This event will be conducted in English and according to Qatar Local Time (GMT +3)

The Qatar & MENA: 6th Annual International Arbitration Virtual Summit will be held in Doha on 24 February 2021, from 9am to 12pm (Qatar local time – GMT+3).  

The conference will be joined by a group of international and local experts to share their wealth of expertise and experience covering hot topics on Qatar arbitration and international arbitration which are affecting more and more companies throughout the world due to pandemic.

This event is complimentary for inhouse/corporate counsel, offering delegates the latest news to aide them in protecting their companies and keeping abreast of updates.  QICDRC will also present the latest updates in Qatar covering International Arbitration and will be joined by the leading law firms from the region and internationally.

Registration is now open.  Contact us today or view the latest flyer for registration and program details. Download

Program
The organiser reserves the right to change the program without prior notice.

• 9:00 — 9:10  Welcome Message by Chairman
  Victor Leginsky, Independent International Chartered Arbitrator
  
• 9:10 — 9:30  Opening Address by Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre
  Christopher Grout, Registrar, Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre
• 9:30 — 10:10  1st Grand Panel — Can Arbitrations Be Done Quickly and Fairly: Understanding Expedited Procedures, Emergency Arbitration & Mediation As Your Best Dispute Fix
  Moderator: Jay Alexander, Partner of International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution Practice, Baker Botts
  Panellists:
  – Dr. Dania Fahs, Deputy Director, International Chamber of Commerce — MENA Representative Office
  – Matthew Walker, Partner, K&L Gates
• 10:10 — 10:30 Funding Options for International Arbitration
  Patrick Gearon, Partner, Charles Russell Speechlys
  
• 10:30 — 10:50  Qatar’s Arbitration Regime and the specific role of the QICDRC
  Dr. Zain Al Abdin Sharar, Senior Legal Counsel — CEO’s Office, Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre
• 10:50 — 11:10 The Role of Expert Witnesses in Construction & Engineering Disputes
  Phil Duggan, Regional Head of Diales (Middle East) – Quantum Expert
  
• 11:10 – 11:30  Post-M&A Valuation Disputes
  Roula Harfouche, Partner, Forensic Accounting & Commercial Damages, HKA
• 11:30— 12:05 2nd Grand Panel — Enforcements of Awards – Regional Updates (Qatar, Japan & Korea)
  Moderator: David Kim, Senior Foreign Attorney, Lee & Ko
  Panellists:
  – Dr. Ehab Maher Elsonbaty, Senior Legal Counsel, Senior Advisor to the General Counsel, Qatar Investment Authority
  –– Tony Andriotis, Partner, Tokyo, Japan, DLA Piper; Professional & Institutional Relations Officer, Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA)
• 12:05 – 12:10 Closing Remarks

Registration Enquiry: bettina.yan@legalplus-asia.com
Speaking / sponsor Enquiry: jason.sinclair@legalplus-asia.com

Speakers

Victor Leginsky, Conference Chairman

Independent International Chartered Arbitrator

Victor P. Leginsky, Canadian citizen, is an experienced international arbitrator and Barrister & Solicitor, resident in Dubai, UAE since April 2007. Victor has prior high-level mediation experience having been appointed by the Attorney General of British Columbia, Canada, to be the Chair of the Manufactured Home Park Dispute Resolution Committee. He brings over 25 years of arbitration experience in Canada. Victor has earned the internationally-recognized designations of Chartered Arbitrator and Fellow from the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is a committee member of the International Court of Arbitration (ICC) — UAE and member of ICC-Canada. He is alternate regional chapter co-ordinator of the Association of International Petroleum Negotiators (AIPN) and launched its seminar on oil & gas dispute resolution in the Middle East. He co-instructs, with Prof. Dr. Klaus Peter Berger a practical course in International Commercial Arbitration in Dubai. He is registered as a Barrister with the Dubai International Financial Centre (DIFC) Courts and is a member in good standing of the Law Society of British Columbia, Canada.

