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The 9th Intersessional Meeting of UNCITRAL Working Group III on Procedural Rules and Cross-Cutting Issues will take place on 5–7 November 2025 in Santiago, Chile. The meeting will gather government representatives, practitioners, academics, and stakeholders to discuss key aspects of the ongoing reform of investor–State dispute settlement (ISDS).
The meeting will focus on draft provisions under consideration by the Working Group, with particular attention to procedural rules and cross-cutting issues that are central to the reform process. It will also provide an opportunity for dialogue, capacity-building, and the exchange of perspectives that will enrich the discussions taking place in Vienna and New York.
By creating an open and inclusive space for engagement, this intersessional meeting will contribute to advancing UNCITRAL’s work towards a more effective and balanced ISDS system.
We are pleased to present the side events taking place on 6 November (Thursday) during the 9th Intersessional Meeting:
Date: 6 November 2025
Time: 08:30 - 09:30 hrs Limited spots available — only for participants in the 9th Intersessional Meeting.
Venue: Jana & Gil Dispute Resolution - Av. Andrés Bello 2711, piso 9, Las Condes
Registration: RSVP to info@janagil.com
Limited spots available — only for participants in the 9th Intersessional Meeting.
Date: 6 November 2025
Time: 18:30 – 20:30 hrs
Venue: CAM Santiago - Av. El Bosque Norte 500 piso 4, Las Condes.
Registration: https://forms.office.com/r/aVB5PTYvBY
Limited spots available — only for participants in the 9th Intersessional Meeting.
Additionally, you are invited to another event taking place during the same week:
Date: 4 November 2025
Time: 18:00 hrs
Venue: UAI Sede Errázuriz - Presidente Errázuriz 3485, Las Condes
We welcome your participation and look forward to the constructive discussions these events will support.
We are proud to be supported by distinguished law firms whose commitment and expertise make this event possible. Their participation reflects their leadership in the legal field and their dedication to excellence, reinforcing the significance and impact of this gathering.
Ms. Anna Joubin-Bret is the Secretary of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and the Director of the International Trade Law Division in the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations, which functions as the substantive secretariat for UNCITRAL. She is the ninth Secretary of the Commission since it was established by the General Assembly in 1966.
Prior to her appointment on 24 November 2017, Ms. Joubin-Bret practiced law in Paris, specializing in International Investment Law and Investment Dispute Resolution. She focused on serving as counsel, arbitrator, mediator and conciliator in international investment disputes. She served as arbitrator in several ICSID, UNCITRAL and ICC disputes. Prior to 2011 and for 15 years, Ms. Joubin-Bret was the Senior Legal Adviser for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). She edited and authored seminal research and publications on international investment law, notably the Sequels to UNCTAD IIA Series and co-edited with Jean Kalicki a book on Reform of Investor-State Dispute Settlement in 2015.
Ms. Joubin-Bret holds a post-graduate degree (DEA) in Private International Law from the University of Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, a Masters Degree in International Economic Law from University Paris I and in Political Science from Institut d'Etudes Politiques. She was Legal Counsel in the legal department of the Schneider Group, General Counsel of the KIS Group and DirectorExport of Pomagalski S.A. She was appointed judge at the Commercial Court in Grenoble (France) and was elected Regional Counsellor of the Rhône-Alpes Region in 1998.
Ms. Natalie Morris-Sharma is a Senior Director and Senior State Counsel in Singapore’s Attorney-General’s Chambers, where she leads teams on international environment law, health law, human rights law, diplomatic law and the law of international organisations. She also works on issues of international economic law and the law of the sea. Her previous roles have included serving as Director at Singapore’s Ministry of Law, and as Legal Advisor to Singapore’s Permanent Mission to the United Nations in New York. Ms Morris-Sharma has participated in and led several bilateral and multilateral negotiations. She was Chairperson of the UNCITRAL Working Group that developed the Singapore Convention on Mediation. She is currently Rapporteur to the UNCITRAL Working Group on ISDS Reform.
Ms Morris-Sharma has published and spoken on various topics of international law. She has held visiting positions at the NUS Center for International Law (CIL) and the University of Oxford. She has taught at the ASEAN Law Academy, The Hague Academy of International Law, the Paris Arbitration Academy, and the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS)-Nippon Foundation Programme, amongst others.
