Executive Committee

The Executive Committee is comprised of experienced arbitration practitioners, including those who act as arbitrators. Members of the Executive Committee coordinate the activities of RAI within their respective jurisdictions.

RAI Founding Co-Chairs

Alexander G. Leventhal

Alexander G. LeventhalAlexander G. Leventhal is Partner in Quinn Emanuel’s Paris office. In addition to being one of the founders of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative, Alexander acts as Chair for Continental Europe of Young ITA (the young members group of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration) as well as CIArb (Chartered Institute of Arbitrators) YMG (Young Member Group)’s Steering Committee Member for France. Alexander writes and speaks frequently on topics of arbitration in English, French, Portuguese, and Arabic and guided a team that prepared a submission to UNCITRAL Working Group III on behalf of the European Federation for International Law and Arbitration (EFILA). Alexander was also appointed to act as an Officer on the International Bar Association’s Mediation Committee and the Rules Committee of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution (CPR), which revised CPR’s Fast Track Rules.

Flavia Foz Mange

Flavia Foz MangeFlavia Foz Mange is a Partner at Mange & Gabbay, São Paulo, Brazil. She handles litigation before Arbitral Tribunals, Courts and Administrative Bodies and acts as arbitrator. She represented clients in domestic and international arbitration handled in English or Portuguese under different arbitration rules. She also acted as solo arbitrator, co-arbitrator and presiding arbitrator under different arbitration rules, by means of example, her experience as arbitrator includes cases administered by ICC, CAM-CCBC and AMCHAM. Before founding Mange & Gabbay, she worked in the litigation and arbitration practice from well-known law firms in São Paulo, Brazil.

She has in-house experience as Latin America litigation manager at Hewlett-Packard. She was a foreign trainee at Shearman & Sterling and Freshfields Bruckhaus international arbitration group in Paris, France. Ms. Mange has a masters’ and a doctors’ degree international law from the University of Sao Paulo (USP) and an LL.M in International Legal Studies from the New York University (NYU). She was visiting researcher at Harvard Law School (HLS) and a guest lecturer at Trinity College Dublin. She is a Professor at UNESP Master of Law Program as well as in several post-graduate courses. She published the following books: “Processo Arbitral Transnacional” and “Medidas de Urgência nos Litígios Comerciais Internacionais”. She is editor-in-chief of the Brazilian Arbitration Review, secretary of the ICC Brazil Arbitration and Mediation Commission and was ICC YAF Representative (2017-2019).

She integrates the roster of arbitrators of the most prestigious arbitral institutions in Brazil. Listed in Who’s Who Future Leaders in Arbitration (2017, 2018, 2019, 2020); Leaders League in Arbitration and Litigation (2017, 2018, 2019) and Analise Advocacia in Arbitration (2019). She is fluent in Portuguese, English and German, and good knowledge of Spanish.

Flavia is responsible for the Memberships at the Rising Arbitrators Initiative.

Rocío Digón

Digon RocioRocío Digón is a legal consultant for White & Case and a research associate at Leicester Law School. Based in Rome, Rocío has experience as counsel in commercial and investment treaty arbitration under the rules of leading arbitral institutions, including ICSID, ICC and ICDR/AAA and has acted as sole arbitrator under the rules of the CAM. Rocío’s research at Leicester Law School is part of a project investigating the social and psychological underpinnings of commercial arbitration in Europe. Prior to joining White & Case, she was an Associate Research Scholar at Yale Law School and previously spent three years as the first Managing Director and Counsel of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, SICANA, Inc., where she was responsible for administering cases for the North America region and directing SICANA’s promotional activities. Rocío writes and speaks frequently on topics in international and commercial arbitration. Rocío is also a co-founder of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative.
Rocío holds a J.D. from Yale Law School and an LL.M. from Leiden University in Public International Law. She speaks English, French, Spanish and Italian and is admitted to practice in Massachusetts and New York.

