AIJA Elections

From Thursday, 25 August 09:00am Singapore time (03:00am CEST)

To Friday, 26 August 12:00 noon Singapore time (06:00am CEST)

FOR AIJA MEMBERS

Important info

AIJA members with voting rights can cast their votes through MyAIJA between 25 August 09:00am Singapore time (03:00am CEST) and 26 August 12:00pm Singapore time (06:00am CEST).

Detailed instructions can be found on the MyAIJA home page.

Access MyAIJA

AIJA members can vote for…

AIJA First Vice-President

AIJA Secretary General

AIJA Executive Committee

From 25 August 09:00am Singapore time (03:00am CEST) onwards until 26 August 12:00 noon Singapore time (06:00am CEST), AIJA members will be able to vote electronically for the new Executive Committee members of AIJA. To present your candidacy to the AIJA Executive Committee, please fill out the application form, add your own signature as well as signatures of five other named individual members with voting rights, and send it to elections@aija.org by Tuesday 23 August 2022 at 18:00 Singapore time (12:00 CEST).

AIJA Executive Committee CANDIDATES

Lorna Cela

Lorna Cela
Bonnard Lawson
Switzerland

I am a passionate AIJA’s member since 2021, participating mainly in Corporate and M&A Commission activities. I grew up in a very multicultural and multilingual environment and therefore I feel at home in every AIJA’s event. I love the Association’s philosophy, a subtle mix between fun and business, and would love to contribute by joining the Executive Committee. In my professional life, I am an Associate in the Corporate and M&A department of Bonnard Lawson, a Swiss law firm with offices in five leading jurisdictions. My practice focuses on M&A and private equity transactions, both in cross-border and domestic matters. Furthermore, I have a special interest and expertise in banking and finance.

Eliane Haas

Dr. Eliane Haas, LL.M. Kellerhals Carrard Switzerland

Eliane Haas, Dr. iur, LL.M., Attorney at Law, has broad experience in intellectual property and competition law as well as in general contract law. She advises companies on strategic issues and conducts litigation in a national and international environment. Eliane is also active as an advisor in the life science sector and data protection. Eliane has been an active AIJA member ever since she joined the organisation in 2021. Her involvement focusses on the IPTMT and the Healthcare Commis-sion. She moderated a panel at the Half-Year Congress in Gothenburg in 2022 and is currently acting as an OC Member for the AIJA Commercial Fraud & IPTMT Commissions Seminar 2023 in Liechtenstein. Eliane is motivated to be involved even more being elected as an EC member.

Gustavo Coelho

Gustavo Coelho
Bastilho Coelho Advogados,
Brazil

I am a Brazilian lawyer focused on corporate law, antitrust & competition law and commercial contracts. I have joined AIJA in 2019 and met several members during the recent conferences in Dubai, Gothenburg, Sibenik and Singapore. As a member of the Executive Committee, I will actively participate in the association and help carry forward and even grow the unique AIJA spirit. I am based in Rio de Janeiro, where I have completed my PhD and LLM in antitrust and business law (I am also a professor at IBMEC Law School). In addition, I am currently the vice-chairman of the Antitrust Law Section of the Brazilian Bar Association (OAB/RJ) and member of the Business Law Sections of the OAB/RJ and Brazilian Lawyers Institute (IAB). Every AIJA gathering is an enriching experience. It would be a great honour to be a member of the Executive Committee and serve you in the coming years. I would be very grateful for your support!

Nadia Smahi

Nadia Smahi
Bär & Karrer AG
Switzerland

Being an active AIJA member since 2017, I have had the chance to attend numerous events and to enjoy the famous "AIJA spirit" firsthand. I have also been in the OC of 3 AIJA events so far (including for the upcoming Half-Year Conference in The Hague in May 2023). Aside from my AIJA activities, I work as a Senior Associate for the business law firm Bär & Karrer in Geneva, Switzerland. My practice focuses on International Arbitration, Litigation, IP/IT and Data Protection law. I would be delighted to become an EC member to be even more involved with AIJA and to work with friends and colleagues from everywhere.

