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Iain Aitchison is a Managing Director and a Delay Expert in the Global Construction Practice in based in London, formerly a Director with Navigant, acquired by Ankura in 2018. He is a dual-national British-German citizen. Iain has given expert evidence under cross examination as a Delay Expert in ICC Arbitration. He has experience with online joint expert meetings, mediations, and hearings. As a FIDIC contracts specialist he has given expert evidence on FIDIC contract administration issues in ICC Arbitration. He is a DBF accredited Dispute Board Member and FIDIC specialist with experience of major international DAB/DRB. Iain has authored papers published in the peer reviewed academic journals and has been a panelist and speaker at international conferences. He is a practicing arbitrator. He has been involved in the Vis Moot since 2012, sitting as arbitrator and chair, and was invited to sit in the elimination stage of the inaugural online final in Vienna, and to chair elimination rounds in Vienna and Hong Kong. Iain is bilingual in English and German, with certified German skills at CEFR C2. He trained as an Architect in the UK before registering as an Architect in Germany. He has international experience of lead design and management of major projects in the public sector, international private sector, and in multi-disciplinary practice. Until 2010, Iain worked on project lead architect on industrial, research and development projects in Germany on industrial and industry led projects with exceptional technical demands achieving firsts in planning, building and environment permissions for multinational clients in automotive, chemical and space infrastructure. He has extensive experience in leading/coordinating design. From 2010, Iain focused on dispute analysis and resolution of international construction claims and disputes. He has acted as lead strategist on construction disputes. His expert insight, team leadership, and dispute resolution skills have facilitated the structured settlement of major and highly complex underlying disputes on a World Bank funded distressed infrastructure project in South Africa.
He has acted as construction expert on financial audits of major new tunneling and track realignment and regrading works, and railway station upgrades and refurbishments for a state regulator of national rail infrastructure in Europe. |
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Youri André serves as the Deputy Head of the Real Estate Development Division and Head of Project Controls and Contracts Unit at the European Investment Bank in Luxembourg. Youri is an experienced project management and engineering professional with a 25-year career specializing in infrastructure and mixed-use developments. Over the years, Youri has successfully overseen numerous high-profile projects across the Middle East and Europe, many of which were governed by FIDIC contracts. Youri has worked for Contractors,
Consultants and Employers. This, combined with his knowledge in FIDIC contracts and the EU Procurement Directive, has equipped him with a comprehensive understanding of dispute avoidance and resolution mechanisms. He holds an Msc in Engineering from Leuven University in Belgium.
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Jean Paul Arcidiacono is a Project Director / Senior Project Manager with extensive experience in Construction more than 40 years of complex MENA region and Euro zone real estate developments. Multi-lingual communicator with an assured track record focused on successful project implementation, delivery, and execution, enjoying working in a dynamic, challenging and rewarding environment. Major project experience in: Doha - Qatar Msheireb Downtown; Dubai - The Royal Atlantis II; France - St Tropez Resorts / Gassin Golf Club, Euro Disneyland Paris Parks 1 & 2 and the largest Plasterboard Factory; South America - Venezuela Caracas Metro Civil Works; Spain - Hydraulic / Infrastructure works
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Murray Armes is the founder of Armes-ADR, based in the UK, and is a Chartered Arbitrator, Dispute Board Member, Adjudicator and Mediator. He has been involved in Dispute Boards for around twenty years and is included on the FIDIC Presidents’ List of International Adjudicators. He is appointed to the dispute board for the ITER Prototype Fusion Energy Project in France, which is the world’s largest energy project and was also appointed to the Adjudication Panel for the new High Luminosity Project at CERN in Switzerland, and for anew Data Centre at CERN and to the DAB for an EPR nuclear project in Scandinavia, an energy supply network in West Africa, an embassy project in Central Africa and a cutting edge building project in Iraq, as well as other projects for CERN and in South East and Central Asia and the Caribbean. Murray is the author of many articles and has contributed to a number of books, and regularly speaks at international conferences and carries out training in dispute avoidance and resolution, including under FIDIC contracts. Having gained his Honours Degree and Diploma with distinction in Architecture at Sheffield University in 1978 and 1981 respectively a Master of Arts with distinction in Architecture in 1981 and a Master’s Degree in Construction Law from King’s College, London in 2003, he became a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators in 2007. Murray is also on various dispute resolution panels with the RIBA, CIArb, RICS, FIDIC, ICC, and IDRS. |
