ARBITRATION AND INSOLVENCY

Prof. Dr. Reinhard Bork is a professor for civil procedure law and general procedural law at the University of Hamburg. In addition, he acts intensively as arbitrator in national and international proceedings. Professor Bork has studied law in Münster, where he received his doctorate (Dr. iur.) in 1984 and his habilitation in 1988. He has appointed to the University of Bonn in 1989; and appointed to the Department of Law I at the University of Hamburg in 1990. Since 1 Ocotber 1990 he holds the Chair of Civil Procedure and General Procedural Law there. Professor Bork has served as a part-time judge at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court in Hamburg from 1992 to 1998, as Dean in 1993/94, as Vice Dean and Head of the Legal Examinations Office from 2005 to 2010. Moreover, he has concluded one-year research stays at the University of Oxford in 2010/2011 and as Robert S. Campbell Visiting Fellow of Magdalen College in 2015/2016. From 2019-2022, he served as Professor of International Insolvency Law at Radboud University Nijmegen/NL (in addition to the chair in Hamburg). From 2020-2023, he also works as a Senior Research Fellow at the Commercial Law Centre at the Harris Manchester College, Oxford/UK.

Prof. Dr. Lucas F. Flöther is a specialist lawyer for insolvency law and founding partner of the law firm FLÖTHER & WISSING in Halle (Saale), Germany, which specializes in insolvency administration as well as in restructuring. Mr. Flöther regularly lectures and publishes in insolvency law, particularly in the areas of self-administration, insolvency plans and European insolvency proceedings. Since 2012 he has been honorary professor for civil and insolvency law at the Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg. His expertise in insolvency law is highly valued in academic and political discussions. He also is spokesman for the Gravenbrucher Kreis, an association of leading insolvency administrators in Germany. Mr. Flöther is also active as a volunteer. He has been Honorary Consul of Armenia in the Free State of Saxony since 2021. Prof. Dr. Lucas F. Flöther has been commissioned as a bankruptcy and insolvency administrator since 1999 and has handled over 1,000 corporate insolvencies to date. He advises and represents companies and groups of companies in complex insolvency and restructuring law issues. Flöther sees himself as a reliable and assertive mediator, team player, conciliator, always in close exchange with all relevant parties. FLÖTHER & WISSING is one of the leading law firms in Germany and works on restructuring and insolvency administration of large companies. The firm's goal is a new restructuring culture: in a process of change or in an entrepreneurial crisis, the focus is not on defeat, but on new beginnings.

Bárbara Gadig is a Ph.D. Candidate at São Paulo University (USP) and Lisbon University Law School. She obtained her LL.M. from Lisbon University including an exchange on International and Comparative Business Law at Bucerius Law School. In her doctoral project she is examining transaction avoidance in insolvencies. She is a visiting researcher at Max-Planck Institute for International and Comparative Private Law in Hamburg. She was a Brazilian delegate for UNCITRAL Working group V (Insolvency Law) 59th session. She is a member of the International Association of Restructuring, Insolvency & Bankruptcy (INSOL International) and Turnaround Management Association (TMA Brazil).

Prof. Dr. Stefan Kröll is Professor for International Dispute Resolution and Director of the Center for International Business Resolution at Bucerius Law School. Since 2022, he serves as Chairman of the Board of the Deutsche Institution für Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit e.V. (DIS). In addition, he is a visiting professor at the School of International Arbitration at CCLS (Queen Mary, University of London) and has acted as an advisor and consultant for the relevant organizations of the German Government (GIZ, IRZ) and USAID in various countries. Since 2012 Stefan Kröll is one of the directors of the Willem C. Vis Arbitration Moot Court, the leading student competition in the fields of international commercial law and arbitration with more than 350 participating Universities. UNCITRAL has retained him as one of the three experts to prepare the Digest on the Model Law on International Commercial Arbitration.

Vesna Lazić is Associate Professor at Utrecht University and a senior researcher at the T.M.C. Asser Institute in The Hague. Private international law, international dispute settlement, especially international commercial arbitration are the fields of her particular interest and expertise. She teaches, publishes and coordinates various research projects in the field of EU private international law. Amongst her publications are the book V. Lazić, Insolvency Proceedings and Commercial Arbitration, International Arbitration Law Library, Kluwer Law International, The Hague-London-Boston, 1998 and V. Lazić and S. Stuij (eds.), Recasting the Insolvency Regulation: Improvements and Missed Opportunities, Short studies in PIL, Issue 3, Asser Press/Springer Publishing, 2020, as well as various articles on a wide range of topics in private international law and international commercial arbitration.

