Welcome to Prague. Welcome to the WAA 2026 Symposium.
Dear guests,
Dear colleagues,
Dear friends of the World Atlas of Arbitration,
This Symposium has been organised exclusively for the jurisdictional contributors to the World Atlas of Arbitration and several valued guests, as a token of our appreciation for your efforts and support for the project.
We look forward to a day filled with discussions about the maps and the comparative issues they are designed to help users navigate. We have done our best to make your time in Prague both enjoyable and enlightening. Yet no amount of effort could ever fully express our gratitude for the support we have received from all of you.
The World Atlas of Arbitration would not exist without you. Without your responses to the jurisdictional survey, it would have remained nothing more than a blank notebook. We know this was no simple task. Many of you engaged in extensive research, and almost all had to resist the ever-present lawyer’s urge to add explanatory notes to otherwise straightforward answers.
While the survey left little room for such elaboration, there will be plenty of space for it here at the Symposium—both during the panel discussions and throughout the social programme.
Should you need any assistance during your stay in Prague, please refer to the Important info section at the end of this brochure, where you will find our mobile numbers.
With our deepest thanks,
The editors of the World Atlas of Arbitration
Roman Kramarik and Tomas Kral
The organising team of the WAA 2026 Symposium
Katerina Zittova and Monika Cardova
Narmin Abdulova is a Legal Counsel at ROXCEL Holding, where she advises on a broad range of corporate and commercial legal matters. She began her legal career as a trainee lawyer at the Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC) and Baker McKenzie Austria, where she developed hands-on expertise in international arbitration practice and commercial law.
She holds a Bachelor’s degree in Law from the Academy of Public Administration under the President of the Republic of Azerbaijan and an LL.M. in International Business Law from Central European University in Vienna.
Narmin’s engagement with the international arbitration community began with her participation in the 28th Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in 2020. Since then, she has remained actively involved in the Vis Moot community, serving as an arbitrator in pre-moot and main round proceedings and coaching the Baku State University team since 2023.
Peter has led litigation and arbitration groups in top law firms for nearly 30-years. Over that period, he has handled complex, high value, commercial disputes both domestically and internationally. He established himself as a thought leader and prominent arbitration practitioner (both counsel and arbitrator).
He is Director of International Arbitration at top 100 law firm Cripps LLP and is an independent arbitrator. He is the author of leading texts on arbitration and a prolific writer and commentator. He is rated in the directories as “a superb arbitration lawyer”; a “doyen of the arbitration world”; and “a legal mastermind”.
Mathias Audit is a founding partner of the firm and a Law Professor at the Sorbonne School of Law (University of Paris 1). In his private practice, he advises both private companies and Sovereign States or foreign state entities. He is regularly solicited by counsel or clients alike for consultations on complex cases.
Mr. Audit represents his clients in commercial and investment arbitration proceedings as well as in judicial litigation with an international dimension. He regularly sits as sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator or chairman of arbitral tribunals, either in ad hoc proceedings or in arbitrations conducted under the aegis of major institutions (ICC, VIAC, CACI, etc.), including in expedited proceedings.
In his academic functions at the Sorbonne School of Law, his teachings focus on private international law, international trade law, arbitration law and foreign investment law. He also coheads the Sorbonne’s Master 2 in International Trade Law and Arbitration, as well as the Sorbonne’s LL.M. in Business Law for Foreign Lawyers.
Prof. JUDr. VLADIMÍR BALAŠ, Ph.D. Professor (emeritus) of International Law at the Charles University, Faculty of Law in Prague, former director of the Institute of Law of the Czech Academy of Sciences, former member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) and ICSID Panel of Arbitrators, Member of Specialized Panel of Arbitrators established pursuant to the Optional Rules for Arbitration of Disputes Relating to Natural Resources and/or the Environment.
Member of the Chamber of Deputies of the Parliament of the Czech Republic (2021-2125, 9th Chamber)
Minister of Education, Youth and Sports (2022/06-2023/05) presiding 4 European Councils (Youth, Education, Science – COMPET, Sport – Education, Youth, Culture and Sport Council (EYCS)) during Czech EU Presidency from 2022/07 to 2022/12.
Klaus Peter Berger is professor of law at Cologne University, Germany and a practicing international arbitrator for more than 30 years.
He is the inventor and operator of TransLex (www.trans-lex.org). He was a long-time member of the board, vice-president and president of the German Arbitration Institute (DIS), a Council Member of the ICC Institute for World Business Law and member of the ICC Arbitration Commission.
He is one of four permanent arbitrators in Formula 1 Racing for contractual dispute between the drivers and their teams.
Anna Bilanová is an associate at Wolf Theiss in the Prague office. She regularly advises clients in various sectors on complex litigation and arbitration matters, as well as on foreign direct investment (FDI) screening regulation. Prior to joining Wolf Theiss, Anna served as a government official at the Czech Ministry of Finance’s International Arbitration and Investment Protection Unit, where she mainly focused on advising high-level government officials on investment arbitration matters, and attended meetings at EU institutions and intergovernmental organizations.
