Our Current Panels
Our Domestic Panel of Arbitrators
Shona Frame
Shona has been involved in construction and infrastructure dispute resolution since 1994.
She provides strategic advice on the management and resolution of complex construction and infrastructure disputes in litigation, arbitration, adjudication, mediation and expert determination, acts as Arbitrator and Adjudicator and is a CEDR Accredited Mediator. Shona’s sector experience includes commercial developments (hotels, shopping centres, offices, retail, conference centres, housing, leisure centres); healthcare, PFI projects (schools, hospitals, waste, sewage treatment, water treatment, waste to energy); infrastructure (roads, bridges, airports, interconnectors); marine (coastal defences, harbour); education (university and college campus developments, research facilities) and utilities.
She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, an Honorary Fellow of the Royal Incorporation of Architects in Scotland and a CEDR Accredited Mediator.
She is on the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Scottish Branch) Arbitrator Panel, RICS Adjudicator Panel, is a CEDR Commercial Arbitrator and Law Society of Scotland Solicitor Arbitrator and has undertaken a number od Arbitration, Adjudication and Expert Determination appointments.
She is ranked in Chambers & Partners (Band 1) and Legal 500 (Hall of Fame), recognised in Who’s Who Legal Construction (Global Elite Thought Leader) and Who’s Who Legal Mediation and Arbitration and is an Acritas Star Independently Rated Lawyer. Shona frequently writes for and speaks to industry bodies on construction and dispute resolution related topics. She was a contributor and joint Editor of the textbook “MacRoberts on Scottish Construction Contracts” and authored chapters for The International Compendium of Construction Contracts (Published by De Gruyter, 2021) and FIDIC Contracts in Europe: A Practical Guide to Application (to be published by Informa Law, 2022)
She is Education Officer of the Section on Energy, Environment, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law (SEERIL) of the International Bar Association (IBA) for 2023 – 24, served as Co-Chair of the International Construction Projects Committee of the IBA for 2020 – 22 and was a Director of the Scottish Arbitration Centre for 2016 – 2020
Janey Milligan
Janey has worked in the construction industry for 40 years initially qualifying as a Chartered Quantity Surveyor in 1985. She worked in various organisations in private practice and lectured at Glasgow Caledonian University in Building Contracts and Construction. She is Managing Director of Construction Dispute Resolution which she founded in 1997 and since then has specialised in construction dispute consultancy. Janey is a qualified Arbitrator, Adjudicator and accredited Expert Witness; with an impressive track record in all areas. Janey is regularly appointed or agreed as Adjudicator and is on the RICS, RIBA. CIArb, CIOB, CIC, Scottish Building and HKIAC panels of Adjudicators. Since the introduction of statutory adjudication, she has issued hundreds of Decisions. She is also on the CIArb and RICS Panel of Arbitrators and has issued several Awards on construction issues.
Janey has carried out expert witness appointments in relation to liability, quantum and damages in construction contract claims for extension of time, loss and expense; contract administration and measurement matters. This has been on a variety of complex building, engineering and renewable energy sector projects. Janey particularly specialises in the roles and liabilities of the design and construction team and has given expert evidence in relation to professional negligence matters on a number of occasions. Janey is a past Chairman of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors in Scotland (2007-2008) and continues to sit on various RICS and CIArb committees and working groups promoting good practice in the industry. She was a Director of the Scottish Arbitration Centre from March 2011 until December 2022. She currently sits as Independent Complaints Reviewer for SafeDeposits Scotland. Janey continues to lecture and tutor on various professional bodies courses and conferences on dispute resolution topics.
Susanne Tanner KC
Susanne is an experienced King’s Counsel, Tribunal judge (Chair), barrister (England & Wales) and arbitrator. She became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 2019 and is a qualified mediator. In domestic arbitration, she is appointed via various panels (both Scotland and England), including: CCODR Covid-19 related commercial rent disputes; Hunt ADR ABTA travel disputes; Motor Insurers’ Bureau untraced and uninsured drivers’ claims; CIArb Dispute Appointment Scheme for commercial disputes and Faculty of Advocates Dispute Resolution Service. She also receives ad hoc domestic arbitral appointments. In the field of international arbitration she has been appointed as tribunal President in ICC commercial contract disputes.
