Young ITA is delighted to announce fifteen new appointments to its leadership team. Over the 2023-2024 year, we have held 36 Young ITA events from June 2023-June 2024 as well as reached a total of 3374 Young ITA members representing 122 countries. We would like to say a big thank you to our outgoing board members for their fantastic services over the past year and congratulations to our new (and returning) chairs and vice chairs. We look forward to another successful year working with the ITA and continuing to expand on educational and leadership opportunities for young arbitration practitioners.
In addition to the incoming board members listed below, the following board members will remain in their positions on the board in the coming year: Karima Sauma (Chair), Ciara Ros (Vice Chair), Julianne Jaquith (Programs Co-Chair), Meredith Craven (External Communications Co-Chair), Harriet Foster (Internal Communications Co-Chair), Mevelyn Ong (Thought Leadership Co-Chair), Ruxandra Esanu (Mentorship Co-Chair), Edith Twinamatsiko (Africa Co-Chair), Alice Wang (Asia Co-Chair), Tiago Beckert Isfer (Brazil Co-Chair), Eduardo Lobaton (Central America Co-Chair), Zeljko Loci (Eastern Europe Co-Chair), Shreya Jain (India Co-Chair), Ibrahim Ati (Middle East Chair), Nazly Duarte (North America Co-Chair), Alexandra Einfeld (Oceania Co-Chair), Juan Pomes (South America Co-Chair), Thomas Lane (UK Co-Chair) and Ruediger Morbach (Western Europe Co-Chair).
Incoming Young ITA Leadership Team
Santiago Peña
Programs Co-Chair
Bomchil
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Programs Co-Chair - Santiago is a partner in the International Arbitration department at Bomchil. He graduated with honours from Universidad de Buenos Aires, and completed a Diploma in Arbitration as well as a Masters’ Degree in Corporate Law from Universidad Austral, achieving the gold medal for best graduate and the award for the best final thesis.
Since his graduation, Santiago has acted in several international commercial arbitrations, as counsel and as administrative secretary, under different rules (ICC, ICDR, UNCITRAL, etc.).
He is member of the International Bar Association (IBA); member of the Latin American Arbitration Association (ALArb) and its Next Generation Group; Secretary of the Permanent Observatory on the State of Arbitration in Latin America; board member of the Young Singapore International Arbitration Centre (YSIAC) for the Americas; and former member of the ICDR Young & International Global Advisory Board. He is also a regular professor of Civil and Commercial Contracts at Universidad de Buenos Aires and assistant professor of Contracts and Arbitration and Mediation at Universidad Torcuato Di Tella.
Angélica María Perdomo Luna
External Communications Co-Chair
Zuleta Legal
Bogotá, Colombia
External Communications Co-Chair - Angélica is an associate attorney at Zuleta Legal Beyond Borders, where she acts as secretary to international commercial and investment arbitration tribunals. She has experience in CCB, ICC and UNCITRAL arbitrations in sectors such as energy, mining, infrastructure and telecommunications, as well as in M&A disputes. She served as Senior Lawyer of the International Arbitration Department of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce Arbitration Center. Previously, she was an associate lawyer in the litigation and arbitration department of Garrigues Colombia.
Angélica holds a law degree from the Universidad del Rosario and a postgraduate degree in International Business Law from the Universidad de los Andes. She has worked as a Professor in the LLM in Arbitration at the Universidad del Rosario and as an Assistant Professor of Public International Law at the same institution.
Derya Gürzumar
Internal Communications Co-Chair
Ankara, Turkey
Internal Communications Co-Chair - Mrs. Derya Durlu Gürzumar is an attorney-at-law registered to the Istanbul Bar Association.
She holds LLB and LLM degrees from Bilkent University Faculty of Law, in Ankara, Turkey, and a diploma in advanced studies in international arbitration, from the University of Lucerne and University of Neuchâtel. She also holds a number of international arbitration certificates, awarded by various academic and professional institutions, including the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), University of Düsseldorf, University of Cologne, and Humboldt University of Berlin.
Mrs. Durlu Gürzumar is a PhD candidate at the University of Neuchâtel, in Switzerland, and is the current chair of the Artificial Intelligence Working Group of International Bar Association’s (IBA) Alternative and New Law Business Structures Committee. She is concurrently the advisory board member of this committee. Mrs. Durlu Gürzumar also heads the editorial team of Vindobona Journal, a peer-reviewed journal on international commercial law and arbitration, as the senior editor-in-chief.
