Cecilia is co-leader of the Arbitration area and a lawyer specialized in mediation and judicial proceedings related to alternative dispute resolution with more than 25 years of experience.  

She joined Galicia as a partner in 2018, where she focuses her practice on complex domestic and international commercial disputes. Acting as arbitrator, counsel, mediator, or expert in Mexican law, she has developed a broad experience, particularly in cases related to energy, infrastructure, construction, and commercial mediations. 

Among its clients are national and foreign companies that have entered into agreements related to energy or construction and infrastructure matters. Her recent cases involve complex disputes arising from PPA and public and private work agreements. She has participated in matters related to distribution agreements, technology transfer and international sales. 

Cecilia is recognized for her expertise and record of accomplishment in complex judicial proceedings related to arbitration before Mexican courts, such as set aside and enforcement of awards, interim measures, amongst others. In close collaboration with other practice areas of the Firm, she advises clients in Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) matters, specifically by analysing investment protection provisions in Investment Treaties to which Mexico is party. 

She teaches arbitration and mediation in undergraduate and graduate courses at UNAM, ITAM and CIDE. 

Currently, Cecilia is president of the Mexican Institute of Mediation (IMM). She is on Mexico’s list of conciliators in ICSID proceedings and is a member of the International Arbitration Court of the ICC. In addition, as of November 2022, she is a member of the Steering Committee of the Latin America Working Group created by the IBA Arbitration Committee. Previously, she served as president of the Mexican Arbitration Institute (IMA); as Secretary General and Counsel of the Mexican Arbitration Center (CAM); as vice-president of the Arbitration Commission of the ICC Mexico, and as a consultant for the Mediation Project in Mexico sponsored by the American Bar Association and USAID. 

She regularly publishes and speaks on alternative dispute resolution. 

Cecilia is recognised as Band 2 in the 2023 Chambers Latin American Guide in the Dispute Resolution: Arbitration practice. Since 2021, she is part of Chambers’ Most in Demand Arbitrators list, being the first woman to ranked in said list. She is also considered by The Legal 500 2023 Latin American Guide as a leader in her practice. The French publication Leaders League and Latin Lawyer recognise her as a leader in the national and international legal market, due to her experience and recognition by her clients.  

She is member of the Galicia’s Talent Committee. 

Funke Adekoya is a Senior Advocate of Nigeria who practices as an arbitrator and litigator in Lagos Nigeria. She is a Chartered Arbitrator of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Governing Board Member of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration.

She is dual qualified in both Nigeria and as a solicitor of England and Wales.

She is ranked in Chambers Global and in Who’s Who Legal Arbitration, is listed on the Chairman’s Panel of Arbitrators at ICSID as well as the panels of many other international arbitration institutions and is currently a member of the ICC Africa Commission. She has been appointed as arbitrator [chair, wing or sole] in high value institutional proceedings under the LCIA, ICC and ICSID Arbitration Rules in addition to ad hoc arbitration proceedings under the UNCITRAL Rules.

She is knowledgeable in both Nigerian and English Law.

Kabir Duggal, Ph.D., is an attorney and chartered arbitrator at Arnold & Porter, New York. His focus areas are international investment arbitration, international commercial arbitration, and public international law.  He has extensive experience in complex disputes under numerous bilateral/multilateral investment treaties and contracts with parties worldwide. 

Dr. Duggal is regularly recognised for his arbitration skills. He has over 60 published articles and is listed as a Thought Leader in International Arbitration by Who’s Who Legal 2022 and 2023.   He is passionate about diversity, equity, and inclusion and co-founded REAL (Racial Equality for Arbitration Lawyers), a non-profit seeking to improve representation in international arbitration.

Dr. Duggal is also a Lecturer-in-Law at Columbia Law School, an adjunct Professor at Fordham Law School, and a Course Director and Faculty Member for the Columbia Law School - Chartered Institute of Arbitrators Comprehensive Course on International Arbitration.  

