FBA, FLSW, FRSA is Professor of EU law and Employment Law and senior tutor and fellow of Trinity College, Cambridge. She is the author of EU Employment Law (Oxford, OUP, 2012, 5th ed.), The Substantive Law of the EU: The Four Freedoms, (Oxford, OUP, 2022, 7th ed), and (with Peers ed), European Union Law (Oxford, OUP, 2023, 4th ed). She is a member of the European Commission funded European Labour Law Network (ELLN). She is also a Senior Fellow of the UK in a Changing Europe (http://ukandeu.ac.uk/) project (UKCE). This is an authoritative, non-partisan think-tank which does research and provides information about all aspects of Brexit. Part of its remit is to make that information accessible to the general public. She has appeared on the main media channels – BBC, ITV and Sky – as well as some of the more specialist programmes such as Law in Action, Woman’s Hour, Question Time, Any Questions and the Briefing Room. She has also written for the Guardian and the Telegraph. She has given evidence to numerous select committees on the legal issues connected with Brexit. She has her own podcast, 2903cb, and she blogs on Brexit, mainly for the http://ukandeu.ac.uk/.

Norway, Deputy Director General, Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion, Oslo.
Mona Næss is a Deputy Director General at the Ministry of Labour and Social Inclusion, Oslo. She is a Bachelor in social sciences and psychology 1985 and master of Law 1993. Specialist in labor law/EEA labor law. Mona Næss has extensive experience from the Labour Ministry, in addition to a number of years as a private employment lawyer in Oslo. She has also been a Labour and Social councellor at the Norwegian Mission to the EU in Brussels for two periods, most recently from 2017-2021. Næss leads the work on EEA adaptations of labor law in the Ministry in Norway. She was chair of the EFTA’s working group for employment law and health and safety for several periods. She has also been a member of the Lawyer’s Further education center’s professional committee for labour law in Oslo for a period of 15 years. Næss is the author of the books Transfer of undertakings (2013) and Labour Law:. Restructuring, downsizing and transfer of undertakings in the public sector (2nd ed. 2019).

Gunnar Þór Pétursson is a Professor of Law at Reykjavik University and Visiting Professor at Université Paris (II), Panthéon-Assas, Professor Pétursson is a Member of the Financial Supervisory Board – Icelandic Central Bank and an Ad-Hoc Judge at the EFTA Court, Luxembourg. He was formerly the Director at Internal Market Affairs Directorate, EFTA Surveillance Authority, Brussels. Professor Pétursson has published several academic articles and books on EU/EEA law. His research focus is on EU/EEA constitutional law, fundamental rights, free movement and legal theory.

Joao Vale de Almeida, Portugal, Former EU Ambassador to UK, UN and US. Ambassador João Vale de Almeida is a senior European Union diplomat who recently retired from a 40 year long career. His last post was in London as EU Ambassador to the United Kingdom. Before that he had been Ambassador to the United Nations, in New York, and to the United States, in Washington DC. Previously, in Brussels, he served as Chief of Staff to the President of the European Commission, José Manuel Barroso, and as Director-General of External Relations in the European Commission. He was also the EU’s Sherpa for G8 and G20 summits. After retiring in early 2023, Ambassador Vale de Almeida has been Visiting Professor at the University of Columbia, in New York, and Visiting Fellow at the University of Cambridge, in the United Kingdom. He is a member of several foundation and think tank boards.

Germany/UK, Head of the Unit “Labour law” in Directorate-General for Employment, Social Affairs and Inclusion of the European Commission, Brussels. Pokorny has been head of this unit since 2016. The unit is responsible for the implementation of some twenty EU Directives covering individual and collective rights, notably concerning working time, written statement, fixed-term and part-time work, collective redundancies, information and consultation of workers, transfer of undertakings, European Works Councils, transparent and predictable working conditions. In previous postings in the European Commission he was responsible for the implementation of the European Social Fund and the European Semester policy analysis process for Germany, Austria, Slovenia and Croatia (2012-16), for policy cooperation and funding programmes (Comenius, eTwinning) in the field of school education (2007-12), and on education policy coordination and negotiation of the EU’s Lifelong Learning Programme (2001-07). Before entering the European Commission he worked in the UK civil service in the Department for Education (1990-2001).