Being an ardent “Vis-mootie” since 2007, Mrs. Durlu Gürzumar has been one of the few law students to receive two successive Honorable Mentions in the Martin Domke Best Oralist Award, in the 16th and 17th Willem C. Vis Moot competitions. She coached her alma mater’s moot team in 2021, which became the first Turkish university to reach the top 16 university teams during the oral rounds in the 28th Vis Moot and reach the semi-finals during in the 18th Vis East. She has been arbitrating the written and oral phases of various international and domestic arbitration competitions since 2010, including the Vis Moot and the Vis East Moot, Jessup, ICC Moot, FDI Moot, and ISTAC Moot.
Mrs. Durlu Gürzumar’s practice and research interests have focused on dispute resolution/arbitration, AI/LegalTech, competition law, internet/IT law, and white-collar irregularities.
She has co-authored a book on "Fundamental Concepts of Anglo-American Law", and has been publishing extensively in the foregoing fields.
Rob Bradshaw
Young ITA Thought Leadership Co-Chair
LALIVE
London, United Kingdom
Young ITA Thought Leadership Co-Chair - Robert Bradshaw is counsel in the international arbitration practice of LALIVE in London. Recognized as a key individual in Legal 500 (2023), Robert is an English-qualified solicitor advocate specializing in international commercial and investment arbitration, including acting as counsel in arbitrations under diverse procedural rules (ICC, LCIA, LMAA, ICSID and UNCITRAL) and advising on annulment, enforcement and anti-suit proceedings. His experience includes cases in the energy, mining, information technology, media, hospitality and pharmaceutical sectors.
Previously, Robert practiced in the Paris and London offices of an international law firm. He holds a bachelor’s degree in Law with German from the University of Birmingham, where he spent a year studying abroad at the Free University of Berlin, and an LLM degree from BPP Law School, London. Robert speaks and writes regularly on topical issues in international arbitration in publications such as the Journal of International Arbitration, Arbitration International and the ASA Bulletin.
Patricia Snell
Young ITA Mentorship Co-Chair
Covington & Burling LLP
London, United Kingdom
Young ITA Mentorship Co-Chair - Patricia Snell is a senior associate and solicitor-advocate in Covington’s International Arbitration Group, admitted in England and Wales, New York, and Ontario. Patricia's practice covers a broad range of contentious matters, including international commercial arbitration and investor-state disputes. She has advised and acted for clients in complex international disputes under many of the major institutional rules including ICC, LCIA, DIFC-LCIA, DIAC, ICSID, and ad hoc proceedings under the UNCITRAL Rules across a variety of seats. She has significant international experience having previously worked in international arbitration in the Paris and Dubai offices of another international law firm.
Dhouha Oueslati
Young ITA Africa Co-Chair
AD-FIDAL
Tunis, Tunisia
Young ITA Africa Chair - Dhouha Oueslati is a Tunisian lawyer at AD-FIDAL Tunisia who holds a master's degree in private law from the University of Law and Political Sciences of Tunis. She is currently pursuing a second master's degree in sports law. She was selected as an Africa Arbitration Academy Fellow, being the first Tunisian accepted into this program. Additionally, she has served as an arbitrator at the Arabic Moot Competition organized by the Saudi Center of Commercial Arbitration.
Angelia Thng
Young ITA Asia Co-Chair
Braddell Brothers LLP
Singapore
Young ITA Asia Co-Chair - Angelia Thng is a Partner at Braddell Brothers LLP, Singapore’s second-oldest independent law practice. Angelia graduated from the National University of Singapore and is called to the Singapore Bar. She specializes in commercial litigation and international arbitration across a broad range of disputes in the Asia-Pacific region, regularly appearing at all levels of the Singapore courts and major arbitral institutes. Angelia also heads the Employment & Labor practice in the firm, offering full-service capabilities with a risk-management perspective to both employers and employees.
