Common Law in Europe conference

Welcome notes

Chair of the Bar Council of England and Wales – Samuel Townend KC
President of the Cyprus Bar Association – Mr. Michael Vorkas

Comparative look at Common Law and the approaches to ECHR across jurisdictions.

Moderator: Achilleas Demetriades Chair CCBE Permanent Delegation to the European Court of Human Rights

Speakers:

• Dr. Daniel Wand, Barrister at 4 King’s Bench Walk
• Dr. Andreas Hadjigeorgiou – Advocate, Member of the CBA Human Rights Committee
• Michael Polak, Barrister at Church Court Chambers

Coffee Break

Mediation, ADR, and case management to resolve disputes before trial. A particular focus on recent developments in International Arbitration from the perspective of Common Law practitioners.

Moderator: Marcos Dracos KC, Barrister at One Essex Court & Visiting Lecturer at University of Cyprus

Speakers: 

• Tara Liao, Barrister at 7 Bedford Row Chambers
• Andrew Parsons, Barrister at Portsmouth Barristers Chambers
• Mark Fenhalls KC, Barrister at 23 Essex Street Chambers and former Chair of the Bar of England and Wales
• Marianna Lamaris, Advocate

Civil Litigation and the impact of Suspicious Activity Reports (SARs) on private law disputes.
Including:

• Unofficial freezing of assets
• Private law disputes
• Tipping off - alerting someone that they are under investigation, or their financial activities are under scrutiny.

Moderator: George Z Georgiou, Advocate 

Speakers

• Amy Davies, Senior Associate and Advocate, Collas Crill LLP
• Jared Dann, Barrister at Baker and Partners LLP, Partner and Advocate
• Nicola Kyriakides

Coffee Break

Discussions around recent developments.

Moderator: Steven Gee KC, Barrister at Monckton Chambers

Speakers:

• Nin Ritchie, Group Partner, Collas Crill LLP
• Konrad Rodgers, Barrister and Partner, Enyo Law LLP
• George Z. Georgiou, Advocate 
• Alexandros Demetriades, Barrister at Twenty Essex

Louiza Protopapas, President of the Limassol Bar Association and member of the CBA Board

Jared Dann is a Partner in the Jersey office of Baker & Partners, a leading independent offshore litigation firm.  Jared specialises in complex and high value trust litigation and in matters involving fraud and asset recovery; he also has considerable experience of contentious insolvency work. He was called to the Bar of England and Wales in 2007 (currently non-practising) and thereafter practised at the English Bar before moving to Jersey in 2011. He was sworn in as a Jersey Advocate in 2014. 

Many of Jared’s cases involve international or multi-jurisdictional issues, and he works closely with law firms in the UK and internationally. Recent work highlights have included acting for the Government of the Federal Republic of Nigeria in a series of complex and high value asset recovery matters in Jersey, and advising trustees and beneficiaries in high value family trust disputes. Jared has also frequently advised financial institutions and trust companies in relation to SARs and the no consent regime. 

Amy is a Senior Associate and Advocate in the Financial Services & Regulatory Team at Collas Crill in Guernsey. Before that she spent 10 years working as a criminal lawyer in the UK and more recently in financial crime prevention and investigation at an international private bank. Her practice encompasses a wide range of work, including criminal, financial services disputes and regulatory. She specialises in the defence of white collar and general crime. Clients rely on her breadth of experience both as a prosecutor and criminal defence lawyer to identify the right strategy to achieve the best possible outcomes.  

Alex is a barrister at Twenty Essex with expertise in shipping, commercial litigation, international arbitration, and public international law. His recent work includes securing an anti-suit injunction in the Renaissance v Chlodwig case to enforce a London arbitration agreement. Alex has handled various shipping disputes, participated in LMAA arbitrations, and completed a secondment in contentious shipping. Qualified in Cyprus, he advises on Cypriot law and has wide experience with jurisdiction and applicable law issues. Previously, Alex was a Blue Book Trainee at the European Commission, focusing on smart contracts and the Digital Content Directive. He interned at the Council of Europe, contributing to ECtHR cases. Alex holds a Law degree from the University of Cambridge and an LLM from LSE, specialising in competition, innovation, and trade law. He served as a second lieutenant in the Cypriot National Guard. 

Marcos undertakes a broad range of commercial work with emphasis on international arbitration, jurisdiction disputes, and cross-border commercial litigation. He is a qualified lawyer in England and Cyprus. His dispute resolution practice covers a diverse range of sectors including energy, construction/engineering, banking, technology, insurance, acquisitions, sanctions, investment treaties, and civil fraud/economic torts. Marcos has experience (as both counsel and arbitrator) of all major arbitral institutions and seats, and he is a member of the ICC Court of Arbitration. 

Mark was appointed a KC in 2014, and has held a unique combination of Bar leadership roles:

• Chair, Criminal Bar Association (2015-16)
• Leader, South Eastern Circuit of England & Wales (2019-2020) 
• Chair of the Bar of England and Wales (2022)

These positions have given him extensive experience in dealing with government, and the full range of challenges faced by the criminal and civil justice systems.    