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Wolfgang Breyer is the founding and managing partner of Breyer Rechtsanwälte, a German law firm active both domestically and internationally exclusively in the field of private and public construction law, public procurement law, and real estate law. As managing partner, Dr. Breyer leads a team of 26 attorneys in Stuttgart, Frankfurt, Berlin, and Munich. Breyer Rechtsanwälte has consistently maintained its ranking as a leading law firm in the area of construction law. Most recently the firm has been recognised in the 2024 Legal 500 Germany guide as a Tier 1 law firm in Construction Law (Including Construction Litigation) as well as Plant Construction. Primarily focused on dispute avoidance, Dr Breyer’s focus areas include sitting on dispute resolution boards, negotiating International and German construction contracts as well as providing general construction risk management advice. In addition, Dr. Breyer is at the forefront of bringing innovative construction contracting models into the German market. In this regard, Dr. Breyer has been involved in numerous major projects across Germany utilizing IPA based multiparty contracts with great success. In his personal capacity, he has been named among the leading practitioners in the field of Construction Law in Germany by Legal 500, Who’s Who legal, Juve, and Best Lawyers. Dr. Breyer is the founder of the "International Construction: Practice and Law" course, the Anglo-German Construction Law Platform (AGCLP) as well as the International Construction Law Association (ICLA). In addition, he is also a founding member of the Leading Construction Lawyers International Alliance (LCL), consisting of leading international construction law firms AVANT Altana (Paris, France), PS Consulting (Paris, France), and Peckar & Abramson (New York, USA). Dr. Breyer scholarly endeavours includes having authored numerous legal journals and articles, both in German and English, as well as having contributed to chapters in various construction law publications. Furthermore, Dr. Breyer is the editor (and co-author) of the recently published book “International Construction Law: An Overview”, which offers a comparative analysis of construction law across different jurisdictions. |
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Sietsche Eppinga is Construction Director of the Pallas Reactor Project in the Netherlands. The Pallas Reactor is a new build reactor to produce medical isotopes and will replace the current HFR reactor. In her role for Pallas as Client she executes the new build Reactor Project in a Joint Delivery Organization together with a Design Company and a Construction Company. In this complex multi-disciplinary project, Collaboration between the parties is key for the delivery of the project. Sietsche has a MSc in Civil Engineering and more than 20 years’ experience in several Design and Construction Management roles in large complex infra structure projects for the Dutch Construction Companies BAM and Strukton. During her career she learned that construction is about people. Clear communication, a proactive and questioning attitude within project teams lead to more successful project. |
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Geir Frøholm is general counsel for one of the largest Norwegian general contractors and real estate developers. He was a partner by Schjødt for almost twenty years developing and heading their construction, infrastructure and PPP department later head in SANDS construction, infrastructure and PPP department. Prior to his law practice Geir has been deputy judge, corporate and later general counsel by Skanska Norge AS. He holds particular expertise in construction contracts, PPP contracts and agreement with public authorities within the building and planning sector. He provides drafting, continuous advice and negotiation support representing mainly domestic and international contractors, advisors, and investors in PPP road projects. In addition to being a law graduate from the University of Oslo Geir has attended post-graduation education in US-law, business/management and mediation/arbitration. He was Co-chair of the Project Establishment Sub-committee, International Construction Project committee, International Bar Association 2008-2012, Chair of The Norwegian Bar Association Committee for mediation 2013-21, Board member of Forum for zoning and building regulation law 2006-2011, Chair Forum for zoning and building regulation law 2012-2014 and Member of Committee for building and regulation law, The post graduate education for lawyers 2006 – 2016. He currently serves as DRBF Representative for Norway.
