Keynote Speakers

Nadja Alexander

Dr Nadja Alexander is recognized as a global thought leader in the field of mediation. Nadja’s work has been applied in the context of legal and institutional reform, where she has pioneered systems for mediation law and mediator credentialing in the Pacific, Asia, Europe and North Africa. In 2023 was named Outstanding International ADR educator in the inaugural APCAM Awards.

Nadja is a foundation member of the International Advisory Board of the United Nations Global Mediation Panel and a Lead Academic for the APEC Online Dispute Resolution Collaborative Framework. Her books include  The Singapore Convention on Mediation, Dispute Resolution Skills and Techniques, and International and Comparative Mediation (winner of the CPR Outstanding Book Award, New York). She is lead author of the SIDRA Dispute Resolution Survey Report, published every two years.

Nadja is Professor of Law and Director of the Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy (SIDRA) at the Singapore Management University School of Law .

Hon James Allsop AC

The Hon James Allsop AC provides arbitration, facilitation, mediation and expert determination services in Australia and internationally.

James was the Chief Justice of the Federal Court of Australia from 1 March 2013 to 6 April 2023, the President of the New South Wales Court of Appeal from 2 June 2008 to 28 February 2013 and a Judge of the Federal Court of Australia from 7 May 2001 to 1 June 2008.

His work on these courts and as a barrister from 1981 to 1994, and as Senior Counsel from 1994 to 2001 involved a very wide range of commercial disputes at first instance and on appeal including company law, partnerships and general commercial and contractual disputes, insolvency, banking and finance, intellectual property, taxation, technology and construction, insurance and reinsurance, maritime and shipping, and domestic and international arbitration.

His chambers are in Sydney at Sydney Arbitration Chambers and in London as a door tenant at Atkin Chambers.

A CV can be found at the following links.
sydneyarbitrationchambers.com
atkinchambers.com

Letoafaiga David J. Fong

Letoafaiga David J. Fong is a senior Samoan legal practitioner with experience in civil litigation, constitutional and public law, land and administrative law, and serious criminal prosecution. He graduated from the University of the South Pacific with a Bachelor of Laws (LLB) and holds a Postgraduate Diploma in Legal Practice (PDLP) and a Postgraduate Diploma in Legislative Drafting (PDLD).

He has served in the Office of the Attorney General of Samoa since 2016 and currently holds the position of Chief Public Solicitor and Assistant Attorney General for the Civil Litigation and Opinions Division. From October 2024 to January 2026, he also served as Acting Chief Public Prosecutor, jointly overseeing both civil and criminal litigation on behalf of the State.

Mr. Fong regularly appears before the Supreme Court and Court of Appeal of Samoa, representing the Attorney General, Cabinet, constitutional offices, government ministries, and statutory bodies. His civil practice includes constitutional and administrative disputes, judicial review, statutory interpretation, historical land tenure claims, and public interest litigation. He has also conducted and supervised prosecutions of serious offences involving narcotics, sexual, and violent offending.

In 2024, he was a member of Samoa’s delegation to the International Court of Justice in the Climate Change Advisory Opinion proceedings, contributing to national coordination and the preparation of submissions. His practice reflects a strong commitment to public service and the rule of law..

Hon. David Goddard, K.C

David Goddard is a judge of the Singapore International Commercial Court, an International Fellow of the Singapore Judicial College, a Professorial Fellow in the University of Melbourne Law School, and the New Zealand Chief Justice’s Special Advisor on Digital Technologies. He also acts as a mediator and arbitrator, with a particular focus on commercial disputes.

David was the Chair of the Diplomatic Session of the HCCH that adopted the 2019 Judgments Convention, a Vice-President of the Diplomatic Session that adopted the 2005 Choice of Court Convention, and a member of the drafting committee for the Choice of Court Convention.

David served as a judge of the New Zealand Court of Appeal from July 2019 to July 2025.

David’s current research and teaching focuses on the design of effective laws, and the implications of digital technology for the design of law and the delivery of justice.  He is the author of Making Laws That Work: How Laws Fail and How We Can Do Better (Hart Publishing, 2022).

Jane Kelsey

Dr Jane Kelsey is Professor Emeritus in Law at the University of Auckland, New Zealand, specialising in international economic regulation. Dr Kelsey has degrees from Victoria University of Wellington, Oxford University, University of Cambridge and University of Auckland. Professor Kelsey has closely monitored the WTO, mega-regional and bilateral negotiations since 1990 and has worked extensively on trade negotiations in the Pacific Islands Countries. In addition to many academic writings, technical reports and international addresses, she is an adviser to a number of developing country governments and was a member of the Ideation and Advisory Board to the UAE Minister of State for Foreign Trade for the 13th WTO Ministerial Conference in Abu Dhabi in 2023. Jane also works on international investment agreements and attended the UNCITRAL Working Group III meetings on reforms to investor state dispute settlement for a number of years. In her retirement Jane also runs training workshops on trade and investment related matters for foreign governments, legislators, trade unions, and civil society, and Indigenous Peoples in Aotearoa and internationally.

Robert Kroplewski

Robert Kroplewski – founder and owner of kroplewski.com law firm and its branch Stewardship AI Laboratory (SAIL) – is a legal adviser, a long-term practitioner of technological convergence, and an expert in the field of new technologies law and their transfer, electronic media, and social communication services.

He has been serving in different expert committees, such as the High-Level Expert Group on AI Strategy for the European Commission (AIHLEG), the OECD Working Party on Artificial Intelligence (AIGO), the Council of Europe’s Ad hoc Committee on Artificial Intelligence (CAHAI), and NATO’s Defence Production Action Plan (DARP). Robert is co-chair of the Innovation and Commercialization WG in GPAI’s integrated Partnership with OECD and an active member of UNESCO's AI Ethics Experts Without Borders (AIEB). He co-authored UNESCO’s draft Recommendation for Ethics of AI.

During the period 2016-2024, he was Plenipotentiary of the Minister of Digitization for the Information Society, and he was a Polish negotiator of the EU AI Act.

Robert also holds diverse roles with different think-tanks and civil society and academic institutions – such as the Polish Academy of Science, the Global Artifficial Intelligence Alliance (GAIA), and the School of Economics at Warsaw University, to name a few – and he is an arbitrator at the Arbitration Court for Internet Domains at the Polish Chamber of Information Technology and Telecommunications and at the Polish Chamber of Commerce. 

Paul Ng

Paul Ng is Head of Aviation at Rajah & Tann Singapore (largest law firm in South East Asia) and one of the most highly regarded aviation and asset finance lawyers globally, with over 30 years of practice experience in the sector.

Paul has been consistently recognised by Chambers (the leading practitioner’s directory) in its top tier of lawyers for over a decade and has recently been elevated to Senior Statespeople status in Aviation: Finance (the only person in Singapore and one of only two in the Asia Pacific).  The Lexology Index has also named him among the “Best of the Best” Top 30 Aviation Practitioners globally, and The Legal 500 Asia Pacific 2026 has recognised him as a Leading Partner in Asset Finance. Business Today also named him one of the Top 10 most influential aviation finance lawyers in the Asia Pacific region.

Paul elected to present Singapore as a Correspondent at UNIDRIOT and is a member of the prestigious Legal Advisory Panel to the Aviation Working Work. He is also an accredited specialist mediator with the Singapore International Mediation Centre and sits on the Legal Advisory Board of the Hague Court of Arbitration for Aviation, where he was appointed Co‑Chair of the Mediation Standing Committee in 2023.