Anna graduated with a master’s degree (Mgr.) from Masaryk University in Brno before going on to obtain LL.M. degrees from the University of Geneva (Master of Law in International Dispute Settlement) and Harvard Law School (Master of Laws). She is admitted to practice in the Czech Republic and New York, and speaks Czech, Polish, English, and French.
Michaela Burianová is currently completing her final year of legal studies at Charles University in Prague. With a growing interest in dispute resolution, she is joining the WAA Symposium as a listener to gain valuable insights from international experts and explore current trends.
Daniel is a licensed lawyer with 5 years of experience in international commercial arbitration and general corporate advisory.
He holds a masters in European and International Business Law from the Karoli Gaspar University of the Reformed Church in Hungary. Prior to this, he was an associate at Olaniwun Ajayi where he represented both domestic and international clients in some of the most complex commercial arbitral matters in Africa.
Lyra Çela is a PhD candidate at Bocconi University, where her research focuses on International Economic Law and dispute resolution, particularly the ongoing reform of investor–State dispute settlement (ISDS).
She has recently been a visiting scholar at Columbia Law School and has experience as counsel in ISDS proceedings, advising States and other parties in investment disputes. Previously, she held senior legal and institutional roles within Kosovo’s justice and rule-of-law sector.
René specialises in dispute resolution, arbitration, and sports law. He has worked on numerous complex cases, including domestic litigation and arbitrations, international commercial arbitrations (ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL, VIAC, ad hoc), investor-state arbitrations (ICSID, ad hoc), sports arbitration (CAS), and disciplinary proceedings (UEFA, WADA). René has represented clients in 49 arbitration cases as counsel and has participated as an arbitrator in 56 cases. He is active in several professional associations, including ArbCEE, ICC Czech Republic, CZIPRA, and YCAP. René holds the leading Geneva LL.M. in International Dispute Settlement (MIDS) and a JUDr. from Charles University.
Dr. Stefan Dobrijević is an Associate at KNOETZL’s Arbitration Team and Lecturer at WU Vienna. Prior to joining KNOETZL, Stefan served as a Teaching and Research Associate at the Private Law Department of WU Vienna. During this time, he completed his doctoral studies on the interaction between international arbitration and EU (competition) law, graduating summa cum laude. Stefan regularly publishes and speaks on international arbitration, private international law and corporate law. He coaches the team of the WU Vienna for the Frankfurt Investment Arbitration Moot Court.
Miroslav has almost 30 years’ experience of assisting clients in complex transactions and in international arbitrations. He has acted on high-profile commercial arbitrations concerning the privatisation of leading Czech state enterprises as well as in disputes relating to the protection of investments under bilateral investment treaties. He also regularly sits as an arbitrator in arbitration proceedings and is registered as arbitrator with several leading arbitration institutions.
Currently he is also a chair of the Czech ICC Arbitration Commission.
Alice Fremuth-Wolf is Counsel at Austrian law firm PARAGON Advocacy specializing in international dispute resolution and litigation finance. Since 2022, she also acts as the permanent representative of Nivalion’s branch office in Vienna advising Nivalion as senior legal consultant in matters relating to Austria & the CEE region. Until 2022, she was Secretary General (and Deputy) of VIAC for 10 years.
Having studied law at Vienna University (Mag. iur. 1995, Dr. iur. 2002), Utrecht University (1994) and the London School of Economics and Political Science (LL.M. 1998), she serves as lecturer for arbitration at the Department of Civil Procedure Law at the Law Faculty of Vienna University where she was also coach for the Vienna Vis Moot team between 2004-2009.
Alice worked with major Austrian law firms and acted as party representative and arbitrator in international commercial arbitration cases and has authored articles and books on arbitration and ADR. She is a qualified Austrian attorney-at-law, a trained mediator and mediation advocate.
Rudolf Hennecke is a founding partner of Borris Hennecke Kneisel. He acts as counsel and arbitrator in complex disputes in all areas of commercial law.
Focus areas of his practice include: Corporate disputes, in particular post-M&A disputes, shareholder disputes and joint venture disputes; Disputes arising from international trade agreements, Disputes arising from infrastructure projects.
As arbitrator and counsel, he has handled more than 100 arbitration proceedings (e.g. under the rules of the ICC, DIS, SIAC, FAI, HKHH, UNCITRAL).
Rudolf Hennecke is the editor of (together with James Menz) the Commentary on the Arbitration Rules of the German Arbitration Institute (DIS-SchO), C.H. Beck (2025).
Tomas is a partner at Bříza & Trubač. He has extensively argued cases in front of Czech courts, both international and domestic arbitral tribunals and the General Court of the EU and advised clients in all phases of disputes and award/judgment recognition and enforcement process. He participated in representation in international commercial arbitration pursuant to the rules of LCIA, DIS, ICSID, ICC and UNCITRAL.