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Jeremy Glover is a partner at Fenwick Elliott LLP , the UK’s largest construction law firm and is listed as a leader in his field in Who’s Who Legal. Jeremy is an accredited adjudicator, Vice-President of the Conflict Avoidance Coalition, and a member of the CIArb Adjudication Sub-Committee. He is also a FIDIC Certified Adjudicator, Member of the FIDIC President’s List and of the FIDIC Net Zero Task Group TG23. Jeremy is the co-author of Understanding the FIDIC Red and Yellow Book: A Clause by Clause Commentary, the third edition of which was published in 2018, and lead editor of Building Contract Disputes: Practice and Precedents. He is a member of the Board of Examiners on the Construction Law MSc programme at King’s College, and also teaches on the MSc Building Information Modelling Management Programme at Middlesex University. Jeremy serves as the President of the DRBF Executive Board.
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Diane Gollhofer Raines has over 35 years of progressive engineering, technical, and procurement experience in the construction industry mainly overseeing major capital construction projects with Dallas Area Rapid Transit (DART) and currently serves as DRBF Director for Region 1. Her signature projects were overseeing the award winning $1B Light Rail Green Line (CMGC), the Downtown CBD Mall Line, a mile-long commuter line grade separation bridge for TRE - built during operations, and a LEED’s Certified Police Headquarters in a historic trolley building. Diane’s projects were all completed on-time and claims free. As the South-Central Region Dispute Resolution Board Foundation’s (DRBF) Representative Diane successfully brought and implemented the DRB concept to DART, using it successfully for over 15 years. In 2011, Diane established DGR Consultants LLC, an engineering consulting firm specializing in construction management and dispute resolution and has since worked with DART, DFW International Airport, and TxDOT on claims avoidance and resolution, quality and safety management. DGR Consultants is a certified DBE, SBE, and WBE. Diane graduated from Texas A&M University, College Station with a BS in Civil Engineering specializing in Construction Management and holds a Professional Engineering License in the State of Texas.
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Nicholas Gould, BSc (Hons), LL.M., FRICS, FCIArb, MCIOB, is Past President of the Executive Board of the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation and a partner in the specialist construction, engineering and energy lawyers Fenwick Elliott LLP, where he conducts a mix of international dispute resolution and non-contentious work. He is a solicitor-advocate, chartered surveyor, accredited adjudicator and CEDR Chambers lead mediator. He acts for contractors, employers and governments in the building, construction, engineering, infrastructure, transport, energy, oil and gas, and process engineering sectors. Dispute resolution experience spans litigation, arbitration (domestic and international), adjudication, DAB/DRB, mediation, early neutral evaluation and expert determination. He regularly acts as lead mediator in multi-party multi- million disputes. Nicholas is a certified adjudicator and sits on international dispute boards and as arbitrator. Chamber & Partners 2011 notes Nicholas for his “ability to pre-empt potential problems and provide advice in a clear manner that maintains the individual needs of clients”. Legal 500, 2011 edition list Nicholas as a leading figure for Construction and Mediation who is “extremely knowledgeable and listens carefully to his clients”. The IBA’s 2008 and 2013 editions of International Who’s Who of Business Lawyers Today listed Nicholas as one of the “ten most highly regarded individuals internationally for construction law” and the IBA’s Who’s Who Legal 2015 listed Nicholas in the top five in Europe.