In academia, Paul was a Visiting Research Scholar at the University of Cambridge and is an Academic Fellow and Adjunct Professor at the National University of Singapore.  In 2024, Paul was conferred an honorary (industry) professorship at Queen Mary University of London.  He was also the contributing editor to The Legal 500’s International Comparative Guide to Aviation from 2020-2023.

Hon. Justice Brian J Preston AO FRSN SC

Justice Preston is the Chief Judge of the Land and Environment Court of New South Wales. Prior to being appointed in November 2005, he was a senior counsel practising primarily in New South Wales in environmental, planning, administrative and property law. He has lectured in post-graduate environmental law for over 30 years. He is the author of Australia’s first book on environmental litigation and 164 articles, book chapters and reviews on environmental law, administrative and criminal law. He holds numerous editorial positions in environmental law publications and has been involved in a number of international environmental consultancies and capacity-building programs, including for judiciaries throughout Asia, Africa and the European Union.

Justice Preston is an Official Member of the Judicial Commission of NSW, Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law, Fellow of the Royal Society of NSW and Honorary Fellow of the Environment Institute of Australia and New Zealand. He was awarded a Doctor of Letters (honoris causa) by Macquarie University in 2018 and a Doctor of Laws (honoris causa) by Western Sydney University in 2022. He is a member of various international environmental law committees and advisory boards, including serving on the Governing Council and as Vice President for Oceania of the Global Judicial Institute on the Environment and as Chair of the Environmental Law Committee of the Law Association for Asia and the Pacific (LAWASIA).

Justice Preston was recognised with the Award for Excellence - Outstanding Contribution to Environmental Law by the Law Council of Australia’s Legal Practice Section in 2021. In 2023, he was awarded the Medal of Honour by the World Jurist Association at the United Nations in New York and was granted Life Membership by LAWASIA. He was appointed as an Officer of the Order of Australia (AO) in the Australia Day Honours List 2025.

Justice Preston is currently a Visiting Professor at Durham University (UK), an Adjunct Professor at three Australian universities, the University of Sydney, Western Sydney University and Southern Cross University, and a former Visiting Fellow at Corpus Christi College and Magdalen College at Oxford University (UK).

Dr Penelope Ridings

Dr Penelope Ridings is a Member of the International Law Commission and New Zealand Barrister practicing in the field of public international law. She was Chair of the 2025 arbitration under the EU-UK Trade and Cooperation Agreement (UK-Sandeel) and Chair of the WTO appeal arbitration China – Enforcement of Intellectual Property Rights under the Multi-Party Interim Appeal Arbitration Arrangement. She has served on several ICSID Annulment Committees, including as Chair. She was formerly New Zealand’s Chief International Legal Adviser and a New Zealand diplomat. In this role she was Agent for New Zealand before the International Court of Justice in Whaling in the Antarctic: Australia v Japan, New Zealand Intervening and before the International Tribunal on the Law of the Sea in the Request for an Advisory Opinion submitted by the Sub-Regional Fisheries Commission. She has also been an independent panellist in disputes before the WTO and has represented New Zealand as Counsel in WTO disputes. She is Legal Advisor to the Western and Central Pacific Fisheries Commission.

Ignacio Tirado

Professor Ignacio Tirado was appointed Secretary-General by the Governing Council at its 97^th session with effect on 27 August 2018,and was reappointed at the Governing Council’s 102^nd session for a second term in 2023. A national of Spain, Professor Tirado (Commercial, Corporate and Insolvency Law, Universidad Autónoma of Madrid, Spain) holds a PhD from the Universities of Bologna and Autónoma de Madrid and an LLM from the University of London. Professor Tirado has been a Senior Legal Consultant at the World Bank’s Legal Vice-Presidency and Financial Sector Practice for more than nine years, having also consulted for the IMF on insolvency related matters as well as for the Asian Development Bank on commercial legal reform. 

Amongst other accolades to his professional experience, Professor Tirado is a founding member of the European Banking Institute, an International Fellow of the American College of Bankruptcy and has been Director and Academic Co-Chair of the International Insolvency Institute.

Dr Anna Veneziano

Anna Veneziano (LL.M, Yale Law School; PhD, University of Firenze, Italy) is the Deputy Secretary-General of UNIDROIT. She is a full Professor of Comparative Law at the University of Teramo, Italy (on leave), with a previous position as PT Professor of European Property Law at the University of Amsterdam (UvA). Her main research and publication areas are on secured transactions and contract law. Among her institutional activities before joining UNIDROIT, she was a member of the Italian delegation negotiating the Cape Town Convention on International Interests on Mobile Equipment and its Aircraft Protocol and its Space Protocol. She was also a member of the Compilation and Redaction Group on the DCFR on European Private Law as well as of the EU Commission Expert Group for a common European law on sales. At UNIDROIT, among others: she continues to be involved in the promotion of the Cape Town Convention Protocols; was Co-Chair of the Steering Committee of the ELI-UNIDROIT European Rules of Civil Procedure project; participated in the drafting of the 2005 UNIDROIT/FAO/IFAD Legal Guide on Contract Farming; represented UNIDROIT in the Principles of Reinsurance Contract Law project; and is involved in the current Best Practices for Effective Enforcement and in International Investment Contracts projects.

Ben Adams

Ben Adams is an Associate Professor in the department of Computer Science and Software Engineering at the University of Canterbury, where he also serves as the Associate Head of Department. Ben's research sits at the intersection of natural language processing, data science, and human-AI collaboration, as well as their application to domain sciences. His research combines theory and construction: he studies how data, whether human- or AI-generated, supports reasoning and knowledge creation, and he develops models and tools that make these processes interpretable and actionable. Recent work explores multi-step reasoning in collaborative settings, the maintenance of causal and conceptual coherence, and how AI interventions shape understanding and decision-making. He has also developed systems for automating scientific workflows and aspects of document reporting, integrating experimental and computational approaches to advance practical methods for supporting the research lifecycle in AI-enabled teams.

Ruth Ballantyne

Ruth Ballantyne is a lecturer at the University of Canterbury. She teaches child and family law and has a particular research interest in legal parentage models, surrogacy, identity theory, birth certificates, assisted human reproduction, family violence, intercountry adoption, and child poverty. She is a passionate advocate for making family law more inclusive of diverse family and whānau structures within Aotearoa and upholding the rights of children.

Ruth is the author of the Family Law Student Companion (2nd ed, Wellington: LexisNexis, 2014), writes for the LexisNexis Family Law Service, and has contributed to numerous other family law publications including Feminist Judgments of Aotearoa New Zealand: Te Rino – A Two-Stranded Rope, Family Law in New Zealand, and Family Law Policy in New Zealand (5th ed). She is also a member of the academic review board of the New Zealand Women’s Law Journal – Te Aho Kawe Kaupapa Ture a ngā Wāhine and is on the editorial board of the New Zealand Family Law Journal.

Ruth is an enrolled Barrister and Solicitor of the High Court of New Zealand and a former Convenor of the Otago Women Lawyers’ Society.

Richard Braddock

Richard Braddock has two decades of experience providing advice and assistance to governments on international trade and investment law and policy issues. Richard has deep expertise in relation to regional trade agreements in the Asia-Pacific region and beyond and  provides advice, technical assistance and training across the entire range of trade and investment issues under the WTO, bilateral and plurilateral trade agreements. Richard has supported multiple countries to accede to the WTO, and is currently supporting Timor-Leste to accede to ASEAN.