Jiři Hrádek is an Assistant Professor at the Department of Civil Law at the Faculty of Law of Charles University and a lawyer at Zeppelin CZ. Jiři is a member of the editorial board of the Czech journal, Jurisprudence. He specialises in civil and procedural law, with a special focus on tort law. He is the author of a book on pre-contractual liability, co-author of a book on delict law as well as commentaries on the Czech Civil Code and the Czech Civil Procedure Code.
Velislava Hristova is an international arbitration lawyer with over a decade of experience in investor–State, commercial, and public international law disputes. She represents States, investors, and private parties in high-value international arbitrations and also accepts appointments as arbitrator. She is qualified as an Attorney in Bulgaria and a Solicitor in England & Wales and Ireland, and is admitted to the Munich Bar as a European Attorney.
She also holds Higher Rights of Audience before the AIFC Court. Her career spans leading international law firms and major arbitration hubs across Europe, with experience across diverse industries and jurisdictions.
She holds an LL.M. in Natural Resources Law and Policy from the University of Dundee (1988) and a Diploma in Law from Eduardo Mondlane University in Maputo, Mozambique (1995). She is a member of the AFSA SADC Committee for the implementation of the AFSA SADC Alliance on Arbitration, the SADC Panel of Arbitrators, and the Mozambican Bar Association. Until her retirement in 2018, she spent 15 years at CMH – Companhia Moçambicana, S.A., where she served as Chief Negotiator for hydrocarbons commercial contracts and loan agreements, and as Contract Manager.
Ferrah is arbitrator, Legal Counsel, Head of the Arbitration Unit, President of LexArbitra International, Head of the Economic Rights Committee at the UN Association in Algeria, and Founder of Imazorya.
Clara Grønborg Juul is an assistant attorney in Gorrissen Federspiel’s Dispute Resolution team in Copenhagen, Denmark. Clara advises on complex international arbitration and court proceedings, covering a broad range of disputes. She also regularly acts as Tribunal Secretary in national and international arbitrations under various institutional rules.
Michael is a law student at Charles University, Faculty of Law, and currently works as a paralegal at the insolvency administrators’ office AWRA.
Ts’olo Everrit Kalake is a Mosotho legal practitioner, advocate, mediator, and arbitrator with over 15 years of experience in labour law, dispute resolution, corporate governance, and legal practice. He holds an LL.M in Law of Business Entities from the University of the Free State, an LL.B and Postgraduate Diploma in Labour Law from the National University of Lesotho, and has undertaken specialised training in labour disputes, corporate governance, arbitration, mediation, and disciplinary proceedings.
He has served as a Consulting Advocate and Director at KP & Associates, Consulting Advocate at Adams Attorneys, and Full-Time Arbitrator at the Directorate of Dispute Prevention and Resolution (DDPR). He is skilled in mediation, arbitration, negotiation, legal analysis, communication, and independent decision-making, and has also contributed as a co-author to Arbitration in Africa: A Practitioner’s Guide (2nd ed., 2021).
Martyna is a law student at Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań with a strong interest in alternative dispute resolution (ADR), particularly international commercial arbitration and negotiation. She represented her university at the 23rd Vis East Moot in Hong Kong and the 33rd Willem C. Vis Moot in Vienna, gaining practical experience in international arbitration and advocacy.
She has also participated in nationwide competitions in mediation and negotiation, further developing her practical skills in dispute resolution. Her academic interests extend to human rights and medical law. In the future, she aims to pursue a legal career focused on ADR and international dispute resolution.
Arina is an Associate at AMV Law Offices. Her experience includes representing and advising parties in commercial arbitration under the ICC, LCIA, ICAC Rules, as well as supporting clients in domestic litigation and cross-border dispute resolution. She holds a Master of Law degree from the National University of Kyiv‑Mohyla Academy.
Alexander Korobeinikov is a partner at the Kazakhstan office of Baker McKenzie. He specializes in dispute resolution, energy and natural resources, and antitrust and competition issues. Alexander has wide experience participating in litigation in Russia, Belarus, Kazakhstan and Central Asia, as well as in international arbitration cases in accordance with the arbitration rules of the ICAC, UNCITRAL, ICC, SCC, LCIA and other arbitration institutions, as both a party counsel and arbitrator.
Martyna Kotleszka is a law graduate of Adam Mickiewicz University in Poznań and an alumna of Heidelberg University’s Erasmus+ programme. Her academic interests focus on international commercial arbitration, commercial law and dispute resolution. She has participated in four editions of the Willem C. Vis Moot and received an Honorable Mention for the Respondent’s Memorandum at the 23rd Vis East Moot.