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Leo Grutters is a seasoned Professional with over 35 years of experience specialising in Dispute Avoidance, Collaborative Project Management, and the Human Factor in construction disputes. He holds a Civil Engineering degree, an MBA, a Diploma in Arbitration (Dip Arb), and is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb). Throughout his extensive career, Leo has served as both a Dispute Board Specialist and an Arbitrator. :eo’s expertise spans a diverse array of international projects in sectors such as roads, airports, transportation, offshore & marine, infrastructure, power generation, and renewable energy. His dedication to minimising disputes and fostering collaboration has made him a trusted figure in the field of dispute resolution. He is passionate about knowledge-sharing and frequently coaches and trains professionals on Dispute Avoidance as well as the inherent Human Factor therein. He is also an accomplished author of several industry books, notably on the FIDIC rainbow series. As a regular speaker at international industry events, and as a former President of the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DRBF) for Region 2, Leo has played a pivotal role in promoting best practices for dispute avoidance and collaborative project management strategies globally.
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Luc Imbrechts For over 30 years, we serve as legal counsel and contract manager on infrastructure projects involving buildings, civil, industrial and/or electrical works. We are worldwide active, particularly in respect of port and offshore wind and cabling works. But we service as well the onshore wind industry, CO 2 reduction and gas projects. On a freelance basis we draft tender documents for DBM, D&B, engineering, dredging/reclamation, decommissioning and other set ups. We assist at contract negotiations, draft contractual correspondence and more generally provide contract administration services. In recent years we mostly assisted public and private employers, but as well main contractors, subcontractors and engineering firms on projects located throughout the world. On these projects bespoke FIDIC (white, green, red, yellow, silver and emerald) contracts are/were used, but also LOGIC, BIMCO, Orgalime ea. such model texts. On occasion we are instrumental on mediation, dispute adjudication and arbitration procedures.
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Nektarios Matthaiou is a Senior Contracts and Claims Manager at the European Investment Bank based in Luxembourg with 20+ years of experience. Nektarios has been practising FIDIC contracts in the Middle East for over a decade. He worked on multi-phased, multi-program major projects mainly in the sectors of rail, metro, and airport terminal construction. He is a Chartered Surveyor specialising in prolongation quantum and settlement agreements. Nektarios has worked for Contractors, Consultants and Employers in various positions over his tenure in the Middle East and lead numerous multimillion dollar settlement agreements. He holds a BSc in Quantity Surveying, a Postgraduate Diploma in Construction Law & Arbitration and an Executive MBA with HEC Paris and is a member of the Royal Institution of Chartered Surveyors (RICS) and the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb).
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Murat Mazi is an experienced civil engineer and project director with over 32 years of experience in managing large-scale international construction projects across multiple countries, including Luxembourg, Uganda, Kazakhstan, Turkey and the United States. He holds a degree in Civil Engineering from Yıldız University Turkey, and an MBA from Çukurova University Turkey. Murat is certified as a Project Management Professional (PMP) and a Risk Management Professional (RMP) and has led large international projects such as the European Investment Bank's new headquarters in Luxembourg, St. Regis Hotel, Astana Waste Water Treatment Plant, and Bozshakol Copper Plant (EPC) in Kazakhstan, the U.S. Embassy Annex in Uganda, Light Rail Transportation System, Birecik Dam HEPP and TAG Motorway in Turkey, various civil engineering design projects in Georgia, United States. With expertise in project management, civil design, construction planning, and risk management, Murat has overseen large projects that meet high quality and safety standards.
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Gerard Monaghan is a Chartered Engineer with some 30 years’ experience in the delivery of major construction projects in Ireland and internationally with a particular focus on energy and renewables. Gerard is a Chartered Arbitrator and Fellow at the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, a CEDR accredited mediator and a member of the Engineers Ireland Arbitration, Conciliation and Adjudication
panels. He is an experienced ADR professional and is appointed regularly as arbitrator, adjudicator, mediator/conciliator and Dispute Board member. Gerard is a FIDIC Certified Adjudicator and member of the FIDIC President's List of approved Dispute Adjudicators. Gerard is also a member of the Minister’s Panel of Adjudicators established in accordance with the provisions of the Irish Construction Contracts Act 2013. Gerard is the current Chairman of the Engineers Ireland Disputes Resolution Board, a former Chairman of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Irish Branch) and is the Ireland country
representative of the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation.
