Small and Medium Law Firms Conference – “Going for Growth”

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.

Dragan Dameski is one of the founders of Debarliev, Dameski & Kelesoska Attorneys at law (DDK). He is the head of the direct foreign investments department of the company. His experience is mostly in the filed of corporate, M&A, direct foreign investments, capital markets, infrastructure and energy. Dragan Dameski graduated Faculty of Law in Skopje, R.Macedonia in 1999, and completed his LL.M. in Business Law at the Skopje University. Driven from the business aspects of the legal work he also, completed Executive MBA at University of Sheffield. In 2003 Dragan Dameski was admitted to the Macedonian BAR Association. Since 2007 he is also a member of the International Bar Association (IBA).

Anne is the Lead Partner of our HM Connect network and heads up our Business Development Team. HM Connect is a referral and support network for high street and rural law firms which operates via Harper Macleod offering its full complement of legal services and expertise to such law firms on a fee-sharing, non-client poaching basis. HM Connect has over 375 member firms throughout Scotland. Anne set up HM Connect in 2008 and has since developed HM Connect into Scotland's leading referral network, with over 30% of all legal firms in Scotland. Anne also coordinates the Australia country desk, part of Harper Macleod's international offering. Anne is a Council Member for the Glasgow & Strathkelvin Constituency of the Law Society of Scotland and sits on the Client Protection Fund Committee and the Professional Practice Committee of the Law Society of Scotland. Anne is also a member of the organising committee for the Marie Curie Brain Game Black Tie Quiz. Anne won the title of "Up & Coming Lawyer of the Year" at the Law Awards of Scotland 2010 and was part of the team which was awarded "Energy Team of the Year" at the Scottish Legal Awards 2011 and 2013, Anne is also the co-founder and organiser of the Scottish Highland Renewable Energy Conference (SHREC). Anne led her team to a finalist position for "Best Business Development Team" at The Lawyer Management Awards 2013 in London and won Support team of the Year award at the Scottish Legal Awards 2016. Qualifications: LLB (Hons) Dip LP NP Qualified: 2007 Joined the firm: 2005

Eric is BBM’s Managing Partner. He is a well-known commercial lawyer who specialises in commercial litigation and corporate restructuring work. He acts for companies and insolvency practitioners throughout the UK and beyond. Eric has a particular interest, and is well regarded in the field of cross border insolvency. As a result he is regularly instructed to provide advice to foreign lawyers on Scottish insolvency and litigation issues.

I am a Partner and co-Founder of Lexington Consultants, advising law firms globally on their strategy and organisation. I am also a member of the Möller Institute at the University of Cambridge, a Fellow of The Institute of Coaching at the McLean Medical School, University of Harvard and the President of the Advisory Board of LawWithoutWalls. Over the last 25 years I have assisted more than 70 top law firms as they address their most difficult challenges. Annually I also deliver development workshops to more than 1,000 law firm partners. A lawyer by training, I completed an MBA in legal services before assisting one of the London law firms on their global expansion.

Linsay heads up the legal directories and tenders team at MD Communications. She combines her experience as a lawyer and senior BD professional with detailed knowledge of the legal directories process. She is adept at working with lawyers and barristers to produce persuasive, stand-out legal directories campaigns. As an experienced tenders and proposals specialist, Linsay supports firms at all stages of the tender or proposal life cycle. She is highly skilled at working with stakeholders to identify winning strategies and writing persuasive tenders and proposal submissions.

Mark is Managing Partner of BHSM LLP. He also heads up our Insolvency and Corporate Restructuring Department and leads a Team in our Litigation & Dispute Resolution Department. Mark specialises in advising Liquidators, Receivers, Examiners, Companies and lending institutions in all aspects of corporate restructuring and insolvency matters. Mark also has considerable experience in Commercial Litigation, advising parties in commercial disputes across all jurisdictions and in cross border litigation. Mark advises in a wide range of commercial disputes, including shareholder disputes; contractual disputes; professional negligence actions; employment cases; landlord and tenant disputes; fraudulent and reckless trading cases and restriction and disqualification actions. He has considerable experience acting for employers and employees in contentious and non-contentious matters. He advises on all aspects of the employment relationship including obligations, rights, and entitlements arising under employment legislation. Mark is also experienced in the field of Personal Injuries litigation. Mark holds an honours degree in BBLS from UCD and a diploma in Commercial Law awarded by the Law Society of Ireland. Mark regularly lectures in the Law Society of Ireland and sat on the Law Society’s Business Law Committee. Mark sits on company boards, providing strategic advice.