Ms Morris-Sharma is a specialist mediator with SIMC, and is called in Singapore and in New York.
Philippe Sands KC FRSL FBA is Professor of Law at University College London and Visiting Professor of Law at Harvard. He is a practising barrister at 11KBW, appears as counsel before the International Court of Justice and other international courts and tribunals, and sits as an international arbitrator. His books include East West Street (2016), The Ratline (2020), The Last Colony (2022) and 38 Londres Street: On Pinochet in England and a Nazi in Patagonia (April 2025).
Ana Maria Daza-Clark is a Senior Lecturer in International Law at Edinburgh Law School. Her areas of research cover international trade and investment law, international arbitration, natural resource management and international water law. Her publications focus on the intersection between international economic law and environmental protection, water resources management, armed conflict and energy projects. Ana Maria is a member of the steering committee of the Academic Forum for UNCITRAL WG III, a member of the Water Law Working Group established under the Global Forum for Law, Justice and Development at the World Bank, an affiliate of the International Water Law Academy and Of Counsel at AACNI Abogados. She has acted as consultant and advisor in a number of international arbitration disputes.
Andrés Jana is the founding partner and head of the international arbitration practice of Jana & Gil Dispute Resolution. He is a lawyer, international arbitrator and expert in the resolution of commercial, investment and public international law disputes. Andrés is also Vice President of the International Court of Arbitration at the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC); Chair of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group II on Dispute Settlement; Member of the Governing Board and Chair of the Judiciary Committee of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA); Member of the Panel of Arbitrators of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID); member of the governing board of the Latin American Arbitration Association (ALARB); and Professor of Private Law at Universidad de Chile.
Jason File is Director of Legal Affairs and General Counsel at the US Council for
International Business (USCIB) in New York, where, among other things, he leads USCIB’s delegation to international bodies addressing the international dispute resolution system, including UNCITRAL Working Group III, the UNIDROIT / ICC Working Group on International Investment Contracts, and the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR.
Prior to USCIB, Jason worked as a trial attorney in public and private international law. He has worked in law firms in London and New York, appearing in international commercial and investor-state arbitrations, and has also served as a UN war crimes prosecutor at the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia in The Hague. Jason has taught international law at the École Supérieure de Commerce de Paris (ESCP Europe) and is a graduate of Yale University (B.A.), the University of Oxford (M.Phil.) and Yale Law School (J.D.).
Pamela Hernández serves as a Director at Mexico’s General Counsel for International Trade, where she advises the Government of Mexico on matters of trade and investment law. She has acted as counsel for Mexico in numerous state-to-state and investor–state dispute settlement proceedings. In addition, she provides legal counsel to Mexico’s Ministry of Economy in trade negotiations and represents Mexico at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) Working Group III.
Sylvie Tabet is General Counsel at Canada’s Trade Law Bureau where she provides trade and investment law advice to the Government of Canada. She has litigated numerous WTO and NAFTA Chapter 11 cases on behalf of the Government of Canada and was instrumental in creating its investor state dispute settlement team. In addition, she has extensive experience in negotiating international trade and investment agreements. Notably, she was closely involved in the negotiation of many of Canada’s international trade and investment agreements (including the Bilateral Investment Treaty with China, CPTPP and the Canada-EU Trade Agreement where Sylvie was lead counsel for the Government of Canada) and most recently in the negotiation of a comprehensive economic partnership agreement with Indonesia and a free trade agreement with ASEAN. She leads Canada’s delegation in the on-going UNCITRAL Working Group III on investor state dispute settlement reform and chairs the OECD track II discussions on the future of investment treaties. She teaches and guest lectures frequently on trade and investment law issues.
Ms. Tabet has obtained her law degree from the University of Montréal in 1993 and is a member of the Québec Bar since 1994. After working with Stikeman Elliott LLP in Montréal, she joined the Privy Council Office, Intergovernmental Affairs, and then the Foreign Service. She occupied various positions at the Department of Foreign Affairs, Trade and Development and the Department of Justice.
She is fluent in French and English and has a good knowledge of Spanish.