In her private practice, she has expertise in public law, public inquiries, independent inquiries and reviews; personal injury, clinical negligence, commercial, property and land, landlord and tenant, health and safety, and regulatory matters. She has dealt with many high value and complex disputes. She is currently the Assistant Principal Crown Counsel in Scotland.
As well as being a global international ambassador for the Scottish Arbitration Centre, she was nominated as Scottish representative on the ICC Global Commission of Arbitration, she is an active member of the Scottish Institute of Arbitrators Scottish Branch, participates in the Dublin Forum on International Arbitration and regularly presents at conferences and events on legal and arbitral topics. She is also a part-time academic at the University of Edinburgh, in a number of subject areas.
Sheila Webster
Sheila graduated from the University of Aberdeen in 1988, and completed her Diploma in Legal Practice there in 1989. Sheila trained with Brodies, joining the former firm of Menzies Dougal and Milligan on qualification and then working with Dundas & Wilson from 1992 to 2002. After a short break on the birth of her twin daughters, she joined Bell & Scott as a partner and Head of Property Litigation in 2003, joining her present firm in 2009.
Sheila is Head of Davidson Chalmers Stewart’s Dispute Resolution team, representing clients in a wide range of property and commercial disputes across all levels of courts and tribunals. She is a strong proponent of Effective Dispute Resolution, using other processes such as arbitration and mediation to handle many issues outside the confines of the courtroom.
Sheila is FCIArb qualified and regularly sits as an arbitrator on a variety of disputes, both property and business related. She is an Ambassador for the Scottish Arbitration Centre, and speaks regularly at conferences and seminars on handling property and other disputes, and using a wide range of dispute procedures to achieve best outcomes for her clients. She also chairs the WS Society Annual Commercial Dispute Resolution Conference.
As well as her legal practice, Sheila sits on the Council, and Board, of the Law Society of Scotland, representing members in Edinburgh, and is President Elect for 2023-24. She is also a member of the Scottish committee of the Property Litigation Association.
Our International Panel of Arbitrators
Chiann Bao
Tri-qualified in New York, England and Wales and Hong Kong, Chiann Bao is an independent arbitrator with Arbitration Chambers based in Singapore. She has been appointed in almost 80 ad hoc and institutional arbitrations totalling several billions USD in dispute. She serves as a Vice President of the ICC Court of Arbitration and the Senior Vice Chair of the IBA Arbitration Committee. From 2010 to 2018, she served as the Secretary General of the HKIAC and was subsequently appointed as a Council Member of the HKIAC. She is an Adjunct Professor at National University of Singapore and a lecturer Sciences Po Law School and serves as a member of the Board of Trustees and an honorary senior fellow of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law. Chiann also serves as a member of the advisory board for the Journal of International Arbitration. She a member of the board of directors for Maxwell Chambers as well as a member of the global advisory board for the New York International Arbitration Center. Chiann is a Chartered Arbitrator and CEDR-accredited mediator.
Juliet Blanch
Juliet Blanch is a full-time arbitrator having previously chaired the international dispute resolution practice at Weil, Gotshal & Manges. She is a Vice President of the ICC International Court of Arbitration and has over 30 years’ experience in the arbitration of both international commercial and investment treaty disputes with a particular focus on regulatory, energy and infrastructure, mining, commodities, telecommunications, pharmaceutical, hospitality, maritime and shareholder disputes. Juliet has acted as lead Counsel and/or sat as arbitrator in arbitrations held under AAA, HKIAC, ICC, ICSID, LCIA, LMAA, SCC, SIAC, UNCITRAL and other rules and which have been seated in a variety of jurisdictions including London, the DIFC, Hong Kong, New York, Paris, Singapore, Stockholm, Washington DC and Zurich. She has been appointed as arbitrator in over 100 international arbitrations, over 30 of which have been as presiding arbitrator.