Before forming Lexbridge, Richard led legal teams for the Australian Government for close to a decade, providing legal advice across trade and investment law issues under the WTO, Free Trade Agreements, and investment agreements. Richard has been a negotiator and legal advisor on some of the most significant trade negotiations in the Asia-Pacific region, including the Trans-Pacific Partnership Agreement, negotiations with ASEAN, and FTAs between Australia and China, Japan, Korea, Malaysia, New Zealand, Chile, and Singapore, and acted as lead investment negotiator on the AANZFTA and CPTPP.

Richard was a senior member of the legal team which successfully defended Australia’s first investor-state arbitration claim, challenging tobacco plain packaging. 

Richard holds a Bachelor of Commerce from the University of New South Wales, a Bachelor of Laws from the University of Sydney, and a Master of Laws in International Law from the University of Cambridge.

William Brydie-Watson

William Brydie-Watson is a Senior Legal Officer at the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (Unidroit), based in Rome. William specialises in international instruments related to access to credit and secured transactions law. He has primary responsibility for the development of the Unidroit Model Law on Factoring and its Guide to Enactment, as well as the implementation of the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment and its Protocol on mining, agricultural and construction equipment (the ‘MAC Protocol’). William is also Co-Director of the Unidroit Asian Transnational Law Centre, the manager of the Unidroit Scholarship, Internship and Research Programme and an advisor to the Unidroit Foundation.

William also serves on the Board of Directors of the International Law Institute, is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIARB) and is a visiting lecturer at the Eötvös Loránd University in Budapest. Admitted to practice law by the Supreme Court of New South Wales, William has a Bachelor of Arts, a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) and a Master of Laws from the Australian National University.

Previously, he was a Legal Officer in the Private International Law section of the Australian Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department and worked on the implementation of private international law treaties in Australia. 

Petra Butler

Professor Petra Butler is the Executive Dean of the Faculty of Law at the University of Canterbury. A leading scholar in international commercial law and human rights law, she is recognised for integrating domestic and international perspectives and for fostering interdisciplinary approaches to contemporary legal issues.

She has held visiting academic appointments across five continents, including at the Universidad de Navarra, Northwestern University, Bucerius Law School, and Bahir Dar University. Professor Butler also serves as Director of the Institute of Small and Micro States, underscoring her commitment to applied and globally relevant legal research.

In addition, she is a Senior Research Fellow at the British Institute of International and Comparative Law and an arbitration fellow of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand. As a member of Kate Sheppard Chambers, she provides specialised legal advice in her areas of expertise.

Her work continues to shape law reform, inform public policy, and strengthen international academic collaboration.

Margaret Casey

Margaret went to the Bar in 1992. She specialised in all aspect of family law, with a particular focus on international aspects of family law. She is regularly appointed by  the Central Authority in Hague Convention  child abduction cases and  has conducted many of the appeals in this area.

Margaret has had a long interest in the practice of domestic and international adoption law as well as in all aspects of surrogacy and assisted reproduction as it is practised within and outside New Zealand. She was appointed to the Experts Group at the Hague on Parentage and Surrogacy in February 2016 and was an Expert advisor to the Law Commission in it’s recent review of surrogacy law. She is a member of the Intranational Academy of Family Lawyers.

Margaret was appointed Queen’s Counsel in July 2015. She practises in Auckland New Zealand in Mills Lane Chambers.

Pauline Courtney

Pauline is an experienced civil litigator and commercial mediator (Fellow AMINZ Med) who has appeared as counsel at all levels of the New Zealand courts.

Pauline has developed particular expertise in how to use artificial intelligence systems in legal and ADR practice. She has provided significant advice, and presentations, on issues related to the use of AI systems and automated decision-making. Pauline is a member of the New Zealand Bar Association Technology Committee. In that capacity, and for clients, she has tested and evaluated the Quillio AI system, applying it across the skills, tasks and workflows undertaken by lawyers and ADR practitioners. She has benchmarked its output against five other legal-related AI systems available in New Zealand.

Pauline practises through Kate Sheppard Chambers (a virtual chambers), having previously spent more than 20 years with Crown Law, including as a Senior Crown Counsel. She is currently undertaking a contract with Quillio. Her broader areas of expertise include revenue and customs law, public law, company/commercial law, creditors’ remedies, and trusts.

Ivana Damjanovic

Dr Ivana Damjanovic is an Associate Professor of International Law at the University of Canberra Law School and a Jean Monnet Research Fellow at the Australian National University. Her expertise includes international investment law and governance, European Union law and EU external investment, trade and climate change policies. She is the author of The European Union and International Investment Law Reform: Between Aspirations and Reality (Cambridge University Press, 2023). Dr Damjanovic leads the Jean Monnet Centre of Excellence in Critical Minerals at the University of Canberra and collaborates on a range of research projects across Australia and Europe. Before joining academia, she served as a member of the Croatian diplomatic service, and later as a trade adviser to the EU Delegation in Australia. Dr Damjanovic holds a PhD from the Australian National University, and master degrees from the University College Dublin and the University of Zagreb. She qualified as an Australian lawyer and is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law.

Milena Djordjevic 

Dr. Milena Djordjevic is a Director of Centre for Legal Skills and an Assistant Professor at the University of Belgrade Faculty of Law where she teaches, inter alia, International Commercial Law and Arbitration. She holds degrees from universities of Belgrade (LL.B and Dr. iur.) and Pittsburgh (LL.M), providing her with understanding of both common law and civil law systems. She has coached Belgrade moot team for the Vis Moot for the past 20+ years and is the organizer of the Belgrade Open Pre-Moot and Belgrade Arbitration Conference.

Dr. Djordjevic has been an arbitrator (sole arbitrator, member of the panel or chair), expert witness, and counsel in dozens of domestic and international arbitrations under the ICC, LCIA, VIAC, CAM, DIS, FAI, FTCA, BAC, BAT, FIVB, CAS, and ICSID rules, and in ad hoc arbitration.

She is a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, the Supervisory Board of Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge, the Board of the Serbian Arbitration Association, and the Board of Association of Commercial Lawyers. For two consecutive terms she was a member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration. She is a Secretary to the Advisory Council on CISG and a national CLOUT correspondent to UNCITRAL. She regularly provides legal advice to businesses, international organizations, and law firms in the area of her expertise.

Dr. Djordjevic has published extensively on the CISG, arbitration, WTO law and EU trade law in books published by Cambridge University Press, Beck/Hart, Kluwer, etc. She regularly speaks at international conferences and is a recurring guest lecturer at universities in the US and Italy. Her work has been cited by, inter alia, the German Supreme Court and the US Court of Appeals (8th Circuit).

Olivia J. Erdelyi

Dr. Olivia J. Erdelyi is an internationally recognized AI and regulatory expert, advisor, consultant, and auditor with a multidisciplinary background in computer science, economics, law, and political science. Her work centers around developing a sustainable and robust regulatory environment to enable beneficial development and societal adoption of emerging technologies, in particular AI. She is active in international AI policymaking and advises governments and organizations on their journey towards AI readiness. Beyondhercurrent roles as Senior Lecturer Above the Bar at University of Canterbury, Chief Gover nance Officer (CGO) at BAIC, Partner AI Ethics and Governance at PHI Institute, and Lead Auditor at SGS, Olivia is member of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand (AMINZ), the LawandPolicy Group at the International Panel for the Information Environment (IPIE), and serves as an expert in various policy and standardization bodies, including the OECD Network of Experts (ONE AI), the International Organization for Standardization (ISO), and the Institute of Electrical and Electronics Engineers (IEEE). Prior to these roles, she was a Mercator Visiting Professor at University of Bonn, a consultant to the OECD, Director of Ethics and Policy at Soul Machines, and has worked with international law f irms, the Court of Justice of the European Union, and the European Commission.