Iuri Reis
Young ITA Brazil Co-Chair
Machado Meyer Advocados
São Paulo, Brazil
Young ITA Brazil Co-Chair - Iuri Reis is a Brazilian qualified lawyer with experience, in Brazil and abroad, in International Arbitration and Commercial Litigation. His practice is focused on complex high-profile cross-border arbitration, judicial lawsuits, negotiations, and mediation in different fields of business law (e.g., contracts, tort, corporate law, competition and consumer law) and various economic sectors – construction, energy, industrial activities, sales of goods and M&A. Iuri has also coordinated the complex negotiations front in one of the largest crisis management projects for payment of damages related to industrial activities in the world. Iuri currently works as a Senior Associate at Machado Meyer Advogados and has obtained relevant international experience at WilmerHale and Enyo Law LLP, both in London. He combines his professional work with academic activities, the most outstanding achievements being an LLM in Comparative International Disputes Resolution at Queen Mary University of London and a master's degree in civil law from PUC-SP. He has postgraduate degrees in business law and civil procedural law from FGV-SP and is constantly involved with academic activities as an arbitrator, speaker, writer and auditor
Edgar Eduardo Mendez Zamora
Young ITA Central America Co-Chair
Aguilar Castillo Love
San José, Costa Rica
Young ITA Central America Co-Chair - Eduardo Méndez is an Associate in the Dispute Resolution team at Aguilar Castillo Love, based in San José, Costa Rica. He represents clients in international and domestic arbitration proceedings, as well as complex litigations. Eduardo is also co-editor-in-chief of the Costa Rican Journal of International Law. Prior to joining Aguilar Castillo Love, he worked for Chaffetz Lindsey LLP in New York, and has also been part of the teams at Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, UNIDROIT in Rome, and BLP in San José, Costa Rica.
Eduardo received his Licentiate degree (J.D. Equivalent) with highest honors from the University of Costa Rica. He also holds a Specialization degree from De La Salle University and an LL.M. from Harvard Law School. He is admitted to practice law in Costa Rica and the State of New York. Eduardo is fluent in Spanish, English, and French, and possesses an intermediate proficiency in German.
Tímea Csajági
Young ITA Eastern Europe Co-Chair
Wolf Theiss
Budapest, Hungary
Young ITA Eastern Europe Co-Chair - Tímea Csajági is a member of the Litigation & Dispute Resolution team of Wolf Theiss Hungary in Budapest. With a wealth of experience spanning numerous years, Tímea has cultivated a profound expertise in the intricate realms of litigation and arbitration. Her practice encompasses adept representation of clients across a spectrum of legal proceedings, including civil litigations, high-stakes tax litigations, administrative litigations, and both domestic and international arbitration proceedings. Notably, she has also navigated the complexities of representing a client before the European Court of Justice in a preliminary ruling procedure.
Before joining Wolf Theiss, Tímea honed her skills through invaluable experiences gained at other distinguished international law firms and within the realm of international banking. Her professional journey includes involvement in the preparatory phases of the codification of Hungary's new Civil Procedural Code and Arbitration Act, serving as a legal advisor to the Ministry of Justice.
In addition to her robust legal practice, Tímea serves as a lecturer at the Department of Civil Procedural Law at ELTE Faculty of Law, where she conducts seminars on arbitration, civil procedural law, and non-contentious proceedings. Since 2018, she has pursued her academic aspirations as a PhD student at the Department of Civil Procedural Law at ELTE Faculty of Law. Further enriching her academic pursuits, she participated in the Traineeship Program for PhD candidates at the Supreme Court of Hungary from 2019 to 2023.
Tímea has also served as a coach for various moot court teams, including Pázmány Péter Catholic University Team at the Cross-Examination Moot, where the team achieved remarkable success, finishing as the runner-up team in 2023 and Mathias Corvinus Collegium's (MCC)Team at the Willem C. Vis International Arbitration Moot.
Aayushi Singh
Young ITA India Co-Chair
Khaitan and Co.
New Delhi, India
Young ITA India Co-Chair - Aayushi Singh is an Associate at Khaitan and Co., New Delhi. Aayushi's experience includes commercial arbitration under SIAC, ICC and DIAC Rules seated in London, Singapore, Zurich, and New Delhi. She pursued the NUS-MIDS Double Degree Programme between the National University of Singapore, Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies and University of Geneva. She is a recipient of a full scholarship for her postgraduate studies by the Aga Khan Development Network. She also received a full scholarship to pursue the Austrian Arbitration Academy offered by the Sommerhochschule, University of Vienna. She frequently writes on different themes under arbitration in India and Singapore.
Alejandro Martinez de Hoz
Young ITA North America Co-Chair
Paul Hastings LLP
Washington, D.C.