Other Members

Camilla Gambarini

Camilla GambariniCamilla Gambarini is a senior associate in the international arbitration team of Withers in London. She is dual qualified in Italy and as a Solicitor Advocate (England & Wales), and specialises in international arbitration (commercial and investment treaty) and public international law matters under the CAM, CIAC, ICC, ICSID, LCIA and UNCITRAL arbitration rules.

Camilla represents individuals, companies, States and State-owned entities in international arbitrations in the aviation, energy, gambling, infrastructure, metal industries in different regions of the world, including Africa, CIS countries and Latin America. She is ranked in Who’s Who Legal – Arbitration Future Leader (Non Partner), and Legal 500 UK (public international law international arbitration).

She holds an LLM from Columbia Law School, a Master in International Law from the Graduate Institute in Geneva and a Law Degree from Catholic University in Milan. She speaks Italian, Spanish, French, and English, and is learning Russian.

Camilla is in charge of the Knowledge Management and Development of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative with Kabir Duggal and Sara Koleilat-Aranjo.

Brianna Gorence

Brianna GorenceBrianna Gorence is an associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, based in Washington D.C.

Brianna specializes in international law and arbitration, focusing her practice on disputes in Latin America. She has acted in investment treaty arbitrations in English and Spanish conducted under the ICSID and UNCITRAL Rules and is an active member of Freshfields’ pro bono practice. She previously served as a rapporteur for the ICCA-IBA Joint Task Force on Data Protection in International Arbitration Proceedings and is a founder and Executive Committee member of the DC Very Young Arbitration Practitioners (DC VYAP).

Brianna holds a B.C.L. / LL.B from McGill’s Faculty of Law and a Master’s in International Affairs from the Paris Institute of Political Studies (Science Po Paris). Brianna speaks English, Spanish, French and Portuguese.

Dean Ehrlich

Dean EhrlichDean Ehrlich is an independent practising lawyer with over ten years of experience in commercial / investment arbitration and litigation, especially in emerging and frontier markets.

Dean began his career at a top-tier law firm in Johannesburg, South Africa. He now manages his own advisory and disputes consultancy and, from time to time, accepts appointments as independent arbitrator.

Dean is familiar with all the major institutional rules, and has served as Sole and Co-Arbitrator under FIFA / CAS domestic structures. He has also worked with the LCIA, ICC, AFSA, SCC and UNCITRAL rules. As counsel, Dean has represented multinational corporations, joint-ventures, sports regulators / clubs and players, intellectual property right holders, states and state-owned entities across a wide range of industries, including mining, energy, engineering & construction, IT & telecoms, sports, gambling and entertainment.

Dean qualified with an LL.B from South Africa (a mixed civil / common law jurisdiction) and has been admitted as both an Attorney and Advocate of the High Court of South Africa. He has an LL.M in International Commercial Arbitration and an M.A in European Union Law.

Dean is a dual German-South African citizen and is based in Stockholm, Sweden but practises worldwide. He is fluent in English and reads French and Swedish at an intermediate level.

Joanne Lau

Joanne LauJoanne Lau is a Partner in Allen & Overy’s Global Arbitration Group based in Hong Kong. She represents clients in both international commercial arbitrations and investment treaty arbitrations, including as an advocate. She has extensive experience acting in arbitrations under major institutional rules, including HKIAC, ICC, SIAC and UNCITRAL Rules, involving various jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, England, India, Singapore and, in particular, the PRC. She also regularly advises on arbitration-related court matters. She has experience in a range of complex cross-border disputes, including disputes relating to post-M&A matters, joint ventures, private equity, complex financial products and disputes in the energy and infrastructure sectors. Joanne publishes and speaks regularly on arbitration-related topics. Joanne is in charge of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative's Partnerships.

Kabir Duggal

Kabir DuggalKabir Duggal is a Senior International Arbitration Advisor in Arnold and Porter's New York office focusing on international investment arbitration, international commercial arbitration, and public international law matters, serving both as arbitrator and counsel. Kabir is a Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia Law School, teaching "International Investment Law and Arbitration." He is also a Course Director and Faculty Member for the Columbia Law School-Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Comprehensive Course on International Arbitration. He also acts as a Consultant for the United Nations Office of the High Representative for Least Developed Countries, Landlocked Developing Countries and Small Island Developing States (UN-OHRLLS).