Stewart Germann

Stewart Germann founded Stewart Germann Law Office (SGL) in 1993 as a boutique law firm at Auckland, New Zealand, specialising in franchising, licensing and business law.

SGL is New Zealand’s longest established specialist franchising law firm and Stewart is included in the International Who's Who of Franchise Lawyers.

Stewart Germann has over 40 years’ experience in franchising law and acts for franchisors in New Zealand, Australia, USA and the UK.  SGL also act for franchisees and provides legal advice.  Stewart has spoken at franchising conferences in New Zealand, Australia, Italy, South Korea and USA and he was on the Board of the Supplier Forum of the International Franchise Association (“IFA”) for 6 years.

SGL clients include many of New Zealand’s best known national and international franchise brands and Stewart has extensive franchising contacts worldwide and locally.  He is actively involved in international franchising and has written many articles which have been published overseas including in the International Journal of Franchising Law.

Stewart is a past Chairman of the Franchise Association of New Zealand (FANZ) and wrote the original Franchising Code of Practice for the FANZ.  He has also written many published articles on franchising.

Stewart is the only lawyer in New Zealand to graduate Certified Franchise Executive (CFE).  He is also Adjunct Professor of Law at the University of Auckland Law School teaching Franchise Law.

Felicity Gerry

Dr Felicity Gerry KC is an international King’s Counsel specialising in complex crime, including homicide, terrorism, war crimes, and modern slavery/human trafficking. She holds a PhD on women trafficked in organised crime and a Masters in International Governance and has advised on modern slavery compliance, supply chain due diligence, and responsible investment, including work that led to a USD $82m corporate divestment over human rights risks. Her research and policy submissions have driven legal reforms on modern slavery and human trafficking across jurisdictions and informed parliamentary and UN level initiatives. She is a sought after public speaker on business and human rights and ethical leadership.

Annette Gittos

Annette is a Principal Policy Advisor at the Ministry of Business, Innovation and Employment, where she provides strategic leadership across a portfolio of international economic and trade policy issues. She serves as New Zealand’s National Contact Point (NCP) for the OECD Guidelines for Multinational Enterprises on Responsible Business Conduct. In this role, she promotes the Guidelines across government, business, unions, and civil society, leads a tripartite NCP liaison group of governmental and non-governmental representatives to support the effectiveness of the NCP, and manages New Zealand’s non‑judicial grievance mechanism for addressing alleged breaches of the Guidelines. Annette also represents New Zealand as its delegate to the OECD Working Party on Responsible Business Conduct, advancing policy coherence and supporting international efforts to strengthen responsible business standards, including in global supply chains.

She has extensive experience representing New Zealand at APEC and currently serves as Vice‑Chair of the APEC Economic Committee, advancing structural reform initiatives that support sustainable, inclusive economic growth across the Asia–Pacific region. She is skilled in influencing international policy outcomes, negotiating outcomes and coordinating cross-government efforts on trade and economic issues. Over her career, Annette has held senior roles in MBIE, the Ministry for Primary Industries, local government, and regional economic development. She brings expertise in multilateral engagement, policy development, governance, and project leadership, with a strong focus on improving economic performance and supporting New Zealand’s international partnerships.

Benjamin Gottlieb

Benjamin Gottlieb is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution Group at Schellenberg Wittmer in Zurich, where he focuses on international arbitration and domestic and international commercial litigation. He also has specialist expertise in the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG), advising clients across sectors such as construction, energy, engineering, pharmaceuticals, and automotive.

Benjamin’s arbitration practice includes representing clients in high‑stakes proceedings before major arbitral institutions, including ICC cases involving complex industrial projects. In addition to acting as counsel, he also sits as an arbitrator.

He holds a lic. iur. from the Universities of Zurich and Milan, a Certificate of Advanced Studies in Arbitration from the Universities of Lucerne and Neuchâtel.  He was awarded the title of Arbitration Practitioner (ArbP) by the Swiss Arbitration Academy in 2010.

Benjamin lectures on international commercial arbitration and the Vienna Sales Convention at the University of Zurich and frequently publishes and speaks on arbitration and international sales law.

Michael Arada Greenop

Michael Arada Greenop is a Counsel in the international arbitration team of Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP.  He specializes in international commercial arbitration and investment treaty arbitration and has handled cases under a variety of institutional rules and in jurisdictions spanning Europe, Asia, America, Africa and the Middle East.  He also has considerable experience advising governments and arbitral institutions on the drafting of arbitration legislation and arbitration rules including the arbitrateAD Arbitration Rules (shortlisted by the Global Arbitration Review for “Best Development” in 2024).  Michael was shortlisted in 2024 for the prestigious Rising Star of the Year award (UK wide) at the British Legal Awards, which is awarded to the UK’s top lawyer under 10 PQE.

Michael is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (UK) and was admitted in 2019 as the youngest Fellow of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand.  He co-hosts the annual Africa Arbitration Academy's Flagship Training Programme at WilmerHale and has taught the International Commercial Arbitration Certification course at the Strathmore Dispute Resolution Centre in Kenya.  He is a member of the Africa Arbitration Academy’s Task Force on Climate Change Disputes (shortlisted at the 2026 GAR Awards in “The Campaign for Greener Arbitrations Award” Category).  He also serves as an Advisory Board Member, Co-Chair of the Task Forces and Coordinator of the Rules Standing Committee of the Hague Court of Arbitration for Aviation (shortlisted by GAR for “Best Development” in 2023).

Outside of his role as an Adjunct Professor of Comparative Law at Pepperdine University, he regularly speaks at conferences and workshops on issues relating to international arbitration, and his writing on arbitration and public international law topics has been published in leading peer-reviewed legal publications and has received awards.  Michael’s recent speaking engagements have covered energy and mining investment disputes (London Arbitration Week and Nairobi Arbitration Week); disputes arising out of new technologies, regulatory shifts and infrastructure modifications as part of the energy transition (Paris Arbitration Week); the intersection of renewable energy investments and legal risks (Energy and Petroleum Regulatory Authority Kenya); ESG as the next major frontier in international arbitration (ICC-YAAF); and the implications of disaster and disruption in developing States (Institute of Small and Micro States and BIICL).

Megumi Hara

Megumi Hara is Professor of Law at Chuo University, Tokyo, where she teaches property law, contract law, secured transactions, and trust law. Her research explores secured transactions, property theory, and asset-based finance. She has written widely in private law in both Japanese and English.

Prior to joining Chuo University, she served as Associate Professor at Kyushu University and Professor at Gakushuin University, and has also taught at the University of Tokyo and Keio University.

Professor Hara has been involved in legislative and regulatory reform. She was appointed by the Ministry of Justice as a researcher on Japan’s recent property law reform, served on a business law research group under the Ministry of Economy, Trade and Industry in preparation for secured transactions reform, and was a member of the Working Group on Regional Financial Institutions under the Financial System Council of the Financial Services Agency. She is also a public interest member of the Central Labor Relations Commission.

