Watch insightful interviews with leading voices in the international arbitration and ADR community.
Episode 19 – Jerry Roth
Jerry Roth is an accomplished attorney with a distinguished career in both litigation and international arbitration. Roth shares insights into his journey from prosecuting white-collar crimes as a U.S. Attorney in New York to becoming a defense lawyer and eventually transitioning into international arbitration. He discusses the influence of his early legal mentors, the ethical foundations that shaped his practice, and the pivotal role language and cultural understanding have played in his international career. Roth also reflects on his tenure as president of the International Association of Lawyers (UIA) and his deep engagement with civil law jurisdictions. Looking ahead, he expresses enthusiasm about California’s growing prominence in international arbitration, citing its legal openness, cultural diversity, and global appeal. The conversation provides valuable lessons for aspiring arbitrators and practitioners looking to engage in international dispute resolution.
Episode 18 – Katie Connolly
Katie Connolly, a fifth-generation cattle rancher and international arbitration attorney, talks about her journey and vision for the future of arbitration in California. Katie shares her academic and professional path, starting from UC Berkeley to Georgetown Law, and her decision to return to California from Washington, D.C., balancing her family’s ranching legacy with a thriving legal career. She discusses the values and lessons instilled through ranching, such as resilience, stewardship, and empathy, which she integrates into her legal practice. Katie highlights her involvement in California Arbitration and its young practitioners’ group, Young Cal Arb, emphasizing the importance of mentorship and collaboration in building a legal community. She also shares her optimism about California’s potential as a hub for international arbitration, citing its legal infrastructure, skilled practitioners, and global business connections. Katie’s dedication to both her ranching roots and advancing arbitration in California underscores her unique perspective and commitment to making an impact locally and globally.
Episode 17 – Steven Cologne
Steven Cologne is a distinguished San Diego trial lawyer and arbitrator who shares insights from his nearly four-decade legal career. Cologne recounted his progression from trial lawyer to managing partner of Higgs, Fletcher & Mack, one of San Diego’s oldest law firms, where he served for six years, navigating challenges such as COVID-19 and firm transitions. He detailed his transition back to trial work while increasingly focusing on arbitration, emphasizing his commitment to fairness, efficiency, and leveraging extensive trial experience in this role. Inspired by his father, a California appellate court judge, Cologne highlighted the values of mentorship, ethical practice, and attention to detail that have shaped his career. He also discussed the growing relevance of arbitration in California and internationally, driven by the rising costs and inefficiencies of traditional litigation. Cologne’s active involvement in organizations like the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators underscores his dedication to advancing arbitration standards and mentoring the next generation of legal professionals.
Episode 16 – Marcus Quintanilla
Marcus Quintanilla is an experienced arbitrator who discusses his journey and insights into international arbitration. Marcus reflects on his evolution from philosophy studies at Georgetown and Harvard to a career in law, spurred by a desire for practical impact. After a clerkship in California and years at prominent firms like O’Melveny & Myers, he transitioned from U.S. litigation to international arbitration, handling complex cases across industries, such as construction and energy. Marcus shares his decision to establish an independent arbitration practice, emphasizing the importance of timing, experience, and an open-minded approach. He highlights his multilingual skills and teaching roles at UC Davis and in Shenzhen, China, as enriching experiences that deepen his understanding of global legal practices. As an advocate for expanding arbitration in California, Marcus encourages aspiring professionals to explore opportunities in this dynamic field and actively engage with organizations like CalArb and CLA to build expertise and networks.
Episode 15 – Diana Kruze
Diana Kruze is a prominent ADR leader in California. Born and raised in San Francisco with a diverse educational and international background, including a year in Russia, Diana shares her journey from an early passion for justice to becoming a lawyer and ADR professional. She reflects on her litigation experience at a top law firm, her transition to serving as a Superior Court Commissioner, and her eventual pivot to ADR during the pandemic to achieve better work-life balance. Diana highlights the importance of listening, tailoring processes to parties’ needs, and fostering diversity in the ADR field. As Chair of the ADR Subcommittee of the California Lawyers Association, she promotes ADR as an efficient alternative to litigation and champions initiatives like mentoring and increasing diversity. Her enthusiasm, innovative leadership, and dedication to justice exemplify her impactful contributions to the legal community.
Episode 14 – Brody Greenwald
Brody Greenwald, a partner at White & Case in Los Angeles, shares his career journey, starting with a traditional litigation practice and transitioning into international arbitration, which became his primary focus after working on a high-profile investor-state case early in his career. He discusses the evolution of arbitration education, the importance of finding the right professional fit, and the challenges and opportunities in arbitration, including issues like arbitrator impartiality and “double hatting.” Brody highlights California’s growing role in international arbitration due to its global economic prominence and connection to Asia-Pacific and Latin America. He reflects on his return to California after years on the East Coast and his involvement in expanding arbitration opportunities and education, including teaching at Duke Law School. The discussion emphasizes advocacy, persistence, and skill development for aspiring arbitration professionals.