Dr. Duggal is admitted to practice law in New York, District of Columbia, England & Wales (as a Barrister), and in India.

Dancia Penn is a lawyer and Alternate Dispute Resolution Practitioner in active practice. She is a British Citizen and is a former Attorney General of The Virgin Islands (BVI). She became Queen’s Counsel in 1996. Her legal experience includes contentious and non-contentious matters in corporate and commercial law including financial services, insolvency, dispute resolution, employment,  

hospitality and regulatory matters as well as a wide range of other areas of private law, including trusts and estates, and public law. 

Dancia regularly advises and assists clients in BVI and globally on matters of BVI law. She represents clients in major commercial disputes and has appeared in the Courts at all levels including Her Majesty’s Privy Council. She has the right of audience in all nine Member States of The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court and was called to the Bar of Barbados in 1999. 

Dancia accepts appointments as an Arbitrator and is a qualified Mediator on The Roster of Mediators of The Eastern Caribbean Supreme Court. She regularly sits as a Sole Arbitrator, Chair or Member of various Arbitration and Ad Hoc Tribunals, and also represents parties before them. 

She is currently a Judge of The Caribbean Community Administrative Tribunal (CCAT). Dancia is a member of The Panels of Distinguished Neutrals of The International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR) and is an Arbitrator on its Global Panel, which is CPR’s general commercial panel, which is divided regionally. She is also on the Panel of Neutrals of The Jamaica International Arbitration Centre Ltd. (the JAIC), and is listed to serve in Arbitration, Mediation, Neutral Evaluation, and Facilitated Contract Re- Negotiation. She is is a Member of the Council of The Commonwealth Lawyers Association, and Co-Chair of The Sub - Committee of the Campaign for Greener Arbitrations in The Caribbean. 

Dancia is a member of Abritrators@33BedfordRow, London and Arbitration Place in Toronto. She is also Co-Founder of Caribbean Arbitrators in BVI and is on the Roster of Arbitrators of The BVI International Arbitration Center and is a Founding Member of its Support Group. She is Vice President of the recently established BVI IAC Committee. 

Dancia is an appointed Arbitrator on the Labour Arbitration Tribunal of The Virgin Islands and is regularly chosen as a party representative on that and other Tribunals. Dancia has the unique distinction of having served at the highest levels in all three  

branches of Government – Executive, Legislative and Judicial, and of working prominently in the private sector of the legal profession and Alternate Dispute  

Resolution in The Virgin Islands, and beyond. 

Calvin is a Chartered Arbitrator with more than 30 years’ experience. He has sat as arbitrator under ICC, ICDR, LCIA, Madrid Court of Arbitration, Zurich Chamber of Commerce, Hungarian Chambers of Commerce and Industry and UNCITRAL Rules in a variety of seats located in the Caribbean, Latin America, USA, Africa and Europe. Calvin is a highly regarded Member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration.
His expertise and knowledge lie in Investor State and Commercial disputes arising from administrative and public law, retail and consumer, energy and natural resources, mergers & acquisitions, cross border transactions including distribution, agency, franchise and transfer agreements, and acquisition of assets and/or shares.
His primary focus is in the Caribbean, Latin America, London, Continental Europe and US. Calvin’s experience includes common law and civil law which he developed in his practice in Spain, the Commonwealth Caribbean, including Guyana and Barbados, and the US.
He is fluent in Spanish, proficient in French and has working knowledge of Portuguese. He is a dual national of Guyana and Spain and admitted in New York and Madrid.

