA International Moot (Virtual) held on 21 October, 2021 as a Judge of the moot court competitions. Mr. Hossain has been awarded the Lex-Falcon Global Award 2022-2023 for his overall reach, industry impact, spirit of innovation and market demand in the legal field. Mr. Hossain received 2016 IPBA Scholarship, The 9th World Congress Scholarship in 2014 and Chevening Scholarship in 1995. In 2024 Mr. Hossain attended in 6th Annual International Arbitration, Corporate Fraud & Anti-Trust Summit, held in Shanghai, China and presented his research titled ‘OBOR- A new dimension in Cyber Security and Export Data Privacy’. In the next year Mr. Hossain also attended in 7th Annual International Arbitration, Corporate Fraud & Anti-Trust Summit, held in Shanghai, China and participated in ‘3rd Grand Panel: Shareholders, Stakeholders & Director Disputes with Chinese & Foreign Companies — Best Practices to Protect the Company’.