He has published over 40 articles and has spoken at over 300 arbitration events all over the world. He has won several accolades for his work including being listed as a top 10 arbitrator by the Bali International Arbitration and Mediation Center (BIAMC). He is a graduate of the University of Mumbai (Gold Medal), University of Oxford (DHL-Times of India Scholar), NYU School of Law (Hauser Global Scholar), Leiden Law School (2018 CEPANI Academic Prize), and is currently pursuing an SJD Degree from Harvard Law School.

Kabir is in charge of the Knowledge Management and Development of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative.

Nhu-Hoang Tran Thang

Nhu-Hoang Tran ThangNhu-Hoang Tran Thang is a French trained lawyer registered with the Paris bar and a Swiss national with Vietnamese roots. She practices both investment and commercial arbitration.

She has acted as arbitrator, counsel or assistant to the arbitral tribunal in over forty arbitrations conducted under various rules and related to a variety of industries. Over the years, Nhu-Hoang has developed solid expertise in energy-related disputes and has practiced extensively under Swiss, French and other civil laws. Nhu-Hoang is also well versed in the development of Investor-State disputes in Southeast Asia.

Before practicing as an independent arbitration lawyer, Nhu-Hoang practiced international arbitration at Peter & Kim, LALIVE and at the office of renowned arbitrator Pierre Tercier. Prior to that, she gained experience in the arbitration teams of magic circle firms in Paris and at arbitration boutiques in Geneva and London.

Nhu-Hoang is a member of the Events team of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative.

Orlando Cabrera

Orlando Cabrera Having studied law in Canada, Mexico, and the United States of America, and fluent in English, Spanish, Portuguese, and French, Orlando Cabrera counsels governments and corporate investors in international dispute resolution seamlessly across borders and languages at Hogan Lovells.

With more than 10 years of experience, Orlando draws on his deep understanding of complex domestic and international disputes to effectively represent clients in ICSID, ICC, ICDR, LCIA, UNCITRAL, CANACO and Arbitration Center of Mexico (CAM) arbitrations in mining, energy, telecommunications, finance, construction, transport, national security, real estate assets, and government contracting. He frequently writes, speaks, and organizes events on international arbitration.

Orlando is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and former Board Secretary of CIArb's North American Branch (NAB), a listed arbitrator by the Tashkent International Arbitration Centre (TIAC), the Arbitration Center of the Lima Chamber of Commerce, the International Center for Conciliation and Arbitration, and the Panama Conciliation and Arbitration Centre, ICC Committee Member on the Proposal of Arbitrators, and an associate to the Madrid Court of Arbitration. Before, he served as Young ICCA Events Coordinator.

Prior to joining the Hogan Lovells Mexico City office, Orlando started in the international arbitration practice of the firm's Miami office. He divides his time between these two offices. Orlando also previously served as a legal intern in the New York State Supreme Court.

Paul Tan

Paul TanPaul Tan is a partner of Cavenagh Law (Clifford Chance Asia), and heads its litigation practice for South East Asia.

Ranked in all major legal publications for international arbitration and litigation, and called to both the Singapore and English bars, his practice focuses on managing disputes across South East Asia, with deep experience advising on complex issues of public and private international law. Paul advises a wide range of clients, including leading multinational organisations, global insurers, financial institutions and Asian governments. He also sits as arbitrator. He is co-authoring the forthcoming edition of Mustill & Boyd's treatise on commercial and investment arbitration.

Paul is also a member of the ICC Commission on the Belt-and-Road Initiative, the YSIAC Committee of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, the Executive Committee of the Council of the Law Society of Singapore, and co-leader of Swiss Arbitration Association for Southeast Asia.

Paul is a member of the Events team of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative.

