Confirmed speakers include:
Hussein Akeil - Group Chief Legal Counsel, National Commercial Bank of Saudi Arabia
Hussein Akeil is group chief legal counsel for The National Commercial Bank (NCB) in Jeddah, Saudi Arabia. Dr Akeil oversees the legal risk and legal affairs of NCB group members worldwide and of the whole group as a single entity. He has been head of legal since 2004 and group chief legal counsel since 2009. He was based out of New York for three years, working as an associate for White & Case, LLP. Dr Akeil is legally qualified in the states of New York and Colorado, in England and in Saudi Arabia. A member of the Global Counsel Leaders Circle, he obtained a BA in political science from California State University, an MA in political science from California State University and a JD from the University of Denver, with an emphasis on international and corporate law. Dr Akeil currently resides in Jeddah.
Audrey Chen - Partner and Lex Mundi Board Member, Jun He (Lex Mundi member firm for China), China
Audrey Chen is a partner at Jun He Law Offices. She joined the firm in 1993 and practises in the Beijing office.
Ms Chen specialises in mergers and acquisitions, foreign investment, banking and financing, general corporate work. She has extensive experience of energy, mining, automobile, retail, real estate, technology and IP projects. She has advised on various aspects of, and negotiated complicated legal documentation in connection with, such projects. She has also assisted many domestic and international clients from different industries with initial public offerings, venture capital financing and acquisitions. Ms Chen’s clients include many major domestic corporations and Fortune 500 companies.
Ms Chen previously worked in the New York office of Jones Day Reavis & Pogue, where she advised clients on investment projects in China and international business transactions.
Ms Chen holds LLMs from the University of California at Berkeley, School of Law (Boalt Hall) and Renmin University of China, and a BA from Beijing Shifan University.
She is admitted to practise in the State of New York, the State of California and China.
She has been recognised in The International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers 2009-2010 and as a Leading Attorney by Asia Legal Business, 2005-2010
Adriana Daiuto - Partner, Demarest e Almeida (Lex Mundi member firm for Brazil), USA and Brazil
Adriana Daiuto is the head partner of the real estate practice group at Demarest e Almeida, one of the top law firms in Brazil. Currently, she is the resident partner of the firm's New York branch. With 18-plus years of experience, Ms Daiuto is also active in the M&A and commercial contracts practice groups.
Ms Daiuto graduated from Universidade de São Paulo Law School in 1993.
She is fluent in English, Spanish, French and Portugese.
E Leigh Dance - President, ELD International, Inc, Belgium and USA
Leigh Dance leads global legal services consultancy ELD International, which she founded in 1993 following her management roles in legal and financial services globally. She has advised dozens of global corporate law departments on structuring and managing to achieve better results for their companies. Ms Dance brings together top global counsel to exchange best practices to improve their performance. An accomplished facilitator, she has moderated more than 80 roundtables of senior corporate counsel in 25 cities on all continents. She is the creator and director of the Global Counsel Leaders Circle, a membership-only group. With Martindale-Hubbell, Ms Dance co-founded and organised the Counsel To Counsel forum series internationally.
Through law department workshops and strategic projects in emerging and mature markets, ELD International has helped corporate counsel to improve the legal services function and compliance within and across jurisdictions.
She was recently appointed as a fellow in the College of Law Practice Management.
Fluent in English, French and Italian, Ms Dance travels internationally from bases in New York and Brussels. She has published extensively on issues and challenges for in-house lawyers in the Financial Times, The Wall Street Journal, ALM Corporate Counsel and many other publications.
Rich Donoghue - Chief Counsel, CA Technologies
Rich Donoghue is responsible for handling CA Technologies litigation and government investigations. Prior to joining the organisation in 2012, he spent over 12 years in the US Department of Justice serving as a federal prosecutor. He investigated and prosecuted a wide range of cases, including corporate fraud, public corruption, racketeering, street gangs and narcotics. In his position as chief of the Criminal Division for the US Attorney’s Office in the Eastern District of New York, Mr Donoghue supervised 120 lawyers and 60 support staff
Before joining the Department of Justice, Mr Donoghue spent seven years on active duty in the US Army. He worked in various positions, including prosecutor, defence counsel, magistrate judge and contract litigator. He received a BA in political science from Hofstra University and a JD from St John's University School of Law.
