Networking Buffet and Drinks

Cathryn Neo – Co-Chair, Young Practitioners Network, SIArb; Associate Director (Litigation and Contingent Risks), Transaction Solutions, Asia, Aon

Cathryn has a broad commercial disputes practice with experience in international arbitration, litigation, insolvency and restructuring, and mediation. Prior to joining Aon, she practiced at a leading international law firm and a boutique disputes firm in Singapore. She also assisted arbitral tribunals as tribunal secretary for leading arbitrator, Dr Michael Hwang SC. An accredited mediator with the Singapore Mediation Centre, she is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb) and the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb). She was recently shortlisted as a finalist in Euromoney’s APAC Women in Business Law 2022 and 2023 awards under the category of Rising Star (Arbitration). She is qualified in Singapore, England & Wales, and Australia.

Meera Rajah – Council Member and Co-Chair of Young Practitioners Network, Singapore Institute of Arbitrators; Associate, Sidley Austin LLP, New York

Meera is an Associate at Sidley Austin LLP (New York). She is a triple-qualified lawyer (New York, England & Wales, and Singapore), who graduated from University College London and Columbia Law School with several prizes for academic merit. Focusing her practice on international arbitration and cross-border disputes, she represents clients in various investor-state and commercial arbitrations, including proceedings conducted under the ICSID, ICC, and SIAC Rules. While practicing, she has published in various peer-reviewed journals, including the American Review of International Arbitration and the International Journal of Evidence & Proof. She is currently a Council Member of the Singapore Institute of Arbitrators (SIArb) and the co-chair of the SIArb Young Practitioners Network. She is also a Fellow of the SIArb (FSIArb), as well as accredited as a mediator by both the Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR) and the Singapore Mediation Centre (SMC).

Asiyah Arif – Director, Providence Law Asia

Asiyah is a Director in the International Arbitration practice at Providence Law Asia, a boutique specialist dispute resolution firm. Asiyah regularly represents clients in complex, sensitive and high-value commercial arbitration and litigation matters. Her practice covers a diverse range of matters, including construction and infrastructure disputes, shareholder disputes, defamation actions, and matters involving foreign states.

Asiyah has broad experience in conducting arbitrations under the auspices of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) as well as ad-hoc arbitrations under the UNCITRAL or other rules. 

Olga Boltenko – Partner, Fangda Partners

Olga is a partner at Fangda Partners in Hong Kong. She is an investment and trade lawyer with over fifteen years’ experience in public international law and investor-State dispute resolution. She has acted as counsel in investor-State disputes under the auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes, the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, the International Chamber of Commerce, and the London Court of International Arbitration, as well as in commercial disputes in a wide array of industries, including oil and gas, infrastructure, construction, telecommunications, and pharmaceuticals across Asia and beyond. Ms Boltenko is an adjunct associate professor and a deputy executive director of LL.M. in Arbitration and Dispute Resolution at The University of Hong Kong, where she teaches arbitration and investment law. She is admitted to the roll of solicitors in Hong Kong and she is qualified to practise law in the Russian Federation. Ms Boltenko is listed as an arbitrator with the CIETAC, the Singapore International Arbitration Centre, the Asian International Arbitration Centre, the Russian Union of Industrialists and Entrepreneurs, and with a number of other regional and Central Asian institutions, where is developing an active arbitrator practice.

Monica Crespo – Head of Product, Jus Mundi

Monica worked as a lawyer in international disputes in Panama. She later founded and served as CEO of Popularis, the first centralised search engine of judicial decisions in Panama. Currently, Monica holds the position of Head of Product at Jus Mundi, a global arbitration intelligence platform, powered by AI. In this role, she drives the evolution and innovation of Jus Mundi’s legal research use case. Her responsibilities encompass the integration of cutting-edge technologies, such as AI including large language models. Beyond her professional commitments, Monica is deeply immersed in academic research, exploring the impact of AI-powered platforms in law firms.

Joel Quek – Partner, WongPartnership LLP

Joel Quek is a Partner in the Commercial & Corporate Disputes Practice at WongPartnership LLP. His main areas of practice are in arbitration and litigation, involving commercial, corporate, investment, shareholder and employment disputes across a range of sectors including energy, commodities, gaming, finance, transport, construction and healthcare. Joel also has an active investment treaty arbitration practice, acting for both private investors and State parties, and particular expertise in arbitration-related court proceedings. Prior to entering private practice, Joel served as a Justices’ Law Clerk to the Chief Justice and Judges of the Singapore Supreme Court. His experience also includes a stint with Fountain Court Chambers in London. Apart from practice, Joel teaches trial advocacy in the National University of Singapore and previously taught commercial conflict of laws in the Singapore Management University.

Amy Wen Wei – Counsel, CMS Hasche Sigle, Hong Kong

Amy's practice focuses on complex transnational disputes, particularly international commercial and investment arbitration. She has extensive experience advising and representing multi-national and stated-owned enterprises, listed companies, states, governmental and public entities and institutions, and international organisations. She has advised clients and worked on very high-stake arbitration cases under the rules of ICC, HKIAC, SIAC, CIETAC, LCIA, SCC, JCAA, ICSID, ICDR, and ad hoc UNCITRAL. Her clients come from a wide range of jurisdictions and industries, including the life-science and biotech, green energy, finance, and aerospace sectors.

Amy is based in Hong Kong and is qualified in the state of New York (USA) and Paris (France). She is trained in both common law and civil law jurisdictions – she holds advanced law degrees from Harvard Law School and the Institut d'études politiques de Paris (Sciences Po.), cum laude. She is trilingual in Chinese, English, and French.

Dinesh Dhillon – Partner, Allen & Gledhill LLP

Dinesh is the Co-Head of the Firm’s International Arbitration Practice. He practises international arbitration and litigation. Dinesh is dual qualified in Singapore and the United Kingdom. He is a Barrister (Middle Temple) with a practicing certificate issued by the Bar Standards Board with rights of full audience (England and Wales).

Dinesh has represented multinational companies in cases before the Singapore International Commercial Court (SICC), Singapore High Court and Court of Appeal relating to banking, corporate, employment, entertainment, insurance, property and shareholder disputes. He has also acted for statutory boards in judicial review cases.

Dinesh is also the immediate past President of The Singapore Institute of Arbitrators, Fellow of the Asian Institute of Alternative Dispute Resolution, Director on the Board of Pro Bono SG, Vice Chair of the Asia Pacific Forum of the International Bar Association and Co-Chair of the Legal & IPR Committee of The American Chamber of Commerce in Singapore (AmCham).

Joan is a partner in K&L Gates Straits Law LLC. She is a member of the Commercial Disputes practice group. She specialises 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.

Professor Mark McLaughlin – Visiting Assistant Professor of Law, SMU Yong Pung How School of Law

Mark is the Global Visiting Assistant Professor at the Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University and Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy (SIDRA).

Mark has been a trainer for government officials around the world in managing their investment treaty commitments and navigating investor-state disputes. In 2022, he became of a member of the ISDS Academic Forum. His research areas are international economic law and dispute resolution, particularly arbitration and mediation. He has published in leading international journals on novel areas of law, such as investor-state mediation, state-owned enterprises, and emerging technologies. His current area of focus is the interaction of international investment law with artificial intelligence.

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SILE CPD Points 
Practice Area: Alternate Dispute Resolution 
Training Level: General
Public CPD Points: 1