Juliet is recognised by her peers as one of the world’s leading arbitrators. In 2022, Juliet received the Global Arbitration Review award for ‘best prepared and most responsive arbitrator’, the Legal 500 ‘Arbitrator of the Year’ award and the Who’s Who Legal ‘Arbitration Lawyer of the Year’ award. Juliet is ranked as is ranked as a Global Elite Thought Leader by Who’s Who Legal, as a Band 1 arbitrator in the UK guide of Chambers and Partners and as a Tier 1 Leading Arbitrator in the UK edition of The Legal 500.
Philippa Charles
Before joining Twenty Essex in February 2023, Philippa was the Head of International Arbitration at Stewarts in London; the UK’s largest disputes-only practice, for 10 years. She was a partner at Mayer Brown in London for 5 years prior to joining Stewarts, having trained and qualified at Mayer Brown.
She specialises in complex, high-value cross-border arbitration disputes, and has 24 years’ experience of acting as counsel in proceedings before the major arbitral institutions. As solicitor/solicitor-advocate she has acted for clients including sovereigns, state owned entities, major global corporations in the aviation, pharmaceutical, power, and oil and gas industries, and high net worth individuals.
Philippa has accepted appointments as arbitrator for a number of years and has sat as sole, chair and party-appointee in ICC, LCIA, SIAC, SCC, FAI, AAA-ICDR and ad-hoc arbitration. She has particular experience as arbitrator in energy, technology and general commercial disputes, and has recently sat in cases concerning distribution contracts in the pharmaceutical and beverage industries, franchise arrangements in relation to both restaurant and hotel businesses, supply agreements for the petrochemicals industry (for materials and IT) and the power industry, disputes in relation to aircraft lease arrangements, and the implementation of a long term concession agreement for the operation of a significant infrastructure project in an EU member state.
Anne K. Hoffman
Anne K. Hoffmann is an internationally recognised arbitration practitioner with more than two decades of experience in international commercial and investment arbitration during which she acted in arbitrations seated around the globe and governed by a great variety of laws. She is dual qualified in both Germany and England & Wales and practiced at leading international law firms in London, Geneva and Dubai before focusing on her practice as an independent arbitrator.
To date, Anne has acted as sole arbitrator, co-arbitrator and chair in commercial arbitrations, both institutional under all major rules (including ICC, LCIA, Swiss Rules, DIFC-LCIA, SIAC, HKIAC, SCC, VIAC, DIAC, CRCICA and DIS) as well as ad hoc, including UNCITRAL. She has also been appointed in investment arbitration proceedings, including under the ICSID Rules.
Anne conducts arbitrations in English and German and has good knowledge of French and Russian.
In addition to her membership in various arbitration organisations, Anne is on the panel of arbitrators of SIAC, HKIAC, KCAB and AIAC. She is also a member of the SIAC Users Council.
Anne regularly speaks and publishes on topics of international arbitration.
She has been recognized as a Global Leader Arbitration in all editions of Who is Who Legal since 2014 and is listed by Chambers Global as “Most in Demand Arbitrator”.
Between 2011 and 2021, Anne was also a visiting lecturer at Humboldt University Berlin.
Ndanga Kamau
Ndanga is an international lawyer based in The Hague, Netherlands. Her practice spans public international law, international dispute settlement, and private international law. She sits as arbitrator in institutional and ad hoc disputes. She also advises clients on a range of international law issues, dispute prevention, and business and human rights. Her clients include states and state entities, international organisations, and private parties.
She is a vice president of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, an honorary senior fellow of the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, a director of programmes of the African Association of International Law, and a PRIME Finance expert in dispute resolution. She is a member of the ILA Committee on Rule of Law and International Investment Law, the editorial board of the African Journal International and Comparative Law, the Executive Committee of the Foundation for International Arbitration Advocacy (FIAA), and the Global Advisory Board of the New York International Arbitration Centre (NYIAC).
Ndanga regularly speaks on, and teaches, topics related to her areas of specialisation. She has done so in Africa, Asia, Australia, Europe, North America, and South America. She also writes and lectures on these topics.