Margie-Lys Jaime is a Professor of Law at the University of Panama. She acts as a consultant and expert in commercial, trade, and investment matters. Her practice includes international litigation, maritime disputes, commercial arbitration, investor-state dispute settlement, and international trade. She is a qualified arbitrator, mediator, and conciliator. Dr. Jaime has been appointed to the list of Conciliators and Arbitrators of ICSID by the Republic of Panama (2022-2028). Currently, she is legal adviser to the Minister of Finance and Economy of the Republic of Panama, and in this capacity, she participates at UNCITRAL Working Group III on ISDS reform. She is also Of Counsel at Infante Pérez-Almillano in Panama City. Dr. Jaime received her PhD in Law and LLM in International Economic Affairs Law from the University of Paris II (Pantheon-Assas), an LLM in Arbitration and International Business Law from the University of Versailles (France), and an LLM in International Business and Economic Law with a Certificate in WTO Studies from Georgetown University Law Center, Washington D.C. She is admitted to practice law in Panama, the State of New York, U.S.A., and holds the Certificate of Aptitude for the legal profession (CAPA) in Paris, France.

Jonathan Lim is a triple-qualified English solicitor, Singapore advocate, and New York lawyer with a focus on complex international disputes. He has a broad practice representing clients in all types of commercial and investment treaty arbitrations seated in common law and civil law jurisdictions worldwide. His experience also includes ad hoc and institutional arbitrations under the rules of the HKIAC, ICC, ICDR, LCIA, PCA, SIAC, UNCITRAL, and others. He has represented both private sector and government clients in the aerospace, construction, energy, financial services, insurance, telecommunications, technology, and retail sectors, among others. Mr Lim has also worked on WTO dispute settlement matters and advised international organisations and governments in Africa and Asia on public international law issues. 

Mr. Lim regularly sits as arbitrator and has received appointments as sole and party-appointed arbitrator in multiple proceedings seated in Europe and Asia. These include Chinese language arbitrations, bilingual English-Chinese arbitrations, as well as arbitrations governed by Chinese law, English law, German law, Singapore law and the CISG. Mr. Lim was recently Secretary to the Drafting Committee for the AFSA International Arbitration Rules and played a significant role in the drafting of the revised rules, which came into effect on 1 June 2021. Mr. Lim also assisted the SIAC Rules Revision Executive Committee in the most recent revision of the SIAC Rules in 2016. 

Mr. Lim is Co-Chair of the Asia-Pacific Forum for International Arbitration, a Committee Member of the ICC Singapore Regional Projects Sub-Committee, and a member of the SIAC Users Council. He is an Associate Editor of the African Journal of International Arbitration. 

Mr. Lim is a Visiting Senior Fellow at the National University of Singapore, where he has taught commercial and investment arbitration since 2016. He has also lectured at the China University of Political Science and Law, King’s College London, the London School of Economics, the National Law School of India University (Bangalore), the National University of Juridical Sciences (Kolkata), and the Singapore Management University. 

Wendy is a specialist in international arbitration and dispute resolution with a focus on private and public international law.

With over 25 years of experience, Wendy has advised on international law matters and conducted arbitrations under all the major institutions and ad hoc. She has advised a wide range of multinationals, including corporates, sovereign States and State entities and multilateral State organisations.

Wendy has assisted clients across numerous sectors, including energy, natural resources, banking, insurance, financial services, gaming, manufacturing, pharmaceutical, licensing, telecommunications and construction. She has sat as arbitrator since 2005, as sole, co-arbitrator and chair under most major arbitral institutions. Wendy has been appointed by the United Kingdom to the ICSID Panel of arbitrators and ICSID Panel of conciliators effective from 10 November 2020.

Mahnaz Malik is a Barrister and Arbitrator at Twenty Essex who specialises in representing Governments, organisations and corporations in investment and commercial disputes. She is a Fellow of Hughes Hall College, University of Cambridge. Mahnaz has over 23 years of experience in advising Governments, corporations and international organisations on international investment law issues and disputes. She has acted as counsel on behalf of investors, organisations and states in several investment and commercial disputes, including CAS, ICC, ICSID, LCIA and PCA administered arbitrations. She is adept in a range of sectors, including energy, natural resources, financial services, shareholder disputes, joint ventures and franchising and sport.