She also won first place and the Best Speaker Award in the Polish National Arbitration Competition. Martyna has conducted research on escalation clauses and the futility exception in international commercial arbitration and is currently gaining practical experience at WBW Weremczuk Bobeł & Wspólnicy.
Aleksandra is on her way to becoming a qualified lawyer, with a particular interest in international arbitration, she represented her university at the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot.
Her mindset has been shaped by competing in triathlon and motocross, and she is currently working toward her pilot’s license. She believes that dreams without action are just dreams, so turning them into reality takes what sport has taught her: discipline.
Tomas earned his master’s degree in law from Charles University in Prague, where he later completed his rigorosum (JUDr.). His legal education was enriched by several internships, most notably at the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg (in the cabinet of Advocate General Dr. Michal Bobek).
He also took part in the Exchange Program in International and Comparative Business Law at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg. It was there, in the classroom of Prof. Dr. Stefan Kröll, that he first discovered the field of international commercial arbitration.
The “Doubting Tomas” quickly turned theory into practice and is now a bar-admitted attorney at JSK, specialising in dispute resolution, including arbitration—both as counsel and tribunal secretary. In addition to domestic arbitration, his work focuses primarily on proceedings under the ICC Arbitration Rules.
Roman began his arbitration career as a stagiaire at the ICC in 1994. He later learned the art of professional advocacy in Big Law before leaving in 2004 to establish an independent Prague-based law firm, now known as JSK. The firm has since grown into a respected full-service practice, where Roman remains a partner.
Roman acts regularly as both arbitrator and counsel mostly in construction and infrastructure sectors. A pioneer by nature, he wrote his Ph.D. thesis on e-cash and e-commerce. He drafted and won the first Czech anti-dumping application, created the first Czech stock option plan, prepared the first Czech concession agreement and helped resolve a shareholders’ dispute by converting an oil refinery into several virtual processing refineries.
Roman is an avid aviator and in 2018 became the first Czech pilot to solo circumnavigate the globe.
As a Managing Partner at LitFin, Maros used to lead a team of 100+ experts in financing medium to high value legal disputes across various domains, such as competiion law/antitrust, commercial, disputes, arbitrations and class actions. With over 9 years of experience in the litigation finance industry, Maros have developed a deep understanding of the legal and financial risks and opportunities involved in complex litigation cases.
Karyna Kryvytska is a Junior Associate at AMV Law Offices. She provides legal advice to Ukrainian and international clients in domestic litigation, cross-border dispute resolution, and commercial and investment arbitration.
Tomáš Kučera is a corporate lawyer with experience in construction law, public procurement law and the practical application of FIDIC conditions of contract.
Dr. Jaroslav Kudrna is Head of the International Arbitration and Investment Protection Unit at the Ministry of Finance of the Czech Republic. He has represented the Czech Republic in 16 investment arbitrations with claims totaling USD 3.3 billion. He leads the in-house team responsible for defending the State in investment arbitrations, negotiating BITs, and representing the State in international fora, including UNCITRAL WG III. Prior to joining the Ministry, Dr. Kudrna worked as an associate in the International Arbitration group of White & Case in New York. He holds a PhD from Charles University in Prague, an LL.M. from New York University, and a Master of Laws degree from Sciences Po Paris. He has passed the New York and Paris Bar exams.
Zdeněk graduated the Law School of the Charles University in Prague and the Law School of the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor, the USA. Professor of Jurisprudence at the Charles University and Professor of Human Rights at the New York University. Justice of the Supreme Administrative Court (2008-2023, now suspended position during the tenure at the Constitutional Court), and of the Constitutional Court of the Czech Republic (since 2023). Published widely in English worldwide on the topics of comparative public law, jurisprudence, theory of legal argumentation etc.
András Dániel László is a founding partner of LFB – Laszlo Fekete Bagaméry. Admitted in New York and Hungary, he has 25 years of experience in international and domestic litigation and arbitration, involving both commercial and investment arbitration. He is recognized by all major rankings as “especially skilled in investment arbitration” (Chamber & Partners), “a key figure in the arbitration community and a seasoned practitioner both at commercial and investor-state arbitration level” (Legal 500) and included in The Legal 500 Arbitration Powerlist CEE.
He has 6 years of experience in corporate and commercial dispute resolution before local courts and domestic and international arbitral tribunals in Latin America, European Union Member States, African countries, Balkan, Slavic, and East Asian Countries. Throughout my career, I have worked in international commercial arbitration and investment disputes across the construction, oil & gas, antitrust, M&A, sales of goods, and intellectual property sectors, building strong business acumen by communicating my clients’ needs and objectives clearly and effectively. I have a specialization in international contracting from Externado de Colombia University, and I have an LLM in IDR at Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin. I am characterized by a curiosity without borders, a commitment to human connection, and a drive for expansion as my way of professional growth. I am also very interested in how new technologies in dispute resolution are changing the game.
