Lawyers
Jacques Pellerin
Jacques Pellerin is a Doctor of Law and has taught civil law, commercial law, and civil procedure at the University of Sceaux (Paris XI), for more than 40 years, where he has as also directed the Master’s programme in procedural law. He currently teaches domestic and international arbitration law, as well as civil procedure, at the Panthéon-Assas University (Paris II) and at Sciences Po.
He was an avoué at the Paris Court of Appeal from 1986 to 2012 and presided over the Paris Chamber of Avoués from 2008 to 2012.
He was called to the Paris Bar in 1969. His experience and his in-depth knowledge of both litigation and arbitration proceedings have led him being instructed in many disputes relating to the challenge or enforcement of arbitral awards before the Paris Court of Appeal.
He also regularly sits as arbitrator. He is currently the vice-president of the French Arbitration Committee.
He took part in the drafting of several recent reforms dealing with such important matters as the appeal procedure and the new French law on arbitration: in 2008, he was a member of the Commission for the reform of appeal procedure, known as the Magendi Commission; between 2003 and 2006 he was a member of the French Arbitration Committee’s Commission for the Reform of French law on Domestic and International Arbitration, and headed up the group on the recourse against arbitral awards.
He is regularly invited to speak at conferences, training sessions and round tables organised on the theme of arbitration and civil procedure. He is also the author of many publications on these subjects.
Contact details for Jacques Pellerin:
+ 33 6 13 25 17 73
jacques.pellerin@pkm-avocats.com
Marianne Kecsmar
Prior to cofounding the international arbitration network, PKM Avocats, Marianne has practiced for 15 years in the litigation and arbitration departments of the American firm Coudert Frères in Paris, then in Paris and New York within the English firm Linklaters.
Specialised in private international law, she acquired extensive experience of international arbitration (ad hoc, UNCITRAL, ICC, LCIA, SCC, OHADA, ICSID) and cross-border disputes as both counsel and arbitrator. Her expertise covers such widely varied fields as energy and mining, the aeronautical industry, construction and engineering, distribution, satellites and telecommunications, as well as corporate law and project finance.
Since July 2018, Marianne is a member of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, representing Hungary. She is also a member of the French Arbitration Committee and listed as an arbitrator by the French National Committee of the ICC and by the Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC).
She is regularly sitting as arbitrator in international ad hoc and institutional arbitrations subject to a wide range of applicable laws, notably from African and Central and Eastern European countries.
She teaches arbitration law at the Panthéon-Assas University (Paris II).
She advises an international clientele in French, English, Hungarian, Russian, and German.
Marianne Kecsmar is a member of the Paris Bar and the New York Bar. She is the holder of a DEA (Master’s degree) in private international law and international trade from the Panthéon-Sorbonne University (Paris I), as well as an LL.M in comparative jurisprudence from the NYU School of Law.
Contact details for Marianne Kecsmar: + 33 6 14 18 03 72 marianne.kecsmar@pkm-avocats.com
Bassam Mirza
Bassam Mirza is a lawyer at the Paris and the Beirut Bars. He has over 20 years of experience as counsel in international arbitration proceedings and complex cross-border disputes including annulment proceedings of arbitral awards before the Paris Court of Appeal. He also regularly sits as arbitrator (president, co-arbitrator or sole arbitrator) in ad hoc and international institutional arbitrations conducted in English, French and Arabic, and subject to wide range of applicable laws notably from the Arab and African countries. He was a lecturer of French and Lebanese civil law at the Faculty of Law of Saint-Joseph University in Beirut from 2014 to 2020.
Bassam, who is now based in Paris, is a founding member of Pellerin Kecsmar Mirza’s network. Prior to that, he practised international arbitration and litigation in Paris for more than seven years at prestigious international law firms (Linklaters LLP and Gide Loyrette Nouel) before heading the international arbitration practice group of a leading Middle Eastern law firm based in Beirut with offices in Saudi Arabia and the UAE. Having practised in both Europe and the Middle East, Bassam acquired significant experience of international arbitration and complex cross-border disputes covering various industries such as energy, mining, construction and engineering, telecommunications, distribution, corporate and project finance.
Bassam is a member of the French Arbitration Committee and the ICC Arab Arbitration Group, referenced as arbitrator on the ICC France list of arbitrators, representative of Lebanon on the Panel of Conciliators maintained by ICSID (from 2016 to 2022), member of the administrative committee of the Lebanese and International Arbitration Center and member of the ICC Task Force on addressing issues of corruption in international arbitration.
He graduated in law from Saint-Joseph University in Beirut and holds a postgraduate degree in international law from the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas as well as a postgraduate degree in litigation, arbitration and ADR from the same university. He is recognized by Who’s Who Legal Arbitration as a Global Leader having an “outstanding legal knowledge”, as “a great arbitrator who prepares his cases carefully” and as “a strong technician who provides very thorough analysis on substantial aspects of Lebanese law”. He also features in the Legal500 International Arbitration Powerlist for France.
Contact details for Bassam Mirza: + 33 6 07 80 37 47 bassam.mirza@pkm-avocats.com
Corinne Nguyen
Corinne Nguyen is a French attorney based in Paris and has practiced international arbitration for more than 20 years. She has been a Deputy-Counsel at the ICC International Court of Arbitration, an attorney of a leading arbitration law firm in Paris and a Policy Manager of the ICC International Contracts and Marketing Commissions.
Corinne serves as counsel and administrative secretary to the arbitral tribunals in ad hoc (UNCITRAL) and institutional arbitrations (ICC Arbitration Rules in particular) under various applicable laws and in different fields of activities such as commercial distribution, agency, consultancy, sales contracts and construction.
She is admitted on the list of arbitrators of the Vietnam International Arbitration Center (VIAC) and the Arbitration Center of Madagascar (CAMM).
She is a lecturer (international contracts and arbitration) at the University of Paris-Nanterre la Défense and the University of Catholique de Lille.
Corinne is a member of the Paris Bar and holds a PH.D in law (ICC arbitration and breach of international contracts of distribution) (University of Panthéon-Assas Paris II), an LL.M in comparative law (University of Birmingham) and a DEA in French law (University of Limoges).
She has contributed and written many articles and books on arbitration, the most recent of which is the Compendium of International Commercial Forms (Kluwer 2017).
She speaks French, English and Vietnamese.
Contact details for Corinne Nguyen: + 33 6 26 63 62 44 – corinne.truongnguyen@pkm-avocats.com