Meet the new Young ICCA Events Coordinators
Our team is growing! We'd like to take this opportunity to extend a warm welcome to our new events coordinators Rahul Donde, Matthew Morantz and Bruno Guandalini (who will continue to act as Social Media Coordinator as well). We look forward to working with them on a host of exciting workshops scheduled for 2018 and to bringing to our members another year of quality programmes across the globe.
We encourage you to take a moment to get to know our new coordinators by reading their responses to the Young ICCA Proust Questionnaire below.
Rahul Donde
Age: 32.
Hometown:
Mumbai, India.
Current City:
Geneva, Switzerland.
Current Employer:
Lévy Kaufmann-Kohler.
Education:
B.L.S., LL.B. from Government Law College, Mumbai; LL.M. (International Dispute Settlement), from the Graduate Institute, Geneva and the University of Geneva, Geneva; LL.M. (Oil & Gas Law (ongoing)), from the Robert Gordon University, Aberdeen.
How did you get involved in international arbitration?
While I was an intern in India, one of the first cases I worked on was an arbitration against a celebrity for breach of contract (he wore the wrong watch at an event). I enjoyed researching issues of separability (the contract was said to be void as the celebrity was a minor), and designing a cost-effective and expeditious process for resolution of the dispute. The experience sparked my interest in international arbitration, and led me to the firm belief that because of its inherent flexibility, arbitration is an ideal dispute resolution mechanism for resolving commercial disputes.
What is your favourite virtue?
Honesty.
What are your favourite qualities in another person?
Truthfulness, kind-heartedness, humor, wit and efficiency.
What is your chief characteristic?
Diligence.
What is your main fault?
Too outspoken, this often leads to putting my foot in my mouth!
What is your favourite occupation?
Interacting with people from different backgrounds and learning about new cultures. It’s a fascinating world!
What is your idea of happiness?
An empty beach, piña colada(s), chips and a good book.
What is your idea of misery?
Orwell’s 1984.
If not yourself, who would you be?
Homer Simpson – he has it all!
Where would you like to live?
Sydney. Great people, great beaches.
Who is your favourite prose author?
Ramchandra Guha (Indian historian and social/political commentator).
Who is your favourite hero/heroine in fiction?
The Khaleesi from Game of Thrones. She’s been through a lot, and consistently manages to transform adversity into prosperity.
Who is your hero in real life?
My parents. They’ve worked hard to get through tough times, without complaint. They’ve also made the time to contribute to society, something which I see less and less of these days.
What historical person do you most dislike?
I have a long list, with Hitler at the top.
What is your favourite name?
Lassie – brings back fond memories of my dog while growing up.
What do you hate the most?
Getting partially wet in the rain. Either you go all the way, or you don’t!
What is your natural talent?
Putting people at ease.
What is your favourite arbitration-related decision?
In investment arbitration, Metal-Tech which used “red flags” to come to a finding of corruption. In commercial arbitration, Booz Allen v. SBI in which the Supreme Court of India set the limits of arbitrability in India.
Who is your favourite arbitrator?
Someone who pays attention to detail, without losing sight of the bigger picture.
Who is your mentor?
Several people have advised me over the years. At the moment, Laurent Lévy and Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler provide invaluable guidance and constant encouragement.
What is your motto?
Never say never!
Bruno Guandalini
Age: 33
Hometown: Curitiba, Brazil
Current City: Curitiba, Brazil
Current Employer: Guandalini Sampaio Advogados
Education: PhD Candidate – Univeristé de Nice (Sophia-Antipolis), LLM – Georgetown University, Master II – Université de Paris II (Panthéon-Assas), LL.B. Faculdade de Direito de Curitiba
What is your favourite virtue? Integrity
What are your favourite qualities in another person? Integrity
What is your chief characteristic? Hard-working
What is your main fault? Anxiety
What is your favourite occupation? Thinking
What is your idea of happiness? When I hear all humans have freedom, access to basic education, a roof and food on their tables.
What is your idea of misery? Feeling useless.
If not yourself, who would you be? Someone in the long-term future; progress intrigues me.
Where would you like to live? In a corruption-free world.
Who is your favourite prose author? My grandmother’s cousin, Dalton Trevisan, who has a very cynical realism style.
