🎉 I will remember today as my favourite day ever of Hong Kong Arbitration Week. 🥳 Thank you to everyone who joined us for BARBIE-tration and KEN-flict Resolution at Arbitration Week.

🌸 We dolled out diversity over pink lemonade and caramel popcorn.

🌸 In small groups and in plenary, we talked about diversity in its many forms: gender, culture, sexual orientation, disabilities and more.

🌸 Our full house of attendees came from all walks of arbitration life: lawyers, arbitrators, institutional representatives, recruiters, PR representatives and more. We may hold different roles, but our stories have common threads.

🌸 We talked about diversity in the global sense but also the ways it shows up in Hong Kong and APAC generally.

🌻 Did you join our event today? Leave a comment on what your takeaways are!

🌻 I welcome anyone (and everyone) to borrow our event concept and run it in their home jurisdictions!

𝐌𝐲 𝐡𝐮𝐠𝐞 𝐭𝐡𝐚𝐧𝐤𝐬 𝐭𝐨 𝐨𝐮𝐫 𝐟𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬: 

👠 Louise Barrington, JD, LLM, FCIArb - ArbitralWomen

👠 Mary Thomson - ArbitralWomen

👠 Andrew Rigden Green FCIArb FHKIArb FSIArb - Stephenson Harwood

👠 Stella Hu - Dechert 

👠 Lucy Martinez - Martinez Arbitration 

👠 Wilfred Ho - White & Case 

👠 Sylvia Tee - Ashurst

👠 Elizabeth Chan (陳曉彤) - Tanner De Witt and ArbitralWomen

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐠𝐞𝐧𝐞𝐫𝐨𝐮𝐬 𝐡𝐨𝐬𝐭: Stephenson Harwood - Wei Tu (China)

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫: ArbitralWomen

𝐎𝐮𝐫 𝐬𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: ICC Arbitration YAAF  | Women in Arbitration (WIA，仲裁女性俱乐部）| ARBinBRIEF  | R.E.A.L. - Racial Equality for Arbitration Lawyers | Careers in Arbitration  | Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge Young Practitioners’ Subcommittee  | Asia-Pacific Forum for International Arbitration (AFIA)  |  Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators (HKIArb) | NYLON Arbitration | SCIA HK - South China International Arbitration Center (Hong Kong) | Standing Committee on Young Barristers (YBC) of HKBA | CIETAC Hong Kong

🎉 𝐇𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐊𝐨𝐧𝐠 𝐀𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐅𝐫𝐢𝐞𝐧𝐝𝐬: 𝐆𝐞𝐭 𝐫𝐞𝐚𝐝𝐲 𝐟𝐨𝐫 2023’𝐬 𝐇𝐊 𝐀𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤 𝐁𝐨𝐱 𝐎𝐟𝐟𝐢𝐜𝐞 𝐇𝐢𝐭, “𝐁𝐀𝐑𝐁𝐈𝐄-𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 & 𝐊𝐄𝐍-𝐟𝐥𝐢𝐜𝐭 𝐑𝐞𝐬𝐨𝐥𝐮𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧”!  Join us for lemonade and popcorn while “dolling out diversity” over conversations on gender, sexual orientation, cultural and disabilities inclusion in international arbitration on Tuesday, 17 October at 13:00 in Hong Kong. 🥳

🪆All welcome: Barbies, Kens, Allans, Pregnant Midges, Weird Barbie, Irrepressible-Thoughts-of-Death Barbie and Everyone Else!

🛼Bring your roller skates and see you there. Places are strictly limited so sign up soon.

*****

𝐄𝐯𝐞𝐧𝐭: BARBIE-tration and KEN-flict resolution at HK Arbitration Week

𝐃𝐚𝐭𝐞 𝐚𝐧𝐝 𝐭𝐢𝐦𝐞: Tuesday, 17 October at 13:00-14:30 HKT

𝐅𝐚𝐜𝐢𝐥𝐢𝐭𝐚𝐭𝐨𝐫𝐬: 

👠 Elizabeth Chan (陳曉彤) - Tanner De Witt and ArbitralWomen

👠 Louise Barrington, JD, LLM, FCIArb - ArbitralWomen

👠 Mary Thomson - ArbitralWomen

👠 Andrew Rigden Green FCIArb FHKIArb FSIArb - Stephenson Harwood

👠 Stella Hu - Dechert 

👠 Lucy Martinez - Martinez Arbitration 

👠 Wilfred Ho - White & Case 

👠 Sylvia Tee - Ashurst

𝐅𝐨𝐫𝐦𝐚𝐭: In-person (only) at Stephenson Harwood, 18th Floor, United Centre, 95 Queensway, Admiralty, Hong Kong

