ISLP Board
Yasmine Lahlou
With nearly 25 years of experience in international arbitration, Yasmine, who is fluent in English, French and Italian and proficient in Portuguese, has been a core member of Chaffetz Lindsey’s International Arbitration practice since Chaffetz Lindsey was established in 2009. She has risen through the ranks of the firm (promoted to Counsel in 2012 and to Partner in 2015) and has become widely recognized as a leader in the international arbitration community. She has also developed an extensive award enforcement practice, which is recognized by Chambers.
Recognized by Legal 500, Chambers, and Super Lawyers—including her Latin America expertise, Yasmine’s accolades include being a Who’s Who Global Elite Thought Leader for the Americas and the Caribbean these past two years in a row, and one of Latinvex’s Latin America’s Top 100 Female Lawyers since 2022. She was just appointed as a Member of the International Court of Arbitration of the ICC and is the co-chair of the ICC Commission’s Working Group on Expedited Procedures Provisions and the co-editor-in-chief if the ICC’s Dispute Resolution Bulletin.
Yasmine has been counsel in dozens of arbitrations, under the rules of all the major institutions, and has co-led teams in many of the firm’s largest cases. Yasmine leads the firm’s Brazil practice and has been active in Latin America for over a decade.
Russell F. Smith III
Russell F. Smith III has worked on international environmental issues for more than 20 years. He served as the Deputy Assistant Secretary for International Fisheries at the National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration. In that position he led U.S. international engagement in support of the sustainable management of fisheries, including promoting science-based decision-making and improving efforts to combat illegal, unregulated, and unreported fishing. In addition, he represented the United States as the U.S. Commissioner in several regional fisheries management organizations.
Russell has also worked for the Office of the United States Trade Representative on efforts to ensure that U.S trade policy and its implementation are supportive of U.S. environmental policy, including through the promotion of the sustainable management of natural resources and ensuring that opportunities for trade and investment liberalization resulting in access to the U.S. market are used as incentives for the enhancement, and not degradation, of environmental protection. As an attorney in the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the U.S. Department of Justice, Russell’s work included a focus on helping developing countries improve their legal systems, particularly with respect to the development and implementation of environmental laws and regulations. He also provided advice to employees of the Division on both legal and government ethics. During his career he has worked extensively with representatives at all levels of the Executive Branch, Members of Congress and their staffs, civil society, industry and academia.
Prior to his federal Executive Branch service, Russell was an associate at Spiegel & McDiarmid, a law firm in Washington, D.C. and clerked for the Honorable Douglas W. Hillman, Chief Judge, U.S. District Court, Western District of Michigan. He currently serves on the board of the Ocean Foundation and is a graduate of Yale University and the University of Michigan Law School.
Patricia Alsup
Patricia is a retired diplomat whose diplomatic career included service as United States Ambassador to The Gambia.
She began her career in the private sector, working in a variety of sectors — market research for a consumer products manufacturer, retailing for a major department store, strategic planning for an aerospace company, hotel development, and art gallery ownership. She also worked in economic development for a municipal government and served on arts boards and chaired the Housing Authority Board in her hometown until she left to join the U.S. Foreign Service in 1992.
Patricia began her Foreign Service career in Latin America, and after serving in the Dominican Republic and Mexico City, returned to Washington and worked in Economics positions for several years before going to The Gambia as Deputy Chief of Mission. After her first tour in The Gambia, she again returned to Washington where her positions included Career Development Officer and Director of the Office of Central African Affairs. In 2012, she went back overseas as Deputy Chief of Mission at the U.S. Embassy in Accra, Ghana and returned to The Gambia as Ambassador in 2015.
Patricia holds a B.A. in Economics from Wellesley College, an M.B.A. from Harvard Business School, and an M.S. from the Eisenhower School for National Security and Resources Strategy.
Luciana Aquino-Hagedorn
Luciana has over 20 years of experience as a global corporate lawyer and strategic advisor. She teaches Sustainable Finance at Boston University School of Law and is a Senior Fellow at the Columbia Center on Sustainable Investment. In addition to serving on the board of ISLP, Luciana serves on the boards of Qarlbo Natural Asset Company AB, a reforestation company on a mission to decrease homogenization of ecosystems, Landesa and the International Center for Research on Women (ICRW) and is on the advisory boards of the Museum of Science (Boston) and United Planet.
Luciana was the General Counsel for NCX, a private U.S. company that connects corporations, landowners and communities through its carbon marketplace. Before that, Luciana was a partner at Goodwin where she co-founded and co-lead the Impact and Responsible Investment practice, and advised global clients on general corporate, private investments and fund formation matters. At Goodwin, she was on the Pro-Bono Committee and on the Committee on Racial and Ethnic Diversity. Prior to rejoining Goodwin in 2015, Luciana was Senior Vice President of Natural Resources at Harvard Management Company (HMC) where she built the legal and compliance function for HMC’s $4B global direct and fund investments in forestry, agriculture and renewable energy and was deeply involved in the investment and management of the assets, including investment structuring, M&A, governance, risk assessment and operations. Prior to joining HMC, Luciana practiced law at Goodwin and, before that, at Linklaters’ New York office. She began her legal career at Le Pera & Lessa in Buenos Aires, Argentina.