Alexis Martinez is a Partner in the Dispute Resolution group of Watson Farley & Williams. He is qualified in both England and France and has unparalleled experience working on commercial and investment treaty arbitrations in English, Spanish and French, acting on behalf of both States and investors.
Highlights of his commercial experience includes winning awards for hundreds of million of dollars in the oil and gas sector, and of his treaty experience the successful representation in multiple cases of Slovakia, the Czech Republic, Ecuador, the Philippines, Turkey, Uzbekistan, as well as numerous investors.
Alexis also regularly acts as arbitrator.
Eduard graduated from the Faculty of Law of Charles University in 2026. In his thesis “The Role of Supreme Judicial Authorities in the Czech Republic for the 21st Century” he attempted to propose a concept for a decentralized judicial system for civil litigation, drawing on the insights of Hans Kelsen and Eugen Ehrlich.
Eduard currently serves as tribunal secretary in proceedings before the Czech Arbitration Court and is involved as counsel in cases before the ICC and VIAC. He has also advised construction companies on complex infrastructure projects, including PPP projects.
He is also an experienced pianist
Shri Ajit Kumar Mishra is Director (Works) on the Board of IRCON International Limited, a Schedule ‘A’ Central Public Sector Enterprise under India’s Ministry of Railways. An officer of the Indian Railway Service of Engineers (IRSE), he has over 25 years of experience in the planning, execution, governance and delivery of major railway and infrastructure projects in India and overseas.
As Director (Works), he provides strategic leadership for IRCON’s portfolio of railway, high-speed rail, metro, bridge, tunnel and track projects, including the Mumbai–Ahmedabad High-Speed Rail Track Package, major bridges over the Ganga and tunnelling projects. He also oversees IRCON’s projects in Bangladesh, Malaysia and Nepal.
Previously, he held senior positions at DFCCIL, including heading Contract Management, procurement, contract administration and dispute resolution for multilateral-funded projects. An IIT Kanpur alumnus, he holds an MBA in International Business and an LL.M. in International Dispute Resolution. He is FCIArb, a FIDIC President’s List Adjudicator and FIDIC Certified Trainer.
Ruth Marie Mosch specializes in national and international litigation and arbitration and works as Senior Legal Counsel for Third-Party Funder FORIS AG.
Previously Ms. Mosch has been overseeing numerous arbitral cases as Case Manager at the German Arbitration Institute (DIS), worked as Arbitral Secretary and has been an independent Attorney in private practice.
She also worked for many years as in-house Counsel for litigation & arbitration, compliance and contract law as well as legal operations for a global player in the TIC Industrie based in Cologne.
Ms. Mosch has extensive experience in teaching international commercial and investment arbitration and as a speaker at conferences.
Darya is an experienced international lawyer speaking German, English, Polish, Russian, and Belarusian. She holds a Magister Legum degree. In 2026, she served as an arbitrator at the XVII UW x SIAC Warsaw Vis Pre-Moot and as an arbitrator and Presiding Arbitrator at the ILS Richard DeWitt Memorial Vis Pre-Moot. She also served as Presiding Arbitrator at the Boston International Innovation Moot and as an arbitrator at the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot in 2025 and 2026. Darya is a contributor to the World Atlas of Arbitration 2025 and 2026. She was also a judge at the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition, Belarus national rounds, in 2022. In 2020, she was named one of the Best Oralists in the Moot Court Competition on the European Convention on Human Rights for students of legal faculties of universities of the Republic of Belarus, organized by the Council of Europe and Belarusian State University in cooperation with the COE Info Point in Minsk. From 2018 to 2019, Darya served as Vice-President for Marketing at ELSA Belarus, having previously been a Representative of ELSA Belarus at legal faculties of universities in Minsk and a JOEC (JUS OMNES | ERGA COGENS) Coordinator from 2017 to 2019.
Piotr is an international disputes lawyer, dual-qualified in civil law and common law (an advocate admitted to the Warsaw bar and a solicitor of the Senior Courts of England and Wales), who advises on the avoidance and resolution of disputes in Poland and internationally. His practice covers arbitration and litigation in commercial matters, including international trade and M&A transactions. Acts as independent counsel, arbitrator and tribunal secretary. He is the current ICC YAAF Representative for Europe and Central Asia as well as a Board Member of the Arbitration Association of Central and Eastern Europe (ArbCEE).
Sabrina Pearson-Wenger is the co-founder of Arbius AG, a firm specializing in international arbitration and IT legal services, as well as a collaboratrice scientifique at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland.
Prior to founding Arbius AG, Sabrina was a PhD candidate and Teaching Assistant to Professor Christoph Müller at the University of Neuchâtel. She also previously worked as an associate in the international arbitration departments of two leading law firms in Paris and Geneva.
(2008). She defended her PhD thesis in 2023 on the topic of Good Faith in International Commercial Arbitration at the University of Neuchâtel in Switzerland and was awarded the ICC Institute Prize in 2023 for her thesis.