Martin Doe is Deputy Secretary-General and Principal Legal Counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague, an intergovernmental organization which administers arbitrations and other dispute resolution proceedings involving various combinations of States, State entities, intergovernmental organizations, and private parties. Over more than 15 years at the PCA, he has worked closely with arbitral tribunals in some of the largest and most complex inter-State, investor-State, and contractual cases administered by the PCA spanning the full breadth of public and private international law as well as the full range of industry sectors.
In addition to overseeing the institution’s support to arbitral tribunals, he assists the PCA Secretary-General in carrying out his roles under the Arbitration Rules of the United Nations Commission for International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), as well as the diplomatic work of the PCA with its member States and other intergovernmental organizations, in particular in regard to climate change, business and human rights, complex financial disputes, investor-State dispute settlement reform, and the harmonization of arbitration and commercial laws.
A member of the Barreau du Québec and New York State Bar, as well as a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, he regularly speaks and publishes on international dispute resolution and has lectured at various universities worldwide.
Dr. Dafina Atanasova is an international investment law and policy expert, part of the UN Trade and Development (UNCTAD) International Investment Agreements (IIA) team. In her role, Dafina provides policy advice to governments on the reform of their investment treaties and approaches to investment dispute settlement; she conducts research and analysis on international investment policies for UN Trade and Development’s flagship publications and databases; and she contributes to such forums for consensus-building on sustainable investment policies as the World Investment Forum or the UNCTAD Platform for IIA Reform. Prior to joining UNCTAD, Dafina held advisory, academic and legal practice positions in international commercial and investment law across Europe and in Asia. She is a Bulgarian national and holds a PhD in international law from the University of Geneva.
Simon Batifort is a partner at Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP based in New York and Brussels. His practice focuses on representing States and State-owned companies in investment treaty arbitration, international commercial arbitration, inter-State disputes, and public international law matters. Alongside his practice, he is an Adjunct Professor at law schools in New York and Paris where he teaches advanced courses on international investment law and arbitration. He serves as Vice President of the American Society of International Law (ASIL) and represents ASIL at meetings of UNCITRAL Working Group III. A dual French-US national, he is admitted to the bar in New York, Paris and Brussels.
Jonathan Bonnitcha is Associate Professor of Law at the University of New South Wales, Australia, and co-Chair of the Academic Forum on Investor-State Dispute Settlement. His research focuses on investment treaties, along with wider questions of the relationship between international and domestic regimes of investment governance. He is the author of The Political Economy of the Investment Treaty Regime and several recent articles on compensation and valuation in ISDS.
Ivette Esis Villarroel is a Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law, Universidad Finis Terrae (Chile). Her academic credentials include a Ph.D. from the University of Valencia (Spain) and postdoctoral studies in Brazil. She brings significant professional experience from her time as a lawyer at the Arbitration Center of the Caracas Chamber and a prominent Venezuelan financial institution. Author of several specialized publications in private international law and arbitration (commercial and investment) and currently serves on the board of the Chilean Society of International Law.
Ricardo Vásquez is the founding Partner of Vásquez Urra Abogados, Law Firm based in Santiago, Chile, and head of the litigation and arbitration practice. He specializes in dispute resolution, litigation, commercial, investment and construction arbitration, and M&A disputes. Ricardo has represented individuals, national and international companies and governments in a wide range of industries, including energy, mining, construction, health, pensions, retail, banking, investment funds, reinsurance and securities. He has experience in ad-hoc and institutional arbitrations under the ICC, UNCITRAL, ICSID and CAM Santiago arbitration rules, governed by various substantive laws, and seated in diverse jurisdictions. Ricardo also acts as arbitrator in national and international forums being on the Panel of Arbitrators of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes of the World Bank (ICSID), the Beijing Arbitration Centre, and the Santiago Arbitration and Mediation Centre (CAM Santiago), among others. His former experience covers the negotiation of free trade agreements on behalf of the Republic of Chile.
Thiago has been working for the Department of Foreign Affairs of the Attorney General’s Office in Brazil since 2017 and is currently assigned to the International Economic Law Unit.
Since 2019, Thiago has taken part in the negotiation of Brazilian investment agreements alongside representatives from the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of Economy, and the Ministry of Foreign Trade. He is also engaged in ongoing discussions to update the Brazilian CFIA model in line with the Sustainable Development Goals.