Biography

Christopher Grout, Opening Address

Registrar, Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre

Christopher Grout has been the Registrar of the Qatar International Court and Dispute Resolution Centre since 2012. As Registrar, he is head of the Registry that services both the Qatar International Court and the Qatar Financial Centre Regulatory Tribunal. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2007. He holds an LL.B degree from Newcastle University and an LL.M in Canon Law from Cardiff University. From 2007 to 2009 he worked for the Ministry of Justice at the Court of Appeal (Criminal Division) before joining 15 New Bridge Street where he specialised as a criminal defence barrister appearing in the Magistrates Courts, Youth Courts, Crown Court, High Court and Court of Appeal. In 2019, Christopher was appointed as a Deputy District Judge in England and Wales where he exercises a broad civil and family law jurisdiction. He is also a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators.

Biography

Jay Alexander, Moderator — 1st Grand Panel

Partner of International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution Practice, Baker Botts

Jay Alexander, a senior trial partner, leads Baker Botts’ International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution Practice. With more than 30 years of experience resolving international disputes, Chambers reports, that he “has the intellect and the personal qualities that anyone would wish for in a counsel” (2019) and is “a compelling communicator in all environments” (2019), “one of the best international litigators” (2018). Mr. Alexander has acted as advocate or arbitrator in disputes throughout the world. He has served as lead counsel in numerous arbitrations seated in the Middle East (Doha), Europe, North America and Asia, including some of the world’s highest value arbitrations. Recent matters have arisen in the LNG, construction, oil, telecommunications and technology sectors. Collectively, Mr. Alexander has handled many multi-billion dollar arbitrations, with total amounts in dispute exceeded US$ 125 billion. Throughout his career, Mr. Alexander has helped his clients with international disputes arising out of many jurisdictions, including Qatar, Belgium, Brazil, Cameroon, Canada, China, Ecuador, Egypt, England, Iraq, Israel, Jordan, Kazakhstan, Libya, Mexico, Mongolia, Mozambique, the Netherlands, Nigeria, Norway, Panama, Peru, Russia, Saudi Arabia, Singapore, South Africa, South Korea, Sweden, Switzerland, Turkmenistan, Ukraine, the United Arab Emirates, the United Kingdom, the United States, and Venezuela.

Biography

David Kim, Moderator — 2nd Grand Panel

Senior Foreign Attorney, Lee & Ko

As a senior foreign attorney in Lee & Ko’s International Dispute Resolution Practice Group, David Kim is especially highly regarded for his expertise and extensive experience in assisting clients with a broad range of international arbitration matters. Mr. Kim is also Co-Chair of the firm’s International Construction Dispute Resolution Practice Group. Mr. Kim’s experience in international arbitration matters includes, among other things, acting as legal counsel for many different clients in various arbitration cases before the ICC, SIAC, ICSID, HKIAC, KCAB, and LCIA, as well as in ad-hoc arbitrations under the UNCITRAL rules. He has represented multinational corporations, government entities, defense contractors, and high-profile individuals in numerous commercial disputes related to construction, shipping, military contracts, energy and natural resources, telecommunications, intellectual property, and investor-state matters. Prior to commencing his professional work in 2008 as an arbitration lawyer in Korea, Mr. Kim worked as a litigator in Canada. Mr. Kim has also served as an adjunct professor at the Judicial Research and Training Institute of the Supreme Court of Korea, as well as serving as a member of the Council for International Arbitration of the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB) and as a sessional lecturer at the KCAB.

Biography

Patrick Gearon

Partner, Charles Russell Speechlys

Patrick is Head of Charles Russell Speechlys LLP's Middle East practice (conducted from offices in Bahrain, Dubai and Qatar). He specialises in all areas of dispute resolution with particular emphasis on banking, intellectual property, insolvency, professional negligence and company disputes. Patrick has conducted litigation and arbitration in Gibraltar, Hong Kong, Italy, France, Ukraine, the USA and in all the GCC states as well as in all the courts within the English jurisdiction. Patrick leads the award-winning Middle East Disputes team which recently won the ‘Bahrain Dispute Resolution Law Firm of The Year’ award at the Chambers Middle East Awards 2019. He also leads the firm's International Arbitration Group which won the ‘International Arbitration Team of the Year’ award at the Legal Business Awards 2018. Additionally, Patrick leads the firm’s successful Bahrain office which won the ‘Bahrain Law Firm of The Year’ award at The Oath Legal Awards in both 2018 and 2019. Patrick is one of the lead partners acting in the administration of Awal Bank B.S.C. which involves litigation and arbitration in Bahrain, Saudi Arabia, Switzerland, the United Kingdom, the USA and the Cayman Islands. In addition to the awards referred to above, in recent years, the team were shortlisted for numerous awards, including "Middle East Litigation & Dispute Resolution Team of the Year" at The Oath Middle East Legal Awards; "Middle East Dispute Resolution Team of the Year" at the Legal Week Corporate Counsel Awards'; and 'Litigation Team of the Year' at the Legal Week Awards. Patrick is admitted to practice in England and Wales and was awarded a CIArb Diploma in International Arbitration in July of 2018. He became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in September of 2018.

