Research and Academic Affairs Manager, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators

Mercy McBrayer, FCIArb, is CIArb’s Research and Academic Affairs Manager. Mercy is a United States qualified attorney (Texas) and certified mediator with experience as party counsel in commercial business litigation and arbitration. She holds a Master of Laws (LLM) in comparative and international dispute resolution from Queen Mary University of London, a Juris Doctorate (JD) from Southern Methodist University, and a Master of Science (MSc) in environmental biology from the University of North Texas. Mercy is also a graduate of CIArb’s Post-Graduate Diploma programme in international commercial arbitration (PGDip). Mercy trained in international commercial arbitration with Al Tamimi and Co. in Dubai, UAE, and was an associate with Blume, Faulkner, and Skeen in Dallas, Texas, before joining the CIArb Executive in 2018. Mercy is CIArb’s observer delegate to UNCITRAL Working Groups II and III and curator of CIArb’s professional practice guidelines. She is an assistant editor of the CIArb Journal, a Teaching Fellow in international arbitration at Queen Mary University of London, a speaker and lecturer on issues of international arbitration and ADR, and moot coach. Mercy is a US citizen who grew up in Nairobi, Kenya and is based in London, UK.

Rose Rameau is an American lawyer and the Founding Partner of RAMEAU INTERNATIONAL LAW, a boutique firm specializing in public and private international law and white-collar defence investigations.  Rose Rameau is a leading practitioner with over 20 years experiences in international arbitration, mediation, investor-state treaty-based dispute, cross border disputes.  She advises and represents sovereign states and companies on cross-border disputes.  She has been appointed Sole Arbitrator, Co-Arbitrator and President of Tribunal by investors and sovereign states.  Rose Rameau was a U.S. Department of State Fulbright Scholar at the University of Ghana School of Law from 2014-2016 where she taught Investment law, International Commercial Arbitration, Investor-State Arbitration, General Principles of Arbitration, Mediation as well as Contemporary Issues in International Arbitration.

Ms. Rameau is trained in civil and common law.  She holds a Juris Doctor Degree from Syracuse University College of Law in New York, an LL.M from Université Panthéon Assas in Paris, a Diploma in International Arbitration, from the Swiss Arbitration Academy in Switzerland, a Certificate in Advance Studies in International Arbitration, from the universities of Lucerne & Neuchâtel & Swiss Arbitration Academy in Switzerland. 

She is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in the UK, Member of the International Arbitration Institute, Paris, France.  She is listed as International Arbitrator at the Shanghai Arbitration Commission (SHAC), the Shenzhen Court of Arbitration (SCIA), Arbitration Foundation of Southern Africa (AFSA) , the Cairo Regional Centre for International Commercial Arbitration in Egypt (CRCICA), the Common Court of Justice and Arbitration of OHADA, Abidjan, Côte d’Ivoire (CCJA), the Chambre de Conciliation et D’Arbitrage d’Haiti (CCAH), the British Virgin Islands International Arbitration Centre (BVI-IAC), the American Arbitration Association-International for Dispute Resolution (AAA-ICDR) and CPR Panels of Distinguished Neutrals for cross-border, Energy, Oil.  Ms. Rameau is a Board Member of the Jamaica International Arbitration Centre and is on the Board of Directors of Arbitral Women. 

She is licensed to practice law in France, Washington D.C, Florida, New Jersey and is a Barrister and Solicitor of the Supreme Court of Ghana.  Ms. Rameau is an ICC Court Member and a Member of the Permanent Court of Arbitration in the Hague, representing the Republic of Haiti. Recently, she was appointed Global Arbitration Counsel for the UNDP, and ABA Advisor to the Uniform Law Commission Study Committee on the U.N. Convention on International Settlement Agreements Resulting from Mediation, also known as the Singapore Convention on Mediation.  In December 2021, she was appointed Arbitrator for the Shanghai Arbitration Commission. 

Benoit Le Bars, co-founder and Managing Partner of Lazareff Le Bars, Benoit is a member of the Practice and Standards Committee at CIArb. Benoit is a recognized expert in international arbitration, with respect to institutional and ad hoc arbitral proceedings, international dispute resolution, and disputes in Africa. His practice spans a broad range of jurisdictions and arbitral institutions (more than 70 countries to date with over 40 in Africa).

In addition to his work as counsel, Benoit is often appointed as arbitrator and has extensive experience in arbitral forums worldwide and has acted to date in over 185 claims for matters under various substantive laws, including England and Wales. In this context, Benoit mainly serves as Presiding arbitrator or sole arbitrator, and occasionally as co-arbitrator.

PhD in private law from Panthéon-Sorbonne Law School (Paris 1), Benoit Le Bars is also a professor of law in the United States and a Senior Lecturer in France. In recognition of his professorial competence, he has been awarded the title of Distinguished Adjunct Professor of Law by the Vermont Law School (USA).

Karina Albers is an international Arbitrator and accredited Expert at the Federal Court of New York and acted as expert in leading cases in London, New York and Singapore with claims of over $5 billion under LMAA, SIAC, LCIA and GMAA rules.

She is a NGO representative at the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL); a member of the Baltic Exchange, the GMAA, the Expert Witness Institute and ICCA, aspiring full member of the LMAA, Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and a panel member of the SCMA Singapore.

Karina Albers has extensive international experience in commodity & derivative markets for shipping, fertiliser and in the energy sector.
She passes on her passion for arbitration by volunteering regularly for Vis-Moot and IMLAM as well as mentoring a number of young legal professionals.

Joanne is a Partner in Allen & Overy’s Global Arbitration Group based in Hong Kong. She represents clients in international commercial arbitrations and investment treaty arbitrations, including as an advocate. She has extensive experience acting in arbitrations under major institutional rules, including HKIAC, ICC, SIAC and UNCITRAL Rules, involving various jurisdictions such as Hong Kong, England, India, Singapore and the PRC. She also regularly advises on arbitration-related court matters. She has experience in a range of complex cross-border disputes, including disputes relating to post-M&A matters, joint ventures, private equity, complex financial products, shareholder disputes and disputes in the energy and infrastructure sectors. Joanne is also a listed arbitrator with the HKIAC.

Joanne publishes and speaks regularly on arbitration-related topics. She is the Co-Chair of the HK45, the HKIAC’s under-45 arbitration practitioner body, and is an Executive Committee Member of the Rising Arbitrators Initiative, an initiative launched in October 2020, that seeks to support and encourage best practices among arbitration practitioners under 45 who are seeking arbitral appointments. 

Joanne is admitted to practice in Hong Kong and speaks English, Cantonese and Mandarin.