Neil Kaplan CBE KC SBS has been a full-time practising arbitrator since 1995. During this period, he has been involved in several hundred arbitrations as co-arbitrator, sole arbitrator or chairman. These arbitrations have included a wide range of commercial, infrastructure and investment disputes, under the auspices of the ICC, HKIAC, LCIA, PCA, SIAC, SCC, ICSID and CIETAC. Mr Kaplan’s investment treaty cases under ICSID and UNCITRAL both as presiding arbitrator and coarbitrator have involved Timor-Leste, Hungary, Croatia, Vietnam, Indonesia, Cambodia, Ecuador, Iran, India, Ukraine, Russia, Korea and Saudi Arabia.

Called to the Bar of England and Wales in 1965, Mr Kaplan has practiced as a barrister, Principal Crown Counsel at the Hong Kong Attorney General’s Chambers, and served as a Judge of the Supreme Court of Hong Kong in charge of the Construction and Arbitration List. He has been a Queen’s Counsel since 1982 and was a founder and first head of Des Voeux Chambers in Hong Kong. In March 2022, Mr Kaplan was sworn in as a member of the Supreme Court of Bahrain.

With over 20 years of experience working in Singapore, Hong Kong, New York and London, Chiann Bao practices as a full-time independent arbitrator. Chiann has been appointed in ad
hoc and institutional arbitrations as chair, co-arbitrator, sole arbitrator and emergency arbitrator in numerous arbitrations with a total of several USD billion dollars in dispute. She is
a panel arbitrator of the major arbitral institutions worldwide, a Chartered arbitrator, and a CEDR-accredited mediator.

Chiann has served as arbitrator in a range of disputes in various sectors, including general corporate, joint venture and shareholder disputes, private equity, intellectual property and licensing, pharmaceuticals, media and telecommunications, technology, cryptoassets, construction and infrastructure projects, energy and resources, agency and distributorship
agreements, sale of goods and general commercial disputes.

Prior to joining Arbitration Chambers, Chiann worked in private practice where she focused on complex international arbitration and litigation, acting as counsel for corporates and states in a range of disputes in various sectors.

The Hon Geoffrey Ma is the former Chief Justice of Hong Kong, having retired from that position in January 2021. He accepts appointments as an arbitrator and a mediator.

Prior to joining the Hong Kong Judiciary, he was in private practice as a barrister at Temple Chambers. He practised mainly in commercial, company and public law, including arbitrations. He was Head of Chambers before his appointment as a Judge of the Court of First Instance of the High Court in 2001. He was elevated to the Court of Appeal in the following year, and appointed Chief Judge of the High Court in 2003. He served as the Chief Justice of the Court of Final Appeal from 2010 to 2021.

He is the Editor in Chief of Arbitration in Hong Kong: A Practical Guide (1st to 5th editions). He is also a member of the International Advisory Board of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre, on their Panels of Arbitrators and Mediators, and is also on the Panel of Arbitrators of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. He is also a door tenant of Brick Court Chambers, London and has offices in Singapore.

Mariel is Secretary-General of Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre. She is an international commercial and investment arbitration specialist.

Prior to joining the HKIAC, Mariel was a Partner at CMS and Co-Head of the global CMS International Arbitration Group. She has over 15 years' experience acting as adviser and advocate in numerous international arbitrations. She has extensive experience in both common law and civil law disputes, including disputes involving Chinese parties, and has full professional fluency in German. She also sits regularly as arbitrator and has experience as arbitrator under the HKIAC, ICC, KCAB, and DIS Rules, and in ad hoc disputes. She is on the arbitrator panels of several institutions.

She is a past co-chair of the HK45 Committee, and a member of the WILHK Advisory Board. She is consistently ranked in both the regional and global editions of the leading legal directories.

Dr Noam Zamir is an Associate Professor of Law at Lyon Catholic University, where he teaches international investment law and dispute settlement.

Dr Zamir's research focuses on public international law, investor-state arbitrations and international commercial arbitrations. He has written various articles in the field of public international law, notably international arbitration, international humanitarian law and human rights law. His articles were published in top journals such as the American Journal of International Law (CUP) and Arbitration International (OUP) and his book on international humanitarian law was published by Edward Elgar (2017).

In addition, Dr Zamir is an independent arbitrator (listed on the List of Arbitrators of the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC)) and he acts as tribunal secretary in international commercial and investment treaty arbitrations chaired by Mr Neil Kaplan CBE QC SBS and Dr Michael Moser, two of the most eminent arbitrators in Asia.
Dr. Zamir completed his doctoral studies in 2014 at the University of Cambridge (Trinity College) under the supervision of Professor James Crawford. In autumn 2012 he was a visiting doctoral student at Harvard Law School. In 2011, he completed a graduate degree in law (B.C.L.) at the University of Oxford where he was a Weidenfeld Scholar. In 2009 he obtained his LL.B. degree at Haim Striks School of Law, the College of Management Academic Studies, Israel.

Kitty Zheng is an associate in Shearman & Sterling’s International Arbitration Group. She frequently acts as counsel in commercial disputes and investment treaty arbitrations, including proceedings conducted under the auspices of the HKIAC, ICC and ICSID. Her experience includes disputes related to energy, construction, joint ventures, mergers and acquisitions and investment funds. She also represents parties in arbitration-related court proceedings as well as dispute review board procedures. Kitty receives her J.D. degree from New York University and is qualified in New York.