The Bar Council undertakes its third business development mission to Mexico in September 2023.
Barristers with substantial relevant experience in international arbitration and international investigations have been invited to deliver workshop over the two-day visit.
About the event
In September 2023, the Bar Council of England and Wales undertook its third business development visit to Mexico
The visit took the format of two in-person workshops, held in Mexico City over two days on Thursday 21 and Friday 22 September 2023. The workshops covered international arbitration and international investigations, and were delivered in conjunction with our host colleagues, each subject over the course of one day.
Applications to participate are now closed.
About the attendees
Barristers who subscribed to the Bar Representation Fee, and who are international arbitration and/or corporate investigation practitioners, applied through us to join the delegation to Mexico City.
Programme
Speakers:
- Carlos Loperena, ICC Arbitration Chair
- Francisco Gonzalez de Cossio, Mexican Bar Arbitration Chair
- Frederico Singarajah, Bar Council of England and Wales
- Shaylla Shabbir, Bar Council of England and Wales
Workshop aims:
- Understand different types of written statements of case and how they work
- Gain knowledge and understand different types of evidence and evidence production methods
- Being aware of varying culture and procedure in international arbitration
- Understand the purpose and techniques of oral advocacy and examination
Time |
Activity |
|
09:00-09:30 |
Registration |
|
09:30-10:00 |
Keynote speech: ICC Mexico Arbitration Chair and Former Mexican Bar President Carlos Loperena |
|
10:00-11:00 |
Workshop 1: Arbitration and Mexican courts |
|
11:00-11:30 |
Morning break |
|
11:30-12:30 |
Workshop 2: How to decide upon the form and draft effective statements of case and select the appropriate method for introducing evidence |
|
12:30-13:30 |
Lunch |
|
13:30-14:30 |
Workshop 3: Organizing proceedings in international arbitration and selecting and adopting regimes for the presentation of evidence |
|
14:30-15:00 |
Afternoon break |
|
15:00-16:00 |
Workshop 4: Evidential hearings, oral advocacy and witness exination |
|
16:00 |
Closing remarks |
|
Speakers:
Workshop aims:
|
|
Time |
Activity |
|
09:00-09:30 |
Registration |
|
09:30-10:00 |
Keynote speech: Special Counsel at Attorney General's Office Manuel Granados. |
|
10:00-11:00 |
Workshop 1: Enforcement of corruption investigations against corporates |
|
11:00-11:30 |
Morning break |
|
11:30-12:30 |
Workshop 2: How investigations come about and key decisions to make at an early stage, the scope of an investigation and possible investigation results |
|
12:30-13:30 |
Lunch |
|
13:30-14:30 |
Workshop 3: Identifying the proper potential defendants and jurisdictions, document preservation, collection and review |
|
14:30-15:00 |
Afternoon break |
|
15:00-16:00 |
Workshop 4: Witnesses – interviews and best practices |
|
16:00-17:00 |
Break |
|
17:00-18:30 |
Networking reception |
|
19:00-21:00 |
Dinner |
Details of the programme are subject to change.
Speakers
Sarah Gaunt
Sarah Gaunt, of 36 Crime in London, is an experienced criminal practitioner, specialising in serious economic and organised international crime and cybercrime.
Sarah presented on cryptocurrency and internal financial regulation in Kenya and Tanzania, as part of the Bar Council UK legal symposia (November 2022). She has presented several seminars on topics such as:
- cybercrime
- cryptocurrency and the financial recovery of crypto assets
- legal professional privilege (confidentiality privilege)
- public interest immunity
She is an advocacy and ethics tutor, and has taught and advised on the vulnerable witness programme. Alongside her criminal practice, Sarah has been involved with the UK Undercover Policing Inquiry since 2019.
Sarah sits in a judicial capacity within the civil and police disciplinary jurisdictions. She is a member of the International Bar Association Anti-Corruption Committee, and the Bar Council Representation Committee.
Mark Fenhalls KC
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.
Frederico Singarajah
Frederico qualified in England, where he works as a barrister. He is an experienced international arbitrator, having worked in over 250 international arbitrations as a barrister or arbitrator in various institutions.
He is a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb). A dual Brazilian and British national, he speaks native English and Portuguese, and conversational Spanish.
Frederico is recognised by the International Arbitration Powerlist from Legal 500, Legal 500 UK Bar and Who's Who Legal, and is among the most experienced and distinguished barristers in international arbitration. He is the author of several academic works, articles and book chapters on arbitration, in both Portuguese and in English.
In addition to teaching arbitration for the CIArb and the Honourable Society of Gray's Inn, he is also a lecturer at the University of Westminster in commercial dispute resolution, and at University College London in procurement of construction, engineering and professional services.
Joshua Hitchens
Josh acts in high-profile and high value disputes across commercial and public law. He is currently instructed in proceedings concerning the enforcement of a $2 billion arbitration award, a high value cross-border dispute in the High Court and a number of complex civil fraud cases.
He has considerable experience of financial services regulation and litigation having previously spent several months on secondment advising the Bank of England. Josh has particular expertise in sanctions and international trade.
Josh is currently instructed as sole counsel in one of the first court challenges to a decision to designate a person for an asset-freeze under the Russian sanctions regulations. He regularly advises sanctions authorities, companies, designated persons and transactional lawyers on sanctions and export control matters.
Our sponsors
With thanks to our event sponsors:
Headline sponsor
Nardello & Co. is a global investigations firm whose experienced professionals handle a broad range of issues including due diligence, anti-corruption and fraud investigations, civil and white collar criminal litigation and arbitration support; asset tracing, activist defense, political risk and strategic intelligence; digital investigations and cyber defence, monitorships and independent investigations, and compliance.
Our clients include the world’s leading law firms and financial institutions, Fortune 500 and FTSE 100 companies; high-net-worth individuals and family offices; governments, NGOs, sports organisations and academic institutions.
With offices in New York, Washington DC, Los Angeles, London, Dubai, Tokyo, Singapore, and Hong Kong, Nardello & Co. maintains a professional staff that includes former US federal prosecutors, US and international lawyers; former law enforcement personnel and intelligence operatives; licensed investigators, research analysts, and former journalists; financial crime specialists, forensic accountants and computer forensic experts.
Dinner sponsors
Von Wobeser y Sierra, S.C. is a top-tier and full-service Mexican firm, established in 1986, which has integrity, excellence, commitment, agility, and diversity as its core values.
The firm has 17 practice areas, 6 industry groups, and a strong and diverse team of world-class talent of more than 150 lawyers (including 23 partners, 6 of counsel, and 8 counsel) and legal interns, plus administrative staff.
Von Wobeser y Sierra’s mission is to solve its clients’ legal matters with the highest quality services, prioritising their interests and the success of their business, through an expert and solution-oriented team.
Santillana, Hintze Abogados is a law firm specialized in Mexican law that provides legal services to Mexican and international clients from different industrial and commercial sectors, including foreign investors in Mexico.
Our law firm is committed to practicing law under the strictest and highest standards of quality, ethics, transparency, secrecy, and responsibility to our clients and to society.
Our philosophy is to serve and satisfy the needs of our clients through our group lawyers and our strategic alliances with different law firms.
Our team represents Mexican and foreign clients from various industrial sectors and commercial areas, such as the pharmaceutical industry, medical devices, biotechnology and innovation sectors; chemical industry, manufacturing, life sciences and consumer industry; the food and beverage sector, hotels and tourism; laboratory tests, and luxury and retail products.
Our mission is to create a professional practice based on the following values: ethics and service, transparency, timeliness and secrecy, while keeping up to date with integration and teamwork.