Our Session 2 Speakers
“Keep Up or Perish: Practitioners’ Dilemma
in the New Digital ADR Age“
Session 2
[Session 2] Moderator
Kap-You (Kevin) Kim
Founding Managing Partner, Peter & Kim
Seoul
Kevin Kim, Founder and Managing Partner at Peter & Kim, is one of the world’s leading dispute resolution professionals and a key figure in the Korean arbitration market. Kevin has acted as counsel, presiding arbitrator, co-arbitrator or sole arbitrator in more than 300
international arbitrations
under various arbitration rules.
He has served as Vice President of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, Secretary General for the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA), Vice Chair of the International Bar Association’s (IBA) Arbitration Committee, and Court Member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA).
Kevin currently serves as Chairman of the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board’s (KCAB) International Arbitration Committee, Advisory Board Member for the ICCA, and an adjunct professor at the Seoul National University Law School.
[Session 2] Speaker
Athita Komindr
Head, UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific
Athita is Head of the UNCITRAL Regional Centre for Asia and the Pacific (UNCITRAL RCAP), managing technical assistance and capacity building programming available to over 50 States in Asia and the Pacific in key areas of commercial law, including dispute resolution, MSMEs, international contract practices, sale of goods, electronic commerce, transport, insolvency, international payments, secured transactions, and procurement. In that capacity, she coordinates with Governments and international and regional organizations with respect to trade law reform activities aimed at achieving the Sustainable Development Goals.
Athita has two decades of experience in the fields of international trade and economic law, arbitration, multilateral dispute resolution, and the rule of law and development. Prior to joining the United Nations, Athita worked with numerous Thai agencies, including the Thailand Institute of Justice, the Ministry of Science and Technology, the Thailand Arbitration Center where she managed the Arbitration and Legal Affairs Divisions, and the Ministry of Commerce in Bangkok (2002-2005) and Geneva (2005-2010), representing Thailand in bilateral, regional, and multilateral trade negotiations, WTO dispute settlement, and treaty drafting.
Admitted to the New York Bar since 2002, Athita has experience in both common and civil law traditions in the public and private sectors, and holds degrees from Harvard College, Georgetown University Law Center, and Harvard Law School.
[Session 2] Speaker
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Chan Hock Keng
Partner, WongPartnership LLP
CHAN Hock Keng is the Co-Head of WongPartnership’s Commercial & Corporate Disputes Practice and a Partner in the International Arbitration Practice. He has an active practice as counsel in Court proceedings and international arbitrations and regularly sits as an arbitrator.
He is a Honorary Legal Adviser to the Singapore Medical Association, a panel member of the Inquiry Committee as well as the Disciplinary Tribunal appointed by the Chief Justice to hear complaints against lawyers. He is also a Honorary Council Member of the Singapore Chinese Chamber of Commerce & Industry.
On the arbitration front, Hock Keng has been newly appointed as a member of the Court of Arbitration of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre.
He is also a Chartered Arbitrator of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and is on the panels of other arbitration centres such as the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board, Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration, Asian International Arbitration Centre, Thailand Arbitration Centre, Japan Commercial Arbitration Association, Borneo International Centre for Arbitration and Mediation, Wuhan Arbitration Commission and Hainan International Arbitration Court.
Hock Keng is recognised as a leading individual for his arbitration expertise by Chambers Asia-Pacific Leading Lawyers for Business and is commended by clients as a “very creative lawyer” and who is “commercially minded and very quick to grasp points opposing counsels make”.
[Session 2] Speaker
David MacArthur
Co-head of International Arbitration, Anderson Mori & Tomotsune
As Co-head of International Arbitration practice of Anderson Mori & Tomotsune, David is the only non-Japanese lawyer to lead an arbitration practice at a major Japanese firm. In this role, he jointly oversees an integrated team operating across the firm’s pan-Asian office network, representing diverse nationalities, qualifications & languages.
