An introduction to the officers of the IBA Corporate Counsel Forum

The arrival of the Covid-19 pandemic meant that continued professional development life almost came to a halt for most lawyers, whether in-house or in private practice. However, the IBA Corporate Counsel Forum has been working diligently to ensure that programming, material and engagement is available for the Forum’s members. This article introduces Forum officers and provides an overview of their engagement with the committee.

As in-house lawyers will likely agree, it’s important to get involved in professional development and the Corporate Counsel Forum strongly encourages your participation. In this article, we wanted to extend the opportunity for you to get to know your Corporate Counsel Forum. Whether you are interested in a speaking engagement, podcast, writing an article or simply contributing, the Corporate Counsel Forum has lots of interesting initiatives on the way, including at the IBA’s Annual Conference in Miami! The Corporate Counsel Forum includes in-house lawyers from all over the globe, and below is a special snapshot of its officers.

Graham Wladimiroff
Chair, IBA Corporate Counsel Forum
graham.wladimiroff@ap.averydennison.com

Graham Wladimiroff is Vice President and Assistant General Counsel for the Retail Branding Information Solutions (RBIS) group and heads the law department for APAC of Avery Dennison Corporation, a global manufacturer and distributor of adhesive materials, apparel branding labels and tags and specialty medical products. Prior to joining Avery Dennison in August 2017, Wladimiroff held various positions at AkzoNobel, one of the world’s largest coatings and specialty chemicals manufacturers and distributors. His eighteen-year career at AkzoNobel included the role of Board Secretary between 2006 and 2011 and the role of Director Legal Asia Pacific between 2011 and 2016.

‘One of the reasons I enjoy my work is that there is such huge variety,’ he says. ‘At the moment I and my team are providing support on, among other matters, dealing with the aftermath of an incident at one of our plants, the consequences of the situation in the Ukraine including sanctions legislation, developing a security posture for our highest risk locations and supporting the business in negotiating Software as a Service solutions with our customers – a new line of business for the company.’

As to why he joined the Corporate Counsel Forum, Wladimiroff says that many years ago he was invited to join a panel at the IBA and ‘got hooked.’

‘Involvement at the IBA comes with access to a huge choice of subject areas for discussion, [as well as] the network, both in house and at law firms, but of course also the camaraderie, the friends one makes,’ he says. ‘In a broader sense it fits into the external focus that I believe is an element of being a successful in-house lawyer’.

Harpreet Sidhu
Publications Officer, IBA Corporate Counsel Forum
Harpreet.sidhu@pethealthinc.com

Harpreet Sidhu is Pethealth Inc’s General Counsel, Corporate Secretary and Privacy Officer and is a member of the Executive Leadership Team and the Governance Professionals of Canada. She advises in all areas of corporate compliance and oversees the legal affairs of the corporation, including litigation, general contracts, employment, mergers and acquisitions, and patent and trademark matters. She also manages governance and regulatory compliance for the corporation and is responsible for all in-house ethics programmes, government affairs, and public policy activities on domestic and international affairs, and additionally oversees legal operations in Canada, Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States.

Sidhu mentors many new lawyers and students launching their careers in the law. In her role as a columnist for the magazine Canadian Lawyer InHouse, Sidhu strives to give back to the in-house counsel community. Her in-house counsel column is published every other month in the online edition. She has written on many different topics, such as cross-border issues pertaining to solicitor-client privilege; formulating the best in-house legal team; and the ins and outs of corporate insurance.

Sidhu has dedicated her legal acumen and much of her free time to bettering her community. She has incredible passion for and commitment to her community. Sidhu was selected as one of Canada’s Top 100 General Counsel according to Canada’s GC Powerlist for 2021.

Sidhu currently serves as the Publications Officer for the IBA Corporate Counsel Forum. Sidhu joined the Forum because she wanted to further her network from the local Canadian corporate counsel bar to an international level. She enjoys writing and preparing content for her fellow corporate counsel. The Forum has allowed her to give back to the legal community in a new way and also created new relationships at an international level.

Henry Shyn
​​​​​​​Website Officer, IBA Corporate Counsel Forum
shynhenry@yahoo.com

Henry S Shyn has recently joined Seegene Inc, a manufacturer of reagents for molecular diagnostics based in Korea, as its General Counsel. He is responsible for all legal and compliance affairs having an impact on the company.