𝐑𝐒𝐕𝐏: https://shorturl.at/fGJTU

𝐎𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐞𝐫: ArbitralWomen

𝐒𝐮𝐩𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐨𝐫𝐠𝐚𝐧𝐢𝐬𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧𝐬: Stephenson Harwood - Wei Tu (China) | ICC Arbitration YAAF  | Women in Arbitration (WIA，仲裁女性俱乐部） | ARBinBRIEF  | R.E.A.L. - Racial Equality for Arbitration Lawyers | Careers in Arbitration  | Equal Representation in Arbitration Pledge Young Practitioners’ Subcommittee  | Asia-Pacific Forum for International Arbitration (AFIA)  |  Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators (HKIArb)  | NYLON Arbitration | SCIA HK - South China International Arbitration Center (Hong Kong)  | CIETAC Hong Kong Arbitration Center

𝐏𝐥𝐚𝐧𝐧𝐢𝐧𝐠 𝐭𝐨 𝐜𝐨𝐦𝐞 𝐭𝐨 𝐇𝐊 𝐀𝐫𝐛𝐢𝐭𝐫𝐚𝐭𝐢𝐨𝐧 𝐖𝐞𝐞𝐤?

Check out and contribute to the “unofficial” calendar of HKAW events here: https://lnkd.in/gMt5hki7 

The ArbitralWomen board just concluded an incredibly productive working weekend on 13-14 May, on the eve of ArbitralWomen’s 30th Anniversary Celebration on 15 May.

Our work began with a hands-on training session on the "ArbitralWomen Diversity Toolkit," which focuses on improving our understanding of diversity, addressing unconscious bias, and learning how to create more inclusive environments within the arbitration community.

The next day was spent in rigorous, inspiring discussions as our working groups reviewed ArbitralWomen's invaluable contributions in various committees. Witnessing the commitment and passion each member brought to the table was both encouraging and humbling. It reminded us of why we do what we do -- to advocate for women in arbitration and promote diversity in this space.

As we gear up for our 30th Anniversary Celebration on 15 May, it's remarkable to reflect on how far we've come. And even after a long weekend together, there is so much work left to do. We're passionate about ensuring that ArbitralWomen continues to be at the forefront of promoting diversity and inclusion in the world of arbitration.

Here's to the next 30 years! 🥂

Pictured: Louise Woods, Gisele Stephens-Chu, Marion Lespiau, Maria Beatriz Burghetto, Louise Barrington, Mirèze PHILIPPE, Katherine Bell, Catherine Bratic, Elizabeth Chan (陳曉彤), Alina Leoveanu, Nesreen Osman, Rekha Rangachari, Sally El Sawah, Mary Thomson, and Amanda Lee. 

I first met Lise Bosman about five years ago through our mutual work on the ICCA Congress in Edinburgh. We finally got to meet in person last year in Scotland.

I'm excited to share Lise's story about her career in the law. In my interview of her in the latest issue of the ArbitralWomen newsletter, we talk about:

⭐ Starting law school in South Africa in the late 1980s, in the "dying days of apartheid" and motivated by a "desire to achieve social justice, and the belief in the power of the law to protect the individual and contribute to a just transition".

⭐ Her career: from joining a public-interest law firm right out of law school to working at the Centre for Civil and Human Rights to being an advisor at the Iran-US Claims Tribunal to joining the Permanent Court of Justice (and more).

⭐ Being a founding co-chair of Young ICCA and its Mentoring Programme (which I've benefitted from), developing ICCA's capacity to take on research and outreach projects, supporting the process of democratising the ICCA Governing Board, and establishing the Working Groups on African Arbitral Practice and Chinese Arbitral Practice.

⭐ Advancing women at the PCA and ICCA.

⭐ What motivates her now: developing arbitral practice on the African continent and helping to build the capacity of young African practitioners.

⭐ The issues she thinks require immediate attention: more focus on harmonisation, and a greater emphasis on dispute avoidance. 

The best way to start the day must be pilates with fabulous guys and girls. ArbitralWomen Hong Kong was delighted to host our second pilates + breakfast event this morning.

We have such a vibrant dispute-resolution community in Hong Kong.

Thank you to our venue sponsor, Stephenson Harwood LLP (especially Andrew Rigden Green FCIArb FHKIArb, Elizabeth Sloane and Joan Chum).

My appreciation goes to Louise Barrington, JD, LLM, FCIArb and Mary Thomson, my fellow AW Board members.

To Maria, our pilates coach (loved our thirty seconds of free-style dancing). 

Another year, another fantastic ArbitralWomen AGM to celebrate our work for women in international arbitration (thanks to Gisele Stephens-Chu for her impeccable organisation).

Thank you to everyone who joined us for the AGM Watch Party in Hong Kong.

Thanks to hosts, Sherlin Tung (董希琳), Louise Barrington, JD, LLM, FCIArb and Aria T.C. Cheung.

And to our attendees: Kara, Maricel Somerville, Yu-Hsuan LIN, Ruoyu (Sophia) Li, Kate LI, FCIArb, Venus Park, Sicen (Esther) Hu, Jessica Van der Kamp, Caroline Thomas, Gillian Lam, Sanchitta Sridhar and Prakritee Yonzon. 

After serving on the ArbitralWomen Board for two and a half years, it was wonderful to meet many former and current members of the Board at the ICCA International Council for Commercial Arbitration Congress - at none other than the annual ArbitralWomen Breakfast.