Luciana has a J.D. from Universidad de Buenos Aires, an LL.M. from Columbia Law School, and J.D. from Boston University School of Law.
Carlos Ardila
Carlos Ardila is a Partner at the global law firm Latham & Watkins. He advises clients on cross-border corporate and financing transactions in the US and Latin America, with a focus on the energy and infrastructure sectors.
Mr. Ardila brings more than a decade of experience representing corporate sponsors, private equity firms, lenders, developers, multinational corporations, and governmental entities on complex financings, acquisitions and divestitures.
With deep roots in the Latin America market, he leverages a global perspective and broad transactional experience across jurisdictions to execute strategic corporate and finance deals. Mr. Ardila has practiced in New York; Buenos Aires; São Paulo; and Washington, D.C. Originally from Bogota, Colombia, he is fluent in Spanish and Portuguese and proficient in Chinese.
Mr. Ardila maintains an active pro bono practice, including working on a first-of-its-kind “blue bond” issuance to support sustainable marine and fisheries projects in the Seychelles and representing clients in developing countries through the International Senior Lawyers Project.
Preeti Bhagnani
Preeti Bhagnani is a Partner in White & Case’s top-ranked international arbitration practice. She assists private and sovereign clients around the world in resolving high-stakes disputes effectively and efficiently. With nearly two decades of experience in commercial and investment treaty arbitration, she has handled dozens of arbitrations under all major arbitration rules (including ICC, AAA/ICDR, SIAC, UNCITRAL, LCIA and ICSID Rules.)
Preeti is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. She is listed on the ICDR Panel of Arbitrators and accepts appointments as arbitrator.
She has served in a number of leadership and advisory roles in the international legal community, including serving as a delegate of the US National Committee to the ICC Commission on Arbitration. She also has served on the ICC Task Force on Disability Inclusion in International Arbitration, the International Institute for Conflict Prevention and Resolution’s (CPR) Task Force on Arbitrating Life Science Disputes, Law360’s 2024 Editorial Advisory Board for International Arbitration, the Advisory Board of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration, the New York International Arbitration Center’s Program Committee, the Board of the International Center for Dispute Resolution Young & International, and the Steering Committee for Columbia Law School’s Alumni Association in International Arbitration. She is the past North America Representative of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) Young and International Arbitration Group and the Asia-Pacific Forum for International Arbitration.
Preeti holds degrees in New York law, English law and Singapore law and is qualified to practice in New York and Singapore.
Tom Brunner
Tom was a partner and the general counsel of LeapFrog Investments, a leading impact investment firm targeting Asia and Africa, for more than a decade. He is today involved in a variety of social finance projects. Tom previously served as the founder and Chair of the Insurance Practice at Wiley Rein LLC., representing American and international insurance carriers. Tom was active for many years in the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs and was awarded that group’s Wiley A. Branton Award for Civil Rights Advocacy in recognition of his commitment to the pro bono civil rights legal community. Tom holds a J.D. from Yale and an A.B. cum laude from Columbia University.
Evan Cohen
Evan Cohen
Regional Managing Partner, Americas
Clifford Chance
New York
Evan Cohen is a member of Clifford Chance’s global Executive Leadership Group and Regional Managing Partner of the Americas.
He has more than 30 years of experience representing clients in the areas of acquisition and leveraged finance, project finance, syndicated lending and restructurings. His clients include commercial and investment banks, institutional investors, corporates and project sponsors.
Evan’s experience spans the Americas, Europe and Asia Pacific. He has held multiple leadership positions within the Firm including eight years leading the US Banking practice in New York and six years in Hong Kong founding the Firm’s Asian Distressed Debt practice.
Evan received his J.D. from the University of Pennsylvania Law School and his B.S., magna cum laude, from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania. He is a member of the American Bar Association and the American College of Investment Counsel.
A former board member of City Year New York, Evan sits on the board of My Sisters’ Place, which strives to end domestic violence and human trafficking through comprehensive services, advocacy and community education.
Yves Denizé
Yves Denizé is a Senior Managing Director & Division General Counsel for Nuveen’s Legal group. He supports provision of investment and asset management product related legal services for the asset management business, providing guidance and direction to clients and staff. He is a member of the Nuveen Legal management team reporting to Nuveen’s Chief Legal Officer. Nuveen is the asset management business of Teachers Insurance and Annuity Association of America (TIAA). Prior to his current role, Yves served as Managing Director & General Counsel, Broker-Dealer & Investments, leading legal support for Broker-Dealer issues and of the Fixed Income and Alternative Investment program. Earlier in his career with TIAA, he provided advice and support to TIAA’s Asset Management Area in connection with domestic and international private placements of debt and equity securities, including private equity funds, alternative investments, and derivatives. He has supported product development initiatives, including fund formation. He has also supported strategic sale and acquisition initiatives. Prior to joining TIAA, Yves served as Counsel to the NYS Comptroller’s Deputy Comptroller for New York City. He also was an Associate at Cleary, Gottlieb, Steen & Hamilton. Yves graduated from Dartmouth College and received his J.D. degree, cum laude, from New York University School of Law. He has served as a member of the American College of Investment Counsel and on the New York City Bar Committee on Private Investment Funds.