Biography

Dr. Ehab Maher Elsonbaty

Senior Legal Counsel, Senior Advisor to the General Counsel, Qatar Investment Authority

Dr. Ehab Maher Elsonbaty is the Senior Legal Counsel, Head of Corporate Governance and Government Affairs in Qatar Investment Authority since Feb.2014, where he is also Member of the Management Investment Committee, the National Asset Management Committee, the New Product and process Working Group, the Crisis & Disaster Management Committee, and the Electronic and Physical Documents Working Group . Before this he served for almost 6 years as a Senior Legal Advisor to the Office of H.R.H. the Amir of the State of Qatar and a Member of the Council of Ministers Permanent Committee for legislative Affairs in addition to many other legal & policy committees. Previously her served in the Egyptian Public Prosecution and Juduicay for more than 15 years, where his last position was a Judge in Cairo’s Court of Appeal. He is admitted to the Bar and a certified and practising arbitrator and mediator. Dr. Elsonbaty holds two Masters and PhD degrees. He writes and lectures on cyber laws, litigation & ADRs and private international law in various universities and research institutes. He has provided consultancies to the ITU, UNODC, UNECA, Council of Europe, UNCTAD, UNESCO, Arab League, and ARADO. Dr. Elsonbaty speaks Arabic, English, Italian and French. His areas of specialization are: Commercial Transactions (M&A, Corporate), (ADRs), Corporate Governance and Compliance, Private Interntional law, Cyber.

Biography

Matthew Walker

Partner, K&L Gates

Matthew Walker, a partner in the Doha and London offices of K&L Gates, focuses his practice in construction law and dispute resolution. He has acted as advocate and counsel in ICC, SIAC, HKIAC, UNCITRAL and QICCA arbitrations in Qatar, the UAE, Oman, Saudi Arabia, Turkey, Hong Kong, India and the UK; as advocate before the Appellate Division of the Qatar International Court; as co-counsel in cases before the Qatar Court of First Instance; and he has litigated in the Technology & Construction Court and the Court of Appeal in England. He has acted as Sole Arbitrator in a QICCA arbitration in which he issued a Final Award, and has been appointed to QICCA’s panel of arbitrators. He was involved in a series of multimillion pound adjudications, arbitrations and mediations relating to a telecommunications system on a major underground rail network, and an international adjudication related to a gas facility in Tanzania. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Building, is Honorary Secretary of the Qatar & QFC Branch of CIArb, and has been accredited as a Mediator by the Royal Institute of Chartered Surveyors. Mr. Walker also provides non-contentious construction advice, particularly in the rail sector. He has undertaken secondments to Qatar Rail, London Underground and the Crossrail Project for a contractor. He has provided tendering advice and contract review for the multi-billion dollar civil engineering contracts for the new Doha Metro being built by Qatar Rail. He has advised a client in the energy sector on contract drafting and risk management for the provision of hydro-electric equipment to overseas clients. He has carried out the construction drafting on an implementation agreement for a £326 million rail project in London, agreements for lease on a flagship commercial development in East London, and construction contracts (including FIDIC, NEC, JCT, ACE, RIBA and bespoke forms) on construction projects of varying size and complexity.