She has participated in UNCITRAL Working Groups I and VI, represented Japan at the Diplomatic Conference adopting the MAC Protocol to the Cape Town Convention, served on UNIDROIT’s Working Group on the Model Law on Factoring, and currently serves on UNIDROIT’s Working Group on Verified Carbon Credits (VCCs).

Thomas Hayward

Thomas is in his final year at the University of Canterbury, completing a Bachelor of Laws (Honours) alongside a Bachelor of Commerce, majoring in Operations and Supply Chain Management.

Thomas has been immersed in New Zealand’s agricultural sector from a young age. He grew up watching his parents build their family business, Twin Oaks Angus Stud, and now plays an active role in its operations. This hands-on involvement in livestock breeding and farm management has given him a practical understanding of the commercial realities facing rural business. He is also a current Meat Industry Association Scholar (2024–2026) and represented New Zealand at the 2025 World Angus Forum.

Thomas’s passion for agriculture strongly shapes both his academic focus and career aspirations. Through an internship at ANZCO Foods, he gained exposure to the export and international shipping dimensions of New Zealand’s red meat industry. He recently concluded a summer clerkship with Rhodes & Co and is motivated to build a legal career dedicated to supporting New Zealand farmers and strengthening the primary sector.

Anna Holloway

Anna Holloway is a Senior Legal Counsel based in Washington DC at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), part of the World Bank Group.  In this role, she assists arbitral tribunals and ad hoc committees grappling with some of the world’s largest investor-State disputes, and leads a number of ICSID’s institutional projects. 

Prior to joining ICSID, Anna was counsel in WilmerHale’s international arbitration group for nine years (based in London and then Washington DC). She began her legal career in New Zealand, first as a judge's clerk at the New Zealand Court of Appeal and Supreme Court (clerking for Justice Rob Chambers and Justice Andrew Tipping), and then practicing as a barrister in chambers with now Justice J. Stephen Kós.

Anna speaks and teaches regularly regarding various aspects of ICSID’s practice and procedure, arbitration, and investor-state dispute resolution generally, including, more recently, the mediation of investor-state disputes. Anna holds an LLB(Hons)/BSc from the University of Otago and an LLM from Harvard Law School, and has been barred in New Zealand, England, New York and the District of Columbia.  She lives in Chevy Chase, Maryland, with her husband and three sons.

Suzanne Howarth

Suzanne Howarth completed an Arts Law degree at the University of Sydney (with a major in public administration and law), and a Master of Laws degree at the University of Melbourne (with a major in the law of information and inter-government relations).  Suzanne is also a graduate and member of the Australian Institute of Company Directors and a member of the ACT Law Society.

For over thirty years, Suzanne has worked in legal roles across the public and private sectors (Commonwealth Attorney-General’s Department, the Australian Competition and Consumer Commission, Commonwealth Treasury, Phillips Fox Sydney, Clyde and Co London, and Clifford Chance London).  She has also served in Executive roles with both the ACT Law Society and the Law Council of Australia.  As a seasoned regulatory and international lawyer and public policy professional, Suzanne has had extensive experience advising on, developing, implementing, and reviewing regulatory and legislative measures for successive Australian Governments.

Currently, Suzanne is an Adjunct Fellow at the University of Canberra and a Pacific Correspondent for UNIDROIT, where she is one of the observers of the UNIDROIT working group on the legal nature of verified carbon credits.

Jie (Jeanne) Huang

Dr. Jie (Jeanne) Huang is Professor of Comparative and Private International Law at the University of Sydney Law School in Australia.

She specialises in Conflict of Laws, focusing on resolving international commercial and investment disputes. She also conducts research on e-commerce and digital trade regulations. Her recent research combines Conflict of Laws and digital trade, aiming to develop international traceability law for digitally tracing documents and products in international cross-industry value chains.

She has published on American Journal of International Law, European Journal of International Law, Chinese Journal of International Law, etc. She has received competitive funding from Australia, the U.S. and China.

She is the UNECE-UN/CEFACT co-lead of the Critical Minerals Traceability and Sustainability Project and Regional Rapporteur for the Pacific since 2025. 

She was Senior Academic Visitor at the Commercial Law Centre, University of Oxford. She is also a non-resident research associate at Harvard University’s Fairbank Centre.

Professor Huang is an arbitrator at major Asian arbitral institutions and regularly provides expert opinions on private international law and Chinese law to courts worldwide.

David Hume

David is an independent arbitrator and a Senior Lecturer at Victoria University of Wellington, where he teaches as part of its inaugural Masters of Construction Law programme, and co-ordinates the course on Dispute Resolution in Construction.

David has recently returned to New Zealand after spending more than a decade in the Middle East, where he was a Partner in the international law firm Allen Overy Shearman Sterling.  During that time, David’s practice focused on large-scale cross-border commercial, energy, infrastructure and construction disputes, arguing cases on behalf of States, State-owned companies, and multinational businesses in arbitrations under the ICC, LCIA, SCC and DIAC Rules, as well as in ad hoc arbitrations, Dispute Board proceedings, and related litigation.

David also sits as arbitrator in several international construction and commercial disputes and has been identified by directories as a Global Elite Thought Leader among arbitrators under 45, and as a “next generation partner” in construction.

André Janssen

André Janssen is Chair Professor of European Private Law at Radboud University Nijmegen, The Netherlands. He has been a visiting scholar or professor at prestigious institutions, including Bocconi University (Milan), Catholic University of Lyon, Chinese University of Political Science and Law (Beijing), City University (Hong Kong), East China University of Political Science and Law (Shanghai), Koç University (Istanbul), Oxford University, Pontificia Universidad Católica de Valparaíso, Turin University, and Verona University. He also held the Francqui Chair, funded by the Francqui Foundation in Belgium and the Global Law Chair at Leuven University, and currently holds the Wenlan Scholar Chair at Zhongnan University of Economics and Law (Wuhan).

André has delivered over 250 presentations at international conferences across five continents. He is a current or former member of various national and international research networks and has authored more than 170 publications, including books, articles, and other contributions, with a focus on European Private Law, Commercial Law, Comparative Law, and Digital Law (e.g., Artificial Intelligence and Law, blockchain, and smart contracts). He serves as Co-Chief Editor of the European Review of Private Law (ERPL) and is on the editorial boards of the International Arbitration Law Review (IALR) and Opinio Juris in Comparatione. In 2023, he was elected Rapporteur by the CISG Advisory Council for the forthcoming opinion on “Smart Products under the CISG.” André is also a Council Member of the European Law Institute and Co-Chair of its Special Interest Group on Digital Law.

Saad Kazmi

Saad Kazmi is a distinguished cybersecurity authority and Digital Trust Leader with over 28 years of experience in Information Technology. As Digital Trust Leader | Program Manager at SGS, Saad is at the forefront of helping organisations navigate the high-stakes intersection of regulatory compliance, digital innovation, and risk management.

A PCI-DSS Qualified Security Assessor (QSA) and Lead Auditor and trainer for international standards, including ISO 27001, ISO 27701 (Privacy), and others.

His expertise is particularly vital in today’s landscape, where the rapid adoption of Artificial Intelligence has introduced unprecedented information security challenges.

He is currently at the forefront of the conversation on AI/IS challenges across industry sectors, such as legal, focusing on how firms can maintain data integrity and confidentiality as they adopt automated tools.

Saad’s mission is to ensure that as these high-stakes industries embrace AI, they do so through a framework of prioritised information security and ethical governance.