David Djaha
David Djaha is managing partner of Ropes & Gray and a member of the firm’s management committee. Most recently, he led the firm’s global real estate investments & transactions group.
David focuses his practice on complex core and distressed acquisitions and dispositions as well as asset- and mortgage-backed finance. David has almost 30 years of experience representing clients in both U.S. and international transactions. He has extensive experience advising investment banks, private equity funds, and domestic and international developers and investors in all of their real estate transactional needs. Additionally, David regularly advises clients on matters involving capital markets, asset-based and mezzanine finance, as well as warehouse lending and construction lending, real estate private equity, and joint ventures involving domestic and international transactions.
Bruce Gilchrist - General Counsel, Volunteer
Bruce Gilchrist, a retired Partner at Hogan Lovells, has 35 years of practice representing individuals engaged in the real estate industry and also advises clients on energy-and-infrastructure-related capital markets, financing, and restructuring transactions. In his years of experience, Bruce has counseled on acquisitions and business combinations involving mergers, stock purchases, asset transactions, partnership rollups and operating partnership unit transactions (both public and private), leveraged buyouts, and tender offers. He has also represented issuers and underwriters in IPOs and other public offerings, as well as private placements of equity and debt securities, reorganizations, and recapitalizations.
Bruce has been recognized as a leading REIT lawyer by Chambers and Legal 500. In 2013, he was named Dealmaker of the Year by The American Lawyer for his work on Equity Residential’s acquisition of Archstone Inc. in a joint venture with AvalonBay Communities.
Bruce holds a B.A. from Columbia College, a M.A. from Columbia University, and a J.D. from Columbia Law School.
Rick Gittleman
Rick Gittleman had over 20 years of experience as a partner at Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld. He worked on mergers, acquisitions and project finance in the energy and mining sectors, providing practical and technical background for his subsequent roles in-house.
In 2009 Rick retired from Akin Gump and became a Senior VP with Freeport McMoRan Africa assisting with the operation of the largest copper and cobalt mine in Africa. He then worked at Glencore and subsequently founded RMG Minerals, the company he manages today. Rick has found the platform provided by mining allows him to engage all stakeholders in and around mine sites. He has been involved in the mining business since 1985 when as a young lawyer he represented Gécamines, the national mining company of Zaire, now the Democratic Republic of Congo. He recently served as the Chairman of the Board and CEO of Interra Copper, a company traded on the Canadian Stock Exchange.
Rick lived in Africa for more than 15 years first as a Peace Corps Volunteer and then as a lawyer and mining executive. He has a keen appreciation and respect for the peoples of Africa and continues to work in the DRC and Zambia. Rick was an early ISLP volunteer while working on a Liberian oil palm project with the Minister of Agriculture during the tenure of President Ellen Johnson Sirleaf.
Rick received his A.B. degree from Brown University and his J.D. degree, cum laude, from American University, Washington College of Law.
Deon Govender
Deon Govender, of Counsel at Covington & Burling LLP, focuses his practice on project development and corporate and project finance transactions across Africa, with particular emphasis on southern Africa.
His experience ranges from advising on the development and financing of renewable energy and thermal power projects and various other infrastructure assets in the transportation and telecommunications sectors. Deon’s experience
additionally includes advising on financing independent power producer projects under the South African government’s Renewable Energy Independent Power Producer Procurement Program.
Deon holds a B. Proc. from University of Natal, LL.B. from University of Natal, and an LL.M from Georgetown University.
John Kiernan
Mr. Kiernan joined Debevoise in 1981 and became a partner in 1988. John Kiernan was Co-Chair of the firm’s Litigation Department from 2002-2017 and has been Chair of its Ethics Committee since 1994. His representations have embraced a broad range of commercial disputes and internal investigations, including disputes relating to contracts, purchases and sales of businesses, corporate governance, derivative and class action claims, international treaties, securities claims, patents and other intellectual property, consumer fraud, accountant liability and mass torts.
Mr. Kiernan is the Board Chair of Prisoners’ Legal Services of New York and Co-Chair of the Inner City Scholarship Fund, Lawyers Division. He has previously chaired the Boards of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (“CPR”), Legal Services-New York City, the Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights Under Law, Volunteers of Legal Service, the Justice Resource Center and the New York City Bankruptcy Assistance Project (which he co-founded), and was the Mayor of Pelham Manor, NY from 1999-2001.
Mr. Kiernan is the immediate past President of the New York City Bar Association, where he has previously served on the Executive Committee and chaired several other committees. He is the co-editor of The Litigation Manual (ABA, 3rd ed., 1999), a contributing author of New York Business Litigation(ALM 2014) and Commercial Litigation in New York State Courts (Thomson Reuters, 4th ed., 2015), and an Adjunct Professor at NYU Law School.
He received his B.A. in 1976 magna cum laude from Harvard and his J.D. in 1980 magna cum laude from Harvard Law School, where he was an Editor of the Harvard Law Review. From 1980-81, Mr. Kiernan served as a law clerk to the Hon. Walter R. Mansfield, U.S. Court of Appeals for the Second Circuit.