Mahnaz’s appointment as an arbitrator in EuroGas Inc. and Belmont Resources Inc. v. Republic of Slovakia makes her one of the youngest ever appointed to an ICSID Annulment Committee since records began and the youngest woman. She is presently serving on the Annulment Committee of Annulment Committee member in Almasryia for Operating & Maintaining Touristic Construction Co. L.L.C. v State of Kuwait (ICSID Case No. ARB/18/2). She serves on the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators as well as on leading arbitration panels globally, including the Shanghai Arbitration Commission, Asian International Arbitration Centre, Energy Disputes Arbitration Centre and the Beijing International Arbitration Centre.

Mahnaz is presently lead counsel for the Republic of Turkey in the ICSID proceedings commenced by Enel S.p.A. She also chairs disciplinary panels for Cambridge University (Hughes Hall College). Mahnaz publishes, teaches and speaks extensively. Her writings are frequently cited in academic journals, examination papers and appear on syllabi. Her professional awards include the prestigious Financial Times Legal Innovator of the Year Award 2007 and the Law Society of England’s national award for the Trainee Solicitor of the Year 2001. She has also served as a member of the ICC Commissions on Arbitration and Anti-Corruption. After graduating with a MA in Law from Cambridge University, Mahnaz qualified as an Attorney at Law (New York), Solicitor (England & Wales) and an English Barrister (Lincoln's Inn). She will start her term as a Partner Fellow at the Lauterpacht Centre of International Law at Cambridge University in October 2023

Michael McIlwrath lives in Florence, Italy, where he spent over 22 years in lead in-house litigation roles for General Electric’s Oil & Gas division and, most recently, as Vice President of Litigation for Baker Hughes Company. In 2021, he founded MDisputes Srl. He is currently Chair of ICC’s Governing Body for Dispute Resolution Services and an adjunct professor at Bocconi Law School in Milan. He is the co-author of two textbooks on international dispute resolution and contract negotiation. In 2017, Arbitral Women recognized Michael as a Champion of Change.

Dana MacGrath is an independent arbitrator listed on the rosters of various arbitral institutions and has served as chair, co-arbitrator and sole arbitrator in multiple arbitrations over the course of her arbitration career of more than two decades. Her unique mix of experience includes serving as an arbitrator, arbitration practitioner, in-house counsel and professor of law.  In July 2022, she joined Arbitra International, a management service for arbitrators. 

Prior to launching her independent arbitrator practice, she spent more than two years in-house focusing on arbitration finance and 20+ years as an arbitration practitioner and arbitrator in the arbitration practice group at several global law firms, including Sidley Austin, Allen & Overy and O’Melveny & Myers, having started her legal career at Sullivan & Cromwell. She has a broad range of experience in arbitrations involving a variety of businesses and industries, among them oil and gas, LNG price reviews, construction, energy, finance, telecommunications, intellectual property (FRAND disputes), life sciences, sale of goods and international investments. She has also represented parties in U.S. courts regarding the enforceability of arbitration agreements and arbitral awards under the New York Convention. She has been recognized as a leader in international arbitration in various directories as well as a thought leader in arbitration third-party funding. 

Emilia Onyema is an independent arbitrator and a Professor of International Commercial Law at SOAS University of London where she teaches international commercial arbitration, international investment law and commercial law in a global context. She is qualified to practice law in Nigeria, as a Solicitor in England & Wales, and Fellow of Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She is a Board member of the Africa Arbitration Association, member of the Lagos Court of Arbitration, BVI Centre Arbitration Committee, LACIAC Court member, Casablanca International Mediation and Arbitration centre, among others. She convenes the SOAS Arbitration in Africa conference series and leads the SOAS Arbitration in Africa biennial survey research project; she co-authored the African Promise and founded the Arbitration Fund for African Students (AFAS) a registered charitable organisation in England to support students with interest in arbitration.