Payel Chatterjee

Payel Chatterjee Payel Chatterjee joined Adani Group in September 2021 to head their litigation vertical at the Group Level, having more than 13 years of dispute resolution experience. She is mainly involved in strategizing and supervising high value complex litigation and arbitration matters across different sectors including power, ports, coal and mining, natural resources, and renewables for various portfolio companies.

Prior to joining Adani, she worked as a Leader in the International Dispute Resolution and Investigations Practice at Nishith Desai Associates for over a decade. She split her time between commercial arbitration, regulatory and commercial litigation and white-collar investigations spanning across jurisdictions on internal fraud, anti-corruption, and bribery issues. She also focused on consumer and anti-trust litigation. She has been involved in representing international clients’ especially private equity investors, funds, multi-nationals in complex cross-border litigation and international commercial arbitrations across sectors including Energy, Mining, Infrastructure, Construction, pharmaceuticals and life-sciences, media and entertainment etc. She has worked on several matters involving enforcement of foreign awards and judgments in India and some challenging projects in financial services and regulatory sectors, representing investors in biggest infrastructure investment before SIAC.

Ms. Chatterjee holds an Honors degree in B. Com LL.B. (Hons.) from Gujarat National Law University and has completed her LLM in Corporate and Financial Laws from O.P. Jindal Global University. Payel has been appointed as the IBA (Asia-Pacific) Regional Liaison Officer for the Business Crimes Committee for a two-year term. She has been an active member of the ICC Task Force dealing with issues on corruption in international arbitration and Litigation Commission of the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA). She also contributed to the ICCA-IBA Joint Task Force on Data Protection in International Arbitration. She is an avid writer and contributes regularly to Kluwer Arbitration Blog, International Bar Association, International Business Law Journal and American Bar Association on commercial arbitration, investigations, and contemporary issues especially access to justice and gender equality.

Sara Koleilat-Aranjo

Sara Koleilat-AranjoSara Koleilat-Aranjo is a senior disputes and arbitration lawyer admitted to the New York, Paris and Beirut Bar Associations based in the Dubai office of Al Tamimi & Company, the largest law firm in the Middle East.

Sara regularly advises and represents clients in international and domestic arbitration proceedings, both ad hoc and institutional (ICC, DIAC, DIFC-LCIA, GCC Centre for Commercial Arbitration, LCIA, ICSID, PCA, UNCITRAL, etc.). Sara also represents clients in arbitration-related court proceedings, including applications for interim measures, recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards as well as set aside proceedings.

Sara is well versed in both the civil and common law legal traditions and has been involved in proceedings, as counsel, arbitrator and mediator, in the Arabic, French and English languages across several jurisdictions including Bahrain, Egypt, Iraq, Lebanon, Oman, Tunisia and Saudi Arabia in addition to France, United States, the United Kingdom, Hong Kong and Singapore.

Sara is a member of several professional organizations. She has been appointed as a Member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration & ADR and the IBA Subcommittee on International Arbitration Case Law. She currently sits on the Board of Directors of ArbitralWomen and serves as the Y-ICCA Coordinator for the MENA Region.

In addition to her practice of law, Sara has held several teaching and editorial appointments, including Editor of the Harvard Business Law Review and Lecturer in Law at the Sorbonne Law School in Paris and is currently a Lecturer in Law at the Paris II – Panthéon Assas University.

Sara holds an LL.B. in French and Lebanese law from Saint Joseph University, Masters in International Business Law from the University of René Descartes (Paris V), an Advanced Masters degree in Management and Finance from the ESSEC Business School and LL.M. from Harvard Law School.

Sara has been awarded the Middle East Rising Star Lawyer of the Year Award in 2019 by The Association of Corporate Counsel (ACC), The American Lawyer and The Legal Week as a testament to her growing leadership in the legal profession.

Sara is in charge of the Knowledge Management and Development of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative.

Victoria Jeruto Kigen

Victoria Jeruto KigenVictoria Jeruto Kigen, a Kenyan licensed attorney with over 6 years’ experience in dispute resolution, is currently a Case Counsel at the Nairobi Centre for International Arbitration (NCIA) – Kenya’s premier Institutional Arbitration body. Ms. Victoria is responsible for handling NCIA administered proceedings, including contract-based administrations in both governmental and private parties’ disputes, among others.