Bill Kissinger
A Partner in the San Francisco office of Morgan, Lewis & Bockius, Bill practices Energy and Environmental law in California, having developed an Energy practice after serving as Senior Deputy Legal Affairs Secretary to Governor Gray Davis during the 2001 California energy crisis. Whilst there, he was responsible for renegotiating the state’s long-term energy contracts, entered into during the peak of the crisis, as well as shaping litigation strategy. Subsequently, Bill has represented a wide range of clients in his private practice, including independent power producers, publicly owned utilities and California state agencies on disputes arising out of power purchase agreements, as well as representing them before regulatory agencies including FERC, the California Public Utilities Commission, and California Independent System Operator on matters relating to contracting, interconnection and other regulatory issues. Prior to this, Bill spent four years in Washington, DC working in senior positions at the White House and the US State Department.
Bill currently serves as a member of the San Francisco Bay Regional Water Quality Control Board, having been appointed by Governor Brown in 2012 and reappointed in 2016. He is a graduate of Princeton University, cum laude, and UC Berkeley School of Law (Boalt Hall).
George Lehner
George Lehner is currently Of Counsel at Pepper Hamilton LLP where he practiced as a Partner for over 25 years. He has served as Vice Chair of the firm’s Executive Committee, Co-Chair of the Litigation and Dispute Resolution Department, and as partner-in-Charge of the Firm’s Washington DC office. He has over 30 years of experience in the areas of dispute resolution, mediation, negotiation, and arbitration working in both the private and public sectors, including significant experience in the international arena. In addition, he has broad experience in media law and First Amendment work having represented media clients and serving various media related non-profit organizations as both counsel and as a Board member.
He twice served in the Office of the Legal Adviser of U.S. Department of State, first as an Attorney Adviser (1977-1980) and later as Deputy Assistant Legal Adviser for International Claims and Investment Disputes.
He currently serves a Chair of the Fund for Peace and General Counsel to the International Women’s Media Foundation and the White House Correspondents’ Association.
George received his BA from Wesleyan University where he was elected to Phi Beta Kappa and his JD (cum laude) and Masters in Urban Planning from the University of Michigan. Following his undergraduate study, he was a recipient of a Thomas J. Watson Fellowship.
Kristin Mendoza
Kristin is a Partner at Kirkland & Ellis in the M&A/Private Equity Practice Group in the New York office. Kristin advises public and private companies, including private equity firms and strategic investors, with regard to domestic and international M&A, dispositions, joint ventures and reorganizations, particularly in the energy and infrastructure sectors.
Kristin also maintains an active pro bono practice, handling matters related to rule of law and media freedoms with the Media Law Working Group of the International Senior Lawyers Project. She is also a member of the Transforming Women’s Leadership in the Law (TWLL) Rising Stars Cohort, a small group of high-potential female law firm partners brought together by Thomson Reuters Legal and the Legal Executive Institute to address structural barriers and create cultural change needed at the organizational level for women to succeed and advance in the legal industry.
Kristin holds an LL.M. from the University of London, a J.D. from Columbia Law School, an A.M. from Harvard University and a B.A. from Yale University.
Liz Roberts
Liz is the General Counsel at the Institute of International Finance (IIF), the global association of the financial industry, whose mission is to support the financial industry in the prudent management of risks; to develop sound industry practices; and to advocate for regulatory, financial and economic policies that are in the broad interests of its members and foster global financial stability and sustainable economic growth. IIF members include commercial and investment banks, asset managers, insurance companies, sovereign wealth funds, hedge funds, central banks and development banks. As General Counsel of IIF, Liz leads legal and risk management for the organization. She advises the CEO on all legal and compliance issues, including privacy, antitrust, DEI, political law, employee safety and corporate governance. Ms. Roberts also advises the IIF’s Sustainable Finance Working Group and Debt Transparency Working Group.
Prior to IIF, Liz was a partner in Goodwin’s Private Equity and Private Investment Funds practices and co-founder and co-leader of the firm’s Impact and Responsible Investing practice, representing a wide range of clients in forming private investment funds, partnerships, joint ventures and other transaction structures, and advising investors in such structures. Her practice involved work across a variety of funds, including those focusing on private equity, venture capital, mezzanine, emerging markets, real estate, infrastructure, and small business investment companies (SBICs) with a particular focus in impact investing. Prior to Goodwin, Ms. Roberts was a partner at Hogan Lovells in Washington, D.C., where she was a member of the investment funds practice.
Liz has a J.D. magna cum laude from Georgetown University Law Center and a B.A. with honors from Trinity College, CT.
Richard Rosenthal
Rich is presently a Senior Advisor at Morgan Stanley – focusing on various strategic initiatives. Morgan Stanley is a global financial services company with offices in 42 countries. Rich has worked at Morgan Stanley for 37 years, having joined the Firm in 1987 as a lawyer advising the Investment Banking, Capital Markets and Private Equity Divisions. In 1993, Rich moved to London to become the General Counsel of Morgan Stanley’s Europe, Middle East and Africa region. Between 1993-2011, he was involved in a number of strategic matters, including the expansion of Morgan Stanley’s footprint across the region; advising on a number of landmark transactions and managing reputational risk related to Morgan Stanley’s business in the Region. He was a member of the Firm’s Franchise and Equity Commitment Committees, as well as was a member of the Advisory Committee of the General Counsel of the UK Financial Services Authority. In 2011, after having lived in London for 18 years, Rich moved back to New York to assume new roles—focusing on (i) overseeing Morgan Stanley’s reputational risk process; (ii) becoming the Firm’s Global Conflicts Officer to oversee the management of potential conflicts globally; and (iii) overseeing Morgan Stanley’s Environmental and Social Risk Management function which focuses on the management of environmental and social risks to Morgan Stanley’s business. At the beginning of 2024, Rich transitioned from being a Managing Director to Senior Advisor.
