International Section

Carlos Ramos-Mrosovsky

Counsel, Baker & Hostetler LLP

New York, NY
Carlos Ramos-Mrosovsky represents multinational companies and sovereign governments in commercial and treaty-based arbitrations and before U.S. courts, with emphasis on disputes arising in the energy, mining and infrastructure sectors.

Carlos has acted in disputes arising under the rules of institutions including the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law (UNCITRAL), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), and the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC).

Select Experience:

International Arbitration

• Representing Georgian and UK investors seeking compensation from Azerbaijan for the expropriation of a petroleum investment under the Energy Charter Treaty.
• Representing Middle Eastern investors in parallel investment and commercial claims challenging an African government’s termination of a railway concession.

Litigation

• Representing a U.S. defense contractor in the enforcement of a $130 million award against Venezuela and in subsequent efforts to execute judgment against Venezuelan assets.
• Representing UK investors in the enforcement of a $33 million ICSID award against Spain.

Torsten M. Kracht

Partner, Hunton Andrews Kurth

Washington, D.C.
Torsten represents clients from the U.S. and abroad in complex commercial litigation and arbitration.

A litigation partner in the Washington, DC and New York offices, Torsten has served as trial counsel in jury and bench trials in various jurisdictions, and as arbitration counsel in AAA, NASD and ICC proceedings. He has particular experience counseling clients on litigation strategies that effectively balance legal risk and business goals, and in leading internal investigations related to threatened or actual litigation.

Torsten is admitted to practice in New York, New Jersey, the District of Columbia, and in multiple federal districts and circuit courts of appeal.

Relevant Experience

• Managing commercial litigation dockets for a multi-national Fortune 50 and a multi-national Fortune 500.
• Defending Fortune 500 entities in federal antitrust matters, including cases involving allegations of monopolization and attempted monopolization in the utility industry; bundled discounting in the healthcare industry; price fixing and market allocation in the food and polyurethane industries and a unique case of exclusionary conduct in Mexico, which he argued before Mexico’s Antitrust Commission.
• Representing US and foreign clients in international arbitration, including representing a US Fortune 50 in a multi-billion arbitration against an Australian counterparty, which was presided over by the former Chief Justice of Australia’s Supreme Court.
• Defending multinational clients in lawsuits alleging violation of biometric privacy laws.
• Developing and implementing litigation and trial strategy for entities litigating related issues simultaneously in multiple US and foreign jurisdictions.
• Leading the development, documentation and training of in-house lawyers on e-discovery and litigation protocols.
• Developing and implementing plaintiff-side and claims practices for corporate clients to aid law departments in generating revenue.
  • Obtained one of the largest RICO settlements ($297 million) on behalf of healthcare network and others against major US food distributor and its former foreign parent company.
  • Obtained $22 million settlement on behalf of class of healthcare providers and others in antitrust case against major global medical-device manufacturer.
• Obtained confidential settlement on behalf of military contractor against prime military contractor for theft of trade secrets and breach of teaming agreement.

Helen Naves

Partner, HNaves Advogados

São Paulo, Brazil
Helen Naves is a corporate, banking, and finance lawyer in São Paulo with dual qualification in the State São Paulo (Brazil) and in New York State (USA).

For over two decades, Helen has worked as part of the legal team leading multinational financial institutions and as a partner in some of the most prestigious law firms in Brazil.

Helen Naves’ practice includes special legal advice in banking regulations, finance transactions, and capital markets.  She assists financial institutions and companies in finance and debt capital markets, as well as structuring, drafting and negotiation of banking agreements, collaterals, and other financial instruments, including derivatives, futures and international investments.

In addition to a differentiated legal practice, Helen holds leadership positions including Co-Chair of the Brazil Chapter of the New York State Bar Association (NYSBA) International Section and Co-President of the Brazil Chapter of the Fordham Law alumni (USA).

Since 2009, when Helen joined her first diversity and inclusion committee at a law firm in New York City, she has developed a profound awareness for diversity and inclusion initiatives, especially to promote and enhance career opportunities for female lawyers, and to facilitate mentoring, networking, professional development, and education for female lawyers.

Helen Naves has a bachelor’s degree in law from the University of Sao Paulo, a post-graduate degree in Securities Law, a Master’s in Commercial Law from the University of São Paulo – USP, and an LL.M. degree in Banking, Corporate, and Finance Law from Fordham University School of Law.

