International Dispute Settlement Conference

Linda Fitz-Alan

Registrar and Chief Executive - ADGM Courts

Linda Fitz-Alan joined ADGM Courts as Registrar and Chief Executive in September 2015. She leads the administration and operations of the Court, including both the management of cases and the design and delivery of the Court’s comprehensive digital services and unique eCourts Platform.

Since joining ADGM, Linda has helped to transform the global judicial landscape, making ADGM’s international commercial courts an international trailblazer for the innovative delivery of judicial services. As a result, ADGM Courts today enjoys a highly respected reputation amongst the global legal community with caseloads increasing significantly as more global parties select ADGM Courts in their contracts to resolve their disputes.

Linda has pioneered game-changing technology through the design of ADGM Courts’ unique ADGM eCourts Platform in 2018, which offers parties and their lawyers extraordinary access and connection to the Court, removing any geographical or time boundary and allowing parties to participate in hearings from anywhere in the world. This enabled the Court to seamlessly navigate the unprecedented impact on both the justice and legal sectors that arose from the global pandemic. She also established the world’s first fully digital ADGM Courtroom, giving all parties real-time access to the same documents and remote witness evidence.

Linda also leads ADGM’s progressive alternative dispute resolution services, framework and infrastructure, where she established MENA’s first state-of-the-art hearing facility, the ADGM Arbitration Centre, in 2018, and launched ADGM Courts’ court-annexed mediation scheme in 2019. Linda is strongly committed to ensuring mediation is recognised as an essential and effective means of dispute resolution, particularly for those disputes requiring innovative and collaborative solutions arising from the emerging areas of climate change and web3.

Prof. Dr. Mohamed Abdel Wahab

Founding Partner - Zulficar & Partners

Founding Partner & Head of International Arbitration, Construction and Energy, Zulficar & Partners; Professor of International Arbitration, Private International Law and English Contract Law, Cairo University; President of the Ciarb (2025); Member of the Governing Board (ICCA); Chair of the ICC Governing Body for Dispute Resolution Services; Dean of the Africa Arbitration Academy; Fellow of International Academy of Construction Lawyers; Member of the International Commercial Expert Committee, China International Commercial Court; Member of the LACIAC Court of Arbitration; Member of the ITA Academic Council; Member of the Curatorium of the Hague Academy for International Law; Member of the Court, PCA (The Hague); Fellow of the National Centre for Technology and Dispute Resolution at the University of Massachusetts, Amherst, USA; and Associate Fellow of the Centre for Private International Law and Centre for Commercial Law at Aberdeen University (UK). He is also a former chair of the International Expert Committee of the Permanent Forum for China Construction Law (2020-2023); and former Vice Chair, Academic Forum for Investor-State Dispute Settlement (2018 -2020). 

Prof. Dr. Abdel Wahab has been recently designated by the President of the World Bank Group, Mr. Ajay Banga, in his capacity as ex officio Chairman of the Administrative Council of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), to serve on the Panel of Arbitrators maintained by the ICSID (2024 – 2030).

Prof. Dr. Abdel Wahab served as ‘Arbitrator’, ‘Legal Expert’ and ‘Counsel’ in more than 265 cases, involving parties from Africa, Asia, Canada, Europe, the Middle East,  the United States and Latin America, and is recognized as a world-leading arbitrator and arbitration practitioner. He advised on ISDS claims and featured in ISDS cases as arbitrator, counsel and expert in investment proceedings commenced under the auspices of the ICSID, the PCA, the SCC and the ICC. He was shortlisted among the top five arbitrators for the GAR award for the best prepared and responsive arbitrator (2021), and is regularly ranked and recognised as a leading international arbitration thought leader and arbitrator. 

Chambers & Partners Global (2025) - Dispute Resolution: Arbitration say: “To my mind, he is one of the finest arbitrators globally. He has an encyclopedic knowledge of international arbitration practice and a tremendous amount of experience in civil and common law cases. He is extremely impressive; very well-prepared. He knows arbitration inside-out and is extremely smart and experienced”. Client Choice International – WWL: Thought Leaders Global Elite (2024) – Construction by Lexology says: “Mohamed is an all-time great of construction law”. Client Choice International – WWL: Thought Leaders Global Elite (2024) – Arbitration by Lexology, says: “Mohamed is razor sharp and hugely experienced in arbitration matters”, “He is globally recognized as one of the leading arbitrators in practice”.