Dr. Torsten Lörcher has been a practising lawyer with CMS Hasche Sigle since 1999. He became a partner in 2007. Before joining CMS Hasche Sigle, Torsten Lörcher worked with Professor Böckstiegel at Co- logne University and wrote his doctoral thesis on international dispute resolution. Torsten Lörcher's practice is focused on acting as arbitrator and counsel in international and domestic arbitration proceedings under various regimes including arbitration proceedings under the ICC, DIS, LCIA, CIETAC, CEAC, SCC, UNCITRAL, Vienna, Norwegian, Finnish and Swiss Rules. His track record as arbitrator comprises more than 70 cases and he has acted as counsel in a large number of cases. His practice is mainly focused on post-M&A, commercial and technology- related disputes and disputes from the pharmaceutical and energy sector. From 2007 until 2014, Torsten Lörcher was the Global Head of the CMS International Arbitration Group, and from 2013 until 2017 the Global Head of the CMS Dispute Resolution Group. He is a member of the Board of the DIS and has published widely on international arbitration. He is regularly named in the legal directories as one of the leading German practitioners in the field of interna- tional arbitration.

Elias Mubarak Júnior is a qualified lawyer in Brazil specialized in business and insolvency Law. Law degree from University Julio de Mesquita Filho (UNESP) Law School (1991). Elias is a partner at Mubarak Law Firm. He is also vice-president of Brazilian Institute of Insolvency Law (IBAJUD) and President of MedArb RB (Mediation and Arbitration for Recovery and Business). 

Dr. Manuel Penades is an academic, arbitrator and consultant in the field of international commercial law and dispute resolution. He is qualified and educated in civil and common law (Solicitor (England) non-practising, Abogado (Spain)). He has degrees in Law and Economics (1st class hons). Manuel has experience as lawyer and arbitrator in multiple jurisdictions and institutions (ICC, LCIA, VIAC, SCAI, CAM). He has acted as legal expert in international arbitration and before the High Court of England & Wales in matters concerning cross-border insolvency, conflict of laws, arbitration and commercial law. Has acted as Spanish expert in EU Commission projects. Manuel Penades Fons is also Vice-President of UK Chapter of Club Español de Arbitraje, Co-chair of IBA Toolkit on insolvency and arbitration and a world expert on the overlap between insolvency and international arbitration. Dr Penades’ work has been cited as leading authority on the topic in Delfuego Booking v. David Guetta (Commercial Court, Spain, Santander, 30 October 2020).

Prof. Dr. Maria de Lurdes Pereira is (tenured) Assistant Professor at Lisbon University (FDUSP) Law School since1994. She is currently in charge of the courses of Law of Obligations (undergraduate), Tort Law (masters) and Commercial Law (masters; PhD). As an academic she has taught different courses and published in a wide range of topics within Privat Law, including Contract Law, Law of Damages and Insolvency Law. She has also been active as a practitioner in Albuquerque e Almeida, Associados, and she is a member of the Portuguese Bar Association since 1996. She has experience in arbitration both as arbitrator and lawyer. Other current positions include: member of the Board of the Arbitration Centre of the Portuguese Commercial Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CAC) and research member of the Centre for Private Law Research at Faculdade de Direito da Universidade de Lisboa (CIDP).

Prof. Dr. Francisco Satiro is Professor of Business Law at São Paulo University (USP) Law School. He is specialized in corporate finance Law, capital markets regulation and insolvency Law. Law degree and a PhD in Business Law, both from USP Law School. Francisco was visiting professor at Universidad Javeriana - Colombia, ITAM - Mexico, FDUP - Portugal, LUISS – Italy and Center for Transnational Legal Studies in London – UK. From 2011 to 2015, was appointed by the Ministry of Economy as a member of the National Council of Appeals of the Financial System. Was appointed in 2016 by the Ministry of Economy to draft the amendment of Brazilian Insolvency Law. He has also been a Brazilian advisor for UNCITRAL Working Groups I (micro, small and medium sized enterprises) and V (Insolvency Law) since 2012.

Prof. Dr. Christoph Thole is a professor of law at Cologne University. He serves as the managing director of the Institute of Procedural Law and Insolvency Law and the Institute of European and International Insolvency Law. His research interests focus on Procedural and Insolvency Law. Professor Thole studied law at the universities of Bayreuth and Münster. He received his doctoral degree from the University of Bonn, where he also completed his habilitation in 2009. Having been a university professor in Tübingen since 2010, he was appointed in Cologne in 2016.