She is listed on the panels of the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Shanghai Arbitration Commission (SHAC), the Kigali International Arbitration Centre (KIAC), and the International Division of the Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA International). She has been selected for inclusion on the Global Arbitration Counsel List of the Office of the Ombudsman, United Nations Funds and Programmes.
Ndanga has an LLM in International Dispute Settlement from the University of Geneva Law School and Graduate Institute Geneva, postgraduate diplomas in law from City Law School and the Inns of Court School of Law, and an undergraduate degree in economics from the University of Cape Town.
She was called to the Bar by the Honourable Society of the Middle Temple.
You can read more about Ndanga’s practice at: https://ndangakamau.com
Prof Dr Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler
Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler is a partner of Lévy Kaufmann-Kohler, Geneva, and practices international commercial and investment arbitration, having acted in over 240 international arbitrations, mainly as president. She regularly ranks among the top ten arbitrators worldwide; a study on investment arbitration released in 2016 concluded that she was the “most influential arbitrator in the world”. She appears on numerous institutional panels (including ICC, ICSID, SIAC, CIETAC). Professor Emerita at Geneva University, where she taught private international law and international arbitration, Gabrielle is the founder of the Geneva LLM in International Dispute Settlement (MIDS) and co-founder of the Foundation for International Arbitration Advocacy (FIAA). She is or was a visiting professor at Georgetown Law, Sciences Po Paris, the MIDS, National University of Singapore and Tsinghua University Beijing. Honorary President of ICCA (since 2020) and of the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA), Gabrielle is also among other leadership positions a former member of the ICC Court, LCIA Court, and AAA Board, and a member of the Swiss delegation to UNCITRAL. She has published extensively (list available at https://lk-k.com/?year=&lawyer=gabriellekaufmann-kohler&expertise=&s=&post_type=publication)
Lindy Patterson KC
Lindy Patterson KC is a full time independent arbitrator, dispute board member and adjudicator with 39 Essex Chambers. She is recognised as a “go to” arbitrator for complex infrastructure, energy and construction disputes in both civil and common law systems. She is a chartered arbitrator and honorary fellow of RICS ( Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors) and CICES ( Chartered Institute of Civil Engineering Surveyors).
She also arbitrates in general commercial contracts and real estate disputes. She operates in many jurisdictions, both civil and common law, and with a variety of governing laws with appointments from ICC; LCIA; DIAC; NAI and ADCCAC.
In 2021 she was appointed to the Standing Committee of the International Centre for ADR of ICC.
She is a member of the FCL Certification Board and Chair of its Adjudication Programme Committee which certifies dispute board members for inclusion on the FIDIC List of International Adjudicators.
She is on the following UK lists of adjudicators:-TeCSA; RICS and RIBA. She is on the Conflict Avoidance Panel administered by the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors for the infrastructure company, Transport for London and is a Fellow of the International Academy of Construction Lawyers
Lucy Reed
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.
Patricia Saiz
Patricia Saiz is an independent arbitrator with more than 20 years of experience in the field of law. As counsel and arbitrator, she has handled arbitrations under many of the major arbitral rules (such as ICSID, ICC, LCIA, UNCITRAL), in a broad range of industry sectors (including construction & engineering, corporate, energy, finance, insurance, technology and real estate, among others), and under both the laws of civil and common law jurisdictions (e.g., Brazil, California, Canada, Ecuador, Guatemala, Hungary, New York, Oman, Peru, Spain, Uruguay and Venezuela). Also, as a member of the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC, she has scrutinized dozens of awards in English, Spanish and Portuguese.
Before becoming an independent arbitrator based in Spain in 2014, she practiced in the United States for 12 years. As such, she is familiar both with common law and civil law jurisdictions. She is educated in both, having earned an LL.M. from Harvard Law School and a J.D. equivalent from ESADE Law School in Spain, and she is licensed to practice in New York, Washington D.C. and Spain. Additionally, before turning to arbitration, she practiced as a tax lawyer for seven years. Her transactional and tax planning background gives her a unique insight into contractual risk allocation, financial statements analysis and accounting, and the inbound and outbound structuring of investments. She is therefore well known for her detailed and meticulous approach to damages calculations.