Prior to joining Seegene, he was a partner/senior foreign attorney at Yoon & Yang. He graduated from the University of California at Berkeley and Boston College (JD). Since graduating from Boston College in 1988, he has worked at Cummins & White, Yoon & Partners, Yoon & Yang and General Electric Company’s Korea office (GE Korea).

At GE Korea, he first acted as Power-Northeast Asia and ANZ Senior Counsel and then as General Counsel. While at GE Korea, his additional roles included General Counsel for Power-Korea EPC and Executive Counsel for APAC Power Conversion. During his 30+ year legal career, his main practice areas have included general corporate matters, foreign investment, inbound/outbound mergers and acquisitions, and international dispute resolution, including arbitration before the International Court of Arbitration, the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board and the American Arbitration Association, as well as litigation. He has abundant experience in the acquisition, implementation, integration, protection, use, licensing, marketing and sale of technology, especially in the power-related industry.

Shyn’s first participation in the IBA was his attendance at the Annual Conference in Singapore in 2007. Since then, he has been very active in the IBA, serving in many official capacities on various committees, including the Asia Pacific Regional Forum, the Corporate Counsel Forum and the Law Firm Management Committee.

When he became General Counsel for General Electric Company’s Korea office, it became logical for Shyn to join the Corporate Counsel Forum. Through the IBA, Shyn has grown his global network of fellow in-house and firm attorneys and gained particular insight into new and innovative practices around the world, allowing him to provide stronger, well-rounded advice.
 

Barton Selden
Membership Officer, IBA Corporate Counsel Forum
​​​​​​​bart.selden@taulia.com

Bart Selden is the General Counsel of Taulia LLC, a cloud-based Fintech headquartered in San Francisco, with offices in Europe and Asia.

Selden was in private practice for 30 years before joining Taulia, and mainly focused on cross-border commercial transactions and company operations. He was Co-Chair of the International Sales Committee of the IBA from 2014-15, and has been an officer in the Corporate Counsel Forum since 2015.

Selden says that the decision to join the CCF was an easy one. ‘I had been active in the IBA for years, and when I made the move to an in-house position after 30 years in private practice, I found the CCF was a place where I could exchange views with people who have far more experience in their GC roles, and continue to share my viewpoint, which comes from my years advising companies from the outside, including on panels organised or co-sponsored by the CCF,’ he explains.

‘Eight years later, I continue to find the Forum a valuable place for the exchange of views among in-house counsel, free from the business considerations that attend any exchange between outside and in-house counsel,’ he adds.

Selden has a JD from the University of California (Boalt Hall), and an LLM in International and Comparative Law from the Vrije Universiteit Brussels. He is also the co-founder of Enkidu Wines, an award-winning winery based in Sonoma, California.

Abhijit Mukhopadhyay
Committee Liaison Officer, IBA Corporate Counsel Forum
​​​​​​​abhijit@sangamltd.com

Abhijit Mukhopadhyay is the President (Legal) and General Counsel of the Hinduja Group at its headquarters in London and is involved in the Group’s worldwide legal matters. He is a board director of group companies in seven countries and is involved in the decision-making processes globally across the Group’s businesses (Hinduja Group is a multinational with 150,000 people in 50 countries with yearly turnover of $15bn, engaged in 13 business verticals in the core sectors of the economy). Previously, he worked in India as the company secretary, chief general manager, director and general counsel in six major multinationals, private and public sector companies (with these positions being one step below Board level). Mukhopadhyay graduated in commerce law (with Honours) from the UK and India and in Company and Chartered Secretaryship from India and the UK.

Mukhopadhyay was the Vice Chairman of the ICC’s Arbitration Commission and a Member of its Steering Committee in Paris, and continues to be a Member. He is on the Advisory Council of the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (Law Faculty) at Queen Mary University in London, an Executive Committee Member of the Indian Broadcasting Federation and of the Confederation of Indian Industry. He has spoken at seminars and conferences in more than 20 countries, including many of the IBA’s annual and regional conferences, and published articles on law and the legal profession in many countries, including by contributing to articles in the IBA’s publications and participating in several videos produced by the Law Society of England & Wales.