Episode 13 – Grant Kim
Grant Kim has served as an arbitrator or counsel in over 60 international and domestic arbitrations in the U.S., Asia, and Europe, administered by the ICC, ICDR, AAA, CPR, JAMS, and Korean Commercial Arbitration Board. He has also served as counsel in numerous lawsuits in the federal and state courts involving patents and other intellectual property, breach of contract, business torts, defamation, and other commercial disputes. Fellow of the College of Commercial Arbitrators and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators. Member of the Tech List of the Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center.
Episode 12 – David Brennan
Prior to joining the USD School of Law faculty, David Brennan was an Associate Professor of Law, Civil-Judicial-Appellate Externship director, and Moot Court Competition coordinator at Western State University College of Law. That experience was preceded by his thirty years’ experience as a civil litigator in both state and federal courts during which he tried dozens of civil trials. Brennan was the founding and senior partner of two successive law firms and later served as of counsel to three Southern California litigation firms. Following his military service in the U.S. Navy, he entered and completed law school under the G.I. Bill. He is also a certified mediator, arbitrator and temporary judge and served in both the San Diego and Orange County Superior Courts for civil case resolutions.
Episode 11 – Mohamed Elgaly
With a distinguished role as a judge presiding over commercial and civil disputes, Mohamed Egaly oversees hearings, renders judgments, and navigates the complexities of commercial and civil law as chief judge for the Ministry of Egypt. His professional trajectory includes roles within the Egyptian Ministry of Justice. He has served as a judge in the Civil Disputes Court and previously held a prominent position as a prosecutor in the Egyptian General Prosecution for over seven years. In these capacities, he has prosecuted a diverse array of cases, including high-profile matters such as murders, public funds violations, white-collar crimes, and economic fraud. Mr. Elgaly attained a Master of International Business and Economic Law (IBEL) with distinction from the University of Southern California Gould School of Law, including certifications in Transnational Law and Business, and U.S. Legal Studies.. Click here to watch Episode 11.
Episode 10 – Ghada Qaisi Audi
Ghada Qaisi Audi has served as an arbitrator in numerous arbitrations administered by the Dubai International Arbitration Centre (DIAC) and the International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR). In addition, she arbitrates consumer disputes under the AAA Consumer Arbitration Rules. She has a broad range of experience in complex commercial disputes, distribution, franchise, and sale of goods, as well as in investments, securities, commercial leasing, real estate, construction, intellectual property, data privacy, marketing and advertising, logistics, transport, corporate governance, family business, startup, and employment matters. Click here to watch Episode 10.
Episode 9 – Ambassador (Ret.) David Huebner, FCIArb, C.Arb, FCollArb
Ambassador Huebner has more than 25 years of practice experience in arbitration, cross-border disputes, and intellectual property practice, as well as government service. He has handled more than 300 arbitrations in the United States and three dozen jurisdictions around the world as neutral or advocate, and has particular expertise in the technology (including semiconductors, hardware, software, haptics, materials, AI, internet, and gaming), life sciences (including pharma, biotech, clinical trials, medical devices, and healthcare), telecom, and entertainment sectors, as well as in energy, infrastructure, construction, and investment disputes. Previously, he has held senior positions in the Asia Pacific region, including as the American Ambassador to New Zealand and Samoa, chairman & CEO of a large international law firm, founding chief representative of an AmLaw 100 law firm in Shanghai, and special IPR policy assistant to a member of the National Diet of Japan in Tokyo. In 2016, President Obama appointed him as one of the four American designees to the panel of arbitrators of the International Centre for the Settlement of Investment Disputes. He is a graduate of Princeton University (summa cum laude) and Yale Law School. Click here to watch Episode 9.
Episode 8 – Marco Molina
Marco Molina has represented clients before U.S. federal, state and administrative courts as well as before a variety of international arbitral tribunals, including the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the American Arbitration Association (AAA) and the affiliated International Centre for Dispute Resolution (ICDR), and in ad hoc arbitrations under the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL). Click here to watch Episode 8.
Episode 7 – Samir Shah
Samir Shah is a lawyer (in India), arbitrator, mediator, ADR trainer, mentor and cross-border business consultant, having an active professional career of 29 years. He owns his own law firm in India with a robust team of lawyers, paralegals, administrative and clerical associates representing and advising clients from diverse industries and providing varied legal consulting services both in litigation and non-litigation work. He has been personally focused and passionate about promoting ADR for more than 15 years. He is one of the the directors of CIArb India branch and the cofounder of ADR Bar. He recently relocated to USA as a permanent resident and is based out of Virginia. Click here to watch Episode 7.