Prior to joining Morgan Stanley, Rich was an associate at the law firm of Sullivan and Cromwell. He spent 6 years at the firm—2 years in the London office. Rich was a corporate lawyer focusing on capital markets and corporate transactions.
Rich is also involved with America Needs You, which provides mentorship and career development guidance to low income, first generation college students.
Rich graduated Magna Cum Laude with a B.S. in Economics from the Wharton School of Finance at the University of Pennsylvania, as well as earned an MBA from the Wharton School. In addition, Rich graduated from New York University Law School with a J.D., and was a member of the Law Review.
Steven H. Schulman
Steven H. Schulman leads Akin Gump’s pro bono practice worldwide. Mr. Schulman joined Akin Gump in 2006 as its first full-time pro bono partner. Since he joined the firm, participation in the pro bono practice has increased substantially in every office and across every practice group. Under his leadership, the firm has built strong relationships with local, national and international legal services organizations and has developed experience in several areas of pro bono practice, such as representing charter schools, working with refugees and victims of human rights abuses, and providing legal counsel to military personnel and their families. Mr. Schulman maintains a substantive practice in many areas of public interest law, including human rights, immigration, assistance to military personnel and poverty law matters. He has handled dozens of asylum and other immigration cases, with a particular emphasis on complex matters, such as those involving the application of terrorism-related grounds of inadmissibility.
Prior to joining Akin Gump, Mr. Schulman led pro bono practice at Latham & Watkins, as its first pro bono counsel, from 2001 to 2004. He developed and implemented the firm’s signature Child Refugee Project, assisting unaccompanied alien children in the United States through individual representation, legislative advocacy and systemic reform. As a result of this project, thousands of children were moved from detention to foster care.
In private antitrust litigation, he represented clients in a variety of industries, including defense contracting and health care. In mergers and acquisitions, he represented clients in dozens of transactions before the Federal Trade Commission and the Department of Justice. His reported merger cases include FTC v. Libbey and FTC v. Swedish Match. He also represented corporations in criminal matters and internal investigations, including the Salt Lake Olympic Organizing Committee in its defense of a federal criminal probe into its Olympic bidding practices.
Mr. Schulman earned his B.A. from Brandeis University (cum laude) in1989 and his J.D. from Northwestern University School of Law (cum laude) in 1994. He is on the adjunct faculty at the Georgetown University Law Center and the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, and has also taught at Stanford Law School and the George Washington University School of Law.
Mansi Shah
Mansi is a Partner at Kilpatrick Townsend, where she combines her litigation skills with intellectual property expertise to provide clients with a spectrum of intellectual property services from patent and trademark counseling to patent, trade secret and technology-based litigation.
Mansi also practiced at Merchant & Gould, Valorem Law Group, Morgan Lewis, and Howrey, where she represented Fortune 500 technology companies from pre-litigation investigation through jury and bench trials. In addition to intellectual property litigation, Mansi maintained a client counseling and patent and trademark prosecution practice includes intellectual property due diligence, and written and oral advocacy before the US Patent and Trademark Office (USPTO).
Mansi represents a diverse group of pro bono clients. Her first pro bono client was a Mexican transgender immigrant with HIV, who was seeking asylum. She was able to help her obtain a favorable outcome, and was recognized by the State Bar of California and the Los Angeles County Bar Association. Mansi served as a legal advisor to kiva.org, while practicing at Howrey, where she served as the crowdlending platform’s primary IP attorney.
Prior to practicing law, Mansi was a coder for a defense contractor, where she worked on satellite and missile systems.
Mansi holds a B.S. in Computer Science from University of California, San Diego and obtained her J.D. from George Washington University Law School.
Charline O. Yim
Charline is a Partner at Gibson Dunn where she maintains a significant pro bono practice and advises individuals and organizations on public international law and international human rights matters. Her most recent matters include representing human rights defenders before United Nations organs, advising leading international human rights organizations on questions of international criminal law, advising clients with international treaty negotiations, advising clients on the development of transitional justice mechanisms in various countries, and presenting various training courses on public international law, international dispute resolution, transitional justice, and media freedom. In addition, she frequently represents clients in asylum and immigration proceedings. For her commitment to pro bono work, she has been awarded Gibson Dunn’s Frank Wheat Memorial Award and Legal Aid Society’s Pro Bono Publico Award.
Charline regularly publishes, speaks and lectures on topics relating to international arbitration, public international law and international justice. Recent topics include developments under the Energy Charter Treaty, transitional justice processes and racial injustice in the US, and the importance of diversity in international arbitration.
Charline serves as a member of the Center for Justice and Accountability’s Board of Directors and the Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge’s USA Sub-Committee. She has previously served on committees for the American Society of International Law and the New York City Bar Association.