Trish Keeper

Trish Keeper is an associate professor in commercial law at the School of Accounting and Commercial Law, Victoria University of Wellington/ Te Herenga Waka. She lectures and researches in the areas of corporate law, personal and corporate insolvency and securities market regulation. Trish has presented for the New Zealand Law Society and currently contributes to LexisNexis’s Morison’s Financial Markets Conduct Act commentary.  She has published in New Zealand and international journals.  Trish was the INSOL International Asia Pacific Insolvency Scholar for 2009-2010, is the New Zealand correspondent for the Australian Insolvency Law Bulletin and the CLOUT correspondent for New Zealand in respect of the UNCITRAL’s Model Law on Cross-Border Insolvency.

Anna Kirk

Dr Anna Kirk is a barrister and arbitrator at Bankside Chambers (Auckland and Singapore), with expertise in international arbitration and public international law. Anna is New Zealand’s Member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, Vice-President of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand, and a Fellow of CIArb and ACICA. Prior to joining Bankside Chambers, Anna worked with renowned international arbitrator, Sir David Williams KC, and practised international arbitration in London. Anna is a co-author of New Zealand’s primary arbitration text, Williams & Kawharu on Arbitration, co-lectures international arbitration at the University of Auckland and holds a PhD in international law from the University of Cambridge.

Robert Kirkness

Robert has broad international, commercial and public law practice. Robert acts as counsel before domestic courts and before international courts and tribunals. He has particular expertise acting for corporations, individuals and sovereign States in investor-State disputes. He has also served as arbitrator in several international commercial disputes. Robert is ranked by leading legal directories both for his work in domestic litigation before the New Zealand courts and for international arbitration where he has been recognised for a number of years as a ‘Global Thought Leader’ by Lexology Index. Robert is described by leading directories as “Rob is one of the most effective advocates of his generation” (Lexology Index – International Arbitration), “acclaimed by peers and clients alike as an “incredible advocate”” (Lexology Index – International Arbitration), and “Robert Kirkness’ written and oral advocacy is a dream to read and listen to” (Chambers & Partners, Dispute Resolution: The Bar – New Zealand) and “calm and clear with clients and a confident and eloquent advocate” (Chambers & Partners, Dispute Resolution: The Bar – New Zealand).   

Samuel Leong

Samuel is a Deputy Registrar of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.

With over a decade of specialist international arbitration experience, Samuel has acted as both arbitrator and arbitration counsel in international arbitrations. Prior to rejoining SIAC, he practised international arbitration in the Singapore office of a prominent global law firm.

Samuel has been recognised by Lexology Index (previously Who’s Who Legal) as a Global Elite Thought Leader and a “most highly regarded” Future Leader in Arbitration; by The Legal 500 in its International Arbitration Powerlist for Southeast Asia; and as a Thomson Reuters Stand-out Lawyer.

Described as “one of the leaders of the next generation”, he has been commended for his “impeccable knowledge of arbitration”, for having “deep knowledge of the practices and procedures of arbitral institutions” and as “a persuasive advocate, with a bold and creative writing style.”

Samuel graduated with a Bachelor of Laws (LL.B.) from the University of Malaya, Kuala Lumpur and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Columbia University School of Law, New York (as a Fulbright and Harlan Fiske Stone scholar). He is admitted to the Malaysian Bar.

Samuel is fluent in Bahasa Melayu and conversant in Mandarin Chinese.

Joan Lim-Casanova

Joan Lim-Casanova is a partner at a Singapore law firm and she is a member of the Commercial Disputes practice. She has more than 15 years of experience in international dispute resolution and does both litigation and arbitration that arise from diverse subject matters such as trusts, insurance, infrastructure, and renewable energy. She has acted for clients in different sectors such as construction, investment, banking, and commodities. Joan also regularly acts for and advises Chinese private and state-owned entities to manage and avoid disputes in Asia (including Singapore, China, Indonesia, and Vietnam). Joan has been consistently recognized by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific Guide as a Rising Star and Next Generation Partner. She takes a keen interest in the client's business and clients have commended that Joan has a “good grasp of the commercial realities” and “complete mastery of all the facts and events.” Prior to joining the firm, Joan has served as a partner at a Singapore law firm which was in a formal law alliance with a Magic Circle firm.

Lauren Lindsay

Lauren is a commercial barrister, practising from Bankside Chambers (Auckland & Singapore). She has a broad practice in commercial law, international arbitration and public international law.  Lauren has a particular focus on disputes arising in the life sciences, insurance and ICT sectors.  Lauren also sits as arbitrator with appointments in ICC, SIAC, HKIAC and LCIA arbitrations. Lauren has acted as counsel in over 20 international arbitrations, including several investment treaty arbitrations.

Lauren is admitted in New Zealand and England & Wales. She is a Fellow of CIArb, ACICA and AMINZ.  In 2025, Lauren was re-appointed a NZ Member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration for a further three-year term and appointed the Deputy Director for Education at AMINZ (determinative).  

Lauren grew up in Vanuatu. She obtained her LLB(Hons) and BSc from the University of Auckland and an LLM in European, Comparative and International Law from the EUI in Florence on a full scholarship.  Lauren is a bilingual French and English speaker and has a working knowledge of Spanish. 

Lauren is ranked in leading legal directories, including in Lexology (since 2023) and in Chambers & Partners (since 2020).  She publishes regularly in the area of arbitration.

Wendy Miles

Wendy Miles KC is a specialist in international arbitration and dispute resolution, with a focus on private and public international law. She has advised on international law matters and conducted arbitrations under all the major institutions and ad hoc, across diverse sectors including energy, natural resources, banking, insurance and financial services. In the field of climate change and finance, Wendy is involved in legal aspects of climate change transition, disclosure, reporting, compliance and investment, advising on climate-related physical, transition and litigation risks. She is a Vice Chair for the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) Environment and Energy Commission and represents the ICC at the UNFCCC Conferences of the Parties.

Edgardo Muñoz

Edgardo Muñoz is a Professor of Law at Universidad Panamericana (Guadalajara, Mexico) and an experienced international arbitrator and counsel, with a practice spanning across multiple jurisdictions and legal traditions.

Professor Muñoz is deeply engaged in the global arbitration and the CISG community. He is a member of the CISG Advisory Council, the ITA Academic Council, the ICC World Commission on Arbitration and ADR, and the VIS East Moot Foundation, and serves as UNIDROIT Correspondent for Mexico. His scholarly work focuses on international commercial contracts, comparative private law, arbitration, and sports law, with regular publications in leading international journals and publishing houses.

He holds law degrees from Mexico (Lic. Iur., UIA) and France (DEUF, Université Lyon III), two LL.M. degrees from the University of Liverpool (UK) and UC Berkeley (USA), and a Ph.D. in Law, summa cum laude, from the University of Basel (Switzerland). His academic career includes appointments as Visiting Professor and Scholar at leading institutions such as the University of Turin, Columbia Law School, McGill University, and the University of Montreal. He is admitted to practice law in Mexico and California (USA). 

Krista Nadakavukaren Schefer

A long-time scholar of international trade and investment law, Krista Nadakavukaren Schefer is currently a Vice Director of the Swiss Institute of Comparative Law. Krista is also on the teaching faculties of the University of Basel Law Department and the World Trade Institute in Bern. She also teaches courses in specialized master programs of the universities of Fribourg and Zurich.

Krista’s research centers on the intersection of international economic law and general international law, focussing on areas where international trade and international investment impact societies and individuals. With a clearly policy-oriented approach to law, much of her broad international network has been formed around her work on the many legal aspects of sustainable development – in particular poverty reduction and resource allocation. Her broad view of these issues has led her to investigate the digital divide and even the public health questions surrounding obesity and tobacco use.

