Globalising your practice – challenges and opportunities

Stephen specialises in privatisations, and debt and equity securities offerings, especially those with cross-border elements, and has worked on listings on over 15 different stock exchanges. He also has extensive experience of cross-border M&A transactions and advising on regulatory and corporate governance issues. Stephen regularly trains boards on corporate governance best practice. Stephen has acted for buyers, sellers, targets, financial advisers and management boards, and sees issues from all perspectives. He has broad sector experience and, as a 'hands-on' partner, gets fully involved in all drafting and negotiations. Known for his global perspective and local knowledge, Stephen has practised in the United States, throughout Europe and in Asia, working on transactions in over 50 countries.

I am a French and British national and a member of the International Department of the Law Society of England and Wales since 2003. I am as of 1 February 2017 their Head of International, after five years spent in Belgium as Head of the Joint Brussels Office of the three UK Law Societies (England and Wales, Scotland and Northern Ireland). My fields of expertise include EU and WTO law, international legal practice and bar issues.

Ngoga Gakuba Thierry is a Partner at Legal Line Partners in Rwanda & specializes in arbitration, commercial litigation, risk & compliance with focus being Construction & Engineering, Finance and Banking, Shareholdings, Investment, Manufacturing & Joint Venture. In the last 19 years of his carrier; Thierry acted as counsel & have been appointed as Expert, co-arbitrator, sole arbitrator and chairman in CIMAC, KIAC, ICC and Ad hoc arbitration under Rwandan, English, Nigeria, Morocco, Zambia and Swiss Law with seat in Kigali, Casablanca, Nigeria, London and Paris. He is a Court member of ICC International Court of Arbitration and Chair of the ICC Africa Commission, A member of Advisory Council of School of International Arbitration- QUEEN MARY University of London. He seats in a number of Board of Directors in Rwanda and beyond. He served earlier respectively as first Registrar of KIAC, CEO of Rwanda Bar Association, in house counsel. He regularly consults internationally for a variety of arbitral institutions across the globe. Thierry is visiting lecturer of Arbitration Module at ILPD-Rwanda have been training for the BIC ITILS Globalization training series to lawyers as member of BIC-ITILS. He was identified as a “Future Leader” of arbitration by Who’s Who Legal (2017,2019 and 2021) .