Elizabeth Duffy - Vice President, Acritas US Inc
Acritas provides international legal market intelligence and a firm foundation for successful strategy development to the world's leading law firms, including many of the Global 100.
Elizabeth Duffy’s specialist research skills and deep understanding of the global legal market allow her to apply strategic insight to the commercial needs of law firms. From her base in New York, Ms Duffy works closely with law firms across North America, the United Kingdom, the Middle East and Asia to understand each firm’s strategy and goals. She then extracts relevant insight from Sharplegal data and applies it to each firm’s business needs, at a global level as well as deep into local markets.
Sharplegal is the world’s most comprehensive annual study of the legal market, comprising the views of over 2,500 high-ranking general counsel each year, and delivers market trend and benchmarking insight to law firms and corporate counsel worldwide.
Amy Fliegelman Olli - Executive Vice President and General Counsel, CA Technologies
Amy Fliegelman Olli is executive vice president and general counsel at CA Technologies. She is responsible for the company’s law department, including all legal activities relating to software licensing, intellectual property, litigation and acquisitions. She also leads CA Technologies’ business practices and compliance, corporate secretary, internal audit and global security functions.
Prior to joining the organisation in 2006, Ms Fliegelman Olli spent nearly 20 years in various legal positions at IBM. In her last post, she was vice president and general counsel, Americas, and co-global coordinator, sales and distribution, overseeing a team of more than 200 lawyers at IBM on a global basis.
Since 2008, Ms Fliegelman Olli has served as a member of the board of governors for Touro Law Centre, a division of Touro College in New York. In 2010 she received the Legends in the Law Award from the Burton Foundation for her exceptional accomplishments as a legal adviser to top technology companies. She was also featured as one of Diversity Journal’s 2011 Women Worth Watching.
Ms Fliegelman Olli received a bachelor of science degree in business administration from the State University of New York at Oswego and a juris doctor degree from Western New England School of Law.
Michael Hughes - Deputy General Counsel, Compliance, Operations, Regulatory and Ethics, Accenture, France
Michael Hughes serves as Accenture’s deputy general counsel, compliance, operations, regulatory and ethics. In this role, he oversees a global team of attorneys responsible for the design, implementation and monitoring of Accenture’s global and local compliance programmes, as well as the legal support of the company’s geographic operations, client offerings, alliance relationships and global delivery network. During his 25-plus years tenure with Accenture, he has had multiple other roles within the company’s legal group, including overall responsibility for the legal support of the company’s operations in Europe, the Middle East, India and Africa, as well as its M&A activities.
Mr Hughes is a graduate of Bradley University and Hamline University School of Law. He is based in Accenture’s Paris office.
Julie Jacobs - Executive Vice President, Corporate & Business Development and General Counsel, AOL
As executive vice president, general counsel and corporate secretary, Julie Jacobs is responsible for all legal, regulatory, compliance and public policy matters for AOL. Ms Jacobs also oversees AOL’s corporate development function, encompassing mergers, acquisitions and investments; its business development function, encompassing strategic partnerships and other commercial transactions; and its corporate services function, which includes AOL’s facilities and operations. In addition, she serves as corporate secretary to AOL’s board of directors. In this role, she is responsible for advising the board and executive management on corporate governance matters and strategic transactions.
Ms Jacobs was the principal architect of the 2012 patent transaction with Microsoft, generating more than $1 billion in value. She has also led a series of high-profile acquisitions in the digital content and online advertising space.
Prior to becoming general counsel, she served as senior vice president and deputy general counsel at AOL. She joined AOL in 2000 from Milbank Tweed Hadley & McCloy LLP.