Biography

Dr. Zain Al Abdin Sharar

Senior Legal Counsel — CEO’s Office, Qatar International Court and Dispute resolution Centre

Dr. Zain Al Abdin Sharar is Senior Legal Counsel at the CEO’s Office at the Qatar International Court & Dispute Resolution Centre (QICDRC). He has a Bachelor of Laws, a master’s degree in International Trade Law, Juris Doctor (JD), and a Doctor of Legal Sciences from Bond University in Australia. Dr. Sharar brings with him a wealth of experience gleaned from tin-house and academic legal work. Prior to joining the QICDRC, Dr. Sharar was the Director of the Legal Affairs & Enforcement Department at the Qatar Financial Markets Authority (QFMA). Dr. Sharar has taught corporate law and corporate governance at a number of Australian universities and has provided advice to board members of a number of Australian publicly listed companies. He worked at Qatar University for three years as an Assistant Professor of Commercial Law, where her taught corporate law, companies’ law, and arbitration law. He has also taught commercial law, maritime law and aviation law at the Ahmad Bin Mohammed Military College in Qatar. Dr. Sharar is a certified mediator at the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) in London and a qualified arbitrator at the GCC Commercial Arbitration Centre. He has provided mediation and arbitration services in many commercial and construction cases. He also participates in ADR training programmes.

Biography

Phil Duggan

Phil Duggan, Regional Head of Diales (Middle East) - Quantum Expert

Phil is a quantity surveyor with over 30 years of experience in the construction and engineering industries. He particularly deals with the preparation and valuation of variations; claims for prolongation disruption and acceleration, disputed accounts and counter-claims and damages. For the past 16 years, Phil has been a consultant involved in claims, dispute, and expert work on major projects around the globe including UK, France, Netherlands, Germany, Poland, Denmark, Russia, Egypt, Saudi Arabia, Qatar, Oman, UAE, South Africa, Singapore, Peru, Canada, USA, Australia, and Japan Phil has experience across many sectors of the construction industry including power generation, water and sewage treatment, petro-chemical and process plants, roads, tunnels, rail, and major domestic and commercial building. He has been instructed on behalf of employers, engineers, main contractors, sub-contractors, and JV partners in dispute. Phil has been involved in many different dispute resolution procedures in various jurisdictions including litigation, arbitration, adjudication, expert determination, mediation and DABs.

Biography

Roula Harfouche

Partner, Forensic Accounting & Commercial Damages, HKA

Roula Harfouche is a Partner with HKA in London. She specialises in the assessment of damages and complex valuation issues in litigation and international arbitration contexts. She is experienced in matters involving breaches of contract, investment treaty claims, transaction-related disputes and intellectual property infringements. She has been valuing companies, listed and unlisted securities, and intellectual property rights in commercial and contentious contexts since 2000, and has provided valuation or damages assessment services in more than 80 disputes. Roula is recognised as a leading expert witness by Who's Who Legal in the Thought Leaders Global Elite list, in Arbitration, for the quantum of damages and in forensic accounting. She is a fellow of the Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW) and a member of the Valuation and Forensic Groups of the ICAEW as well as a member of the Society of Share and Business Valuers. Roula has testified in both English and French and has worked on matters in litigation and in various arbitration fora. Roula has supported clients across a diverse range of sectors including telecoms, professional services, utilities, energy, industrial, pharmaceuticals, chemicals and transport.

Biography

Dr. Dania Fahs

Deputy Director, International Chamber of Commerce - MENA Representative Office

Dania is a lawyer specialized in transactional commercial law, holds a Phd in Contractual law (France). She joined Al Tamimi Law Firm ― Dubai, in 2014, Corporate Commercial Practice. Dania was a senior legal counsel with Oracle Corp and a Former lecturer ― Business Law at American University of Beirut. She holds a PhD from University of Montpellier ― France and an Executive EMBA Insead 2018.

Biography

Tony Andriotis

Partner, Tokyo, Japan, DLA Piper; Professional & Institutional Relations Officer, Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA)

Tony Andriotis is a Partner with DLA Piper, where his primary practice focuses on international dispute resolution, and he leads the Tokyo based international arbitration group. He currently also serves as President of the Greek Chamber of Commerce in Japan and as a Board Member of the European Business Council. Tony is an Adjunct Professor at the Tokyo campus of Temple Law School, and a Part-time Lecturer at both Keio Law School (Tokyo) and Humboldt University (Berlin). He is a graduate of Cornell University and the Fordham University School of Law. Though residing in Japan for over a decade, Tony is a native of New York City, where he previously clerked for a federal judge at the United States Court of International Trade.

Biography

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Complimentary Registration
for in-house / general counsel only

Please note: Complimentary is only application to in-house / general counsel from non law / non consulting firm.  If your company is not application, payment will be required. Limited to 2 complimentary seat per company, based on first-come first-served basis