Victoria is also part of the government of Kenya delegation and advisory team in the Africa Continental free Trade Area (AfCFTA) Investment Protocol negotiations, among others. She is also involved in cutting-edge International Arbitration projects driven by the African Arbitration Academy (AAA), among other Arbitral Institutions in Africa.

Before joining the NCIA, she was an Arbitration Associate at a leading Kenyan arbitration consultancy firm, where she served as a counsel and adviser in commercial and construction arbitrations under domestic and foreign arbitral regimes as well as ad hoc arbitrations under UNCITRAL and other procedural rules.

She is lauded as a young and upcoming arbitration practitioner in Africa and is listed in the Arbitrators of African Descent with a US Nexus list August 2020 issue. Victoria is also an active advocate for the promotion of diversity and equal opportunity among, young and experienced arbitrators. She is an Executive Committee member of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative (RAI) and an ambassador of Racial Equality for Arbitration Lawyers (R.E.A.L) launched in January 2021. She has additionally been actively involved in judging the annual Foreign Direct Investment (FDI) Moot Competition over the past few years, among other ADR moot competitions.

Victoria holds an LL.B. from the Catholic University of Eastern Africa (CUEA), Kenya, Post-graduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law (KSL) and the White & Case International Arbitration LL.M. from the University of Miami School of law, USA.

She is fluent in English, Kiswahili, and Kalenjin.

Victoria is a member of the Partnerships team of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative.

Youssef Al Saman

Youssef Al SamanYoussef Al Saman is a Member of the Institutional Liaison Task Force of the Executive Committee of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative. He is a Partner – Dispute Resolution and Projects with Zulficar & Partners Law Firm, Member of the Egyptian Bar Association, Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb), Fellow of the Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution (FAIADR).

He specialises in dispute resolution with a focus on international arbitration, where he serves as an arbitrator and appears as counsel. He regularly leads teams in prosecuting mega institutional and ad-hoc arbitral proceedings under different governing laws and procedural rules, as well as arbitration-related judicial proceedings. He is experienced also in preparing independent legal expert reports on laws of different countries in the MENA region. Along with his experience on contentious work, he developed notable corporate expertise, whereby he advises clients on different corporate matters, cross-border commercial transactions, sophisticated projects and multi-contracts transactions, and leads teams in conducting fully-fledged complex legal audit.

He skillfully combines legal know-how and business-oriented mindset drawing on the business and operational experience he acquired through years of work with multinationals before private practice. In addition, his area-focused legal expertise spans diverse industries and legal practice areas, inter alia, energy, telecommunications, construction, media, entertainment, technology, logistics, FMCGs, international trade, corporate law, governmental contracts, and security and defense.

Furthermore, in 2020, he received the maiden edition of the Africa’s 50 Most Promising Young Arbitration Practitioners Award by the Association of Young Arbitrators. Also, he was recognised for ‘very commercial outlook’ and ‘knowledge of the market’, says the 2020 Legal 500 Next Generation Partners – Dispute Resolution, and he appeared in the Chambers & Partners 2020 Edition. In 2019, he was voted as a leading young Egyptian legal practitioner and received the Rising Stars Award by the LAW Magazine, he appeared in an interview for the LAW Magazine 2019 issue, and he featured in the Gobal Arbitration Review. In 2016, he was praised as ‘excellent: very experienced in commercial arbitration and litigation’, says the Legal 500 (2016). In 2015, he featured in the Global Arbitration Review.

His law teaching and legal training experience involved holding a visiting teaching position in academia, and delivering high-level legal training courses with the American Bar Association Rule of Law Initiative. He obtained his license en droit (LLB) from Cairo University - Egypt, English linguistic studies from the University of Cambridge - UK, Master of Laws (LL.M) in International and Comparative Law from Indiana University, Robert H. McKinney School of Law Indianapolis - US, and Master of Laws (LL.M) in International Dispute Resolution from Queen Mary University of London - UK.

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