Charline earned her law degree in 2011 from Harvard Law School, where she was the Co-Editor-in-Chief of the Harvard International Law Journal, Co-President of the HLS Advocates for Human Rights and recipient of the Class of 2011 Dean’s Award for Community Leadership. She graduated summa cum laude in 2008 from the University of California, Los Angeles, where she studied Economics, English and Political Science, and was elected to Phi Beta Kappa. Prior to joining the firm, she was an associate in the dispute resolution group of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer US LLP and a fellow to the President of the International Criminal Tribunal for the former Yugoslavia.
Charline is admitted to practice in the State of New York, and before the United States District Court for the Southern District of New York and the United States District Court for the Eastern District of New York. She has working knowledge of Spanish and Portuguese.
ISLP Board Emeriti
Joseph C. Bell
Throughout his nearly 50-year career, Joe has been a constant innovator, applying his law and policy interests to a wide range of issues. His current practice, mostly pro bono, is principally devoted to natural resource policy and concession negotiations in developing countries in Africa, Asia, and the Middle East.
Joe has represented governments in mining and agricultural concession negotiations and advised on tax and royalty policies, stabilization agreements, and other economic issues related to large concessions. He has also advised on general issues of transparency, governance, and institutional reform. From 1989-1990, Joe advised the Polish Ministry of Finance during the initial and most difficult stage of the country’s transformation. Joe later established the Warsaw office of Hogan & Hartson (now Hogan Lovells), while at the same time was active in Ukraine and co-founded the Project for Economic reform. Prior to private practice, Joe worked for the U.S. Justice and Treasury Departments, the Federal Energy Administration, and the Cabinet Task Force on Oil Import Control. He also taught at the Duke Law and Public Policy Schools.
Joe stepped down from his role as ISLP Board Chair in December 2017. He is co-Chair of the Advisory Council of the Natural Resource Governance Institute, a founding Director of the Polish American Freedom Foundation, and a member of the Council on Foreign Relations. In 2010, he received the American Lawyer Life Time Achievement Award, and in 2015 was awarded the Commander’s Cross of the Order of Merit by the President of Poland.
Ruth Greenspan Bell
Ruth is Public Policy Scholar at Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars, Visiting Scholar at the Environmental Law Institute, and is associated with Columbia University’s Center for Decision Sciences. Her work involves governance issues inherent in managing domestic and international greenhouse gas emissions, and in part leading a program, together with Elke Weber of Princeton University, to harvest insights from behavioral social science research for re-motivating how humans use energy. Ruth previously held positions at the World Resources Institute and Resources for the Future, was Senior Adviser to the Assistant Secretary of State for Oceans and International Environmental and Scientific Affairs, and served in various management positions in the U.S. EPA’s Office of General Counsel. In 2007-2008, Ruth helped establish the conditions under which the Polish Foreign Ministry appointed a Climate Ambassador in preparation for Poland’s hosting the UNFCCC COP 14 in Poznan, and went on to support the Ambassador through the establishment and management of a Task Force.
Ruth publishes extensively on environmental governance and climate change, and is a long-standing member of the Council on Foreign Relations.
Christopher G. Cross
Christopher, a Partner in the New York office of Latham & Watkins, is a transactional lawyer and is co-chair of the Energy, Oil & Gas Industry Group. He is also a member of the Africa, Latin America, Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity, and Project Finance practices. Christopher represents companies, government institutions, sovereign and private equity funds, and lenders in international joint venture, acquisition, project development and financing transactions, primarily in the energy, extractive industry and infrastructure sectors. He has executed transactions in more than 30 developing markets in addition to the core Americas, European and Asian markets, and has been recognized in Chambers Global and The Legal 500 Latin America, and was listed as a leading energy and projects lawyer in Chambers Latin America, The Legal 500 U.S. and IFLR1000: Latin America.
Christopher holds an undergraduate degree from Dartmouth College, and a law degree from Columbia University School of Law.
Boris Dolgonos
Boris is a Partner at Gibson Dunn. His practice focuses on capital markets transactions and securities regulation. He advises issuers and underwriters on a wide range of equity and debt financing, including initial public offerings, high yield and investment-grade debt offerings, leveraged buyouts, cross-border securities offerings, and private placements. He also provides securities reporting counsel to U.S. and non-U.S. companies.
As a Partner at Jones Day, Boris represented both public and private corporations, investment banks and other financial institutions, as well as sovereign entities, primarily on the U.S. aspects of international securities offerings. He also advised public companies on corporate governance, securities laws, stock exchange rules and regulations, and periodic reporting responsibilities.
Boris received his BA from Harvard College and his JD from the University of Virginia School of Law.
Anthony F. Essaye
Tony began his career as an Associate in the litigation department of Leboeuf, Lamb & Leiby in New York. In 1963, he moved to Washington, D.C. to take a position as an attorney with the Peace Corps, where he would go on to serve as Associate General Counsel and Deputy General Counsel, engaging in a wide variety of international legal work. In 1967, Tony joined what would become Rogers & Wells where he became Partner and soon after head of the Paris office, practicing as a Conseil Juridique and representing American and other corporate clients in transactions throughout Western Europe. Tony eventually returned to the U.S. as Managing Partner of the firm’s Washington office, a position he held until 1998. In 2000, Rogers & Wells merged with the British-based international firm Clifford Chance, where Tony was also a Partner, retiring in 2002 to serve as co-President of ISLP, the organization he founded with Robert H. Kapp.
