15 March, 2017
The Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC) is pleased to welcome two new members to its arbitration team: Ms Christina Charemi and Ms Ziyi Huang, both of whom joined in February 2017.
Ms Charemi joins as counsel. She was formerly an associate at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Hong Kong and Frankfurt offices) and spent six months in the Paris office of Three Crowns LLP. Christina has experience in international commercial and investment arbitration and specialises in intellectual property law. She holds an LL.B. from the University of Oxford and an LL.M. from UC Berkeley and is admitted to practice in the State of California. She is a Greek national, bilingual in Greek and English and proficient in French and German. Boris Kasolowsky, Partner at Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Frankfurt), says, “Christina is a great catch for the HKIAC. She is very dynamic, highly intelligent, a great team player and one of the most multi-cultural persons I have ever met – a great addition for this thriving arbitration institution.”
HKIAC’s second addition, Ms Huang, joins as deputy counsel. She was formerly an assistant legal counsel at the Permanent Court of Arbitration in The Hague, the Netherlands, where she assisted on inter-State arbitrations, international investment arbitrations and appointing authority matters. She also previously worked in the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime Headquarters in Vienna. Ms Huang obtained her Bachelor of Law degree from Peking University and her Juris Doctor degree from Georgetown University Law Center. She speaks Mandarin and English. “Ms. Ziyi Huang made an excellent contribution to the work of the PCA during her time as PCA Assistant Legal Counsel. I wish her success with her new position at the HKIAC, where I am sure that her industriousness and warm disposition will be highly appreciated,” said Brooks Daly, Deputy Secretary-General of the PCA.
Sarah Grimmer, Secretary-General of HKIAC, commented on the two new members: “I am delighted to have Christina and Ziyi join the team. They are both highly qualified and bring valuable experience to the Secretariat. With their arrivals, HKIAC’s already excellent team is bolstered with additional capacity and skills.”
Counsel within HKIAC’s arbitration team provide case administration services and are available for appointment as tribunal secretary. HKIAC’s tribunal secretary service was launched in 2014 and has received worldwide recognition. One Essex Court Barrister Peter Leaver QC said, “In addition to being a most welcoming, supportive and efficient institution, the HKIAC provides an excellent Tribunal Secretary Service to tribunals. I have both used and seen Tribunal Secretaries work in many cases in many different seats, but the service that I have had from the Tribunal Secretary provided by the HKIAC has been outstanding.”
Independent Arbitrator and Mediator Sally Harpole also stated, “Tribunal secretary services offered by the HKIAC are an outstanding development in efforts to make arbitration procedures more cost and time efficient. HKIAC Secretariat staff who serve in the capacity of tribunal secretary are well-versed in HKIAC and UNCITRAL procedures, with skills and training to handle administrative and organizational procedures promptly and appropriately. As an arbitrator, I am delighted to have convenient access to such excellent support at reasonable rates on an as needed basis. The cost saving that results is an important reason why I have used this service a number of times.”
"I have acted as arbitrator and counsel in HKIAC arbitration. I am consistently impressed by the ability of the secretariat to address parties’ and arbitrators’ requests and queries in an efficient and professional manner. I have also recently had the pleasure of using the HKIAC’s tribunal secretary service. The tribunal secretary appointed by HKIAC significantly reduced the administrative burden on the tribunal and saved costs for the parties. I would have no hesitation in recommending this service to other arbitrators,” said Kevin Kim, Partner at Bae, Kim & Lee LLC.