His practise is largely leading and advising teams in complex and serious fraud investigations, and prosecuting and defending these cases when they come to court. He has worked as an 'Independent Compliance Expert', and is a qualified commercial mediator.

Steven Gee KC specialises in a wide array of commercial legal matters, with a particular focus on international arbitration, jurisdiction disputes, and cross-border commercial litigation. Qualified in England and Wales since 1975, his legal expertise covers commercial fraud, professional negligence, sanctions, insolvency, and chancery conflicts of law. Steven is also well-versed as an expert witness on English law. His practice has seen him admitted to practice also in New York, the BVI, the Eastern Caribbean, Antigua, and the Irish Bar. He has a notable presence in appellate courts across various jurisdictions, including the Eastern Caribbean, the Cayman Islands, Bermuda, the Bahamas, Hong Kong, the Republic of Ireland, England, and the European Court of Justice post-Brexit. Steven is an author on Commercial Injunctions with numerous articles published. Steven is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. He sits as s a part-time judge in civil, criminal, criminal appeals, complex family, chancery.

Tara is a barrister dual qualified in the UK and Hong Kong. Prior to her call in the UK, Tara practised in Hong Kong as a solicitor in an international law firm from 2010 to 2014 and as a barrister from 2015. She has been ranked as a leading junior in the commercial disputes category by Legal 500 Asia-Pacific since 2021. She sat as a Deputy District Judge in Hong Kong in 2021 and 2023. She is on the HKIAC List of Arbitrators and sits as an arbitrator from time to time. 

Tara has a broad commercial practice with a focus on commercial injunctions and civil fraud, international arbitrations, shareholders’ disputes, company, insolvency, trust and cross-border disputes. 

She holds a bachelor's degree in PRC laws from Peking University and has passed the PRC National Judicial Examination. She has been instructed by PRC law firms and clients in arbitrations and to provide legal opinions in PRC legal proceedings from time to time. 

Andrew is a specialist barrister, mediator and arbitrator with a commercial background and over 30 years of experience in work concerning business, commerce, finance and property. He is a former money and corporate finance broker in the City of London. He is also a business investor. A “small dragon.”

In 1998, Andrew was one of the first English barristers to become an accredited commercial mediator. Since then, he has conducted or acted as specialist advocate in thousands of mediations in the UK and internationally.

He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a Court Assistant to the Worshipful Company of Arbitrators. He has been the arbitrator or acted as specialist advocate in many private arbitrations, (including hybrid arbitration/mediations) in the UK and internationally.

Since 2008, he has been a member of the ADR Panel of the Bar Council of England and Wales. In that capacity, he has assisted with responses to issues concerning many forms of dispute resolution, recently for example about proposed changes to the UK Arbitration Act 1996.

Michael Polak is a barrister specialising in public international law, international crime, human rights, fraud, private prosecutions, strategic litigation, and serious criminal offences. He is known for his work before international courts, United Nations bodies, human rights-related arbitrations, and proceedings worldwide, including the courts of England and Wales.

In addition to his legal practice, Michael serves as the Director of Justice Abroad, where he has represented families and individuals in various cases, including those detained arbitrarily or involved in suspicious death circumstances. His international work extends to managing cases in numerous countries and engaging with United Nations bodies on behalf of clients. Polak's contributions to the legal field also include authoring articles on legal topics, such as INTERPOL Notices, and participating in legal research and advocacy at the international level.

Nin is a partner of Collas Crill based in Guernsey. She is known for her work in regulatory compliance and enforcement, financial crime, investigations, sanctions, risk and governance. Clients rely on her skills, experience, calm manner and technical expertise to provide advice and guidance on complex legal matters with high risk factors and potentially devastating outcomes. She is trusted by her clients to provide accurate, commercial and time sensitive advice. 

Konrad’s practice focuses on international commercial litigation and cross-jurisdictional fraud disputes. He has acted for a broad range of corporations, financial institutions and high-net-worth individuals on civil fraud, banking and shareholder matters. Konrad has particular expertise in Eastern Europe and Eurasia-related disputes and has frequently acted in cases involving worldwide freezing orders, other interlocutory relief and enforcement measures. Konrad additionally has experience of arbitration matters across an array of institutions.  

Konrad is ranked by Legal 500 (2024) as a “Leading Practitioner” in Civil Fraud Disputes, is recognised by Who’s Who Legal and Legal 500 (2024) for Commercial Litigation and was awarded the Lexology Client Choice Award for Litigation for the UK in 2024.

Dr. Daniel Wand specialises in a broad spectrum of legal areas, focusing on commercial disputes, chancery matters, public and international law, as well as human rights. He is a qualified barrister in England, practising at 4 King’s Bench Walk. His legal practice encompasses advising and litigating complex issues related to international commercial litigation, notably in aviation disputes, and he has significant experience in advising on remedies for gross human rights violations. Daniel has a robust track record of appearing in various courts across England and Wales and participating in arbitrations. Daniel has worked at the International Criminal Court and for the Seychelles Truth and Reconciliation Commission. His expertise extends to drafting legal documents and providing both written and oral advice in his fields of specialisation. Daniel’s work also involves significant contributions to legal research and publication, particularly in the areas of international law and relations.