Robert Pelikán is a Czech attorney, arbitrator, and legal academic with extensive experience in international and domestic arbitration, litigation, and complex commercial disputes. He serves on the Panel of Arbitrators of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), is an arbitrator at the Arbitration Court of the Czech Chamber of Commerce, and is a member of the ICC Arbitration Committee in the Czech Republic. A Partner at Wolf Theiss in Prague, he regularly acts as counsel and arbitrator in high-value disputes under major arbitration rules, including ICC, VIAC, and UNCITRAL.
Witold is a lawyer interested in international commercial arbitration He got a master’s degree in law from University of Wrocław with final grade .very good” and has started master’s studies in economics. He has also finished School of German Law at University of Wrocław and took part in International Arbitration Summer Institute organised by American University in Washington, D.C., in June 2025.
Witold was a member of the team representing University of Wrocław during 22nd Annual Willem C. Vis East International Commercial Arbitration Moot in Hong Kong.
He has also participated in numerous law conferences, including conferences with post-conference publication.
Martin is dispute specialist in Slovakia with focus on international trade and transactions. 20+ years of experience.
Sanaa Rezk is the Founder of Governance Integrity Architecture (GIA) and an independent researcher working on institutional accountability, procedural integrity, risk prevention and cross-border governance. Her research has been submitted to the United Nations Office of the High Commissioner for Human Rights (OHCHR) in connection with the Human Rights Council Advisory Committee’s work on social justice and the legal enforcement of economic, social and cultural rights. She develops governance frameworks addressing institutional fragmentation, timing integrity, accountability and effective protection across complex decision-making systems, with applications to justice, public administration, child protection and cross-border institutional cooperation.
Michal Říha is an Assistant Professor of European Union Law at the Faculty of Law, Charles University in Prague, where he also serves as Vice-Dean for Public Relations. His teaching and research focus on EU constitutional and institutional law, the internal market, EU procedural law, and contemporary developments in European integration. He is actively involved in university governance and international academic cooperation, including the 4EU+ European University Alliance. He also has experience in public administration and policy-making, having served as an adviser in the Czech government. Beyond academia, he regularly moderates public debates and hosts the European affairs podcast zEvropy.
Tomas Richter is an attorney and arbitrator at the Prague law firm JSK where he specializes in insolvencies, restructurings and arbitration and dispute resolution.
He served on the group of private experts which advised the European Commission on its proposal of the Recast of the European Insolvency Regulation and of European Preventive Restructuring Directive, and has published extensively on debtor-creditor law, both nationally and internationally.
He taught for over 20 years at Charles University’s Institute of Economic Studies in Prague and held a visiting chair at Radboud University in The Netherlands.
He is a member of the International Insolvency Institute (where he served as a director for two terms), INSOL Europe (where he served as the chair of the Academic Forum and is an honorary Council member), CERIL and TMA Czech Republic (where he currently serves as the national chapter vice president).
Richard is founding partner of SMARTLEGAL Schmidt & Partners, a boutique law firm in Budapest focusing on commercial arbitration and litigation.
He acts as counsel and arbitrator in ad hoc and institutional arbitrations, including under the ICC, UNCITRAL, and HKIAC rules, and before the Hungarian Commercial Arbitration Court. Richard is President of the Hungarian Arbitration Association (HAA).
Besides lecturing at the Law Faculty of Pázmány Péter Catholic University (Budapest), Richard is author, co-author, or editor of several publications on international dispute resolution.
His recent book “The Freedom and Limits of International Choice of Forum — Asymmetric Jurisdiction and Arbitration Agreements” is a landmark work on the subject.
Olivier Stéphan is an Investment Consultant at third-party funder Nivalion, where he focuses on the financing of litigation and arbitration proceedings in Europe and beyond. Prior to joining Nivalion, Olivier worked for several years as an associate in the international arbitration and dispute resolution practice of WilmerHale in London, where he gained extensive experience in commercial and investment arbitration proceedings, primarily as counsel but also as tribunal secretary. He is admitted to the Paris Bar, holds a Master’s degree in economic law from Sciences Po Law School, as well as a double Bachelor’s degree in law, economics and political sciences from Sciences Po Paris and the Freie Universität Berlin. Olivier also has experience working in the international arbitration departments of various law firms in France, Mexico, Brazil and Germany. He speaks English, French, German and Spanish.
Martin is one of the leading Czech mediators and arbitrators. He is the Head of the ADR Centre at the Charles University Faculty of Law and a member of the Board of the Czech Arbitration Court. In 2016, he served as a member of the Czech delegation to UNCITRAL Working Group II.
He has mediated more than 1,100 cases, both international and domestic. He is listed as a mediator with the Ministry of Justice of the Czech Republic, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS), the Energy Community, and the joint WIPO-CAM panel. He has served in several arbitrations as chair, co-arbitrator, and counsel.