Raoul Parekh, UK, Partner at Littler, London. Raoul works across all areas of employment law, including advisory, litigation and transactional support. He focuses on supporting multi-national clients with their employment advice and litigation needs across EMEA. Raoul acts for several employers of record, advising them on their UK and international employment compliance strategy and other issues. He has written and spoken about the rise of EORs and the related employment issues. Raoul started his legal career with Baker McKenzie in London, and became a partner at Littler in 2018.

Juan Bonilla, Spain, Partner at Cuatrecasas, Madrid. Juan Bonilla is an expert in contract terminations, employee compensation schemes, particularly share-based schemes and in the labor implications of corporate transactions, advising clients and handling litigation matters. He has extensive experience in advising international clients on transnational labor transactions, particularly in the European Union and in Latin America. He is a member and a former Chair of the Employment and Industrial Relations Committee of the International Bar Association (IBA). He was director of the Global Equity Organization (GEO) and is also a member of the European Employers Lawyers Association (EELA) and the Employment Lawyers Association (ELA), as well as the American Employment Law Council (AELC). He is Magister Juris by the University of Oxford and speaks regularly on labor law and share-based compensation schemes at international conferences and in postgraduate courses. He has published several articles on labor law in local and international publications.

Laura Taylor, New Zealand, Legal Counsel at Rippling. Laura focuses on product, employment and privacy for the Rippling Employer of Record product. Prior to Rippling, Laura specialised in employment law and privacy, working both in private practice and in-house in the SAAS space. Laura has extensive experience across the UK/EU and APAC.

Tiffany Cruz, US, Senior Employment Counsel Manager – Global at G-P Globalization Partners, Rancho Santa Margarita, California. Based in Southern California, Tiffany is an engineer-turned-lawyer with unique expertise concerning Global EOR and U.S.-based PEO platforms. After litigating employment law cases for employers for nearly a decade, she pivoted and moved in-house to use her legal expertise to enhance the employment compliance and business of a large U.S.-based PEO.  After an unexpected introduction to G-P in 2021, she joined the company with excitement to expand her legal work beyond the U.S. borders. At G-P, Tiffany leads a team of attorneys and her Global EOR work focuses on providing strategic-yet-pragmatic employment law guidance to various stakeholders to establish new G-P entities globally and tackling unique employment law topics that G-P’s Global EOR platform presents. When not on a Zoom call with G-P team member or local counsel who is located across the U.S. or across the globe, or teaching an evening contract drafting course at Chapman University’s Fowler School of Law, Tiffany enjoys spending quiet time at the beach, cooking with her family, and binge-worthy Netflix movies.

Andrew Spital is a partner in the Litigation Department and Chair of the Employment Litigation & Counseling Practice at Willkie Farr & Gallagher, New York, where he represents companies and individuals in a variety of complex commercial disputes with a focus on employment and class action litigation. Areas of experience include antidiscrimination laws, wage-and-hour regulations, contractual disputes and HR compliance. Andrew also regularly advises clients on HR issues, internal investigations, overtime compliance and risk mitigation. Education: University of Virginia School of Law, J.D., 2006, Cornell University, B.A., 2003.

Elena Ryolo is a Partner at Legance, Milan. Elena is a senior employment expert advising Italian and foreign clients in a variety of contexts, ranging from large industrial concerns to innovative start-ups and hi-tech companies, both in domestic and cross-jurisdiction scenarios. She has experience of identifying and managing HR-related implications within the frame of corporate transactions and a solid expertise in reorganization/downsizing processes, including in industrial relations. She regularly advises on the definition of agreements with senior executives, also in regulated sectors and with reference to compensation and co-investment agreements. Elena supports clients in the set-up of retention and incentive mechanisms, as well as in the definition of non-compete, non-solicit and confidentiality covenants, in situations where the protection of corporate know-how is highly focused. Since 2020 Elena has also been included in The Legal 500 rankings as Leading Individual. In 2023 Elena also entered the rankings of Chambers and Partners, following solid praise from market sources.

