Session 4 Speakers
"ISDS- An Asian Model?"
[Session 4] Moderators
Anna Joubin-Bret
Secretary, UNCITRAL
Ms. Anna Joubin-Bret is the Secretary of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and the Director of the International Trade Law Division in the Office of Legal Affairs of the United Nations, which functions as the substantive secretariat for UNCITRAL. She is the ninth Secretary of the Commission since it was established by the General Assembly in 1966.
Prior to her appointment on 24 November 2017, Ms. Joubin-Bret practiced law in Paris, specializing in International Investment Law and Investment Dispute Resolution. She focused on serving as counsel, arbitrator, mediator and conciliator in international investment disputes. She served as arbitrator in several ICSID, UNCITRAL and ICC disputes. Prior to 2011 and for 15 years, Ms. Joubin-Bret was the Senior Legal Adviser for the United Nations Conference on Trade and Development (UNCTAD). She edited and authored seminal research and publications on international investment law, notably the Sequels to UNCTAD IIA Series and co-edited with Jean Kalicki a book on Reform of Investor-State Dispute Settlement in 2015.
Ms. Joubin-Bret holds a post-graduate degree (DEA) in Private International Law from the University of Paris I, Panthéon-Sorbonne, a Masters Degree in International Economic Law from University Paris I and in Political Science from Institut d'Etudes Politiques. She was Legal Counsel in the legal department of the Schneider Group, General Counsel of the KIS Group and Director-Export of Pomagalski S.A. She was appointed judge at the Commercial Court in Grenoble (France) and was elected Regional Counsellor of the Rhône-Alpes Region in 1998.
Hi-Taek Shin
Independent Arbitrator, Twenty Essex
Professor Hi-Taek Shin is a distinguished arbitrator at Twenty Essex Chambers. His career uniquely spans roles as a counsel, academic, arbitrator, and public servant. Before transitioning to academia in 2007, he was a long-time partner at Kim & Chang, one of Korea’s leading law firms, where he specialized in cross-border transactions, including mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, and shareholders’ agreements, as well as in resolving disputes arising from such transactions.
From 2007 to 2017, Professor Shin taught international business transactions and the investor-State dispute settlement (ISDS) at Seoul National University School of Law. He also served as Chairman of the Korea Trade Commission (2016-2019), where he oversaw Korea's trade remedies and related investigations.
His extensive expertise encompasses the settlement of international investment disputes and various commercial disputes, such as disputes arising out of or related to the purchase and sale of corporate entities and assets, joint ventures, shareholder agreements, complicated financial transactions and sectors like renewable energy and defense industries.
Professor Shin has served as sole, presiding, and co-arbitrator in numerous international investment and commercial arbitrations under the auspices of major arbitral institutions worldwide. He is on the panels of arbitrators for HKIAC, AAA/ICDR, ICSID, JCAA, KCAB INTERNATIONAL, SCIA, SIAC, and THAC. He is serving as a member of the Governing Board of ICCA and international advisory board of the Vienna International Arbitration Centre.
From 2018 to 2022, he held the position of Chairman of KCAB INTERNATIONAL, the international division of the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board.
Professor Shin holds a law degree from Seoul National University, as well as an LL.M. and J.S.D. from Yale Law School. For further details, please refer to please refer to Professor Hi-Taek Shin - Twenty Essex.
[Session 4] Speakers
Aurelia Antonietti
Senior Legal Adviser, ICSID
Ms. Aurélia Antonietti serves as Senior Legal Adviser at the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) and is the Team Leader for the francophone team. She has served as Secretary of the Tribunal in various arbitral proceedings in the field of investment arbitration. She has previously worked in the field of commercial and investment arbitration as an associate with law firms in France and Switzerland. She is admitted to the Paris Bar and to practice law in the State of New York and as solicitor in England and Wales.
Arne Fuchs
Partner, Ashurst
Arne is a partner and Global Head of International Arbitration at Ashurst.
Working with a multi-national team of lawyers, Arne is a trusted advisor to clients around the world. He specialises in complex international disputes, including those with sovereign States and State-owned entities. He has acted on some of the most high-profile, politically sensitive matters of recent years, representing clients in negotiations, arbitrations, mediations, and enforcement proceedings.
Arne has been recognised as both "Global Leader" and "National Leader (Germany)" for arbitration by Global Arbitration Review (GAR). Similarly, leading directories such as GAR 100, Chambers, Legal 500 and the Expert Guide Commercial Arbitration recommend him for his dispute resolution expertise.
His peers and clients describe him as "a prominent name in the investment arbitration space“, "always one of the smartest in a room and a very quick thinker", "very smart", "an excellent lawyer and arbitrator", "THE name for investment arbitration in Germany", and "phenomenally hard working“.
Arne serves as delegate of the German National Committee of the ICC on the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR and is a member of the Arbitration Committee of the IBA.