He regularly lectures at international conferences and is the author of numerous academic articles and books, including EU Mediation Law Handbook: Regulatory Robustness Ratings for Mediation Regimes.
Martin is an experienced lawyer specializing in dispute resolution, including both judicial proceedings and arbitration. He has represented clients in a wide range of disputes, including construction disputes, healthcare services, and management liability. He also has extensive experience in the insurance sector, handling complex loss events and pursuing recourse claims.
Martin is also an active author of scholarly literature; among other works, he published his Ph.D. dissertation on the economic analysis of tort law and co-authored the first commentary on Czech law of damages in the field of competition law.
Jakub Škopek is a law student at Charles University in Prague with an interest in dispute resolution, litigation, and ADR.
His work includes a forthcoming article in the legal journal Jurisprudence, a constitutional law anthology, and commentary on capital markets.
Barbora Šnáblová is a Prague-based lawyer and arbitrator with more than 20 years of experience in dispute resolution. Her practice focuses on international commercial and investor-state arbitration, arbitration-related litigation and cross-border disputes. She has acted as counsel for investors, states, financial institutions and companies in ICC and UNCITRAL proceedings and has experience as sole arbitrator under the ICC Rules. She is included on various lists of arbitrators maintained by international arbitration institutions and also serves as an arbitrator in sports and esports disputes. She brings to her arbitrator practice substantial experience from both counsel and adjudicative roles.
Alexandr Švarcbek serves as Deputy Secretary of the Arbitration Court attached to the Czech Chamber of Commerce and the Agrarian Chamber of the Czech Republic, where he has worked since 2023. In this role, he is involved in the administration of domestic and international arbitration proceedings and the institutional activities of the Court. His professional interests focus on arbitration, dispute resolution, and the practical administration of arbitral proceedings.
Konstantin acts as (co-)counsel and arbitrator in high-stakes international arbitration proceedings (e.g., ICC, DIS, ASA, VIAC, SCC, ad hoc) and before German state courts.
His practice covers complex disputes in all areas of national and international commercial law.
He focuses on corporate law disputes, such as shareholder disputes, joint venture disputes, directors’ and officers’ liability and post-M&A. Moreover, he has special expertise in relation to international sales contracts (including CISG), insurance and pharmaceutical disputes.
His working languages are German, English and Spanish with stays abroad in New York (USA), Miami (USA) and Buenos Aires (Argentina)
Jiri Urban is a partner at European Valuation Institute, a financial advisory boutique. With over 20 years of international experience in forensic services, Jiri focuses mainly on expert witness work in international arbitration.
Prior to joining EVI he led the KPMG dispute advisory practice in Central and Eastern Europe (CEE). Jiri is a Luxembourg-certified valuation professional (CVP).
Jiri regularly testifies in hearings both in English and Czech. With both accounting and legal background, he is well-placed to bridge the gap between the worlds of finance and law.
His industry experience includes mainly energy, real-estate, mining and financial services.
Simona Valkova is a dual-qualified English and Bulgarian lawyer based in London, with over eight years’ experience in international commercial and investment arbitration. She has acted under major institutional rules, including LCIA, ICC, SCC, SIAC and HKIAC, and in ad hoc and ICSID proceedings, and currently practises at Valkova Arbitration as counsel, arbitrator and tribunal secretary.
Simona is a Teaching Associate at Queen Mary’s School of International Arbitration and Assistant Director of its Executive Course on International Investment Law and Arbitration. She serves as Assistant Editor of the Journal of International Arbitration and sits on the IBA Arb40 Steering Committee.
Adv Svetlana Vasileva is Secretary-General of AFSA and has more than 28 years of international legal experience across Europe and Africa. She specialises in international commercial and investment arbitration, cross-border transactions, trade finance, commodities, shipping and logistics. She contributes to arbitration reform, capacity-building and institutional cooperation across Africa, bridging common, civil and mixed legal systems. She holds LL.M. degrees in International Economic Law and European Law, is admitted as an advocate in Bulgaria/EU, and is a certified mediator. She serves in leading international legal organisations and speaks English, Russian and Bulgarian.
Zuzana Vysudilova is Head of the Europe & Middle East team at International Construction Chambers and a French-qualified international arbitration lawyer of Slovak origin. With over ten years’ experience, she advises States, state-owned entities, contractors, investors and commercial parties in complex, high-value disputes across construction, infrastructure, energy and industry. She has participated in more than 40 international arbitrations across Europe, Africa, the Middle East and Asia under ICC, ICSID, LCIA, SIAC, SCC and UNCITRAL rules. Her practice focuses particularly on FIDIC and EPC disputes, as well as investment arbitration. She also acts as an arbitrator and tribunal secretary, and is a Next Generation Member of the International Construction Arbitrators Association.