Christel Søreide is a Partner at Wiersholm, Oslo. Christel heads Wiersholms employment law team and has extensive experience within employment law and dispute resolution. She assists Norwegian and international clients with processes such as reorganisation and downsizing, business transfers, hiring and termination of employment, whistleblower cases and discrimination issues as well as litigation and negotiations. Chambers and Partners and the Norwegian Financial Daily have ranked Christel as one of Norway’s leading employment lawyers.

Rando Maisvee is the founder and attorney-at-law in an Estonian boutique law firm Moss Legal. He is a well-known employment law specialist and has vast experience in litigation and proceedings of utmost complexity and interactions with several procedures and branches of law. He has been awarded for several consecutive years and holds currently highest recommendation (Chambers Band 1) as specialist in business related employment matters. He is an active member in the European Employment Lawyers Association and the Employment Commission of Estonian Bar Association, as well as acts as an Estonian Employers’ Confederation appointed member of the Estonian Employment Dispute Committee.

Paul Goulding, UK, KC, Blackstone Chambers, London. Paul is widely recognised as one of the top silks in employment law. He regularly appears in the High Court, Employment Tribunal, the appellate courts and arbitrations (both as arbitrator and advocate). He has been involved in many of the leading cases involving restrictive covenants and team moves, whistleblowing, discrimination, employment status and bonus claims. He recently successfully defended a global bank in the leading case on an employer’s duty of care and duty to indemnify an employee. Much of Paul’s practice concerns disputes involving financial institutions and professional service firms, often with a regulatory dimension, as well as cross-border disputes. He has appeared in cases arising out of regulatory investigations into LIBOR, FX and sanctions breaches. Paul is also highly experienced in sports law, and is a member of the Football Association’s Judicial Disputes Panel. Paul won the Employment Silk of the Year 2023 at the Chambers & Partners Bar Awards and was nominated for Senior Counsel of the Year 2023 at the International Employment Lawyer Awards.

Stefanie Tack, Partner and head of the Employment & Benefits practice at Strelia in Brussels. She is also vice-chair of the HC&T Committee AmCham Belgium. Stefanie has more than 15 years of experience in advising clients on all aspects of individual and collective labor law. She advises clients on the general employment policy of their company, the hiring of personnel and the termination of employment contracts, the drafting of employment-related documents, compensation and benefits, employees’ representative bodies within the company, social elections and protected employees, the restructuring of the company, and the labor and employment law aspects of M&A transactions. She also does employment litigation before the Belgian courts.

Emma Smith, Managing Director and Associate General Counsel at JPMorgan Chase & Co. in London (UK). Emma has been working for JPMorgan since 2014, and, prior to that, she was a Barrister in London.

Daniel Cifuentes, Partner at Perez-Llorca in Madrid. Daniel provides advice to large multinational companies in all areas of labour and social security law, including advice in the execution and termination of agreements with senior executive managers, as well on contractual and remuneration issues (including the implementation of stock options plans) and on labour issues arising in all types of commercial transactions, analysing the different questions relating to the subrogation of companies. He also advises on collective matters and in litigation before the labour courts in all kinds of proceedings. Daniel also provides advice on sport law to sportsmen in their contract negotiations and disputes, as well as to clubs, agents and sport associations. Daniel is Professor of Law (employment law) at the Autonomous University of Madrid.

Dagný Aradóttir Pind, lawyer at BSRB, which is the largest federation of public worker unions in Iceland (Federation of State and Municipal Employees). Some previous experiences include working as an attorney at trade unions and as an equality officer at the University of Iceland and various jobs in the marketing and communications department at that same university. She has an LL.M. in labour law and employment relations from Tilburg University and B.A. and Mag. Jur. degrees in Law from the University of Iceland.

Harry Borovick, UK. Harry Borovick is General Counsel of Luminance which provides advanced AI for the processing of legal documents. As well as working at the forefront of the development of AI for legal operations, Harry is a lecturer at Queen Mary University London on applied legal AI and a visiting lecturer at the University of Law on contract law and commercial drafting. Harry currently sits as an AI advisor to the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and most recently contributed to Legal Operations in the Age of AI and Data.