Who is your favourite hero/heroine in fiction? The Ironman. He made a war machine from trash in a dark cave!
Who is your hero in real life? My dad for his commitment to his family.
What historical person do you most dislike? Luiz Inácio Lula da Silva, convicted former Brazilian President.
What is your favourite name? Ana, for its simplicity.
What do you hate the most? Corruption and Hypocrisy
What is your natural talent? Creativity in finding solutions for everyday problems.
What is your favourite arbitration-related decision? Justice Kagan Dissent Opinion in US Supreme Court American Express Co. et al. v. Italian Colors Restaurant case, when he discussed whether an arbitration clause should be “set aside if proceedings in the contractual forum will be so gravely difficult that the claimant will for all practical purposes be deprived of his day in court”. I don’t particularly agree, but I admire those who render dissent opinion to discuss the coordination between arbitration and the day-in-court fundamental right.
Who is your favourite arbitrator? I don’t have a specific favourite arbitrator. However, I do admire all those who have put great effort in promoting and supporting arbitration for the last 50 years worldwide.
Who is your mentor? My dad, who taught me the mysterious concept of “family first”.
What is your motto? Part of Philip von Hemert’s ICC Inauguration Speech in 1923 could explain: “Let us hope that by establishing agreement between individuals of different countries, our work will also help indirectly and by slow degrees toward the foundation of international peace”.
Matthew Morantz
Hometown: Ottawa, Canada
Current City: New York, NY
Current Employer: Curtis, Mallet-Prevost, Colt & Mosle LLP
Education: Columbia Law School; Sciences Po Law School; Université Panthéon-Assas.
If you had to give an acceptance speech for this position, what would your first line be? Folks, it’s time to make arbitration great again.
What is your favourite virtue? Passion. I have had (and continue to have) the good fortune of working with tremendously driven and passionate people. Colleagues like that make it all worthwhile.
What are your favourite qualities in another person? Kindness and humility. It is easy in the dispute resolution world to become locked into an adversarial mentality; but I don’t think that doing good work needs to come at the expense of being good to other people. I appreciate those that are able to take a step back, and separate personality from advocacy.
What is your chief characteristic? My background training is in materials chemistry, so I would say that I’m slightly more analytical in my thought process than average.
What is your main fault? I practice investment arbitration almost exclusively, and that’s a dream come true for me. I am still a bit wide-eyed and so my main fault (for the moment) is letting myself get too absorbed in the fascinating storylines underlying each of these cases.
What is your favourite occupation? Mine!
What is your idea of happiness? A world where robots do page-turning for me.
What is your idea of misery? A world where robots do the rest of my job for me.
If not yourself, who would you be? Aron Broches. For those unfamiliar, he is considered the principal architect of the ICSID Convention. Every time I read through the Convention’s travaux preparatoires, I am struck by how forward thinking he was in his vision for the way treaty arbitration would develop.
Where would you like to live? I’m spoiled in that respect, because I’ve lived between Paris and New York City for the past five years. I am quite happy in either.
Who is your favourite prose author? Samuel Clemens (better known under his pen name, Mark Twain).
Who is your favourite hero/heroine in fiction? Sherlock Holmes (minus the opioid addiction).
Who is your hero in real life? My mom.
What is your favourite name? Balthazar.
What do you hate the most? Norman doors (see here for an explanation: https://youtu.be/yY96hTb8WgI) and other instances of poor design.
What is your natural talent? I have always been a strong writer.
What is your favourite arbitration-related decision? That’s difficult for me to answer, because there are so many. But one that certainly stands out is the Award in World Duty Free v. Kenya. It includes a description of the almost-farcical process by which a bribe (or “personal donation” as the claimant characterized it) was paid to the then-president of Kenya. There is a particularly memorable portion recounting how the claimant’s CEO left a briefcase full of cash in the corner of the room, recovering it after his meeting to find that the $2m in bills had been replaced with a few heads of corn.
Who is your favourite arbitrator? The late Pierre Lalive. Both for his rich contribution to the ICCA; and for the fundamental way he has impacted our modern conception of international arbitration.
Who is your mentor? Miriam Harwood.
What is your motto? Take your work seriously, but don’t take yourself too seriously.