Her research interests focus on the development of international arbitration in Africa and the engagement of Africans in international arbitration. She has experience as presiding, co and sole arbitrator, and acts as legal expert witness in international arbitration. She actively publishes and speaks on topics relevant to her research interests. Some of her publications include, International Commercial Arbitration and the Arbitrator’s Contract (Routledge, 2010); Rethinking the Role of African National Courts in Arbitration (Kluwer, 2018), “African Participation in the ICSID System: Appointment and Disqualification of Arbitrators”, ICSID Review – Foreign Investment Law Journal (2020), and “Reimagining the Framework for resolving Intra-African Commercial Disputes in the Context of the African Continental Free Trade Area Agreement”, World Trade Review (2019).

Athina Fouchard Papaefstratiou is an independent arbitrator based in Paris. A Greek citizen and a lawyer registered with the Bar in Paris and in Athens, she has worked for 15 years in two of the most renowned international arbitration groups globally and in a boutique firm specialised in Africa-related dispute resolution, before establishing her own practice in 2022. Athina has significant experience in Africa-related arbitration, as well as in arbitration involving States and State entities. She is a CIArb Fellow, a member of the board of the European Branch of CIArb, and the former Chair of the CIArb YMG steering committee.  She is also a founding member (and former co-head) of AfricArb, a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, and a Board member of the Arbitration Committee of ICC Greece. She publishes, teaches and speaks in conferences on issues of international arbitration, public international law and contract law.

Cesar Pereira is a Chartered Arbitrator (C.Arb) and Fellow (FCiarb) of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators – Ciarb, partner at Justen, Pereira, Oliveira & Talamini, Sao Paulo (Brazil), and co-head of his firm’s infrastructure and arbitration practice. His work as counsel, arbitrator or legal expert focuses on infrastructure projects, regulated industries, public procurement and international contracts, and related dispute resolution, and he has authored or edited articles, book chapters and books in these fields. He holds a doctorate in public law from PUC-SP (Brazil) and has been a visiting scholar at Columbia University, University of Nottingham and George Washington University. He is a Fellow of the University of Nottingham’s Public Procurement Research Group and is on the editorial board of its Public Procurement Law Review – PPLR.

Ann Ryan Robertson, Chartered Arbitrator, FCIArb, is a past global President of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and served as the Chair of the ICDR Rules Revision Committee responsible for the 2021 ICDR Mediation and Arbitration Rules. An International Partner in Locke Lord LLP’s Houston office, Ann is an experienced chair, party appointed, sole and emergency arbitrator and has acted as arbitrator and advocate in a wide variety of complex business disputes across numerous industries.

She is one of ten arbitrators appointed by the United States to serve as a dispute settlement panellist pursuant to Chapter 31 of the United States-Mexico-Canada Agreement (USMCA) and recently served on the panel tasked with deciding the dispute brought by Canada and Mexico against the United States regarding the rules of origin in the automotive sector. Named to Global Arbitration Review’s “Who’s Who Legal: Arbitration” since 2015 and to “The Best Lawyers in America, International Arbitration/Governmental” since 2014, Ann is a member of a number of all the major arbitral institution panels, including ICDR, SIAC, and HKIAC.

She is frequent author and speaker on arbitration issues, an adjunct professor at the University of Houston Law Center and for eighteen years coached the Law Center’s Vis Moot team. Long a supporter of diversity in arbitration, Ann is also a founding member of ArbitralWomen.

Lucy Reed is an independent arbitrator with Arbitration Chambers (New York), ranked in Chambers Global Band 1 for Most in Demand Arbitrators (Dispute Resolution and Public International Law).  Lucy is President of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre Court and served as President of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA) from 2020 until April 2023.  Lucy retired in 2016 from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, where she led the global international arbitration group from the New York, Hong Kong and Singapore offices, and then was Professor of Practice and Director of the Centre for International Law at NUS through 2019.  In addition to practicing international commercial and investment treaty arbitration, she served as an arbitrator on the Eritrea-Ethiopia Claims Commission (a humanitarian law/Geneva Convention claims commission), co-director of the Claims Resolution Tribunal for Dormant Accounts in Switzerland (a Holocaust claims tribunal) and, while with the US State Department, the US Agent to the Iran-US Claims Tribunal. Lucy, a member of the US Council on Foreign Relations, is a former Vice-President of the ICC Court and President of the American Society of International Law.  She was educated at the University of Chicago Law School and Brown University.