Young ITA North America Co-Chair - Alejandro Martinez de Hoz is Of Counsel in the International Arbitration practice of global law firm Paul Hastings, based in Washington, DC. Alejandro has 15 years of experience including over a decade solving complex international disputes across industries. He represents clients in investment treaty arbitrations, international commercial arbitrations, mediations, and related disputes and negotiations. He has recently advised on a bet-the-asset legal battle recognized as the dispute of the year in Latin America. With over a decade based in the United States, he is a native of Argentina who was recognized as an “under 40 leader in Argentina” and served as President of the Buenos Aires Bar Young Division. He has also received an award for outstanding contribution for pro bono work in Latin America.
Fernando Ayala
Young ITA South America Co-Chair
Buenos Aires, Argentina
Young ITA South America Co-Chair - Fernando Ayala is an Argentine lawyer who graduated from the University of Buenos Aires. During his undergraduate career, he participated in international commercial and investment arbitration moot courts, for which he was distinguished as "Outstanding Student". Additionally, he was an assistant professor of Private International Law, and coach of international commercial arbitration and sports arbitration moots.
He holds an LL.M. from Georgetown University with an International Arbitration & Dispute Resolution Certificate. Additionally, he has taken postgraduate studies in arbitration and international business at the University of Mendoza and jointly at the University of Buenos Aires and the University of Geneva. He has also participated in the summer course given by the Hague Academy of International Law and in the Comparative Law Course given by the Academy of Comparative Law.
He usually participates and manages commercial arbitrations administered by the ICC, HKIAC, SIAC, and CIETAC. He also acts as an assistant to Arbitral Tribunal in commercial and investment cases.
Ana Martínez Valls
Young ITA UK Co-Chair
Baker Botts LLP
London, UK
Young ITA UK Co-Chair - Ana Martinez Valls is an associate in the International Disputes practice group of Baker Botts. Ana’s practice focuses on investment and commercial arbitrations in Latin America and Spain. She has represented clients in multiple arbitration proceedings conducted under the ICSID, ICC, SCC, and UNCITRAL rules in a broad range of industries, including oil and gas, energy, construction, M&A transactions, and mining.
Prior to joining Baker Botts, Ana worked in leading international arbitration firms in London, New York, and Spain. Ana has dual training in civil and common law and has experience in finance and investment banking. She is qualified to practice in New York and Spain and holds an LL.B. and a Bachelor of Business Administration (BBA) from IE Law School and IE University (Spain) (first class honours), and an LL.M. from Columbia Law School (James Kent Scholar and Fulbright Scholar). Most recently, Ana was recognized in the Nova 111 List Spain as one of the 10 professionals under 35 with the highest potential, in the Legal Services category.
Alexis Foucard
Young ITA Western Europe Co-Chair
Clifford Chance LLP
Paris, France
Young ITA Western Europe Co-Chair - Alexis Foucard is counsel at Clifford Chance LLP where he serves as the Africa Practice Leader for Mining & Metals.
He has acted as counsel or arbitrator (both as arbitrator and presiding arbitrator) in more than 50 cases, with a focus on the aircraft, mining, energy, and construction industries, handling both commercial claims and claims against States.
Alexis is also particularly recognized for his dispute resolution expertise in Africa, having worked on cases relating to more than 15 distinct African jurisdictions, to date.
Best Lawyers identifies him among the "Ones to Watch" for arbitration and mediation. Who’s Who Legal, for its part, reports that: "Alexis is a rising star" who "has a fantastic ability to grasp new information very quickly". It adds that "Alexis takes responsibility and ownership of a case and has a thorough knowledge of technical concepts which he regularly calls upon”, and that "Alexis has become a very prominent figure in Paris".
Alexis studied law at the universities of Paris I Panthéon-Sorbonne, Sciences Po, and Columbia Law School (LL.M.). He is a member of the New York State Bar and the Paris Bar.
Louise Willneff
Young ITA Middle East Co-Chair
Squire Patton Boggs
Dubai, UAE
Young ITA Middle East Co-Chair - Louise is a highly skilled lawyer, qualified in England and Wales, with extensive experience in advising clients on complex international disputes. She specialises in international commercial arbitration, energy and construction disputes and has represented parties under ICC, ICSID, LCIA, DIAC and SCCA rules. With a keen eye for detail and an in-depth understanding of infrastructure, energy, and construction projects, Louise has been instrumental as an associate in helping clients navigate complex legal challenges. She trained and worked at Vinson & Elkins LLP in London and Dubai, gained additional experience at Ghaffari Partners, an arbitration specialist boutique law firm, and is currently working at Squire Patton Boggs (US) LLP.