Krista is the author of a textbook on international investment law, the lead editor of the Encyclopedia of International Economic Law, and has published numerous articles on investment and trade topics.

Krista is a native of the United States but has lived abroad since completing her legal studies at Georgetown University Law Center. 

Justice Vui Clarence Joseph Nelson

A born and bred Samoan matai, Justice Vui is currently serving as the Senior Judge of the Supreme Court of Samoa. He has been a judiciary reformer and tireless advocate of human rights throughout his career, particularly on behalf of children. Justice Vui was behind the first Pacific-based Young Offenders Act and Community Justice Act, established the Samoa Youth Court and Olomanu Centre to house and rehabilitate young people in conflict with the law.

He was also instrumental in the establishment of the Samoa Victim Support Group (SVSG); a group formed to support victims especially child victims of GBV, domestic violence and sexual assault. He recently spearheaded the campaign for a Sex Offenders Registry for child molesters culminating in the Sex Offenders Registration Act 2017.

Having worked closely with UNICEF Pacific, Justice Nelson is well known internationally for his work and efforts to advance the status of children’s rights in the Pacific Region. He was the first and to date the only Pacific Islander to be appointed to the United Nations Committee on the Rights of the Child in Geneva where he served two terms (8 years) including as Vice-Chair of the Committee.

When receiving his doctorate from his alma mater, he was described as someone who “has demonstrably contributed to the well-being and betterment of society in Samoa, the Pacific and beyond.

Christian Riffel

Christian Riffel, PhD (2014), Bern, is Professor of International Economic Law at the University of Canterbury, Aotearoa New Zealand. He is the editor of the WTO TRIPS Commentary (Brill) and associate editor of the New Zealand Yearbook of International Law, as well as a contributor to the Encyclopedia of Public International Law. In addition, Chris is Co-Chair of the International Economic Law Interest Group of the Australian and New Zealand Society of International Law. Chris is listed as arbitrator for EU trade agreements and also serves as Honorary Consul of Germany in the South Island of New Zealand.

Kerrie Robertson

Kerrie Robertson is Owner and Manager of Adira Consulting, a specialised fisheries and maritime governance practice working across the Pacific and Indian Ocean regions. With nearly two decades of senior government experience in Australian and Cook Islands fisheries administrations, she brings practical expertise in applying international law frameworks to complex ocean governance challenges.

Kerrie holds Master's degrees in International Law (with marine and maritime specialisation) and Fisheries Policy, and is completing her PhD at the University of Wollongong examining the historical development of Indian Ocean tuna governance.

Her consulting work spans multilateral negotiations, BBNJ implementation planning, domestic enforcement and capacity building with Pacific Island governments navigating the intersection of UNCLOS, UNFSA, and regional fisheries treaties. Recent engagements include work with UN DOALOS on climate change and fisheries planning, ocean policy development with the Pacific Community, and strategic reviews for international conservation organisations.

Kerrie has represented governments in multiple Regional Fisheries Management Organisations and at the UN and brings cross-cultural competence developed through extensive offshore experience. Her work emphasises the practical mechanics of implementing transnational legal frameworks in resource-constrained contexts, bridging the gap between international legal obligations and domestic governance realities.

Ulrich G. Schroeter

Ulrich G. Schroeter is a Professor of Law at the University of Basel (Switzerland) and a Judge of the Supreme Court of Liechtenstein. He has published extensively on matters of international trade law and commercial law (in particular the 1980 Vienna Sales Convention (CISG)), Swiss and German contract law, arbitration, treaty law and financial markets regulation. Professor Schroeter’s current research projects inter alia focus on the impact of economic sanctions on cross-border trade relations, on the regulation of international supply chains as well as on questions of Swiss contract law and the CISG. He also is the editor-in-chief of the CISG-online database (www.cisg-online.org).

Professor Schroeter’s works have been cited by courts in Australia, Austria, Germany, the Netherlands, Slovenia, Switzerland and the US as well as by Advocates General at the European Court of Justice. He serves as the national correspondent for Switzerland to the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) for the CISG and is a member of the CISG Advisory Council. Professor Schroeter regularly advises on matters of international trade law, acts as legal expert and sits as arbitrator.

Ingeborg Schwenzer

Ingeborg Schwenzer is Professor emerita of Private Law at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and former Dean of Swiss International Law School. Additionally, she is an adjunct professor at Bond University, Gold Coast, Australia, and has been an adjunct professor at City University, Hong Kong, and at Griffith University, Brisbane, Australia. She has published numerous books and more than 200 articles in the fields of law of obligations (contracts, tort law and unjust enrichment, sales law both domestic and international), commercial arbitration as well as family law. In particular, she is the co-editor and one of the main contributors of the world's leading Commentary on the Convention on the International Sale of Goods (CISG) (5th edition, Oxford, OUP: 2022) and its German, Spanish, Portuguese, Turkish, and Polish counterparts. From 2011 to 2018 Ingeborg Schwenzer was the chair of the CISG Advisory Council. She is also active in all areas of legal practice. In particular, she regularly acts as arbitrator, counsel and legal expert in international disputes.

Rebecca Scott

Rebecca is a barrister at Canterbury Chambers in Christchurch.  She specialises in dispute resolution and commercial litigation lawyer. Rebecca has a particular expertise in agribusiness, which stems from being raised on a sheep and beef farm in Southland and from having acted in most agricultural sectors including dairy, poultry, sheep and arable.  She also authors the Guarantees chapter for Lexis Nexis’ ‘Introduction to Commercial Law’.  Prior to joining the independent bar, she was a partner of Lane Neave Lawyers. 

In addition to her legal expertise, Rebecca also has an interest in governance. She has previously been an intern director on the board of Christchurch City Holdings Limited and is currently on the board of the New Zealand Metropolitan Trotting Club Incorporated and Cambridge Clinic Charitable Trust. She is a Council member of the Canterbury-Westland branch of the New Zealand Law Society.

Manraj Singh Rahi

Coming from a background as a solicitor at Buddle Findlay and an advisor at the New Zealand Permanent Mission to the UN in New York, Manraj now works at Law Cyborg to lead product strategy and development. Law Cyborg is NZ’s only specialist AI legal research firm and works with over 1,100 firms globally. Manraj works to understand how New Zealand's best problem solvers can use AI systems to do their jobs more effectively and communicates this understanding to his development. Well regarded in the legal community, he spends a significant amount of time talking to advisers and lawyers to understand their use of AI and how the profession is changing. Formerly Head Tutor at Victoria University of Wellington’s School of Information Management and President of the New Zealand Law Students’ Association, he brings a rare blend of technical understanding and legal insight to his work.

Hiroo Sono

Hiroo Sono is Professor of Law at Hokkaido University, Japan. His main fields of research interest are contract law, international commercial law, and harmonization of private law. A significant part of his work relates to the CISG and the UNIDROIT Principles of International Commercial Contracts. He has been a founding member of the CISG Advisory Council (CISG-AC) since 2001 and of the Global Private Law Forum (GPLF) of Japan since 2014. From 2006 to 2008, he served as Counsellor at the Civil Affairs Bureau, Ministry of Justice, where he was responsible for Japan’s accession to the CISG. He also contributed as an expert to the drafting of the “HCCH/UNIDROIT/UNCITRAL Legal Guide to Uniform Legal Instruments in the Area of International Commercial Contracts (with a Focus on Sales)” (2020) and the UNCITRAL Digest of Case Law on the United Nations Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (2011). In fields other than contract law, he served as the Japanese delegate to UNCITRAL Working Group VI (Security Interests) (2008-2018); a member of the UNIDROIT Working Group for the Model Law on Warehouse Receipts (2020-2024); and the Japanese delegate to UNCITRAL Working Group I (Warehouse Receipts) (2023-2024). He is also a Correspondent to UNIDROIT since 2015.