Salome Wieser

Salome Wieser, LL.M.,
Ruoss Vögele Partner,
Switzerland

Since I joined AIJA in 2021, I could experience the unique AIJA spirit at several seminars and benefit from enriching exchanges with peers from around the world. Contributing to this spirit and AIJA’s future by taking an active role as a member of the Executive Committee would be a pleasure. After several years of experience in a large business law firm, I entered the partnership of Ruoss Vögele Partner in 2020. My main practice areas are domestic and international corporate transactions, specialising on acquisitions, mergers and restructurings. My other practice areas include corporate, construction and real property law.

Sophie Gilliam

Sophie Gilliam
BarentsKrans
The Netherlands

My name is Sophie Gilliam and I am a competition lawyer based in the Netherlands involved in (pan-European) cartel damages litigation and cross border transactions. A graduate of a Paris school, the annual congress in Paris in 2008 was my introduction to the “AIJA Spirit”. In the past years, I have been part of the local OC of a seminar on fundamental rights in Amsterdam (2017), of the OC of the AIJA Winter Seminar in St Anton (2019) and I was President of the Antitrust Commission in the pre, prime, and post? pandemic years 2018-2021. I am committed to contribute to the valuable support our beloved AIJA provides to its members and to wider community to achieve personal, professional and sustainable development goals.

MARIA JENNERHOLM

Maria Jennerholm
MAQS Advokatbyrå AB
Sweden

I am a Swedish lawyer, living and working in Gothenburg, Sweden. I work at MAQS Advokatbyrå where my main practise is IP, marketing and general contract law, with particular focus on the retail and fashion industries. I started attending AIJA seminars in 2014 and became a member in 2017. Over the years I have participated as a speaker in several events and this year I was the chair of the OC for the May Half Year Conference in Gothenburg. I would now love to get more involved with this organisation that I have come to care so deeply about.

Matthijs Roest Crollius

Matthijs Roest Crollius
Doorn en Keizer B.V.
The Netherlands

Matthijs started working as an attorney at law in 2008. Matthijs conducted his initial activities within two practice groups (employment law and corporate law) and from 2009 onwards he focusses on employment law and labour law. In 2013, Matthijs graduated from the post doctorate Grotius Academy for Employment Law. Matthijs is a member of International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA), Other memberships include Association Employment Lawyers Netherlands (VAAN – Vereniging Arbeidsrecht Advocaten Nederland) and since 2008 of Association Employment Lawyers Amsterdam (VAAA – Vereniging Arbeidsrecht Advocaten Amsterdam) and the European Employment Lawyers Association (EELA). For the last 8 years Matthijs has been a board member of Pymwymic, a community of investors who believe in the flow of capital to good. Matthijs also regularly gives presentations, in-house training and speaks at seminars in the Netherlands and abroad. Latest he spoke at the AIJA seminar in June 2022 “Gender and Inclusivity in International Families” in London. Matthijs’ past publications include an annual contribution on Dutch labour law to “International Labor & Employment Laws”, an American Bar Association edition.

Michał Chodkowski

Michał Chodkowski Łaszczuk i Wspólnicy sp.j.,
Poland

Michał Chodkowski is a Polish lawyer, He is a Partner at Łaszczuk&Partners, where he heads the Employment Law Practice Group. He specialises in employment law and social security law. For over 16 years, he has been advising domestic and international corporations in making strategic decisions concerning various areas of employment law – creating and introducing the most advantageous employment models, including forms and methods of restructuring and optimisation, conducting group and individual layoffs, as well as transfer and reorganisation of the workplace, including cross-border transfers. He also conducts employment law trainings for international businesses and lectures at a university. Michał is a committed member of AIJA since 2019. He is an active member of the Labour Law Commission.