Irene Ng Sega, Austria, Senior Attorney at CMS, Singapore/New York. Irene Ng Šega is Head of the Far East Asia Desk and Senior Attorney (Singapore, New York) for the Corporate/M&A practice area at CMS. As one of the few lawyers in Austria admitted to practice in Southeast Asia and the US and with professional experience in both Asia and Europe, she regularly works with international clients looking to expand their presence in Asia or Europe.Irene Ng Šega also has a strong interest in legal technology and legal informatics, which she continues to broaden and deepen through her secondment as a Senior Project Manager at Lupl Inc, a legal technology start-up, as well as through her academic work. She is a regular academic contributor and a Fellow of the Stanford-Vienna Transatlantic Technology Law Forum (TTLF) and Research Affiliate of the Centre for AI and Data Governance at Singapore Management University. She publishes and teaches in the areas of artificial intelligence, legal technology and e-commerce. Before joining CMS, Irene Ng Šega worked as Group Legal Counsel for a listed company in Singapore, where she oversaw its expansion into Europe. She also worked for the Secretariat of the United Nations Commission on International Trade Law in Vienna. She obtained her LL.B. (Hons.) from the National University of Singapore and her LL.M. from the University of Vienna, where she also completed doctoral studies. She is admitted to the bar in Singapore (since 2015) and New York (since 2017).

Marc André Gimmy, Germany, Partner at Taylor Wessing, Düsseldorf. Marc André is a specialist lawyer for employment law and co-heads the international Practice Group Employment, Pensions & Mobility. He specialises in advising national and international companies, inter alia, on issues concerning collective employment law in the area of the law on labour relations at the workplace and the law concerning collective bargaining, as well as on the planning and implementation of restructuring measures. He also has special expert experience in advising companies on all matters relating to employment law arising from and in connection with the use of new media in the employment relationship and employee data protection. His clients also include Spanish companies and institutions in Germany. Marc André is a member of the Management Board of Taylor Wessing Germany.

Emily Lamm, US, Associate Attorney at Gibson, Dunn & Crutcher, Washington D.C. Her practice has a dual focus on artificial intelligence (AI) matters and employment litigation, counseling, and investigations. Leveraging her deep knowledge of rapidly evolving AI-related laws, regulations, and frameworks, Emily helps companies develop a strategic and practical approach to crafting and implementing AI policies, programs, and legal risk mitigation strategies. Emily has worked directly with a leading cloud service provider to develop an international compliance plan for cutting-edge AI and machine-learning tools, including large language models. She has also advised AI developers and deployers across industries regarding compliance with the CCPA/CPRA, the EU AI Act, New York City’s Local Law 144, the Illinois AI Video Interview Act, and other federal, state, and international AI, employment, and data protection laws. Emily is a thought leader in this space, regularly speaking and writing on AI issues in employment. She also serves on the Advisory Council of the Vanderbilt AI Law Lab (VAILL). Emily is a member of the Associates Committee and co-chairs both the LGBTQ+ Subcommittee and Women’s Subcommittee in the Washington, D.C. office, is an associate trustee for the Washington Lawyers’ Committee for Civil Rights and Urban Affairs, and is a co-chair of the Associates Committee of the D.C. Chapter of the Coalition of Women’s Initiatives in Law. Emily has been selected as a Leadership Council for Legal Diversity (LCLD) Pathfinder for 2024. Emily was also selected as a member of Law360’s 2022 Diversity & Inclusion Editorial Advisory Board and maintains an active pro bono practice focused on LGBTQ+ issues. Emily is a member of the District of Columbia Bar and the American Bar Association (ABA) where she is an appointed member of the Young Lawyers’ Advisory Panel (YLAP) of the Privacy and Information Security Committee (PRIS) and serves as a Special Counsel on the ABA Antitrust PRIS Panel Program on Cloud Technologies. Emily holds a certificate on Artificial Intelligence for Decision Making from Wharton.

Clíona Kimber is a Barrister, and Senior Counsel in Dublin, specialising in litigation in employment equality law for 20 years. Using law to solve problems for real people- whether employers or workers- is what Clíona finds interesting and exciting, especially in complex strategic litigation. She is co- author of the leading text “Employment Equality Law’ (3rd ed), (2022) and the author of numerous books and articles on employment equality and labour law, and she also teaches employment law to students.