In addition to being an ISLP Board Director Emeritus, Tony’s civic activity includes providing legal advice to a number of Democratic Presidential campaigns, as well as serving as Chairman of the National Lawyers Council of the Democratic Party and Executive Director and Trustee of the Clinton Legal Expense Trust.
Tony holds an undergraduate degree from Georgetown University and a law degree from Harvard University. He has served his country as an officer in the U.S. Infantry.
Robert H. Kapp
Bob is Director Emeritus, co-Founder and former co-President of ISLP. He is Of Counsel of the Washington, DC law firm of Hogan Lovells, LLP and served in the Tax Division of the United States Department of Justice. He has served as Chair of each of the following individual rights organizations: Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights, Washington Lawyers Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, American Civil Liberties Union of the National Capitol Area, and Global Rights (formerly The International Human Rights Law Group). He also served as Senior Advisor to Realizing Rights, the Ethical Globalization Initiative. Additionally, Bob has participated in international election observer missions in Namibia and South Africa. He is the recipient of The American Lawyer 2012 Lifetime Achievement Award.
Bob holds an undergraduate degree from the Wharton School of the University of Pennsylvania and a law degree from the University of Michigan Law School.
William C. Kelly Jr.
Bill is a Strategic Adviser and co-Founder of Stewards of Affordable Housing for the Future (SAHF). Prior to SAHF’s launch, Bill was a partner in the law firm of Latham & Watkins for 25 years. He was the co-founder of the Washington office, chair of the firm’s D.C. Finance and Real Estate Department, and long-time member of the firm’s Pro Bono Committee, having joined the firm after serving as Executive Assistant to the Secretary of the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development. His practice focused on multifamily housing, commercial real estate, and infrastructure finance. At the start of his career, he served as a law clerk for both U.S. Court of Appeals Judge Frank Coffin and Supreme Court Justice Lewis Powell.
In addition to ISLP, Bill serves on the Board of Directors of Ashoka, the Low-Income Investment Fund, and the Governance Institute. He is the recipient of a Purpose Prize Fellowship, which recognizes leaders who have launched second careers innovating in the social sector, received the Pro Bono Lawyer of the Year award from the Washington, D.C. Bar, the National Public Service Award from the American Bar Association’s Section on Business Law, and the Michael S. Sher Award from the Forum on Housing and Community Development Law. He was also named a Friend of the Elderly by the Retirement Housing Foundation and served as The Peter Muller Visiting Professor at Georgetown University.
Bill holds an undergraduate degree from Harvard College and a law degree from Yale Law School.
Zbigniew Lasocik, Ph.D.
Zbigniew is Professor of Law and Criminology and Director of the Human Trafficking Studies Centre at the University of Warsaw, as well as President of the Polish Section of the ICJ. He is an expert of the European Commission and Council of Europe and a former Regional Director of the PHARE/TACIS Democracy Program. Zbigniew has participated in over 60 international missions, including fact-finding missions for the OSCE and Council of Europe, and is an expert of the UN responsible for the monitoring of two genocide cases in Rwanda as well as a former member of the UN Subcommittee on the Prevention of Torture (SPT).
An experienced researcher and teacher, Zbigniew is the author of numerous publications, including articles and books about criminology, human rights, civil society development, human trafficking, forced labor, torture prevention and prison systems.
Joel P. Mellis
Joel worked for GTE Corporation for nearly 30 years, before retiring as a Senior Officer. Prior to that, he served as Corporate Counsel for the Raytheon Corporation and a Senior Attorney for the Securities and Exchange Commission. He is a former member of the Stamford Urban Redevelopment Commission, former Chairman of the Connecticut Ballet Theater, former President of Meals on Wheels in Stamford, CT., former President of the Roxbury Community Association, and current Director of the Children’s Learning Centers of Fairfield County.
Joel is an adjunct Professor of the University of New Haven, a member of the American Bar Association, and the Association of the Bar of the City of New York. He holds a B.S. from New York University and a J.D. from Harvard University, and served his country in the U.S. Army from 1959-1960.
Patrick Murray
Patrick is a Retired Partner and former Managing Partner of Winston & Strawn LLP’s Paris office. In addition to serving as Coordinator for legal volunteers for ISLP’s Haiti Program, Patrick serves on the Advisory Board of NGO Partners in Health, a major provider of health care for the world’s poor, and works actively with its related entity, Zanmi Lasanté-PARIS, a French NGO supporting education and rural development in Haiti’s Central Plateau.
Joseph Onek
Joe is a Principal of The Raben Group, specializing in health care, national security and civil liberties. He first entered government service as a law clerk to Chief Judge David L. Bazelon of the District of Columbia Circuit and Supreme Court Justice William J. Brennan, and as a staffer for Senator Ted Kennedy. Joe served as a member of the White House Domestic Policy staff and as Deputy Counsel to the President during the Carter Administration, as Principal Deputy Associate Attorney General and Senior Coordinator for Rule of Law in the State Department, and as Senior Counsel to Speaker of the House Nancy Pelosi. In the private sector, Joe was a lawyer at CLASP and at two Washington law firms. In addition to serving as a Director of ISLP, Joe is a member of the Council on Foreign Relations and Chairman of the Board of CLASP.