Episode 6 – Apoorva Vijh
Apoorva Vijh is a new lawyer who has migrated to the US from India. She shares her experience as an attorney working at the Supreme Court of India, where there is only one Super Supreme Court. She interned at Pepsico’s office in Delhi and worked with an attorney at the supreme court. She emphasizes the benefits of arbitration in resolving disputes and encourages clients to use it for quick results and better satisfaction. Chuck expresses concern about the backlog in India’s litigation system, which has a time limit of 18 months for awards to be available. They discuss the challenges of finding a job after graduating from college and the importance of understanding the law and its nitty-gritties. Click here to watch Episode 6.
Episode 5 – Steve Andersen
Steve recruits and maintains the highest qualified panel in those areas for the ICDR’s International Panel of Arbitrators and Mediators, with a focus on aerospace, aviation, national security, energy, and technology, among other industries. He is responsible for the ICDR’s cross-border arbitration and mediation in the region, providing executive oversight of large cases. Fluent in Spanish, he is the creator and manager of the ICDR Translation Committee. Steve was appointed by the U.S. State Department as a member of the NAFTA 2022 Advisory Committee on Private Commercial Dispute Resolution and received the 2018 SVAMC (Silicon Valley Arbitration and Mediation Center) Award for Outstanding Contribution to Technology Dispute Resolution. Click here to watch Episode 5.
Episode 4 – Ken Korea
Ken is a technology transactions attorney, arbitrator and mediator with 29 years of experience in intellectual property licensing, litigation, and technology transactions. He practiced at leading US law firms and served as Senior Vice President at Samsung Electronics as the head of the Silicon Valley IP Office from 2011 to 2021. Ken has handled over two hundred IP litigation matters, negotiated many patent licenses including three of the largest patent cross license agreements, and helped clients to acquire companies ranging from startups to a multibillion dollar company. He serves as an arbitrator for American Arbitration Association (AAA), Financial Industry Regulatory Authority (FINRA) and Korea Commercial Arbitration Board (KCAB) International and as a neutral for World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) Arbitration and Mediation Center. Click here to watch Episode 4.
Episode 3 – Kim Taylor
Kim Taylor is president of JAMS and a key figure in that organization’s development of an international arbitration practice. A California native who practiced law in Ventura, Kim served as a Research Attorney for Justice Steven Stone and followed the Justice to the JAMS organization when he retired from the bench in 1999. Her career in ADR has enjoyed a meteoric rise, beginning as a Manager in the company’s Ventura office before becoming the General Manager in New York City. Soon she became Regional Vice-President of the Eastern and Central Regions, and in that position she helped to grow the panel of international commercial arbitrators, while also serving as Associate General Counsel for the company. Her management skills made her a natural for assuming a role as Chief Operating Officer and then President, a position she assumed amidst the COVID-19 pandemic (and all the changes in ADR caused by the quarantine). Kim has seen the expansion of commercial arbitration in California first-hand, and she shares her experiences in an interesting interview. Click here to watch Episode 3.
Episode 2 – Sally Harpole
Raised in Pasadena as the daughter of a lawyer, Sally Harpole was blessed with an ear for the many languages she heard spoken around her in school. At UC Berkeley she studied foreign languages, but a watershed moment occurred in 1972 when the United States opened a diplomatic relationship with China. Upon graduation, Sally took the plunge by immersing herself in 3 years of Chinese language study before returning to law school, where she supported herself as a Chinese-English interpreter for business negotiations. It was natural for her to join an international law firm, and she soon found herself establishing a Beijing office to support clients of the firm. What followed was over 3 decades as an American lawyer in Asia, culminating in the development of a commercial arbitration practice. Now back in San Francisco as an arbitrator, Sally Harpole is a key figure in California’s international disputes resolution practice. Click here to watch Episode 2.
Episode 1 – Patrick Byrne
A native of Fresno and the son of a lawyer, Patrick is the embodiment of a world-view that is typical of California arbitration practitioners. Educated at UC San Diego and the UC Hastings College of Law, Patrick practiced as a litigator in California before being drawn to study comparative international dispute resolution at Queen Mary University of London. Being the grandson of Irish immigrants to the United States afforded him citizenship in Ireland and an EU passport he has used to launch a career as a commercial arbitration specialist in Madrid. Work in Spain has brought him full circle to the federal courts in California, where he has found himself involved in litigation over ownership of artworks looted in World War II and currently in a Madrid museum. This California Conversation explains how all that was possible for a California lawyer who did not speak Spanish when he arrived in Spain. Click here to watch Episode 1.