In addition to his role as counsel, Arne also acts as (sole, co-, presiding) arbitrator. Chambers Europe und Chambers Global have recognized him as "Most in Demand Arbitrator Germany". He is a Fellow of the Malaysian Institute of Arbitrators (FMIArb) and was appointed to the list of arbitrators of the Japan Commercial Arbitration Association (JCAA), the Panel of Arbitrators of the Asian International Arbitration Centre (AIAC), the original pool of arbitrators and mediators at the Court of Arbitration for Art (CAfA) in The Hague, Netherlands as well as the Panel of Mediators of the Energy Community in Vienna, Austria. He is also a Member of the HKIAC Users’ Council.
Beomsu Kim
Partner, Baker McKenzie & KL Partners JV
Mr. Beomsu Kim is the Joint Representative at Baker McKenzie & KL Partners Joint Venture Law Firm. Mr. Kim’s practice focuses on commercial arbitration, investor-state disputes, cross-border litigation. He heads the Dispute Resolution Practice Group for Baker McKenzie & KL Partners Joint Venture Law Firm.
Prior to establishing KL Partners, Mr. Kim was a partner at Shin & Kim leading the International Dispute Resolution practice group over 16 years. He also had previously served as a judge at the district courts of Korea for nine years before joining Shin & Kim.
His main areas of practice are international arbitration and cross-border litigation. He is a member of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC)’s International Court of Arbitration and has served as an arbitrator in arbitration proceedings under the auspices of the ICC, the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL) and the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB), among others. Mr. Kim also represents investors in the first ever investor-state dispute (ISD).
Mr. Kim is the former President of the Korean Council of International Arbitration (KOCIA) and was a member of the Management Committee of the Seoul International Dispute Resolution Center (SIDRC). He also served as an advisor to the KCAB International Committee. He is the former Executive Director of International Relations for the Korean Bar Association.
Mr. Kim has consistently been chosen as a leading lawyer in the fields of international arbitration and corporate matters and has continuously received favorable reviews in leading foreign legal journals such as Chambers, IFLR1000 and Legal500. Of particular note, Mr. Kim was named by ALB as one of “Asia’s Super 50 Dispute Lawyers” in 2021, considering factors such as expertise, visibility, reputation and dedicated client service.
Yoshimi Ohara
Partner, Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu
Yoshimi is a partner at Nagashima Ohno & Tsunematsu in Tokyo, Japan. Her practice focuses on dispute settlement by mediation, arbitration and litigation. With a strong corporate and IP background, she has extensive experience in dealing with disputes covering a wide range of subjects, including joint ventures, M&A, investment, energy, construction, technology transfer, intellectual property, shipping, sales and distribution. She served as counsel in international arbitration under the rules of the ICC, ICSID, AAA/ICDR, SIAC and JCAA. She also served as co-arbitrator, sole arbitrator and chair arbitrator under rules of the ICC, SIAC, JCAA, KCAB, VIAC, ICDR, UNCITRAL and ICSID (ad hoc committee member). She is a member of the Governing Board of the ICCA, a member of the Board of the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA) and a member of the Executive Director of the Japan Association of Arbitrators (JAA). She is a former Vice President of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA) and the ICC International Court of Arbitration (ICC). She is listed as a member of the ICSID panel of arbitrators. She also has contributed to shaping soft law in international arbitration through IBA activities. She is admitted to the Japanese Bar and the New York Bar and received a LLM degree from Harvard Law School.
Junyeul (Alex) Yang
Public Prosecutor, Ministry of Justice Korea
Junyeul (Alex) Yang is a public prosecutor at the Korean Ministry of Justice's International Dispute Settlement Division, where he serves as the in-house lead counsel for ISDS cases brought against Korea, including those involving Lone Star, Schindler, and a Chinese investor (Min v. Korea). In 2024, he successfully led the defense in the Min v. Korea case, securing a full victory for Korea and recovering costs of approximately KRW 4.9 billion.
Prosecutor Yang began his legal career after passing the 52nd Korean Judicial Exam in 2010. He earned his law degree from Korea University College of Law in 2012 and completed his legal training at the Judicial Research and Training Institute of the Korean Supreme Court in 2014. In 2015, he joined the Ministry of Justice’s International Legal Affairs Division as a public-service judge advocate, specializing in ISDS. Yang advanced his expertise by earning a Master’s in International Investment Law from Seoul National University under the guidance of Professor Hi-Taek Shin, and his thesis on state attribution and responsibility in ISDS cases earned him the Myres S. McDougal Prize.
In 2017, Yang was appointed as a public prosecutor by the President of Korea. He has handled a wide range of criminal cases, including international bribery and organized crime at District Prosecutors' Offices. His excellence in criminal prosecution was recognized with a commendation from the Minister of Justice in 2020.
Yang further honed his expertise in investment arbitration through an LL.M. from Georgetown Law, where he also earned an International Arbitration and Dispute Resolution Certificate. He has authored several scholarly articles on ISDS, focusing on issues such as transparency and government defense strategies.
He is also a licensed attorney in New York and previously served as counsel at the World Bank’s Legal Vice Presidency in Washington, D.C., in 2022.
At the Seoul ADR Conference 2024, Yang will share his extensive expertise and commitment to defending Korea’s national interests in ISDS cases.