Thiago has been a member of the Brazilian delegation to UNCITRAL Working Group III since 2022 and participated in the negotiation process of the Investment Facilitation for Development Agreement at the WTO.
He also represents the Attorney General’s Office in the Working Group on International Arbitration of the Latin American Association of State Legal Offices (ALAP).
Santiago Díaz-Cediel is an Expert Advisor at Colombia’s National Agency for the Legal Defense of the State, where he serves as Counsel in investor-State cases. He has extensive experience in international dispute settlement, having participated in State-to-State, hybrid, and commercial arbitration proceedings, as well as cases before the ICJ, WTO Appellate Body, IACtHR, and IACHR.
He previously led the International Arbitration Section of the Bogotá Chamber of Commerce, advised the Chief Justice of Colombia’s Constitutional Court, and represented Colombia at the OAS. He also contributed to the negotiation of bilateral investment treaties and free trade agreements.
A member of various arbitration panels across the Americas and Asia, Prof. Díaz-Cediel teaches International Law and Arbitration at several universities. He holds a J.D. from Universidad del Rosario and an LL.M. from Georgetown University, where he was a Merit Scholar.
Silvina González Napolitano is a lawyer and Doctor of International Law from the University of Buenos Aires, where she also serves as a Professor of Public International Law. She currently works as an expert in a department under the Secretariat for International Economic Negotiations of the Argentine Foreign Ministry. Her career in investment arbitration began with her participation as counsel in the landmark Maffezini case, and she has since been involved in around 30 arbitrations and other international matters. Since 2019, she has served as an investment arbitrator. She is the author of two books and several articles on public international law, human rights, and foreign investment law, and has received an award from the International Law Institute for her research on provisional measures in international jurisdiction.
Yiwei is a State Counsel at the International Affairs Division of the Attorney-General’s Chambers of Singapore. She advises the Singapore government on international law issues and on the domestic implementation of Singapore’s international obligations, and represents Singapore in multilateral and bilateral negotiations, in international disputes and at other international forums. Yiwei has negotiated trade treaties, and has been a part of the Singapore delegation at UNCITRAL Working Group III since early 2024.
Yiwei previously assisted tribunals in inter-state arbitrations and investor-state arbitrations as an Assistant Legal Counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration. Before that, she served as a Deputy Public Prosecutor, and clerked for the Chief Justice and Justices of the Supreme Court of Singapore.
Yiwei graduated from the University of Cambridge with a BA in law and from Columbia Law School with an LLM. She is admitted to the bar in Singapore and New York.
Lise Johnson is a Partner in the London office of Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP, where she represents governments in investment treaty arbitration and public international law matters. This includes representing States in disputes under bilateral investment treaties and the Energy Charter Treaty, and under various arbitration rules. She also supports governments in developing model investment treaties and in negotiating treaties with other States.
Ms. Johnson has participated as a delegate in ISDS reform negotiations at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), both during development of the UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency, and in ongoing efforts to address concerns with ISDS.
Prior to joining Curtis, Ms. Johnson led the work on investment law and policy at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment (CCSI) at Columbia University in New York, and remains as a Senior Fellow with the center. She has also been an advisor with the International Institute for Sustainable Development (IISD), and a litigator at an international law firm. She received her BA from Yale University, JD from University of Arizona, Rogers College of Law (summa cum laude), and LLM from Columbia Law School.
David Bigge has been served as the Chief of Investment Arbitration at the U.S. Department of State since 2023. From 2019 to 2023, Mr. Bigge worked in the Office of UN Affairs where, among other things, he has represented the United States at the UN Sixth Committee (Legal). From 2016 to 2019, he was based in The Hague, serving as the U.S. Agent to the Iran-U.S. Claims Tribunal and Deputy Agent and counsel in two cases at the International Court of Justice. Mr. Bigge was also the primary U.S. point of contact for the International Criminal Court, the Permanent Court of Arbitration, the UN International Residual Mechanism for Criminal Tribunals, and the Hague Conference on Private International Law. From 2010 to 2016, Mr. Bigge was an attorney-adviser in the Office of International Claims and Investment Disputes, representing the United States in ISDS, at other international courts and tribunals, and advising on commercial arbitration matters. Prior to joining the State Department in 2010, Mr. Bigge was an attorney in private practice in New York for nine years, specializing in international arbitration and litigation for and against foreign sovereigns. He has appeared in U.S. federal and state courts and in arbitrations administered by ICSID, PCA, ICC, HKIAC, and AAA. Mr. Bigge is an adjunct professor at Georgetown University Law Center, where he teaches a course on Interstate Disputes.