After an early career start as a US commercial litigator, David’s practice has centered on international arbitration for the better part of 20 years, based in East Asia. He has represented clients in high-value and complex arbitrations seated in jurisdictions across Asia, Europe and North America. Ranging in value from several million to several billion USD, these matters have traversed a wide range of industry sectors such as automotive and aircraft, life sciences and medical, shipbuilding and construction, online gaming and telecommunications, and other areas. In addition to commercial work, he advises and represents clients in investor-state disputes.
Frequently commended for his adept handling of technical and engineering issues, David has also acquired the critical “soft skills” of proficiency in the cultures, languages, and legal systems of East Asia.
David has been named as one of the “Top 100 lawyers in Japan” by Asia Business Law Journal, and is regularly recognized in Chambers and Partners, Who’s Who Legal, The Legal 500 and other peer-reviewed rankings.
In addition, David regularly acts as arbitrator and has been listed, nominated and appointed under the rules of various institutions including the ICC, SIAC (Singapore), HKIAC (Hong Kong), JCAA (Japan), KCAB (Korea) and WIPO. He is also a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb).
[Session 2] Speaker
John Rhie
Asia Managing Partner,
Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan
John Rhie is the Asia Managing Partner of Quinn Emanuel and the Head of the International Arbitration practice in Asia. John specializes in both commercial and investment treaty arbitrations, and has acted as counsel and arbitrator in arbitrations under most arbitral institutions such as the HKIAC, ICC, ICSID, KCAB, LCIA, SIAC as well as ad hoc arbitrations around the world. John is recognized as a leading expert in the field of international arbitration and is ranked by all major legal publications.
He is constantly ranked Band 1 by Chambers & Partners for South Korea (Dispute Resolution: International Firms) and Band 2 for China (Dispute Resolution: Arbitration).
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Ranked Individual - Dispute resolution (International Firms) - South Korea 2023
“a very good lawyer and a very strategic thinker” and “the best captain of the best ship”
Chambers and Partners
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Ranked Individual - Dispute Resolution: Arbitration (International Firms) – China 2023
“brilliant, intelligent and highly professional” and “deals with client relationships perfectly”
Chambers and Partners
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Global Leader – Arbitration 2023 (Recommended)
“always on top of issues and has a great strategic mind” and “approachable and responsive client service”
Who's Who Legal
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“brilliant and lucid” and a “great leader as a case strategist and office managing partner”
Legal 500 - Asia Pacific
[Session 2] Speaker
Matthew Christensen
Senior Foreign Attorney, Kim&Chang
Matthew Christensen is a senior foreign attorney in the international arbitration and cross-border litigation practice group of Kim & Chang.
Over the course of his career, he has acted for a broad range of private and public sector clients in dozens of substantial international arbitration cases under the rules of most major arbitral institutions.
Matthew is the immediate past-Chair of the International Construction Projects Committee of the Inter-Pacific Bar Association and regularly acts for clients in large and complex construction and energy disputes. In a typical case, Matthew’s roles run the gamut from advising on dispute resolution strategy, to taking evidence from Korean-speaking witnesses in their native language, to presenting oral arguments before English-speaking tribunals.
A Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, Matthew was honored for his contributions to the practice of international arbitration in Korea by the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy of the Republic of Korea in 2015. He is also a NITA Advocate and past recipient of an Excellence in Advocacy Award from the Singapore International Arbitration Academy.
Matthew is recognized as one of the top dispute resolution practitioners in Korea by Legal 500 and Chambers and Partners (Band 1), where he receives “outstanding feedback for his work in construction disputes” and is noted for his “keen understanding of Korean disputes honed through experience" and “strong advocacy and effective cross-examination style.” He has also been listed as a “Thought Leader” in the areas of construction and arbitration by Who’s Who Legal, where it is said that he “commands the highest respect not just as an arbitrator but as a person,” and peers and clients commend his “deep experience in the construction sector as well as in complex commercial disputes.” Matthew also assists clients in mediation proceedings and is listed on the Singapore International Mediation Centre’s specialist mediator roster for Korea.
A native of Salt Lake City, Utah, Matthew received his law degree from Harvard Law School and also holds an A.M. degree in East Asian regional studies from Harvard University as well as an Honors B.A. in English Literature from the University of Utah.
Matthew speaks Korean fluently and has a working knowledge of Japanese.