Ms Jacobs graduated from Georgetown University Law Centre, where she was a member of The Georgetown Law Journal, and holds a bachelor of science degree in finance from the University of Colorado, Boulder.
Jonathan Maphosa - Assistant General Counsel, Reserve Bank of South Africa and board member of the Corporate Lawyers Association of South Africa (CLASA)
Jonathan Maphosa worked in private practice for five years at two of South Africa’s top 10 law firms before venturing into a corporate legal role. Mr Maphosa’s corporate legal experience has been gained in the banking industry, working for two of South Africa’s ‘big four’ banks. He first worked for Nedbank Limited’s ultra-high net worth client banking and investment division, BoE Private Clients; and then worked as a legal adviser specialising in derivatives transactions (Africa, foreign exchange, Islamic finance and regulations team) at Absa Capital (a member of the Barclays group of companies). Mr Maphosa has since just taken up a new role as assistant general counsel for the Reserve Bank of South Africa. In addition, he is a board member of the Corporate Lawyers Association of South Africa (CLASA) and sits on the CLASA Training Committee, where he plays a key role in formulating CLASA strategy on corporate counsel knowledge sharing and training.
Mr Maphosa’s current legal counsel role involves rolling out derivative products in African jurisdictions, drafting commercial agreements and advising on regulatory risk. He is involved in analysing the key considerations for legal counsel when doing business in Africa on a daily basis.
Catherine Muldoon - Chief Legal Officer, BDP International, USA
In 2002 Catherine Muldoon joined BDP International, Inc, a global logistics company with offices in over 114 countries, as general counsel, US. In January 2004 she was named chief legal officer. Ms Muldoon is head of BDP’s global legal department, with direct responsibility for all legal and contractual considerations associated with mergers and acquisitions, joint venture and business partner arrangements, tax planning, corporate structuring and strategy, business services, personnel, intellectual property, banking relations and real estate. She is also responsible for managing litigation. Ms Muldoon manages corporate governance and risk management programmes within BDP, ensuring that best practices are identified to the board of directors and implemented by the business units.
Ms Muldoon authored and manages BDP’s code of conduct, including its antitrust, anti-bribery and export compliance policies, and is responsible for creating product offerings to BDP clients associated with the foreign tax credit and REACH.
Ms Muldoon earned a BA from The Johns Hopkins University and a JD from Seton Hall University School of Law. She is chair of the Corporate Counsel Forum of the International Bar Association 2011-2013 and a member of the Association of Corporate Counsel, The Forum of Executive Women and the National Association of Professional Women.
Martha Rees - Vice President and Assistant General Counsel, DuPont, USA
Martha L Rees is vice president and assistant general counsel, DuPont Legal. Ms Rees has global responsibility for the commercial, environmental, corporate/securities and M&A legal practices for DuPont. She also serves as chief antitrust counsel and chief environmental counsel.
She joined DuPont in 1973 as a research engineer at the experimental station in Wilmington, Delaware, and later transitioned to a career in DuPont Legal. Her experience in DuPont Legal includes assignments as a commercial counsel for a series of DuPont businesses, as a corporate/securities lawyer and in government affairs. She was named associate general counsel in 1998 and was appointed to her current position in October 2006.
Ms Rees is a graduate of Purdue University with a BS in civil engineering. She received her JD from Georgetown University Law Centre and is admitted to the District of Columbia Bar. She is a member of the board of Easter Seals Delaware and Maryland’s Eastern Shore and the board of the Environmental Law Institute.
Peter Rees - Legal Director, Royal Dutch Shell
Peter Rees QC is legal director of Royal Dutch Shell plc. He has ultimate responsibility for the Shell global legal function and advises the Shell group management on all legal matters of group-wide importance. The Shell legal function comprises some 1,000 staff, of whom around 700 are lawyers or IP professionals, and includes the ethics and compliance office.