Alexandra Piscionere

New York, NY
My practice focuses on representing the interests of condominiums and cooperatives in litigation involving a wide array of challenging issues, ranging from breach of contract disputes to claims of discrimination in housing and accessibility issues. I also work with the firm’s attorneys on providing day to day general counsel advice to our clients.

I was Director of Investigations at the Westchester County Human Rights Commission, leading investigations in housing discrimination and resolving claims through conciliation and drafting determinations. In that capacity, I worked closely with the U.S. Department of Housing and Urban Development and was the keynote speaker at multiple Continuing Legal Education programs and outreach programs on civil programs on civil rights topics. From December 2013 to December 2014, I was the Law Clerk to Francis A. Nicolai, Retired Justice of the Supreme Court, Westchester County, and, thereafter, to Janet C. Malone, Acting Justice of the Supreme Court of Westchester County. I am also a trained mediator.

Bar Admissions

• New York, 2013
  • 2nd Department
  • Southern and Eastern Districts
• District of Columbia, 2014

Education

• New England Law, Boston, 2012, J.D.
• George Washington University, 2009
  

Howard A. Fischer

Partner, Moses Singer

Howard Fischer has extensive experience in trying complex financial disputes. As a former Senior Trial Counsel at the U.S. Securities & Exchange Commission (SEC), he was entrusted with some of the most sophisticated and noteworthy cases that the federal government prosecuted in the last decade.

During his nine year tenure at the SEC, he earned multiple awards for exemplary service and served as first chair for numerous trials. This included acting as lead counsel in the litigation against Wing Chau and Harding Advisory LLC – relating to CDO asset selection in the run-up to the financial crisis – resulting in a major conviction against one of the characters lampooned in the film “The Big Short.” Howard was also the lead trial counsel in the prosecution of Kareem Serageldin, another figure referenced in “The Big Short”, involving the mismarking of certain mortgage-backed assets, by Credit Suisse, in the wake of the financial crisis.

Howard also led the SEC litigation involving the infamous London Whale, arising from JPMorgan Chase traders incurring multi-billion dollar losses in its credit derivatives book. This case involved many years of discovery on several continents, including several multi-week depositions.

Howard was lead trial counsel for the successful litigation against the former management of Dewey & Leboeuf arising from the firm’s collapse, an insider trading case against the assistant to one of Disney Corporation’s highest ranking executives, and numerous multi-million dollar litigations against asset managers and investment advisers. Before leaving the SEC for his return to private practice, Howard secured a $20 million judgment against the former manager of a private equity fund who concocted a scheme to divert millions of investors’ funds through a series of fake “due diligence” expenditures, as well as multi-million dollar judgments against participants in a long-term, multi-issuer fraudulent offering.

Howard has significant experience in the insurance and reinsurance spheres. Among other matters, he acted as lead co-ordinating counsel for a series of litigations involving insured and reinsured film financing, including as lead trial counsel. He represented the President and Chief Operating Officer of a major insurance company in a multi-billion dollar class action, winning a total dismissal of all counts. Howard also represented insurance executives in various SEC and DOJ investigations, and defended insurance companies in both sales practice and claims handling class actions. For several years, he served as Co-Chair of the Insurance/Reinsurance Committee of the International Section, NYSBA, and has made multiple presentations on insurance topics, both in the US and abroad at international conferences.

Howard’s legal knowledge involving complex financial instruments and matters, including CDOs and other asset-backed instruments, credit derivatives and credit derivative indices, was developed and honed by handling a variety of sophisticated cases. This has included numerous types of accounting fraud, instances of compliance failures by market participants, and violations of securities laws and regulations involving banks, hedge funds, private equity funds, mutual funds, investment advisers and broker-dealers. Additionally, he has developed close relationships with a wide range of federal and state law enforcement and regulatory authorities, including the Department of Justice, various US Attorney’s Offices, state and local criminal enforcement authorities, as well as self-regulatory organizations like the Financial Industry Regulatory Authority, Inc. (FINRA) and the New York Stock Exchange.

Howard is recognized as a leading expert on securities disputes, enforcement proceedings, and securities regulations, including related to digital assets. He can be seen regularly on Bloomberg News, CNBC, Yahoo! Finance, CoinDesk News and other media outlets. He publishes frequently and his articles can be found in Barron’s, The Financial Times, Bloomberg Law, ThomsonReuters, Law360, and other sources as well.

In addition to being extensively published and interviewed by various media outlets, he is seen as a trusted source by publications ranging from the New York Times, The Guardian, CNN, CNBC, Bloomberg, Grid News, Axios, and others. Among the topics on which he is frequently consulted by the media include Supreme Court decisions, securities rules and regulations, litigation trends, data security and other topics. He has lectured in the United States, Europe and Asia on subjects ranging from accounting fraud, securities enforcement actions, arbitration techniques and the lingering effects of the financial crisis.