David Gaukrodger leads OECD policy analysis on investment treaties and works with OECD, G20 and other governments. His current work addresses investment treaties and climate change. Earlier work has focused on business responsibilities and investment treaties, the balance of investor protection and the right to regulate, and investor-state dispute settlement. Earlier David led expert teams evaluating compliance with the OECD Anti-Bribery Convention. He also helped design the G20-mandated peer review system that, as part of the fight against tax fraud, evaluates the compliance of 120+ jurisdictions with international standards for the exchange of tax-related information. David was previously a Special Counsel with Sullivan & Cromwell LLP with a practice in international arbitration and litigation. He graduated from Sciences Po Paris with a “mention lauréat” and obtained law degrees with distinction from the University of Toronto and the Université de Paris I. He was a law clerk for Justice Gerard La Forest at the Supreme Court of Canada.
Juan Pablo Gómez Moreno is an independent consultant specializing in international disputes. He has represented corporations, State entities, and sovereigns in more than 40 proceedings and recently advised the Republic of Colombia in the renegotiation of its investment treaties. He is also a dedicated author and lecturer. He currently teaches law at Universidad de los Andes in Colombia.
Rodrigo Monardes is a lawyer from the University of Chile and an LL.M. Heidelberg University, with more than 15 years of experience on international economic issues, trade and investment law and international organizations. Head of International Affairs at the Ministry of Finance and previously Counsellor at the Permanent Delegation of Chile at the OECD and Head of the Services and Investment Division and the OECD Division of the Undersecretariat of International Economic Relations of the Ministry of Foreign Affairs of Chile. Under this capacity he oversees Chile’s relations with MDBs, financial services negotiations and climate financing. He was Services and Investment Lead for the EU modernization process, CPTPP and other bilateral negotiations such as China, Australia, Thailand, Hong Kong, etc. Co-chair of the Investment Expert Group of APEC and lead for the services and investment group of the Pacific Alliance, National Contact Point of the RBC Guidelines of the OECD, Chair of the Working Party of the Trade Committee.
Ladan Mehranvar is a Senior Legal Researcher at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment. Her research focuses on the intersection of investment law and policy with sustainable development. Currently, she is working on third party funding, damages, access to justice for impacted communities, and power dynamics in multilateral negotiations. She leads the Executive Training Programme in Investment Law and Arbitration at CCSI, provides advisory services to governments and civil society, and undertakes advocacy on issues of public policy and equitable development. In parallel, she teaches Environmental Law & Policy at Princeton University and previously practised environmental and expropriation law at Borden Ladner Gervais LLP in Toronto. She has also supported Indigenous communities in Guatemala through her work with Rights Action and interned at Amnesty International and the Inter-American Institute of Human Rights in Costa Rica. She holds a J.D. from Osgoode Hall Law School and an LL.M. from the University of Toronto.
Ella Rosenberg is a Senior Legal Counsel at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), an organization of the World Bank Group and the leading global institution for the resolution of investment disputes through conciliation and arbitration proceedings. Ms. Rosenberg serves as secretary to tribunals and ad-hoc committees and is involved in institutional projects of the Centre.
Prior to joining ICSID, she worked as an attorney at the international arbitration practice of the law firm Dechert, LLP in Paris where she practiced commercial and investment arbitration. Ms. Rosenberg holds degrees from Cornell Law School (LL.M.) Université Paris I Sorbonne (Master I and II) and McGill University (B.A.). She is admitted to practice law in Paris and New York.
Ms. Rosenberg speaks English, French and Hebrew.
Juliana Giorgi is an accomplished dispute resolution attorney with over 15 years of experience in litigation, arbitration, and litigation funding. Currently serving as General Counsel for Latin America at Qanlex LLC, she specializes in sourcing and managing high-value litigation investments and advising on complex dispute strategies.