Alexander Göbel

Alexander Göbel
Niederer Kraft Frey Ltd,
Switzerland

Since I joined AIJA at the beginning of last year, the openness of the community and the exchange with peers from around the world has encouraged me to become an even more active member of this community. Having attended several AIJA events and M&A commission meetings since then and contributed to two AIJA events as a speaker, I am looking forward to meeting many more of the AIJA members in person and to further (if re-elected) contribute to AIJA as a member of the Executive Committee. I am a M&A and corporate law associate with Niederer Kraft Frey in Zurich (NKF) with a main focus on transactions in the technology sector, private equity and venture capital. Additionally, I also serve as NKF’s LegalTech Officer.

Nick Atkins

Nick Atkins
Stevens & Bolton LLP
United Kingdom

I have been an active member of AIJA since attending my first event in 2019 and I strongly believe in the positive spirit of international friendship and cooperation engendered by AIJA. I was a speaker at the recent M&A Commission seminar in Croatia and am excited to be a member of the OC for an upcoming M&A seminar scheduled for 2023. I am a corporate partner at UK firm Stevens & Bolton where I specialise in M&A, VC & growth capital and corporate advisory work and am a member of firm’s International Practice Group board. I would be delighted if you would lend me your vote so that I can participate in the Executive Committee and work for you in promoting the objectives of our fantastic AIJA.

Bartosz Kuraś

Bartosz Kuraś, LL.M.,
Wardynski & Partners
Poland

I am a Polish M&A/corporate lawyer and joined AIJA in 2020 and you may have meet me in person in Zurich, Dubai or Gothenburg. I actively participate in Corporate and M&A Committee as well as International Business Law Committee and intent to be further active as much active as possible, especially during events in Krakow and Edinburgh.
I am a partner in a Polish law firm Wardyński & Partners that I joined in 2008. I handle civil and corporate law, particularly in the area of M&A and ongoing corporate advice. I participated in a number of transactional matters, particularly involving purchase and sale of enterprises and elements of enterprises, as well as share deals. My practice also includes new technologies (projects involving venture capital and crowdfunding platforms). I did my law degrees in Poland and subsequently in Germany.
I would be very grateful for your vote!

Tomasz Baron

Tomasz Baron, LL.M. TIGGES Rechtsanwälte, Poland/Germany

My name is Tomasz Baron and I am a lawyer at TIGGES law firm. I am heading our Polish Katowice office which we established back in 2020. I am advising Polish and German clients on Polish and German civil, commercial, corporate and labour law. One of the main areas of my practice is providing comprehensive advice and assistance to companies starting their business activities in Poland and Germany which I support not only in the start-up phase, but also in their ongoing business activities.
I am a passionate member of AIJA since 2021 and I am thrilled by the professional level and enthusiasm of the entire organization and its members. I would be delighted to make all the efforts to contribute to the AIJA Executive Committee. Thank you for your support.

Azmul Haque

Azmul Haque
Collyer Law LLC,
Singapore

Azmul is a tri-qualified lawyer, qualified and admitted to practice law in England, India and Singapore. Over the last 20 years, Azmul has developed particular expertise in complex, cross-border corporate transactions (acquisitions and divestitures, joint ventures and strategic alliances, public and private equity, venture and angel financing), commercial contracts (outsourcing, franchising and licensing, various) and regulatory matters in a range of areas that impact business – whether for start-ups or billion-dollar enterprises. Azmul is ranked and recommended by several legal industry directories including Chambers Asia, Asia-Pacific Legal 500 and Global Law Experts (for TMT). Azmul was rated a “Top 40-under-40” lawyer (Asian Legal Business, October 2016), “A-List (Singapore’s Top 100 Lawyers)” (Asia Business Law Journal, 2018 and 2019) and the International A-List (Indian Business Law Journal, 2020). Recent nominations include “Asia Super 50 TMT Lawyers 2022” (ALB 2022), “Dealmaker of the Year.