Tahl Tyson has been practicing law for over three decades, much of which has been advising management side businesses as a UK employment law solicitor (admitted in England and Wales), based in Seattle Washington. Having been raised by psychoanalysts in 1970’s London, and having lived, studied and worked in a number of countries, Tahl views many workplace situations as having both psychological and cultural aspects that are essential for employment lawyers to understand. She finds people and employment law endlessly fascinating and believes that employment lawyers can and do improve many lives in different ways through what we do.

Bernd Weller is a Partner at Heuking. Since more than 20 years, Bernd Weller is a dedicated labour and employment lawyer, representing the company side in all kinds of issues – inside and outside of the court, predominantly vis-à-vis works councils and trade unions. He co-heads the labour & employment practise group of Heuking [effective early 2024 we will rebrand and the be named only “Heuking”] and is always happy to find people who are not tired yet of listening to him. To prepare for tough negotiations with the employee side, Bernd trains Karate.

Daniel Książek (Ph.D. habil.) is a managing partner at BKB Baran Książek Bigaj and has been dealing with labour law for over 20 years. BKB Baran Książek Bigaj is a niche law firm specialising in employment law. Daniel provides services to the largest employers in Poland. He is also an expert for other lawyers specialising in employment law. Areas of his expertise include negotiations with trade unions and litigation. He is personally conducting the most significant, from the D&I’s perspective, court proceedings in the IKEA case (including the Supreme Court), which set a legal precedent in Poland.

Anne Pritam, UK Partner, Stephenson Harwood LLP, London. A specialist in employment law for over 25 years, with extensive experience of a variety of employers in a wide range of sectors including financial services and professional services, pharmaceutical, manufacturing and energy; Anne has acted for clients with a handful of employees through to those with hundreds of thousands. She advises listed boards, private companies, partnerships and LLPs, family businesses, domestic households and individuals and has conducted and overseen numerous workplace investigations.

Kathleen Harris, US, Managing Partner and head of London UK office, Arnold & Porter LLP (US law firm). Kathleen helps steer the firm’s Anti-Corruption practice where she represents companies and individuals in a wide range of regulatory/enforcement investigations and the related proceedings. Kathleen is recognised internationally as a leader in her practice area. Her representations include GSK, Hewlett Packard, News UK and individuals in relation to investigations into Barclays, Rolls Royce, and Tesco. She is regularly instructed by companies and individuals in a range of other high-profile criminal matters. Kathleen also provides advice in respect of both compliance and enforcement relating to financial and trade sanctions. Kathleen is a highly respected practitioner in all areas of crime and her pro bono work includes acting for vulnerable individuals within the criminal justice system. She is an accomplished litigator with extensive knowledge of and experience in matters involving internal and external investigations and prosecutions under the full range of potential criminal offences and sanctions. Kathleen has broad experience advising government ministers on the development and implementation of policy and fraud strategy, and leading complex overseas enquiries and analyses. Before joining her firm, Kathleen served as a Senior Civil Servant Heading the Fraud Business Group and Head of Policy at the Serious Fraud Office (SFO), Senior Strategic Policy Adviser in the Attorney General’s Office, and held positions in HM Revenue & Customs (HMRC), The Revenue and Customs Prosecutions Office, and the Department of Works and Pensions in the United Kingdom.

Daniela David, Romania, Senior Partner, Vernon David, Bucharest. Daniela (Dana) is the head Vernon David’s litigation department and has significant experience in labour matters and commercial and civil litigation. Besides being an active arbitrator, she is also a licensed mediator. Dana is one of Romania’s leading labour litigation lawyers and has significant experience in complex employment disputes, including advising on senior management misconduct “sensitive” investigations, compliance issues and termination cases. In addition, she is an expert in large collective dismissals and employment issues related to company restructuring activities. Over the last few years she has worked on some of Romania’s largest labor projects and matters, including advising on several bank acquisitions. In the last few years, several of Dana’s cases have “made law”, including a case which defined and limited the concept of “occupational disease” as well as the leading against the Romanian State involving green certificates.