Arush Khanna (MCIArb, MMIArb) is an Advocate & Legal Consultant enrolled with the Bar Council of Delhi. He started his practice in 2012 after graduating from the Symbiosis Law School, Pune and thereafter completed his Masters (Business Laws) from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore. After starting his career at Karanjawala & Co., Arush went on to pursue counsel practice under Mr. Sanjeev Anand, Senior Advocate, Delhi High Court. In 2019, he co-founded Numen Law Offices, a multi-disciplinary law firm with offices at New Delhi and Mumbai. Arush specializes in Commercial Disputes with a key focus on Arbitration, Insolvency and Anti-Trust. The list of clients, he currently represents and advises include fortune 100 companies such as the Lenovo Group and Motorola Inc. and other major companies such as Corning Inc, Ansal API, Technip Energies and TGI Fridays’ etc. Arush is on the steering committee of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (YMG, India) and also the Confederation of Indian Industry ‘Task Force on Legal Services’. He was India’s National Representative and is currently an Officer of the Young Lawyers Committee of the International Bar Association. He is also a member of the India Working Group under the aegis of the Asia Pacific Regional Forum. He was recognized as a “Rising Star” by the Asian Legal Business and one of the “Future Legal Leaders” by the India Business Law Journal in 2021. In 2018, he was awarded as the “Young Achiever of the Year (30 years and below)” by the Legal Era Group. His law firm was recently awarded the “Emerging Law Firm of the Year” by the Business World. He is a regular columnist with reputed publishers such as the Indian Express, India Business Law Journal and Legal Era.

Dr. Zeina Obeid is a Partner at Obeid & Partners in the UAE and Paris, where she practices in the Arbitration department. She has acted as lead counsel in major international arbitration cases across the Middle East and North Africa region. She also acts as arbitrator and as an administrative secretary in several domestic and international arbitrations, both ad hoc and under international institutional arbitral rules, including those of the ICC, DIAC, LCIA, CRCICA, BCDR-AAA, and DIFC-LCIA. Zeina holds a PhD from the University Panthéon-Assas (Paris II) in France and an LLM from Columbia University in New York. Zeina is qualified to practice law both in Beirut and Paris. She frequently publishes articles on various topics notably in arbitration. In 2017, she published her book “Setting aside arbitral awards in the Arab Countries”, which has been cited as a reference book for practitioners around the MENA region. She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb) and committee member of the UAE branch. She is also member of the International Bar Association (IBA) where she holds the position of Officer in both the IBA Young Lawyer’s Committee (as co-secretary) and the IBA Anti-Corruption Committee (as Middle Eastern representative).

Expert in Italian employment law and industrial relations acting for global companies with operations in Italy.

Dr Babatunde Ajibade is the managing partner of S. P. A. Ajibade & Co, a leading corporate and commercial law firm with offices in Lagos, Ibadan and Abuja, Nigeria. He is a dispute resolution specialist and has substantial expertise in various aspects of commercial litigation and international commercial arbitration, especially in the fields of company law, insolvency law, energy law, labour law, hospitality law, construction law and investment treaty law. He has acted as counsel in both ad hoc and institutional arbitration proceedings and also sits as an arbitrator. He is the Vice-Chair of the International Bar Association’s Section on Public and Professional Interest ("SPPI"), a Vice-President of the International Chamber of Commerce (“ICC”) Arbitration Commission’s Steering Committee, a member of the ICC’s Africa Commission, a Director of ICC Nigeria, a Director of the Lagos Chamber of Commerce International Arbitration Centre (LACIAC), a member of the Lagos Court of Arbitration (LCA) and a member of the African Arbitration Association. He is the immediate past Chairman of the Judiciary Committee of the Nigerian Bar Association at national level and current Chairman of the Judiciary Relations Committee of the Lagos Branch of the association. Dr. Ajibade was called to the Nigerian Bar in 1989. He obtained a LLM degree in corporate and commercial law in 1990 and a PhD in private international law in 1996, both from King’s College London. He was elevated to the rank of Senior Advocate of Nigeria in December 2007. He was awarded the International Practice Fellowship of the International Bar Association in Madrid in October 2009 and became a fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators UK in January 2015.