Lisa Spagnolo

Associate Professor Lisa Spagnolo is a member of Deakin Law School in Melbourne. She was educated at Deakin (Bcom [Dean’s List, Bowater Prize], LLB [Supreme Court Prize, Supreme Court Exhibition Prize] and Monash Universities (PhD [Mollie Holman Medalist]). Previously in practice at law firm Minter Ellison, then at Monash University and Macquarie University, she specializes in domestic and comparative contract law, uniform commercial law instruments, choice of law, Islamic finance, geographical indications, property law and advocacy. Her research takes an interdisciplinary approach, ranging from impacts of socio-political trends in legal development, law and economics, behavioural economics and statistical analysis, to utilizing historical, scientific and technical material to shed light on impacts of law in the real world, and to suggest new interpretations of law. Her works have been cited by courts, judges and reform bodies including the England and Wales Law Commission, Hong Kong Department of Justice, Swiss Federal Court, Victorian Supreme Court and Australian Attorney-General’s Department. She is a Member of the CISG Advisory Council Opinion No 16, founder and Fellow of the UN Coordination Committee of Australia, has consulted for law firms, been an ARC Linkage Grant chief investigator and CLOUT National Correspondent for Australia.

Alex Summerlee

Alex has been a partner of Parry Field Lawyers’ since 2022, where he helps to lead one of the South Island’s largest disputes teams. Alex has experience representing clients at all levels of the New Zealand courts. While he advises on a broad range of civil disputes, he has a particular interest in the Hague Convention on the Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction. Alex was co-counsel in the recent Roberts v Cresswell litigation on the grave risk defence, and has recently published about developments in this area of the law [(2024) 11 NZFLJ No 4].

In September 2025, Alex was appointed Chancellor to the Anglican Bishop of Christchurch. He also serves as Deputy Chair of the Board of Proprietors of St Mark’s School, and is involved in law reform as a member of the Law Association of New Zealand Civil Litigation Committee. Alex leads Parry Field’s relationship with Hagar New Zealand, supporting its work with survivors of human trafficking.

Alex holds an LLB (Hons) and BA (French and Political Science majors) from the University of Canterbury, and a Master of Studies (MSt) in Diplomatic Studies from the University of Oxford. He is fluent in French and conversant in Spanish.

Christopher Symes

Based in Adelaide for his entire academic career (Adelaide Law School, Flinders Law School) Christopher has been Australia’s leading insolvency academic for many years. Over three and half decades he taught corporate law, insolvency law and other commercial law courses to law and business students at all tertiary levels. He is presently supervising 6 PhD students including one in comparative insolvency law, one in international law and four in tax. For many years he was the founding Director of the University of Adelaide’s research unit known as ROCIT (Regulation of Corporate, Insolvency and Taxation). He was Dean of Law in 2022-3.

Christopher holds 6 tertiary awards and his professional career spans being an accountant, barrister and solicitor and academic. His PhD was later published by English publisher, Ashgate as Statutory priorities in corporate insolvency law. He is the author of eighteen books and over 100 articles.

He has served as National President of the Society of Corporate Law Academics. He is a Life Fellow of the Institute of Public Accountants. He is a Fellow of the Australian Academy of Law (FAAL). He is an academic member of ARITA (RITM) and was editor of the Australian Journal of Corporate Law for 10 years. 

Kirsten Todd

Kirsten is a commercial partner with specialist expertise in the food and fibre sector, including extensive experience advising on cross-border investment and trade-facing agribusiness.

Her practice spans cross-border M&A, finance structuring, supplier and procurement arrangements, and governance. She advises clients on commercial arrangements that manage regulatory risk, navigate trade barriers, and support resilient supply chains in a shifting and increasingly protectionist global landscape.

She also guides overseas investors through New Zealand’s foreign investment and sector-specific regulatory regimes.

With a background in business as well as law, Kirsten brings a pragmatic, policy-aware perspective to the intersection of trade regulation and commercial strategy in the food and fibre sector.

Mary Walker

Mary Walker OAM is an internationally recognised ADR practitioner. She practises across ADR processes, jurisdictions and substantive areas of law. Mary has been at the forefront of ADR in Australia for the last 36 years during which, as a member of an independent Bar, she has arbitrated, acted as expert determiner and expert appraiser, provided ombudsman services, mediated, facilitated and negotiated across jurisdictions and substantive legal areas. Mary was sponsored by Harvard to teach with Emeritus Prof Frank Sander who pioneered modern dispute resolution particularly mediation in the mid-90’s. She is a member of many international mediation panels including the International Mediation Institute, CEDR investor-state panel London, the Abu Dhabi Global Market, Singapore, Beijing and Japan. She is Chair of the Law Council of Australia’s ADR Committee, International Arbitration Committee, South Pacific Issues Committee and immediate past Chair of the International Law Section. Mary is a member of the IBA’s Mediation Advisory Board. Mary appeared on behalf of the International Bar Association in 2022 and 2023 before UNCITRAL 55^th and 56^th Commissions.  She is currently an Australian delegate to the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR and a member of the Advisory Board Hague Court of Arbitration for Aviation in the Hague.  Mary has been recognised in the Best Lawyers and Doyles Guide to Leading Lawyers. Mary was inducted into the Australian ADR Awards Hall of Fame as its Inaugural member in 2019 and was made a fellow of the Australian Dispute Resolution Association for Outstanding Contribution to Australian Dispute Resolution. Mary was appointed AIFOD Chair of Working Group III and SG2 on AI in Developing Nations, Cultural Integration, Local Innovation and Data Sovereignty, hosted at the United Nations in Geneva and Vienna in 2025. In 2021 Mary was awarded a Medal of the Order of Australia (OAM) “For Service to the Law”. 

Vanushi Walter

A Sri Lankan New Zealander, Vanushi’s family moved to New Zealand in 1987. She has a background in law and advocacy and has both national and international experience and has worked in private practice, the public sector and the community sector.

Vanushi has held Governance roles with Amnesty International, Action for Children and Youth Aotearoa and as a Trustee with Foundation North. She has also held senior management roles as the General Manager of YouthLaw Aotearoa and as the manager of the advisory and research team at the Human Rights Commission.

She was elected as the member of Parliament for Upper Harbour in 2020 and has returned as Labour List MP 54th Parliament, siting as the Shadow Attorney General and Spokesperson for Associate Foreign Affairs.

Kate Wiseman 

Kate works as an arbitrator, mediator and collaborative barrister to resolve disputes involving organisational, business and/or family relationships. Her work encompasses a broad range of commercial, property and family disputes. She has particular expertise with disputes concerning trusts, estates, companies and relationship property. She has a special interest in governance disputes, especially those concerning shareholders, incorporated societies, charitable trusts and body corporates. She had a 20-year career in business before coming to the law. She has held governance roles continuously since 2004 and is currently an elected member of the governing Council of the Arbitrators’ and Mediators’ Institute of New Zealand (AMINZ).