Martina Polasek

Vice President - World Bank Group & Secretary General - ICSID

Martina Polasek was appointed Secretary-General of ICSID in 2024. In this role, she leads a diverse team of over 70 legal, finance, and information technology specialists at the world’s leading institution for resolving international investment disputes. As a Vice-President of the World Bank Group, Ms. Polasek also works with the WBG’s senior management team to ensure the five institutions of the Bank—IBRD, IDA, IFC, MIGA, and ICSID—work in concert to achieve the WBG’s vision and mission.

With over 25 years of experience in the field of international investment law and dispute settlement, Ms. Polasek frequently speaks and publishes on this exceptionally dynamic area of international law.  

Prior to assuming the role of Secretary-General, Ms. Polasek served as Deputy-Secretary General and Team Leader/Senior Legal Counsel at ICSID.

A dual Czech and Swedish citizen, she is fluent in Czech, Swedish, French, and English.

Judge Shamlan Al Sawalehi

Court of Appeal Judge - DIFC Courts

H.E. Justice Shamlan Al Sawalehi has over 23 years of experience in international commercial and financial litigation in common law, civil law and Sharia’ legal systems. He has experience in arbitral practice in civil and common law systems, as has served as sole arbitrator, Co-arbitrator and Chairman of many arbitral tribunals. He frequently speaks and writes on topics involving DIFC Courts and international arbitration.

He joined the DIFC Courts in 2010 as a Judicial Officer before becoming a Small Claims Tribunal Judge and then a Court of First Instance Judge before he was appointed as Court of Appeal Judge in 2017. He was appointed by the DIFC Courts Chief Justice as Judge in Charge of the Arbitration Division of the DIFC Courts in 2020.

Prior to joining the DIFC Courts, Justice Al Sawalehi was the founder of Shamlan Law firm, where he represented governments and private clients on complex commercial and financial disputes in the UAE and MENA region. Prior to that, he served as Director of Strategic Affairs at The Executive Office of His Highness Sheikh Mohammed bin Rashid Al Maktoum, UAE Vice President, Prime Minister and Ruler of Dubai where he was involved in number of strategic legal cases.

Justice Al Sawalehi was also a manager of the Enforcement Department of the Dubai Financial Services Authority (DFSA) where he supervised the International Financial Services Institution Compliance with the international best practice and DFSA regulations. Prior to joining the DFSA, he served for five years as a Public Prosecutor with the Dubai Public Prosecution Department in both criminal and civil departments, where he was involved in investigations of high profile commercial and financial crimes, and represented the Government’s Departments on several high value litigation before Dubai Courts.

H.E. Justice Al Sawalehi holds a Master’s degree with Merits in International Commercial Law from Westminster University in the UK, a Higher Diploma with Honour in Advanced Legal and Judicial Studies from the Dubai Judicial Institution, and a Bachelor with distinction in Shari’a and Law from the UAE University.

Marike Paulsson

Secretary General - Council for International Dispute Resolution of the Kingdom of Bahrain

Based in Manama, Marike Paulsson is the Secretary General for the Council for International Dispute Resolution of the Kingdom of Bahrain. She also holds advisory positions at the Bahraini Economic Development Board and with Albright Stonebridge Group in Washington, DC.

With over twenty years of practice and academic experience in public international law, international arbitration, cross-border litigation, commercial diplomacy and human rights, Marike  advises frequently on the resolution of investment and commercial disputes through global strategy and commercial diplomacy.

She is the Vice President for North America of the Global Legal Institute for Peace of the University of Sao Paolo, and  Vice-President for North America of the Mauritius Arbitration and Mediation Centre. She is a member of the jury for the Princess Sabeeka Bint Ibrahim Al Khalifa Global Award for Women's Empowerment.

Marike is the author of the leading treatise on the United Nations Convention on the Enforcement and Recognition of Foreign Arbitral Awards,  'The 1958 New York Convention in Action', and  was an editor and co-author of the ICCA Guide on the New York Convention. She  has assisted in the drafting of numerous expert opinions on the New York Convention, on which she writes and teaches extensively, including as a member of the Judiciary Committee of  ICCA and co-founder of the ICCA NYC Roadshow. She is a visiting professor with the University of Miami, the University of Sao Paolo and Jindal Global University in Delhi.