Prior to working at the SEC, Howard served as a partner at Schindler, Cohen & Hochman LLP (“SC&H”), a securities and complex litigation boutique. During his time at SC&H, Howard first-chaired a number of litigations and arbitrations involving financial products, including disputes over the reinsurance of film finance products, hedge fund litigation and numerous securities arbitrations before FINRA and the NYSE for companies such as UBS, Goldman Sachs, Lazard Asset Management, General Reinsurance Corp. and others. Among other litigation victories, he won numerous arbitrations for several financial services firms.

In addition to his substantial experience in financial services, Previously, he was an associate in the litigation departments of Debevoise & Plimpton and Rosenman & Colin. He had also been a federal law clerk to Judge Constance Baker Motley, in the District Court for the Southern District of New York, and Judges Carmen Cerezo and Gilberto Gierbolini Ortiz in the District Court of Puerto Rico. He is a graduate of Columbia Law School (1992), where he was a member of the Columbia Law Review, and received his undergraduate degree, cum laude, from Yale (1988), where he majored in philosophy.

Howard has written and lectured extensively on issues relating to litigation, arbitration, securities and government enforcement. He has spoken before national and international bar associations in the United States, Europe and Asia, as well as at law schools.

Daniel L. (D.L.) Morriss

Partner, Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP

Chicago, IL & New York, NY
D.L. Morriss concentrates his practice on the representation and defense of regional and Fortune 500 financial institutions in commercial litigation claims involving tort, contract and statutory violations involving complex commercial foreclosure, guaranty and loan liability actions, as well as post-judgment collections. He also has handled matters involving UCC litigation, contract disputes and bankruptcy and creditors’ rights.

D.L. also regularly represents companies in general litigation matters, such as commercial landlords and tenants in property management disputes; and national loan servicers in workout matters.

His professional liability practice includes the defense of accountants and accounting firms, and also lawyers and law firms in their professional liability matters. He also handles director and officer liability claims.

In addition to his practice, D.L. serves as the Diversity, Equity and Inclusion Partner of Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP. He is also a member of the firm’s Executive Committee, Associate Hiring Committee, and Hinshaw University’s Planning Committee.

In 2015, D.L. was selected as a participant for the Leadership Greater Chicago Class of 2016 Fellowship. In 2013, he was selected as a participant for the Chicago Committee’s inaugural “Rate My Pitch” program.

Professional Background

D.L. joined Hinshaw & Culbertson LLP as an associate in September 2008. Previously he was a summer associate with the firm during the summer of 2007 and a law clerk since September 2007.

In addition to clerking at Hinshaw, D.L. was a law clerk for one year with the Office of the General Counsel at DePaul University.

Among his law school achievements, D.L. was a member of the Black Law Student Association and a recipient of a CALI Award for Judicial & Scholarly Writing.

During his undergraduate studies, he was a teaching assistant in the areas of social and cross-cultural psychology. He was also the President of the William Osborne Society of Wheaton College from 2002 to 2003.

Diane E. O’Connell

Independent Arbitrator, Sorting it Out/ do ADR, Inc.

New York, NY
Diane O’Connell is the Immediate Past-Chair of the New York State Bar (NYSBA) International Section, a member of the NYSBA House of Delegates and the NYSBA Well Being Task Force as well as the ADR, Federal & Commercial Litigation, Business Law, Corporate Counsel, and Women in the Law Sections, a member of the American Bar Association’s International Section and a member of the Union Internationale de Avocats (UIA).

Diane has traveled extensively and have a talent for understanding different cultures and legal approaches.  Further, my experience in business operations, corporate law, technology, risk management and transactions provide a proactive, well-rounded and strategic perspective.

Bar & Court Admissions

• American Arbitration Association – Commercial and Consumer Panel Rosters
• FINRA – Arbitration Roster
• National Futures Association (NFA)  – Arbitration Roster
• NYS Courts – Part 137 and Small Claims Mediation Rosters
• New York State Bar
• New Jersey Bar
• Connecticut Bar
• US District Court for the District of New Jersey

Education

• LLM – Financial Services, New York Law School, New York, NY, 2011
• Juris Doctor, New York Law School, New York, NY, 2005
• ABD, Bioremediation, CUNY Graduate Center, New York, NY 1995-1997
• BA Biology/Chemistry, Queens College, New York 1995