Events
Inspire inclusion is this year’s theme for International Women’s Day. A lot of work has been done in recent years to promote inclusion, to raise awareness in all of us to be mindful to be more inclusive, and to provide everyone with tools and training to practice it in daily life.
How about reversing the perspective and ask what can I do to be included? We would love to discuss this with you in-person in London in roundtables to honour IWD. Come and join us at the Chartered Institute at 12 Bloomsbury Square to share your experiences.
Moderators: Karina Albers; Magdalena Prus; Natalia Otlinger; Shobana Iyer; Gill Mansfield; Julius Nkafu.
This event is IN-PERSON ONLY, discounted tickets available for Ciarb members: register now!
In collaboration with Ciarb London Branch
Don't forget to register for the virtual Let's Discuss session on 8 March!
Let’s Discuss is a series of virtual events brought to you by Ciarb. The series is free for Ciarb members.
Throughout the year we will be running a series of virtual events, hosted by members for members. These will get under the skin of the things that really matter in alternative dispute resolution (ADR) around the world and talk about the issues that matter to you. They will be a great opportunity to learn, discuss and meet new connections.
It’s up to you, our members to decide, what topics should be discusses. Join us for the Let’s Discuss sessions and influence the conversation with your ideas, learn from fellow ADR professionals and shape the future discussion around topics that matter to you. You can also email us with topic proposals at events@ciarb.org.
We will confirm events as we go through the year to ensure they are always based on the most relevant issues of the moment.
Let's Discuss events are not recorded and therefore not available on demand, so make sure you join us live for discussion, peer-to-peer learning and networking.
Event Speakers
Karina Albers is a full-time commercial arbitrator and mediator based in the United Kingdom. She possesses both British and German Citizenship. Her profession as arbitrator and mediator has been built from her experience in derivative trading, the maritime industry and commodity trade.
Her career hitherto as derivative trader, chartering manager, broker, agent, expert and consultant enables her to service an ever-increasing complex and diverse world of disputes. She has received about 60 appointments so far, participated in hearings and has published 17 awards with claims amounting up to USD 15 million under LMAA, SIAC and GMAA rules.
The type of disputes she covers involve demurrage/despatch/laytime, liability/cost for cancelling of charter parties, speed and performance claims, allocation of port disbursements, insurance claims, bunker claims, freight and TCE, cargo claims both for dry and wet claims, Energy and Commodity disputes. Karina has acted as sole arbitrator, sole arbitrator by default and as part of a tribunal of three.
She passes on her passion for arbitration by volunteering regularly for Vis-Moot and IMLAM as well as mentoring a number of young legal professionals.
Karina is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators; Chair of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators London Branch; Aspiring Full Member of the London Maritime Arbitration Association; Panel member of the Singapore Chamber of Maritime Arbitration; Freeman of the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators; Member of the International Chamber of Commerce; Member of the German Maritime Arbitration Association; Member of the Baltic Exchange since 1993; Member of the Moot Alumni Association; NGO representative at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL); An accredited Expert at the Federal Court of New York and acted as expert in leading cases in London, New York and Singapore.
Magdalena Prus is an Associate Technical Director at HKA, a Chartered Architect and Expert Witness with over 13 years’ experience in the construction industry. Magdalena has been involved in a variety of UK domestic disputes in adjudication and litigation proceedings. Magdalena’s international experience includes working on high-value claims in international arbitrations in the Middle East.
Natalia Otlinger MCIArb is international disputes associate at HFW in London.
During her training contract, she completed the following seats – Ship Finance, Commodities Litigation, Aerospace Litigation and Shipping Litigation international secondment in Piraeus, Greece. Natalia worked on multiple cases where her responsibilities included drafting submissions, managing the disclosure process, preparing witness statements, and coordinating preparations for hearings. The highlights of her litigation experience include working on a contractual dispute in the commodities sector and a multi-party Commercial Court case. Natalia was admitted as a solicitor in England and Wales in August 2023 and joined HFW's Aerospace Team.
As a Committee Member and Public Relations Officer at the London Branch of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Natalia actively participates in the international arbitration community and frequently speaks at arbitration-related events.
Having obtained a Master's degree in law from the University of Silesia in Poland, her passion for international disputes led Natalia to London where she completed a Graduate Diploma in Law with MA at the University of Law and Legal Practice Course LLM at the BPP University. Natalia became interested in international disputes by participating in the Willem C. Vis International Arbitration Moot in Vienna and Foreign Direct Investment Moot in London. She has been involved in the Vis Moot competition since then as coach and arbitrator on various moots in Prague, Warsaw, London, Riga, Ljubljana, and Hannover. Natalia is passionate about promoting diversity and inclusion in international arbitration, she launched 'Ciarb Women in ADR' campaign in 2019 and frequently mentors students from different countries and diverse socioeconomic backgrounds.
Julius Nkafu was called to the English Bar at the Inner Temple in 2014 and called to the Cameroon Bar in 2006. He was enrolled as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of E&W in 2002 and practised as one until 2014. He is a Practising Barrister, an Arbitrator a Mediator and a conciliator.
Julius is a Member of the Sanctions Appeals Board (SAB) of the African Development Bank Group. He is the Chairman of the Cameroon Business Council and the ADR committee of the African Bar Association. Member of several ADR Panels in different jurisdictions.
Julius is an expert in International Arbitration, acting as counsel and sitting as arbitrator.
Julius lectures International Arbitration at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London, he is a Course Director and constantly delivers lectures on behalf of the institute to arbitrators across the world. Julius has over 24 years’ legal experience working in the City of London and Cameroon, acting for and against individuals, investors, and corporates.
He has advised on the energy sector, Oil and Gas, Mining, Maritime, commercial agreements, Agriculture, Supply of Goods and Services and international trade. He is conversant with a variety of governing laws and many of the major institutional rules as well as ad hoc arrangements in international arbitration.
Shobana is a practicing barrister with broad commercial and corporate legal experience; she is presently the co-vicechair of the Legal Services Committee of the Bar Council of England and Wales. Shobana also sits as an arbitrator in ad-hoc and institutional arbitrations, and is appointed on the European Commission's List of Chairpersons for Arbitrations for EU trade agreements with third countries. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and an elected committee member of the London Branch of the CIArb.
She deals in complex commercial cases with issues on corporate, IP, media, technology (including cryptoassets and blockchain matters), insurance, competition laws as well as international (public & private) laws. With over 20 years of practice, she has experience in a wide variety of sectors including energy (renewables), finance, insurance, retail, international trade, sports, creative (arts, film/TV, and gaming), technology, media and telecommunications (TMT). Although a prominent dispute resolver, she also assists clients on dispute mitigation and is a leading speaker on the legal issues raising from emerging technologies and Web3 transitions. She also specialises in the convergence of technology and art and has assisted in Asian heritage conservations projects.