Kristin Campbell-Wilson

Executive Director - ArbitrateAD

Kristin Campbell-Wilson is Executive Director at the recently established Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre (arbitrateAD). Kristin joined arbitrateAD in 2023 with the ambition to establish and grow arbitrateAD to become the leading centre in the MENA region. She brings two decades of international arbitration experience, most recently from the SCC Arbitration Institute (SCC) and before that from private practice. Kristin brings a wealth of operational experience from running case management teams responsible for 200+ commercial and investment arbitrations annually. She has also led many of the projects which put the SCC at the forefront of technological developments in the industry, such as the development and launch of the first digital platform for secure communications and file sharing in arbitration, and the product development and introduction of a groundbreaking new dispute resolution tool in 2021.

A sought-after speaker, Kristin shares insights at domestic and international events and her commitment to the field is evident through her current and past board and committee positions in multiple arbitration organizations, including the IBA Subcommittee on International Commercial Arbitration Case Law and IBA Arb40, and editorial boards, including Stockholm Arbitration Yearbook and European Investment Law and Arbitration Review.

Kristin holds an LL.M. from Stockholm University (2003) and an Executive MBA from Stockholm School of Economics (2023).

Alex Bevan

Global Co-Head of Arbitration - A&O Shearman

Alex is Global Co-Head of International Arbitration. He is also Energy and Infrastructure  Sector Lead.

He has over 25 years' experience advising and representing clients in complex international  disputes arising out of construction and development projects, investments, acquisitions and  joint ventures.

These disputes arise in a range of industries, in particular infrastructure, energy, mining, and telecoms. Alex also frequently serves as arbitrator in these sectors. Noted in the market for his invaluable strategic thinking and advocacy skills, Alex has represented clients in some of the most complex international arbitrations.

Having spent over a decade in the UAE, clients have described Alex as "the go-to guy for  big-ticket disputes in the Middle East". Alex is also frequently called upon to help shape law  and practice in international arbitration and other forms of dispute resolution, for example, advising the Abu Dhabi Global Market on developing its award-winning arbitration ecosystem.

Fatima Balfaqeeh

Independent Arbitrator

Veijo Heiskanen

Independent Arbitrator

Reza Mohtashami

Partner - Three Crowns LLP

Reza is a partner at Three Crowns LLP. In his more than 25 years of practice, he has represented clients as counsel and advocate in arbitrations conducted under a variety of arbitral rules in many different jurisdictions. Reza has particular expertise in both commercial and investment disputes arising in emerging markets with a focus on the energy, telecoms and infrastructure sectors. He also regularly sits as an arbitrator.  Currently based in London, Reza has previously practiced in Paris, New York and Dubai  

Sami Tannous

Regional Managing Partner (MENA Region) - Freshfields

Sami is Regional Managing Partner for MENA and a partner in Freshfields’ International Arbitration Group.

He is an international arbitration specialist focusing on international commercial arbitration and investor-State arbitration. He has represented clients in international arbitrations under all major arbitration rules including the ICC, LCIA, DIFC-LCIA, ICSID, DIAC, SCC and UNCITRAL rules, regularly sits as arbitrator and is an accredited mediator.

Sami has particular expertise of disputes involving the Middle East and North Africa. His experience includes advising clients on a broad range of commercial disputes including joint venture and shareholder agreements, SPAs, production sharing agreements and distribution/agency agreements, across a broad range of industry sectors.

Sami also sits on the LCIA Court (the LCIA’s governing body) and the court of the Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre (arbitrateAD). He is listed as a ‘Global Elite Thought Leader’ in Who’s Who Legal 2024.

Sami has been based in Dubai since 2012. Before relocating to Dubai, Sami worked in Freshfields’ Paris office, and in London.

Natali Sequeira

Team Leader/Senior Legal Counsel - ICSID

Natalí has twenty years of experience in the settlement of international disputes between States and foreign investors. She currently leads one of the ICSID case management teams. Throughout her career, she has supervised hundreds of international proceedings under international investment treaties, multilateral agreements, and contracts in infrastructure, Her expertise spans a wide range of sectors, including infrastructure, oil and gas, mining and renewable energy disputes.

Prior to joining ICSID, Natalí held positions as a senior consultant with Ernst & Young, KPMG and PricewaterhouseCoopers and White & Case LLP. Previously, she served as Public Defender for the Costa Rican Judiciary.

Natalí received a Fulbright Scholarship from the U.S. State Department and holds an LL.M in International Legal Studies from Georgetown University (2003). She earned a Juris Doctor with honors (1999) and a Bachelor of Business Administration (B.B.A) (2001) from the University of Costa Rica.  

Natalí is fluent in English, Spanish and Italian and has working knowledge of French.