Christine Alexis Concepción

Christine Alexis Concepción, Esq.
Global Tax Law PLLC
USA

Christine Alexis Concepción, Esq. advises individuals and their closely held businesses on U.S. and international income and estate tax, U.S. pre-immigration tax planning, expatriation from the U.S., and tax amnesty programs. Prior to launching Global Tax Law in 2021, Christine worked at a Big Four public accounting firm as well as two global law firms in the international tax and private client groups. During law school, Christine interned at the Office of Chief Counsel of the Internal Revenue Service in the Large Business and International (LB&I) Division. Christine earned a Bachelor of Science in International Business and French Literature from The Florida State University, a Master of Arts in International Business from the University of Florida, a Juris Doctor from the University of Connecticut, and a Master of Laws (LL.M.) in Taxation from Northwestern University. Christine also studied at the University of Salamanca in Spain, the Linguistic University of Nizhny Novgorod in Russia, and both La Sorbonne and Sciences Po in Paris. She is fluent in English, Spanish, French, and Portuguese and has studied several other languages.

Marine SIMONNOT

Marine Simonnot
UGGC Avocats
France

I joined AIJA in 2016 and I am involved in the insolvency law commission. I was vice-président and I am the current president of the insolvency law commission. Now that my term will end, I would like to continue my involvement in AIJA that brings so much to its members, reason of my candidature. I am partner at UGGC Avocats, french full business law firm based in Paris that I joined as a trainee. advise clients on all aspects of insolvency law, from the prevention of difficulties to their treatment in the context of collective proceedings, both as counsel and in litigation. I support companies of all sizes, their managers and/or shareholders, investment funds, creditors, legal representatives or buyers. I am also co-editor of the section on insolvency law in a practical guide published by Lextenso and in charge of the insolvency law training at the Paris bar school.

Vikas Saraswat

Vikas Saraswat
SARASWAT & CO.,
India

Vikas Saraswat is the founding partner of Saraswat & Co., a full service law firm headquartered in New Delhi, India and having branch offices in Lucknow, Mumbai and Agra. He is registered as an Indian advocate since 2002 started his career as a litigator in Lucknow High Court and a Patent Attorney since 2004 having extensive experience in advising clients from various countries on cross-border Intellectual Property and regulatory issues including Business Restructuring, Sustainability, Regulatory Compliances & traditional knowledge. He is also serving as Chair, Education & Training Committee of FIRSTIP[Foundation for Innovative Research, Sustainable Technologies and Intellectual Property] since 2010. He has been instrumental in organizing various events for spreading awareness on environmental and sustainability issues ranging from indoor air pollution to preserving traditional knowledge. He is Certified[Yoga Alliance E-RYT500] yoga & wellness trainer who has been instrumental in sharing this knowledge of wellbeing since more than 11 years in the life of thousands of people across all age groups ranging from school kids, university students to corporate professionals. Being master trainer of Yoga certified by the Government of India he has been actively involved in various projects relating to sustainability, yoga and wellness training of youths across India. Additionally, he is also qualified in ancient Indian science of sustainable architecture, named Vastu Shastra. He also advises clients on directional analysis of a place for overall wellbeing based on the principles of Vastu Shastra.

Other Resolutions

The voting on other resolutions submitted to the General Assembly will be possible through electronic voting on Friday 26 August from 11:00am to 12:00 noon Singapore time (05:00am to 06:00am CEST).

E-voting

The commitment of each member is crucial to the success of the whole organisation. And nowhere is this more evident than during our annual elections.

Once a year at the Annual Congress, the General Assembly of Members is called to elect some members of two very important bodies for the management of AIJA: the Executive Committee and the Bureau. In previous years this had to be done on paper, in person. But early in 2016, when AIJA launched an extensive online survey, members called for a stronger and more effective participation in the life of the association and in particular an e-voting system.

AIJA welcomed e-voting for the first time in 2018 and due to its resounding success the Association has been using it since then.

How AIJA members can vote

Electronic voting is easy – AIJA members can vote from any location, on any device. Members will receive in advance a link where they can join and watch the General Assembly, as well as the interview with the First Vice-President candidate and then vote electronically.

If AIJA members are not available to vote electronically during the elections date, they can give a proxy to another member. Instructions are available on the MyAIJA member dashboard.

AIJA Elections

Important info