ACADEMIC PROGRAM

Legal track #2 | Session 4 - THE USE OF CROSS-BORDER INSOLVENCY PROCEEDINGS AS AN ASSET RECOVERY TOOL

Organized by the Insolvency and Litigation Commissions

DATE & TIME​

LOCATION

🗓️ Wednesday, August 27
🕐 11:30-12:30 EDT

📍 Waldorf Astoria

DESCRIPTION

The panel will discuss new developments in relation to recognition of foreign insolvency proceedings, and the use of such proceedings as a mechanism to maximize recovery of assets. The panel will address: (i) common hurdles and pitfalls of recognition proceedings; (ii) the tools that are unlocked by recognition; and (iii) how recognition of a foreign insolvency proceeding can be used to litigate causes of action in the recognizing jurisdiction.

SPEAKERS

Hana Al Khatib

Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel, UAE

Bio

Hana Al Khatib is a Partner at Global Advocacy and Legal Counsel Abu Dhabi, with extensive experience in litigation, arbitration, bankruptcy and employment law. A member of the Jordanian Bar since 2012 and a certified Legal Project Manager, she advises clients on complex civil and commercial matters, including bankruptcy and restructuring, as well as workplace issues including termination, Emiratization, and compliance.


Hana is the AIJA MENA Regional Coordinator and also recently appointed Co-Chair of the AIJA Women Network Commission, Hana brings a strong voice for female lawyers across the MENA region and beyond.

Philipp Hardung

Hausfeld, Germany

Bio

Dr. Philipp F. Hardung is Partner at Hausfeld in Germany, specializing in commercial, corporate and insolvency litigation. Before joining Hausfeld, Philipp worked for a leading German law firm with a focus on corporate, banking and capital markets law as well as in the corporate law department of Linklaters LLP. He has acquired broad experience in litigation and dispute resolution, including cross-border inso commercial disputes and corporate litigation, as well as banking and financial disputes. Philipp regularly represents insolvency administrators, foreign shareholders, companies, investors and high net worth individuals in crisis situations and cross-border insolvency related disputes. Examples of his work include the representation of US investors in the enforcing of claims in connection with the insolvency of Wirecard AG and the representation of the shareholders of one of Europe’s largest legal service providers in the defense against insolvency-related liability claims.

 

Philipp went to law school in Germany, the United Kingdom and the United States and obtained a Ph.D. with summa cum laude in international civil procedure law at Halle-Wittenberg University (Germany). His thesis was honored as the best dissertation of the year in the state of Saxony-Anhalt. Philipp F. Hardung regularly publishes on topics of insolvency, corporate and procedural law. He is the author in the largest German legal commentary regarding the law of limited liability companies and has been a lecturer in International Dispute Resolution at Martin Luther University Halle-Wittenberg since many years. According to Germany’s Best Lawyers Ranking, he is one of Germany’s best lawyers in the field of Dispute Resolution.

Angelina Sgier

Lalive, Switzerland

Bio

Angelina Sgier is Counsel at LALIVE SA in Zurich, where she specializes in complex litigation, with a particular focus on banking and commercial disputes, recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and awards, bankruptcy and insolvency law, as well as white-collar crime (in the broader context of asset tracing and asset recovery). Angelina has been with LALIVE since 2020, following several years at another leading corporate law firm based in Zurich. Her practice is further grounded in her four years of experience as a court clerk, where she handled a wide range of civil and criminal cases. She holds a Bachelor of Law degree (magna cum laude) and a Master of Law degree (summa cum laude) from the University of Zurich and earned an additional LL.M. degree with High Honors from the University of California, Berkeley.

Kwame Akuffo

Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman, USA

Bio

Kwame Akuffo is a restructuring attorney with experience advising debtors, creditors, official committee of unsecured creditors and other parties-in-interest on bankruptcy matters, including chapter 11 proceedings, out-of-court restructurings, bankruptcy litigations and cross-border insolvencies. His work spans a broad range of industries, including news and media, real estate and energy. 

SESSION COORDINATOR AND MODERATOR

Luke Harrison

Keidan Harrison, UK

Bio

Luke co-founded Keidan Harrison LLP in May 2020. Luke’s practice covers a broad spectrum of commercial disputes, insolvency and restructuring disputes including asset recovery and civil fraud. Luke has acted for large corporates as well as for small- to medium-sized enterprises and office holders (directors, trustees and insolvency practitioners). He works across all sectors, but has particular experience in energy and natural resources, litigation funding, alternative lending, technology, construction, asset management and private equity.

Luke is a Solicitor Advocate having gained his Higher Rights of Audience. He has extensive litigation and arbitration experience both as an instructing solicitor and as an advocate. He also regularly represents clients in other forms of dispute resolution, including mediations, and develops bespoke dispute resolution mechanisms for clients. Luke is known for his innovative approach to value engineering dispute resolution and his outcomes focus. In addition Luke has substantial experience of interim relief including freezing orders, search orders both as instructing solicitor and advocate.

Luke is a past Chairman of the Commercial Litigation Association. He was a winner of the M&A Adviser, Emerging Leader Awards 2017, and in 2019 was named as a member of the prestigious TRI 250, an exclusive group of professionals across the Turnaround, Restructuring and Insolvency profession. He has been a member of the strategy group for London International Disputes Week since 2020 and from 2023 to 2024 was co-chair. He now sits as a member of the International Arbitration Day committee.

He founded the Association of Business Recovery Professionals (R3) Contentious Insolvency and Creditor Forum which he co-chaired for two years and now co-chairs Global Restructuring Review Live: Contentious Insolvency and Restructuring. He is currently co-editing the Global Restructuring Guide 1st Edition.

Marine Simonnot

UGGC Avocats, France

Bio

Member of UGGC Avocats’ Restructuring and Insolvency team for more than 15 years, Marine Simonnot joined the firm as a trainee lawyer before becoming an associate, a consultant and then a partner in June 2020.

Her expertise in restructuring and insolvency law covers diagnostics and strategy, prevention of difficulties – pre-insolvency proceedings, judicial treatment, assistance to creditors, takeover of distressed companies, assistance in carve-out process, defence of managers and shareholders, assistance to insolvency practitioners.

She advises and litigates in all areas of insolvency law, from the prevention of difficulties to their resolution through insolvency proceedings.

 Thanks to the multidisciplinary of UGGC Avocats that is a full-service law firm, Marine can address most of the topics that can be raised during a distress situation.

Marine Simonnot is an active member of several professional organizations dedicated to legal practice and restructuring, such as AIJA (former president and vice-president of the insolvency commission and currently co-chair of APC), Institut Français des Praticiens des Procédures Collectives (IFPPC), Women in Restructuring (WIR), etc. She also regularly writes and speaks on insolvency and restructuring topics.