Juliana has acted as counsel, arbitrator, and secretary in domestic and international arbitrations, including a landmark USD 2 billion ICC case. She regularly speaks at international forums on arbitration, litigation funding, and legal risk.
Juliana holds an LL.M. from NYU School of Law and law degrees from Pontificia Universidad Javeriana and Universidad del País Vasco. Fluent in Spanish and English, with advanced Portuguese, she is an active member of CEIA and ALARB.
Deputy State Attorney at the International Arbitration Department of the Kingdom of Spain.
Margie-Lys Jaime is Head of the Investment Arbitration Office at the Ministry of Economy and Finances of the Republic of Panama. Under this capacity, she represents Panama at UNCITRAL Working Group III on ISDS reform. She is also a Professor of Law at the University of Panama.
Dr. Jaime is member of the ICC Institute of World Business Law and participates as a member of the UNIDROIT Working Group on International Investment Contracts.
She 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.
Dr. Jaime 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. She is Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitration (FCIArb), and has been appointed to the list of Conciliators and Arbitrators of ICSID by the Republic of Panama (2022-2028); and as Member of the Court of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (2024-2030).
Jae Sung LEE is a senior legal officer at the International Trade Law Division of the United Nations Office of Legal Affairs, which functions as the substantive secretariat for UNCITRAL. He is the secretary of Working Group III on Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform and has served as secretary of working groups on dispute settlement, secured transactions and electronic commerce. Before joining the United Nations in 2007, Jae Sung served in the Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs. Jae Sung is a graduate of Seoul National University College of Law, holds LL.M. degrees from Seoul National University Graduate School of International Studies and NYU School of Law as well as a Ph.D. in Law from Seoul National University.
Nora Bellec is a legal officer at the European Commission in DG Trade and Economic Security, Unit A.3 which deals with Legal affairs and dispute settlement. In particular, Ms. Bellec follows investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) files, from the negotiation of ISDS provisions in Investment Protection Agreements between the European Union and trade partners, to the participation in UNCITRAL Working Group III to develop ISDS reform. Previous positions of Ms. Bellec included working as a policy advisor at the French Ministry for Europe and Foreign Affairs in the Directorate of Economic diplomacy, and being a lawyer in international arbitration at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP in Paris.
Mariana Pinto Schmidt is a legal advisor to the Investment, Services and Digital Economy Department of Chile’s Undersecretariat of International Economic Affairs (SUBREI). She has been actively involved in both bilateral and multilateral investment negotiations and currently leads Chile’s delegation to UNCITRAL Working Group III on ISDS reform. She also represents Chile at the Pacific Alliance Investment Sub-Committee and the APEC Investment Experts’ Group, which she will chair from 2026 to 2028.
Before joining SUBREI, Ms. Pinto Schmidt worked as an associate at a law firm specializing in international commercial law, and as a researcher in international investment law. She holds a law degree from Universidad de Concepción (Chile) and an LL.M. in International Law from the University of Edinburgh (UK).
Binish Suleman has served as an Attorney Adviser in the U.S. Department of State since 2016. She is currently in the Office of Economic and Business Affairs advising on investment treaties and disputes, development finance issues, the OECD, and energy issues. From 2019 through 2024, she was an Attorney Adviser in the Office of Treaty Affairs advising on treaty law issues for agreements covering science, technology, maritime, space, environmental, and public diplomacy cooperation and generally focused on agreements with countries in South and Central Asia, Africa and the Middle East. She has also advised the Department on information law issues. Before joining the U.S. Department of State, Ms. Suleman was an attorney in private practice working on commercial arbitration, federal court litigation, and internal investigations in both New York and Washington, D.C. She also served as a law clerk for Judge Rosemary Collyer on the U.S. District Court for the District of Columbia.
Mr. Sun Zhao, Ph.D., is the Director of Investment Law Division in the Department of Treaty and Law, Ministry of Commerce of China (MOFCOM). He has extensive experience in dealing with international dispute settlement, in particular, the WTO dispute settlement and the investment arbitration. He is also covering investment treaty negotiations and the UNCITRAL Investor-State Dispute Settlement Reform. He previously was a trade remedy case handler in MOFCOM and a legal officer in Chinese Mission to the WTO.