Nayla Comair-Obeid

Founding Partner - Obeid & Partners

Nassib G. Ziadé

CEO - Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution (BCDR)

Nassib G. Ziadé is president of the International Monetary Fund (IMF) Administrative Tribunal, president  of the United Nations Appeals Tribunal and a member of the Sanctions Panel of the Geneva-based Global Fund. He has, or currently serves as tribunal chair or co-arbitrator in arbitrations relating to international investment and public international law, as well as international commerce (including oil and gas; energy; pharmaceuticals; construction, engineering, and infrastructure; real estate; taxation; media and broadcasting) conducted under the rules of the International Court of Arbitration of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the London Court of international Arbitration (LCIA), the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) (Convention and Additional Facility), the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration (CRCICA), the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC), the Abu Dhabi Commercial Conciliation and Arbitration Center (ADCCAC) and the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), as well as in ad hoc proceedings, including under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Arbitration Rules. His role in arbitration proceedings is by choice confined to that of arbitrator; he refrains from acting as counsel or expert.

His specialisms include private and public international law, international arbitration, international investment law, international administrative law and the law of conflicts of interest. He is fluent in Arabic, English and French, and he has a working knowledge of Spanish.

He has extensive senior managerial experience in administering international legal proceedings and developing international tribunals. From October 2013 to November 2023, he served as chief executive officer of the Bahrain Chamber for Dispute Resolution, and from July 2011 to August 2013 as director of DIAC. Between 2007 and 2011, he was deputy secretary-general of ICSID, where he also served as acting secretary-general between April 2008 and June 2009. From 1997 to 2007, he served as executive secretary to the World Bank Administrative Tribunal.

Nassib G. Ziadé has been designated as a member of the PCA and the ICSID panels of arbitrators and conciliators. In addition, he is a vice-chairman of the board of trustees and a former vice-chairman of the advisory committee of CRCICA, a member of the board of trustees of the Lebanese Arbitration and Mediation Center and the international advisory committee of the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR/AAA), as well as a former court member of LCIA. He is a former vice-president of the International Federation of Commercial Arbitration Institutions (IFCAI). From 2018 to 2023, he led the Bahraini delegation to UNCITRAL Working Group II. From 2018 to 2022, he led the Bahraini delegation to Working Group III, and in 2023 he led the Lebanese delegation to this Working Group.  

He is a visiting professor at the University of Miami School of Law and at the Law Faculty of Saint-Joseph University in Lebanon and Dubai. He also serves on the executive committee of Saint-Joseph University in Dubai. He has taught at the University of Paris I (Panthéon-Sorbonne), the Universities of Chile and Heidelberg in Santiago, Chile and the Paris International Academy for Arbitration Law. In 2012, he gave a course at the Hague Academy of International Law on “The Independence of Arbitral Bodies Established in the Framework of International Organisations”. He was elected in 2023 as an associate member of the Institut de droit international.

He has published extensively in the fields of international law and arbitration law and is a frequent speaker at international conferences. He is the founder and general editor of the BCDR International Arbitration Review and serves on the advisory board of the Journal of International Arbitration, the International Journal of Arab Arbitration and Proche-Orient Études juridiques. He previously served as editor-in-chief of the ICSID Review – Foreign Investment Law Journal, a member of the editorial advisory committee of International Legal Materials, a counsellor and member of the executive committee of the American Society of International Law, and as a member of the advisory committee of the Lauterpacht Centre for International Law at the University of Cambridge.

Anne K. Hoffmann

Independent Arbitrator

Anne K. Hoffmann is an internationally recognised arbitrator with over two decades of extensive experience in both commercial and investor – State arbitration. She is dual-qualified in Germany and England & Wales and has practiced across the globe in both civil law and common law jurisdictions. During that time, she worked at leading law firms in London, Geneva and Dubai before focusing on her practice as an independent arbitrator. 

To date, Anne has acted as sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator, emergency arbitrator and chair in commercial arbitrations, both institutional under all major rules (including ICC, LCIA, Swiss Rules, DIFC-LCIA, SIAC, HKIAC, SCC, VIAC, DIAC, KCAB, CRCICA and DIS) as well as ad hoc, including UNCITRAL. They were seated in Europe, Asia and the Middle East, concerned a great variety of sectors and were governed by different laws. Anne has also been appointed in investment arbitration proceedings, including under the ICSID Rules.

Anne conducts arbitrations in English and German and has very good knowledge of French and Russian. 