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Monique Nillessen After a life as a procurement & contract lawyer and partner in large law firms, I started with electricity grid owner and operator TenneT as legal counsel in their gigantic 2GW offshore program. In 2021-2023, we developed the program and tendered and concluded the framework and project agreements for the 2GW platforms and cables in the Dutch and German North Sea. Now I am Senior Governance Advisor, Secretary to the Partnership Boards and ‘conflict avoidance manager’ in the execution of these projects. Avoidance and fast settlement of any conflicts is of the essence given the really tight timelines and costs involved. |
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James (Jim) Perry is a member of the District of Columbia Bar (1985) and has a bachelor’s degree in civil engineering (1981). Based in Paris since 1988, and focused on construction, Jim serves as an arbitrator and dispute board member, but also works as counsel, specializing in the construction industry. In 2003 Jim opened PS Consulting, a founding member of the Leading Construction Lawyers International Alliance (LCL). Jim has served on numerous dispute boards, including in the Baltics, Central Europe, Central Asia, Africa, SE Asia, Australasia and the Middle East and Latin America and been appointed on ICC, DIAC, ADCCAC, CEPANI, VIAC and ad hoc arbitral tribunals. Jim has experience with dam construction, bridges, port terminals and marine construction, airports, highways, water supply and treatment, hydro and thermal power plants, oil and gas, rail, factories and the built environment. Jim is member of the FIDIC President’s list of dispute board adjudicators and a Past-president of the Dispute Resolution Board Foundation (DRBF). Jim received the Al Mathews Award for Dispute Board Excellence in 2016, the DRBF's highest honor. |
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Giorgiana Tecuci Construction lawyer and DB member with over 25 years of experience. She is also trained in project management. She is a co-author of two FIDIC accredited modules (‘FIDIC Basic’ and ‘FIDIC in Public’) and a friendly reviewer of the FIDIC 2017 Yellow and 2019 Emerald books. Giorgiana is a FIDIC internationally accredited trainer. She is a founding partner of the first Romanian construction law firm SCPA Tecuci Păltineanu (2001) providing integrated advice: construction law, related public procurement and/or EU / MDB financing. She is a member of several professional associations (DRBF, ArbitralWomen, IBA, ARIC a.s.o.). She sits as an arbitrator and FIDIC national list adjudicator. Giorgiana currently serves as the President of the DRBF Region 2 Board of Directors and DRBF Representative for Romania. |
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Arent Van Wassenaer specialises in PPP, construction projects, and real estate and public procurement, both contentious and non-contentious. He focuses on DB, DBM, EPC, DBFM, Concession and Alliancing contracts. Arent primarily works for clients in the projects and utilities sector: investors; contractors; owners; lenders; and consultants. He frequently lectures on innovative aspects of construction projects. Arent is The Netherlands’ Chair of the IPFA Council. He was Chair of the Section on Energy, Environmental, Natural Resources and Infrastructure Law of the International Bar Association from 2010 to 2012. Arent is DRBF Representative for the Netherlands. |
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Raf Vermeyen Master Of Science Of Engineering (Applied Mechanics And Energy Conversion), 1999, Leuven University Belgium. Post Graduate Business Economics, 2005, Leuven University, Belgium. Over 20 years of experience in power generation, ranging from nuclear power plants, gas fired power plants, coal fired power plants in roles as ranging from engineering, project developer and project director of large investment projects. Power plant manager of large coal fired power plants. CEO / Managing Director of an offshore wind services company active around the North Sea. Currently, active in the field of hydrogen and CEO of a company focused on importing green hydrogen and e-fuels in Germany. |
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