Joe holds a B.A. from Harvard College, an M.A. from the London School of Economics, which he attended as a Marshall Scholar, and a LL.B. from Yale Law School.
Ank Santens
Ank is a Partner at White & Case LLP in New York, specializing in international arbitration and serving as counsel or arbitrator in commercial, investment, construction, and insurance arbitrations around the world, under all major international as well as ad hoc and regional arbitration rules. She is Chair of the Arbitration Committee and a Member of the Board, the Advisory Council and the International Arbitration Council of the International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR). Additionally, Ank is a Member of the Executive Committee of the Foundation for International Arbitration Advocacy (FIAA), and serves on the ICCA-Queen Mary Task Force on Third Party Funding, the Program Committee of NYIAC, the Advisory Board of the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA), the Board of Directors of The Flemish in the World USA, and the Editorial Committee of International Arbitration Case Law.
Ank has been named Best in Commercial Arbitration at Euromoney’s Americas Women in Business Law Awards 2016, Rising Star of the Year at Euromoney’s Global Arbitration Awards 2014, one of 44 “Rising Stars” in the New York legal profession by New York Law Journal, 2013, and one of the world’s “45 under 45” leading international arbitration practitioners by Global Arbitration Review, 2011.
Lois J. Schiffer
Lois has been General Counsel at the U.S. National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration since 2010. An environmental lawyer with extensive experience in natural resources and pollution protection laws through her work in federal jobs, private practice, and non-profit organizations, from 1993-2001, Lois served as Assistant Attorney General for the Environment and Natural Resources Division of the Department of Justice, responsible for cases related to pollution, natural resources, wildlife, tribal law, and federal lands. Prior to that, Lois served as General Counsel to the National Capital Planning Commission and National Public Radio, and was in private practice at Lewis Baach. She has been an adjunct professor of environmental law at Georgetown University Law Center for 30 years, is the recipient of the Charles Fahy Distinguished Adjunct Professor Award at Georgetown University Law Center, as well as the Edmund J. Randolph Award for outstanding service at the Department of Justice.
Lois holds an undergraduate degree from Radcliffe College and a law degree from Harvard Law School.
Craig Owen White
Craig is a Partner at Hahn Loeser and Parks, focused on representing and counseling established and growth-oriented companies in mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, enterprise governance, financing and licensing issues both domestically and internationally. He has particular experience serving as primary outside corporate counsel to business enterprises.
Craig’s role as a legal advisor to businesses is complemented by his experience as a corporate counselor, which includes service as a member of Great Lakes Cheese Co., Inc., one of the largest privately-owned food companies in the U.S., and as the primary U.S. corporate counsel for Head NV, a European-based international sports equipment conglomerate. His practice experience also includes counseling clients on structuring and executing business strategies, and he has represented his clients in a wide range of transactions including asset and stock sales and purchases, joint ventures, strategic alliances, cooperative research and development agreements, trademark licensing agreements, close corporation and shareholders agreements, joint venture agreements and executive employment agreements.
Since 2007, Craig has been listed in the category of Corporate Governance & Compliance Law in every edition of The Best Lawyers in America, and in the editions of Ohio Super Lawyers from 2004-2006 and 2010-2015. Craig is AV® Preeminent™ Rated by Martindale-Hubbell.
In Memoriam
Richard N. Winfield
Dick taught media law at Columbia and Fordham law schools, and served as of counsel in the international law firm of Clifford Chance (having initially been a Partner at Rogers & Wells), where he was engaged in a communications and commercial litigation practice with emphasis on First Amendment litigation. Dick was for many years General Counsel for the Associated Press, and worked closely with American publishers and editors, defending the organization as well as other media clients in hundreds of press freedom cases.
Dick’s deep involvement in extending freedom of the press was reflected in his pro bono, volunteer work, teaching, and previous law practice. Having worked abroad in over 20 countries, Dick created and co-chaired ISLP’s media law working group, and in 2015 was honored by the organization with its Global Pro Bono Visionary award. In addition to serving as ISLP’s Board Treasurer, he was chair of The Fund for Peace, a Washington-based NGO, and the World Press Freedom Committee.
Dick had an undergraduate degree from Villanova University and a law degree from the Georgetown University Law Center. He served his country as a U.S. naval officer for four years, when he taught European history as well as U.S. diplomatic history at the U.S. Naval Academy in Annapolis, Maryland.
David Birenbaum
David was Of Counsel at Fried, Frank, having retired as a Partner after more than thirty years with the firm. He has served for two years as the U.S. Ambassador to the UN for UN Management and Reform, was a public member of the U.S. Delegation to the UN Conference on Human rights in Geneva, served as Associate General Counsel of the National Advisory Commission on Civil Disorders, and was a Senior Scholar at the Woodrow Wilson International Center for Scholars. In addition to serving as a Director of ISLP, David founded the Emergency Coalition for U.S. Financial Support of the UN, serving as its chair for more than ten years, and serves on the International Advisory Council of the United States Institute of Peace.