Dr. Simon Weber is an Associate in Quinn Emanuel’s international arbitration practice, specialising in commercial and investment arbitration alongside multi-jurisdictional disputes and UHNWI private client work. He has experience under the ICSID, UNCITRAL, ICC, PCA, LCIA, and SCC Rules, acting as both counsel and tribunal secretary.
Simon’s practice ranges across some of today’s most dynamic sectors, with a particular focus on energy, from Energy Charter Treaty arbitrations to renewable energy projects and oil and gas disputes, as well as construction, crypto, and AI. He also advises on infrastructure, financial industry disputes, and high-value private equity matters, bringing a versatile, cross-border perspective to complex and fast-evolving disputes.
Dr. Yılmaz is an Assistant Professor of Private International Law at Fatih Sultan Mehmet Vakıf University and a practitioner specialising in international construction arbitration and complex cross-border disputes. Her work operates at the intersection of legal theory and practice, with a particular focus on the structural and procedural challenges arising from multiparty and multi-contract construction projects.
Before entering academia, Dr. Yılmaz built over a decade of experience in legal practice as a founding partner at Topuz & Partners Consultancy and Law Firm, where she advised on high-value domestic and international disputes. She has extensive experience as a certified mediator and court-appointed expert (expert witness) before Turkish courts, particularly in technically complex and long-running cases. She continues to act as an arbitrator, maintaining an active engagement with contemporary arbitral practice.
In parallel with her academic career, Dr. Yılmaz holds key institutional roles within the arbitration community. She serves as Secretary General of the Istanbul Bar Arbitration Law Center, is a Board Member of the Istanbul Arbitration Association (ISTA), listed arbitrator in UTAUM and the Turkic Arbitration Assoc. (TAA), a member of the Arbitral Women, and the Council of Europe Schools of Political Studies (BASO), and a Board Member responsible for international relations at the IT Law Association.
Important info
Pictures and video recordings will be taken during the Symposium. They may be used on social media and on other occasions to report on the Symposium and the World Atlas of Arbitration.
If you prefer not to be photographed or recorded, please let us know in advance or inform a member of the production team during the event.
Contacts
Roman Kramarik, tel: +420 602 212 494, roman.kramarik@jsk.cz
Katerina Zittova, tel: +420 603 230 980, katerina.zittova@jsk.cz
Monika Cardova, tel: +420 737 570 555, monika.cardova@jsk.cz
Emergency: 112
Dress code
Thursday apéro & dinatoire: Casual
Symposium: Business formal
Friday Dinner: Casual
Saturday lunch: Casual
Excursion/Tram ride: Casual (no high heels)
Organised and supported by:
Name: PRF1348
Password: a71e03256c
Social programme
Please note: The social programme is only for contributors and is available exclusively to registered participants.
If you are not sure whether you are registered for a particular activity, please ask the production team. They will be happy to assist you.
Friday 11 September, dinner with Czech lawyers
19:15 – Restaurant Potrefená Husa, Platnéřská 88/9, Prague 1
If you have been invited by your host to dinner at a different restaurant, please follow their instructions.
Friday 11 September, sightseeing for spouses
14:00 – Old Town Square 1/3, Prague 1 – Guides & Tours (Departure is promptly at 2:00 PM (14:00). Please make sure to arrive on time.
Saturday 12 September, served lunch
12:30 – Restaurant Kulaťák, Vítězné Square 820/12, Prague 6, near metro A – Dejvická
Saturday 12 September, excursion to Strahov Stadium
14:50 – Strahov Stadium, Prague 6 – You will be guided there from Restaurant Kulaťák.
If you are not joining us for lunch but are attending the excursion, you can either meet us in front of the restaurant Kulaťák at 2:30 PM (14:30) or wait for us at the Prašný most tram stop at 2:40 PM (14:40).
Please note that if you are not at the meeting point on time, we will not be able to wait for you.
Saturday 12 September, Historic Tram Tour of Prague
14:50 – Tram stop Prašný most, Prague 6 – You will be guided there from Restaurant Kulaťák.
If you are not joining us for lunch but are attending the excursion, you can either meet us in front of the restaurant Kulaťák at 2:30 PM (14:30) or wait for us at the Prašný most tram stop at 2:40 PM (14:40).
Please note that if you are not at the meeting point on time, we will not be able to wait for you.
Prague Like a Local
If you would like to explore Prague on your own, here are two local tips for the weekend:
Farmers’ Market at Kulaťák – Saturday, September 12 | 8:00 AM–2:00 PM
A popular local market with products from Czech farmers and small producers, including food, drinks and local specialties. You can find it right at Vítězné náměstí, metro A – Dejvická
Dyzajn Market at Výstaviště Holešovice – Saturday & Sunday, September 12–13 | 10:00 AM–6:00 PM
A great place to discover original products from Czech designers and independent makers – from fashion and accessories to homeware and other unique pieces.
Both are a nice way to experience a more local side of Prague beyond the usual tourist spots.