Peter started his legal career in 1979 at international law firm Norton Rose. He became a partner in 1987 and head of dispute resolution and a member of the executive committee in 1997. In 2006 he joined Debevoise & Plimpton as a partner in its London office. In 2009 he was appointed queen’s counsel.
He has a law degree from Downing College, Cambridge and an MBA from Nottingham Trent University. He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a chartered arbitrator and an accredited adjudicator and mediator.
Mr Rees is a former chair of the International Construction Projects Committee of the International Bar Association, the Technology and Construction Solicitors’ Association and the Board of Management of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He is a council member of the International Chamber of Commerce UK and a member of the Court of the London Court of International Arbitration.
Alejandro Rodriguez Guillen - General Counsel and Integrity Officer, ABB Mexico
Alejandro Rodriguez Guillen is general counsel and integrity officer for ABB in Mexico. Previously, Mr Rodriguez Guillen was at Pelayo, Aguirre y Asociados law firm. An active member of the Barra Mexicana Colegio de Abogados, he has written several articles on compliance and integrity matters for BMA La Barra magazine. Mr Rodriguez Guillen is a member of the American Chamber of Commerce in Mexico and has presented on integrity matters at the Nordic Chamber of Commerce. He was named General Counsel of the Year at the International Law Office Latin American Counsel Awards 2013.
Mr Rodriguez Guillen holds a bachelor’s degree in law from Universidad Autónoma de Baja California (UABC); a postgraduate degree in cyberlaw and society and communication in business from Harvard University Extension School; a postgraduate degree in international commercial law from UABC; a master’s in commercial and corporate law from Panamericana University; and a postgraduate degree in energy law from Iberoamericana University.
Neil S Rosolinsky - Managing Director and Head of Employment Law and Employee Relations, Americas, The Royal Bank of Scotland
Neil S Rosolinsky is a managing director and the head of employment law and employee relations, Americas for The Royal Bank of Scotland (RBS), one of the world’s largest banks.
Mr Rosolinsky has worked for RBS for five years, overseeing employment law and employee relations functions in North and South America. In this capacity Mr Rosolinsky provides advice and counsel to the most senior business leaders of RBS domestically and abroad. Additionally, Mr Rosolinsky is ultimately responsible for management of employment litigation in the Americas, as well as liaising with various bank regulators. Mr Rosolinsky sits as a member of RBS's global legal leadership team, RBS's global employee relations leadership team, the RBS Americas legal and HR management teams and the citizens’ bank executive leadership group.
Prior to joining RBS, Mr Rosolinsky worked in the labour and employment group of Reed Smith LLP's New York office. Mr Rosolinsky also served as an assistant corporate counsel for the City of New York under Mayor Giuliani.
Mr Rosolinsky is a graduate of the George Washington University Law School and New York University.
John Sander - Partner, Jackson Lewis LLP
John L Sander has over 15 years of in-house senior management experience in employment and labour counselling and litigation within the United States and globally. As vice president and associate general counsel at Merck & Co, Inc, he managed major employment and labour matters outside the United States after the company’s 2009 merger with Schering Plough. He joined Schering Plough in 1995, where he was vice president and associate general counsel managing the group responsible for employment, labour and immigration within the United States and globally. He also managed the compliance, commercial litigation and corporate security groups at various times while with Schering-Plough. Before going in-house, Mr Sander practised law at the Paul Hastings and Cahill Gordon firms. Mr Sander is president of the Pro Bono Partnership; vice chairman of the International Chamber of Commerce Commission on Arbitration; a past member of the board of directors for the New Jersey Corporate Counsel Association; and a speaker and panellist for numerous industry groups. He earned his AB and JD from Cornell University, where he served as articles editor for the Cornell Law Review. He also attended Harvard University with a National Science Foundation graduate fellowship, where he earned an AM degree.
