Practice Committees

ITA practice committees are open to all interested Advisory Board members who wish to join.  ITA currently has two practice committees: the Americas Initiative Committee and the Young Arbitrators Initiative Committee.

Americas Initiative

ITA established its Americas Initiative in 2003 to explore opportunities and develop activities by which ITA could better serve the international arbitration community in Latin America. Since then, ITA has teamed up with leading arbitral institutions and counsel throughout Latin America to offer an annual Americas Workshop, an annual Americas Roundtable for young lawyers and variety of other activities designed to increase awareness and promote excellence in the practice of international arbitration in the region. To date, conferences have been held in Bogotá, Buenos Aires, Mexico City, Panama City, Santiago and São Paulo.

In recent years, the Americas Initiative has expanded to include membership status for selected arbitral institutions in the region, collaboration on a first of its kind survey of the institutions themselves, and creation of a Spanish-Portuguese language listserv for the Latin American international arbitration community (ITAFOR), which now counts over 500 subscribers.

The Americas Initiative is now a standing practice committee of the ITA Advisory Board, open to all Advisory Board members in or interested in Latin America.

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Elina Mereminskaya
Chair, Americas Initiative
Wagemann Abogados & Ingenieros, Santiago de Chile
Eliana Baraldi
Communications Vice Chair, Americas Initiative
Baraldi Mariani Advogados, São Paulo, Brazil
Eric Franco
Membership Vice Chair, Americas Initiative
Engie, Lima, Perú
Montserrat Manzano
Programs Vice Chair, Americas Initiative
Von Wobeser y Sierra, S.C., Mexico City
Dyalá Jiménez
Policy Vice Chair, Americas Initiative
DJ Arbitraje, San José, Costa Rica

Young ITA

The Young ITA Committee promotes the involvement of young professionals (under 40) in ITA’s programs, publications and other activities. Young ITA annually presents a young arbitrators’ Roundtable during the ITA Workshop in Dallas, the ITA-IEL-ICC Joint Conference on International Energy Arbitration in Houston and the ITA Americas Workshop in Latin America. Young ITA also presents #YOUNGITATALKS events for young practitioners periodically in other cities around the world. Young ITA also sponsors a writing competition, a mentorship program and special activities in the following regions: North America, South America (Spanish-speaking jurisdictions), Brazil, Mexico and Central America, United Kingdom, Continental Europe, Africa and Asia.

Membership in the Young ITA is open to all Advisory Board members who are under the age of 40, and also to all other young arbitration practitioners, law students, and other professionals under 40 years old with an interest in international arbitration. For more information about ITA membership, click here

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Karima Sauma
Chair, Young ITA
Counsel
DJ Arbitraje
San Jose, Costa Rica

Ciara Ros
Vice Chair, Young ITA
Vinson & Elkins LLP
London, UK

In-House Counsel

Formed initially as a task force in June 2018, the ITA In-House Counsel Committee provides a platform for in-house lawyers in the international arbitration community to collaborate, share knowledge, and network. To achieve this mission, the ITA In-House Counsel Committee organizes events and creates content specifically tailored to in-house lawyers. Events include presentations or interviews with arbitrators, in-house counsel, leaders of arbitral institutions, and outside counsel.

Membership is limited to in-house lawyers who are employed by a private sector company that is an ITA member and is a user or potential user of international arbitration. The Committee has members from numerous Fortune 500 companies. Members actively engage and share lessons learned. Visit this page to learn how to become a member of the ITA. If you are interested in joining the In-House Counsel Committee, please contact Suzana Blades

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Mimi M. Lee
Committee Chair
Managing Counsel, Litigation
Chevron Upstream
San Ramon, CA