Bryan Black is Vice President, Head of European Legal Affairs at multinational pharmaceutical company Incyte. He is responsible for the full scope of European Legal Affairs, and is a member of Incyte’s European Strategic Leadership Team and its Global Legal Leadership Team. He manages Incyte’s legal affairs in Europe as lead in-house counsel for all general corporate functions, including commercial, intellectual property, medical affairs, pharmacovigilance, finance, human resources, manufacturing, regulatory and communications. His in-house career in the pharmaceutical sector began in 2002, and he has worked for world-class companies including Novartis and Schering-Plough. Originally from Ireland, Bryan’s career has also taken him to Germany and the USA.  He has lived in Switzerland for the past 15 years.  

Professor Dr. Björn Gaul is a Partner at CMS Hasche Sigle and a specialist lawyer for labor & employment law and has been a partner at CMS Hasche Sigle since 2000. He chairs an employment law working groups for HRO, is a regular speaker and advisor at national and international conferences of decision-makers with HR responsibility and a member of the DAV’s Employment Law Committee, an officer on the Employment and Industrial Relations Law Committee of the IBA, a member of the EELA, the ABA and a member of the HR-Tech Ethics Advisory Board. He also teaches as an professor at the University of Cologne with the venia legendi for civil law, commercial law and labor & employment law.

Adriano Gomez, Spain, Partner at Garrigues, Madrid. Adriano specializes in labor litigation before the various tribunals in the labor jurisdiction, both in collective and individual proceedings. He also advises on collective and individual dismissals, outsourcing projects; corporate restructurings (homogenization of contractual conditions and integration of groups); senior management contracts; compliance; administrative proceedings brought by the labor inspectorate and social security authorities; material change of working conditions, as well as labor due diligence. He lectures on Procedural Employment Law, Master’s Degree in Labor Law Counseling, Centro de Estudios Garrigues. Speaker in the Master Executive for Industrial Relations at Centro de Estudios Garrigues.  Speaker in the Company Restructuring Program at IE Law School. Adriano is member of Madrid Bar Association, the Employment Lawyers Association (EELA), Foro Español de Laboralistas (FORELAB) and Asociación Nacional de Laboralistas (ASNALA).

Moustapha Kamal Gueye is Coordinator of the Green Jobs Programme at the International Labour Organisation in Geneva. Kamal comes from UNEP where he served as Acting Head, Green Economy Advisory Services from 2009 to 2012. Before UNEP, he was for three years Senior Programme Manager-Environment Cluster at the International Centre for Trade and Sustainable Development (ICTSD) in Geneva. Previously, Kamal spent twelve years across Asia, managing policy research projects on renewable energy, environment and sustainable development at the Institute for Global Environmental Strategies (IGES) in Japan. He is a member of the Management Committee for the Global Social Observatory and participates in the Expert Group on “Measures to Address Climate Change and the Trade System” under the E-15 Initiative. A citizen of Senegal, Kamal holds a Ph.D. and Master degrees from Nagoya University, Japan; DEA and LL.M from Dakar University; and Executive Certificates from the World Bank Institute, Washington; Columbia University, NY; Foundation for Advanced Studies on International Development, Japan; and Integrated Research and Action for Development, India. He is a visiting lecturer at the University of Tokyo and the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies in Geneva. Kamal speaks Wolof, French, English and Japanese.

Halldór has been the Chair of the Icelandic Climate Council since 2018. He served as senior director at the UN Climate Change Secretariat (UNFCCC) in Bonn for fourteen years (2004-2018). His responsibilities included managing substantive support to international climate negotiations culminating in the adoption of the Paris Agreement in 2015. In that capacity he also contributed to the conception of the global climate action agenda, managed the interface with the Intergovernmental Panel on Climate Change (IPCC) and with ILO on the treatment of just transition in the agreement.

As a climate negotiator for Iceland, Halldór had served as the Chair of the UNFCCC Subsidiary Body for Scientific and Technological Advice (SBSTA) for a two-year term. He holds a Ph.D. in Plant Ecophysiology from Utah State University.