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While many businesses are focusing on immediate issues caused by the COVID-19 pandemic, there is an increased sense of urgency to prepare for potential claims. In some jurisdictions, there has already been a double-digit increase in suits filed in the first half of April, of which a significant number mentioned the “coronavirus”.

This webinar aims to address the types of claims and lawsuits that may be – and indeed are already – forthcoming, be it insurance claims for business interruption, claims against business partners for breach of contract, or lawsuits against government stemming from COVID-19 relief packages. In addition to identifying the claims that may arise, this webinar will explain how businesses can quantify their economic losses and manage their disputes efficiently at a time when local courts will be facing backlogs for the foreseeable future.

Erica Stein, Partner, Dechert LLP Brussels (Chair)
Erica Stein focuses her practice on international arbitration, including both commercial and investment arbitration matters. She is the Vice President of the DIS Arbitration Council (German Arbitration Institute) and a member of the Task Force for the Revision of the 2010 IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence. She also represents Belgium at the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR and, in this capacity, was part of the ICC Task Force on Emergency Arbitrator Proceedings. Ms. Stein serves on the Academic Committee of the CEPANI (the Belgian Centre for Arbitration and Mediation) and the Editorial Board of b-Arbitra, the Belgian Review of Arbitration (Wolters Kluwer). Ms. Stein also served for six years on the Standing Committee of the ICC International Centre for ADR, four of which as Vice President.

Olivier van der Haegen, Partner, Loyens & Loeff
Olivier van de Haegen is experienced in dispute resolution, international commercial arbitration and litigation. He regularly acts as counsel in international arbitration proceedings, either ad hoc or under various institutional rules. He also assists clients in court proceedings relating to setting aside, recognition and enforcement of international arbitral awards or foreign judgments (including in investment treaty cases and against Sovereigns). Aside from his extensive arbitration practice, Olivier handles litigations before Belgian courts in the real estate, construction, energy, food and media industries.

Cédric Alter, Partner, Janson Baugniet
Cédric Alter has gained significant experience of business law and contract law working for both Belgian and foreign clients. He regularly acts in judicial and arbitration proceedings (as counsel or arbitrator), and is a member of the Belgian Centre for Arbitration and Mediation (CEPANI) and of ICC Belgium. In 2012 he became a professor of business law at the Solvay Brussels School of Economic and Management of ULB. He is the author or co-author of numerous publications in the field of contract law, as well as in banking law, insolvency and securities and guarantees. In 2010 he wrote a book on general banking law and recently co-author a book on the Belgian Business Continuity Act with Alain Zenner.

Kami Zargar, Director and Head of Forensic, KPMG Belgium
Kami Zargar is a Chartered Accountant (The Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales) and has over 13 years of experience in consulting and accounting profession involving audit and forensic accounting. Recently settled in Belgium, spent several years in the Forensic team of KPMG in the UK where he delivered various dispute advisory, multi-jurisdictional fraud and misconduct investigations and compliance work. His recent experience includes the preparation of the expert accounting reports for an ICC Arbitration in respect of a commercial dispute, being appointed expert in relation to a warranty claim brought before an ICC Arbitration, managing an expert witness assignment involving drafting of an expert report in respect of a loss of profits claim.

Niuscha Bassiri, Partner, Hanotiau & van den Berg
Niuscha Bassiri has a solid track-record as counsel and arbitrator (sole, presiding and party-appointed arbitrator) in numerous international arbitrations under the major arbitral institutions and arbitration rules (CEPANI, DIS, ICC, LCIA, NAI, UNCITRAL, VIAC) and governed by various procedural and substantive laws. She is a long-time lecturer in the master’s program of the ICHEC Business and Management School in Brussels on International Commercial Law and Dispute Resolution. She is also a member of the faculty of the LLM international arbitration program of the University of Miami School of Law, teaching on the New York Convention. In 2020, Who’s Who Legal—Arbitration acknowledges Niuscha Bassiri as a Thought Leader, stating that she is “already a leader in the younger generation of arbitrators”.

PREPARING FOR CLAIMS IN TIMES OF COVID-19
Chair: Erica Stein

10.00 – Introduction word by the Chair

10.05 – The benefits of arbitration and ADR in times of uncertainty by Olivier van der Haegen

10.25 – Quantifying potential claims – Evidence and use of experts in arbitration and ADR by Cédric Alter & Kami Zargar

10.55 – Tips & tricks for virtual hearings by Niuscha Bassiri

11.15 – Questions & Answers

11.25 – Conclusion

Please register on ICC Belgium’s website (a new window will open):