Frederico has developed a successful practice in international dispute resolution that encompasses commercial litigation and international arbitration.  He is a specialist in international trade and investment disputes.  He practiced law as a solicitor and in-house lawyer before being called to the bar and that experience leads him to undertake highly complex, high value and high-profile cases.

Frederico is especially sought out for his unique expertise, drafting and advocacy skills in matters involving emerging markets in Latin America, Africa and Asia, by English, international and foreign firms as well as third-party funders and government entities.  Many of his instructions have been borne from his unique profile.  His practice spans across a wide spectrum of industry sectors including banking & finance, corporate, M & A, commodities, maritime, aviation, energy, mining, infrastructure and insurance cases.

He is an experienced trial advocate, having advised and acted for states, state entities, public and private companies in English court proceedings.  In international arbitration he acts both as counsel and arbitrator and has substantial experience (including under the institutional rules of the LCIA, ICDR, ICC, LMAA, DIAC, CAM-CCBC, AIAC, ACICA and UNCITRAL).

Frederico is recognised in the International Arbitration Powerlist by Legal 500, Legal 500 UK Bar and Whoswholegal, amongst the most experienced and notable international arbitration practitioners at the English bar.  A considerable proportion of his practice consists of acting as an arbitrator and he is included in the lists or panels of arbitrators in many institutions across the world including the VIAC, HKIAC, AIAC, KCAB, ACICA, CAM-CCBC, CAMARB, CBMA and CACM to name a few.

In 2017, Frederico was appointed by the Ministry of Justice as a Court Examiner (a quasi-judicial appointment), undertaking depositions predominantly for the district courts of New York, Texas and California.  Frederico is also an accredited mediator and is happy to accept appointments.  He is one of the first barristers to become an accredited Digital Dispute Resolution Specialist.

As well as practicing law Frederico also is a faculty member for the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a course leader at Gray’s Inn and ADR-ODR for international arbitration; is the course leader at University College London for procurement, construction and engineering for major projects; and a visiting lecturer at the University of Westminster for commercial dispute resolution.

Sarah is Co-Head of International Arbitration at CMS Cameron McKenna Nabarro Olswang LLP, a role covering the U.K, Central and Eastern Europe, the UAE, Singapore, Turkiye, China, Brazil and Mexico. She is a seasoned international arbitration lawyer specialising in both international commercial arbitration and investor state disputes, representing clients before all key arbitral institutions including the LCIA, DIAC, ICC, ICDR, SIAC, HKAIC, SCC, ICSID, and in arbitrations conducted under the UNCITRAL Rules, and foreign investment laws. She is dual-qualified in England & Wales and the U.S. (Texas and Washington D.C.), is a Solicitor-Advocate of the Higher Courts of England and Wales. Sarah works in both English and Spanish.  

In addition to advocating for her clients' interests before international tribunals, Sarah advises clients on investment (re)structuring, and on strategies, options, and tactics for minimising the prospects of full-blown disputes. She is an adroit counsellor on managing and sharing the risks of arbitration through third-party funding, ATE insurance, and conditional-fee and damages-based agreements, and enforcing arbitral awards.  She has breadth of experience in energy, oil and gas, mining, and other large scale project disputes in Africa, the Middle East, Central Asia, the Indian Subcontinent, and Latin America and has represented many of the leading global energy and construction companies.

In addition to her counsel work, Sarah regularly sits as party-nominated, sole, and presiding arbitrator.