Waringa is a Partner at MMAN Advocates and heads its Commercial and Projects Practice Groups. She has been part of several advisory teams providing legal advice relating to energy and infrastructure projects. Waringa has acted as a lead counsel on numerous mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions, to both local and international clients over the years. With 17 years of experience in corporate and commercial law, her practice also includes developed merger control and corporate advisory practice. She has been ranked for several years by internationally recognised legal directories Chambers Global and International Financial Law Review (IFLR1000). Waringa is a board member of The Book Bunk Trust and PharmAccess Foundation, Kenya. She is also a contributor to Getting the Deal Through as a jurisdiction author of Kenya For Merger Control 2020 and one of the authors of The Country Focus- The Legal Landscape, 2017, 2018 and 2019. She holds a Bachelor of Economics and Social Studies in Law and Political Studies from the University of Wales, Aberystwyth and a Postgraduate Diploma in Law from the Kenya School of Law.

Tiziana Sucharitkul is managing partner of Tilleke & Gibbins and oversees all aspects of the firm’s work, including directing the growth of the firm’s business, monitoring firm performance, and ensuring delivery of extraordinary client service. In addition to her steady leadership of the firm’s internal activities, a key aspect of her role is a focus on Tilleke & Gibbins’ international strategy and the firm’s relationships with global law firms and clients. With her clear vision and dedication to nurturing Tilleke & Gibbins’ status as a trusted partner for businesses operating in Southeast Asia, Tiziana works to increase the firm’s international profile and its ability to serve clients from around the world. A recognized leader in the global legal community, Tiziana serves as chair emeritus of the Board of Directors of Lex Mundi, a leading legal network of which Tilleke & Gibbins is a member—and for which she previously served as chair and as a member of the executive committee. In 2021 she began a two-year term as a member of the Law Firm Management Committee of the International Bar Association. In addition, she is a sought-after contributor to webinars, panels, and articles for her insights on topics such as law firm management, diversity and inclusion in the legal profession, and international cooperation in the legal industry. Tiziana is also an accomplished litigator, and she spent many years as director of the firm’s dispute resolution and litigation group, where she earned repeated accolades as one of Thailand’s leading dispute resolution lawyers by publications including The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, Asialaw Profiles, and Benchmark Litigation, which listed her in 2020 as one of the top 100 female litigators in the Asia-Pacific region for her work in commercial and transactional disputes and government and regulatory matters. She has frequently represented international clients in diverse industries including technology, financial services, consumer goods, luxury goods, and transportation. Tiziana is also a supporter of the local community through involvement in legal and social efforts in Bangkok and beyond. She serves on the board of Bangkok Patana School, where she sits as the head of the Human Resource Committee, the chair of the Steering Committee, and the secretary of the Foundation Board. Through her commitment to serving clients by building Tilleke & Gibbins’ profile and capabilities, Tiziana’s leadership is integral to the firm’s ability to provide full-service legal guidance for international, regional, and local businesses active in Southeast Asia.

Patricia is a qualified Irish Solicitor with over 30 years’ experience in the legal profession. She has worked in leading Irish and European corporate law firms, NGO’s, Inhouse legal and the European Commission. Patricia gathered broad and varied experience working in different practice areas, teams and cultures within the legal field. In 1995 she established a full-service law firm and today, Karanovic & Partners is the largest regional law firm in the Balkans. Her experience gained as a law firm founder to the development of a 200 strong cross border firm is unique and specific to building a firm in the ever- changing legal landscape. Having exited the firm in 2020, she tapped into that experience and built Gannon Advisory, a boutique advisory consultancy for law firms. Her particular focus is leadership development and strategic growth. She has been active in the IBA for over 20 years and held senior leadership roles including Co -Chair of the European Regional Forum. She is a committed advocate of building law firm networks and personal brands within those networks. These various careers within the legal profession resulted in astute observance of the disconnect between lawyers locationally, generationally and cross-sectorally. There is a strong need to improve communication and connectivity in a world where physical travel will be less of an option. As a result this year she established Platforum 9 which is a B2B social audio platform connecting lawyers globally. It was established to overcome those obstacles and create live interactive forums for conversation, learning and business generation. The problem/The legal profession is ripe for disruption as new technology and client expectations drives change. Law firms are scrambling to understand the implications and make the right decisions about their future. Many are challenged to train and retain talent. Young lawyers in particular want to develop further and faster using modern technology and tools they understand. Currently its not available to them. The solution/A specially designed app made up of a community of lawyers connecting through forums they are interested in, with properly moderated relevant content and an opportunity to connect directly for dialogue or generating new business opportunities. Find out more at www.platforum9.com Linked in: platforum-9