In addition to her membership in various arbitration organisations, Anne is on the panel of arbitrators of SIAC, HKIAC, KCAB, AIAC and SCIA. She is also the Chair of DIAC’s Advisory Committee and a member of the SIAC Users Council. 

Anne regularly speaks and publishes on topics of international arbitration.

She has been recognized as a Global Leader Arbitration in all editions of Who is Who Legal since 2014, and since 2024 as a Global Elite Thought Leader. She is also listed by Chambers Global as “Most in Demand Arbitrator” and in the Legal 500 Arbitration Powerlist Middle East.

Between 2011 and 2021, Anne was also a visiting lecturer at Humboldt University Berlin.

Alain Farhad

Independent International Arbitrator

Alain Farhad is a full time independent international arbitrator. As one of the MENA region’s most in demand international arbitrators, he has acted as sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator or presiding arbitrator in over 100 arbitration proceedings with several billion dollars in dispute.

After nearly two decades in private practice with several international law firms in Paris and Dubai, Alain started Farhad Arbitration in March 2024 in order to devote his full professional time to his work as an independent international arbitrator. Prior to that, Alain was a partner and the head of international arbitration at Mayer Brown LLP in Dubai. In the course of his career in private practice, Alain has advised and represented as an advocate corporations, States and State-owned entities in commercial, construction and investment protection treaty disputes in over 100 arbitration proceedings, including some of the world’s largest. In parallel to his work as counsel, Alain became one of the busiest international arbitrators based in the Middle East having issued over 100 awards in arbitration proceedings with seats in a variety of jurisdictions including Dubai, the DIFC, Abu Dhabi, the ADGM, Doha, the QFC, Riyadh, Cairo, Muscat, Singapore, Geneva, Paris and London.

Alain was educated in both the civil law and the common-law traditions having studied law at the Paris Sorbonne University and at the Cornell Law School. He is a French qualified lawyer (Avocat à la Cour) and a member of the New York Bar. He speaks Farsi in addition to French and English. Prior to relocating to the Middle East, he practiced international arbitration in Paris.

Randi Ayman

Senior Researcher - LCEL & Tribunal Secretary - Arbitra International

Dr. Randi Ayman is a Senior Researcher at the Luxembourg Centre for European Law (LCEL, previously the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg), a Tribunal Secretary, and a lawyer specializing in international law and dispute resolution. Her expertise covers public international law, investment law and policy, and space law. She earned her Ph.D. with the highest distinction from the University of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne for her thesis on the denunciation and renegotiation of treaties, later published as a monograph. From 2015 to 2021, Randi served as Legal Counsel at the World Bank’s International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID). Before joining ICSID, she worked in the international arbitration practice of multinational law firms in Paris (2013-2014) and at a United Nations specialized agency in Madrid (2012). Randi is a dual-qualified lawyer in Egypt and France, holding law degrees from Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne and Cairo University.

Omar Almansoori

Associate - Cleary Gottlieb

Dr. Omar Abualreesh Almansoori is an Associate at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton LLP in Abu Dhabi and an Assistant Professor of Law at the United Arab Emirates University, where he teaches Comparative Law and Cross-Border Investments and Transactions. Previously, he served as a Judicial Fellow and Assistant (2020–2022) to the Honorable Judge Charles N. Brower, assisting with Investor-State Arbitration proceedings and cases, with a particular focus on the EMEA region.

Dr. Almansoori holds a Doctor of Juridical Science (S.J.D.) from The George Washington University, where his dissertation, Navigating Legal Pluralism in the United Arab Emirates: Assessing the Role of the DIFC and Its Court through Paul Schiff Berman’s Cosmopolitan Pluralism, was supervised by Professor Paul Schiff Berman and Judge Charles N. Brower. He also holds a Juris Doctor (J.D.) from American University and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Georgetown University Law Center, with a focus on International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution.

Antonin Sobek

Associate - Mayer Brown

Antonin Sobek focuses on international commercial and investment arbitration. He has experience representing multinationals, States and State-owned entities in high-stakes disputes covering a range of industries, including construction, energy, oil & gas, and aviation.

Prior to joining Mayer Brown in 2023, Antonin was a Counsel at the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) and the DIFC-LCIA Arbitration Centre, administering over 500 arbitration proceedings. He also practiced international arbitration at leading international law firms in London and Paris.

Antonin is often invited to give lectures about dispute resolution and arbitration, including at Sciences Po in Paris, Sorbonne University in Abu Dhabi, İzmir University of Economics in Turkey, and in the context of the TAIEX programme of the European Commission.