Adam Smith - Group General Counsel and Chief Compliance Officer, DCNS, France
Adam Smith is group general counsel and chief compliance officer of DCNS, based in Paris. With sales of €3 billion, DCNS builds and supports conventional and nuclear submarines and surface combat vessels for navies worldwide, and is also active in civil nuclear engineering and marine renewable energy projects. Previously at EADS in Paris and Munich, Mr Smith joined the group in June 2010 and heads a team of around 40 lawyers and 80 contract managers, in addition to leading the group's compliance function.
A British and French national, Mr Smith holds an LLB from University College, London, an MBA from London Business School and recently completed an MA in history. He hopes shortly to commence a doctoral research project in comparative literature.
Helena Sprenger - Partner, Houthoff Buruma
Helena Sprenger is resident partner in Houthoff Buruma’s New York office. She advises clients, including many large international corporations, institutional investors and financial institutions, in the context of structured finance and corporate finance, as well as on the cross-border aspects of M&A transactions. She also has particular expertise in high-value asset financing and (the restructuring of) cross-border lease transactions. She has extensive experience of coordinating large multinational teams working together on multi-jurisdictional finance transactions. Prior to joining Houthoff Buruma in 2012, Ms Sprenger was a partner at a leading global law firm, where she headed the Dutch law practice in New York before starting her own practice in 2009.
Richard (Dick) Thurston - Senior Vice President and General Counsel, Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company
Before joining Taiwan Semiconductor Manufacturing Company, Richard Thurston was a partner at Haynes and Boone in Dallas, Texas. Previously he was regional counsel, Asia Pacific, and vice president, corporate staff, assistant general counsel at Texas Instruments (1984 to1996). Dr Thurston graduated cum laude with a BA in history from Alma College (Michigan) and with an MA and PhD in East Asian studies from the University of Virginia. His JD degree is from Rutgers School of Law (New Jersey). Dr Thurston also studied law at Soochow University, Taiwan while researching his PhD dissertation, “Civil Law Reform in China, 1906-1930”. Since the 1980s, Dr Thurston has taught courses at Southern Methodist School of Law; School of Management, University of Texas; School of Law, Soochow University; National Chiao Tung University; and National Cheng-Chih University. Dr Thurston has been active in numerous community affairs in the United States, Japan and Taiwan, and has received many awards and recognitions throughout his career, including the International Law Office Asia-Pacific General Counsel of the Year Award 2013.
Tony Wales - Director of Legal Affairs, The British Standards Institution (BSI Group)
Tony Wales joined the BSI Group in January 2010 and is responsible for the group’s worldwide legal affairs. Previously he was general counsel at
BSI is the national standards body of the United Kingdom, with a globally recognised reputation for independence, integrity and innovation in the production of standards that promote best practice and help organisations to improve their performance. It provides independent third-party certification of management systems, supply chain management solutions, product testing, standards training, business improvement, regulatory approval and international trade.
Arthur Washington - Partner, Mendes & Mount
Arthur Washington represents insurers and reinsurers in claims handling, coverage issues and policy wording work. His area of concentration is directors’ and officers’ (D&O) liability insurance and other professional indemnity insurance. Mr Washington has 30 years’ experience in D&O and related liability issues, and was co-drafter of the L86 Lloyd’s D&O policy form. He has written and lectured extensively in this area, including at the Practising Law Institute and Lloyd’s of London on D&O liability and insurance; Robert Strain on the then-savings and loan crisis; the American Conference Institute on professional liability; Mealey’s on employment practices liability; the Reinsurance Association of America on claims definition; and ARIAS on D&O insurance terms.
In representing the interests of insurers and reinsurers, Mr Washington has handled a wide range of claims, including claims arising from technology company initial public offerings, the collapse of Drexel Burnham, the liquidation of Bermuda Fire & Marine, the Daimler/Chrysler merger and the subprime-related failure of a major financial institution. He is a member of the Professional Liability Underwriting Society (PLUS) and the American Bar Association, Sections of Business Law and Tort and Insurance Practice.
To view the 2012 speakers click here.