Mukhopadhyay joined the Forum because in the past decade, he has worked very closely with the IBA leadership towards the cause of in-house counsel and has actively sought to create a close relationship between the IBA and the in-house community. ‘I have been involved in the activities of the IBA in the last ten years in various capacities,’ he says. ‘I am always in favour of a strong in-house counsel’s forum where matters of mutual interests could be discussed. I am glad that I am a Committee Member of our Corporate Counsel Forum where we meet and discuss regularly issues that are relevant and important to corporate counsel.’

Aleksandra Doerffer
Diversity and Inclusion Officer, IBA Corporate Counsel Forum
​​​​​​​aleksandra.doerffer@universitypensionplan.ca

Aleksandra Doerffer is Managing Director and Associate General Counsel at the University Pension Plan Ontario (UPP). She provides strategic, transactional and general corporate legal advice to the organisation across all functions and asset classes. She is involved in shaping the fund’s governance and policy frameworks as well as the internal legal function. Previously, she spent eight years at another Canadian pension plan where she helped create and develop a legal services group and worked closely with investment teams and senior leadership based in London, Sydney and Toronto. Prior to moving in-house, she practised corporate and securities law at two global law firms, in Toronto and London respectively.

‘A lawyer’s life at a pension fund is always dynamic,’ says Doerffer. ‘From a diverse array of projects and initiatives, to changing law and regulation affecting the fund and its investments globally, the portfolio of our in-house legal team is constantly evolving – there’s never a dull moment!’

Doerffer explains that she attended her first IBA conference several years ago and was immediately drawn to the organisation for its breadth of resources, networking opportunities and advocacy work. ‘As an IBA member, I enjoy the robust substantive content but also the incredible global network and ease of connectivity with lawyers across borders,’ she says. ‘As a member of the Forum, I appreciate the chance to openly discuss unique in-house challenges. Having had the good fortune to participate in the Forum as an Officer, I am also grateful for the new friendships I’ve made.’

Arjun Agarwal
Regional Fora Liaison Officer, IBA Corporate Counsel Forum
​​​​​​​aagarwal@chevron.com

Arjun Agarwal is Senior Counsel in the Upstream International Litigation Management group at Chevron and is responsible for managing disputes (arbitration and litigation) arising from Chevron’s oil and gas exploration and production activities outside of North America. Agarwal is specifically responsible for managing ‘major’ and ‘significant’ disputes on Chevron’s international major capital projects, encompassing onshore and offshore oil and gas developments; various processing facilities (eg, liquefied natural gas plants and refineries); transportation; power; and pipelines. His practice is truly global as he is managing disputes in Asia, Australia, Kazakhstan, the United Kingdom and West Africa. Prior to his current litigation role, Agarwal was part of the Major Capital Projects legal group at Chevron. In this role, he was responsible for negotiating high-value contracts for Chevron’s global major capital projects (upstream, midstream and downstream), including EPCI, EPCM, FEED, pre-FEED, and various one-off and master purchase orders. Prior to joining Chevron, Arjun was a trial lawyer at a prestigious law firm in San Francisco.

Agarwal has been a vocal champion of diversity and inclusion initiatives throughout his legal career. He is a member of Chevron’s Law Function Diversity Council whose mission is to increase diversity and inclusion among legal professionals both inside and outside the Chevron Law Function. Agarwal regularly speaks at conferences on diversity and inclusion issues faced by the legal profession. He was a past recipient of the American Bar Association’s Construction Forum’s Diversity Fellowship. In addition, Arjun is currently a corporate steering committee member of Equal Representation in Arbitration’s (ERA) Pledge, a member of Racial Equality for Arbitration Lawyers (REAL), and a long-standing member and contributor to the California Minority Council Program (CMCP).

Agarwal has become increasingly involved in the IBA over the past few years. He is a member of the Arbitration and International Construction Projects committees. Agarwal joined the Corporate Counsel Forum to further its mission of developing programming and speaking opportunities for corporate counsel. ‘The Forum provides an unparalleled global community of in-house lawyers who support each other as the role of in-house counsel continues to evolve,’ he says.

Agarwal attended the University of Western Ontario in Canada, where he received his Bachelor of Arts degree with honours. He received his Juris Doctor from Santa Clara University School of Law and is admitted to practice in all courts in California.