Prof. Saiz teaches at some of the world’s best universities, such as ESADE Law School, the MIDS, and Columbia Law School’s U.S. Business Law Academy, and is a sought-after speaker in international arbitration. She is an active member of the arbitration community, as an officer of the IBA Arbitration Committee, a member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR, and a member of the Board of the Spanish Arbitration Club (CEA, in Spanish) and Chairman of its Scientific Committee.
She speaks English, Spanish, French, and Catalan, and has an advanced knowledge of Portuguese and a basic knowledge of German.
Melanie Van Leeuwen
Melanie van Leeuwen joined Derains & Gharavi as a partner in 2011.
Who’s Who Legal describes Melanie as “a Dutch superstar in Paris, who is lauded as an outstanding professional and great personality”, noting that “she is the best of the best”. Chambers Europe ranks Melanie in the category of Most in Demand Arbitrators, describing her as “a real powerhouse with a very strong presence and a sharp sound legal mind.” Legal 500 lists Melanie as “an excellent strategist who has a profound knowledge of investment law and impresses by the outstanding quality of her written and oral pleadings.”
Since 1996, Melanie has been practising international arbitration exclusively. She has solid experience as counsel and arbitrator in both commercial and investment arbitration, conducted under all major sets of arbitration rules (ICC, LCIA, LCIA-MIAC, ICSID, SCC, ICDR, UNCITRAL, PCA, DIAC, NAI, CEPANI and Swiss Rules) and governed by various procedural and substantive laws. She has handled over 100 arbitrations as counsel and arbitrator concerning disputes arising out of international commercial contracts, cross-border investment, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions, construction projects and investment protection under international law. She has been particularly active in the sectors of energy, mining, media, information and communication technology, construction and engineering, real estate, aviation and infrastructural and defence projects. She also regularly represents clients in annulment, enforcement and consolidation proceedings before the Netherlands state courts.
Melanie has been appointed to the ICSID panel of arbitrators by the Kingdom of the Netherlands. At present, Melanie is serving as the chair of the ICC Commission on Arbitration, and as a board member of the Swiss Arbitration Association. She recently co-chaired the ICCA-IBA Joint Task Force on Data Protection in International Arbitration.
Carita Wallgren-Lindholm
Carita Wallgren-Lindholm is a Helsinki-based international arbitrator who began her practice in Paris in the early 1980s. Before starting her boutique Lindholm Wallgren, Attorneys, Ltd. in 2008, she spent 25 years at Roschier in corporate and dispute resolution work. She has been involved in more than 120 international arbitrations, mainly as arbitrator and chair including SCC, ICC, FAI, LCIA, JCAA, DIA, PCA, ICSID, UNCITRAL and NAFTA. She was the chair of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR 2018-2021. Since 2012 Carita Wallgren-Lindholm only acts as an arbitrator in commercial and investment disputes. She is also a trained mediator.
Galina Zukova
Dr. Galina Zukova, dually qualified in Paris and Latvia, acts as an independent arbitrator and occasionally as counsel. Before founding her own firm ZUKOVA Legal in 2019, Galina was a partner with a boutique law firm and a lawyer in the top International Arbitration Practice Group of a major international law firm based in Paris. Prior to this, she worked as Counsel at the ICC International Court of Arbitration. Her previous work experience also includes the Latvian European Integration Bureau, where she was in charge of the legal aspects of Latvia’s accession to the European Union. Dr. Zukova is a Member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, a Vice-Chair of the Arbitration Council of the Georgian International Arbitration Centre (GIAC) and a Steering Committee Member of the Armenian International Arbitration Centre. She is a Council Member of the ICC Institute of World Business Law, and a Member of the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR. In 2022, she was included in the European Commission’s List of Candidates Suitable for Appointment as Arbitrators in EU trade and investment agreements with third states. She is also an Associate Professor at the University of Versailles Saint-Quentin (Paris-Saclay) and the Riga Graduate School of Law. Dr. Zukova is fluent in English, French, Italian, Latvian, Russian and Spanish, and has a working knowledge of German.