Arbitration services business Arbitra has added two members to its ranks, while the Scottish Arbitration Centre (SAC) has also announced a new registrar.
The two members joining Arbitra are Crina Baltag and Marieke Witkamp, while the SAC’s CEO Andrew Mackenzie is taking over the registrar role from Norton Rose Fulbright (NRF) partner Duncan Bagshaw.
Baltag is an associate professor at Queen Mary University with more than 20 years’ experience acting as arbitrator and counsel, and has been appointed as presiding, sole and co-arbitrator under the rules of most major institutions, including Dubai, London, Singapore and Sweden, as well as ICC and ad hoc proceedings.
She currently serves as vice chair of the SCC Arbitration Institute’s board. She is a council member of the ICC Institute of World Business Law and director of CIArb’s Global Diploma in International Commercial Arbitration, alongside other roles. She also practises as an independent counsel, having had previous stints at Schoenherr in Romania and Austria, legacy Shearman & Sterling and Herbert Smith Freehills.
Her practice focuses on construction, infrastructure and energy arbitrations, as well as financial, IP and investor-state disputes, notably in complex, cross-border matters across Europe, North and Latin America.
She said: “Arbitra offers a platform that respects independence while providing the infrastructure needed for complex, cross-border arbitrations. I am very pleased to be joining the roster at this stage of its development.”
Witkamp joins Arbitra following a career spanning Europe, the US and the Middle East. She initially trained as a Dutch commercial judge, working both full-time and as a substitute in Rotterdam. She later developed an international arbitration practice, working as in-house counsel in Qatar and the Netherlands for energy companies, and then for US law firms, including K&L Gates.
She joins the set from ArbDB Chambers, where she spent nearly two years as an arbitrator while also practising under her own account.
Witkamp has presided over and participated in domestic and international disputes in the maritime and transport, energy, construction, insurance and post-M&A sectors. She conducts proceedings in English and Dutch, with working knowledge of French and German. She said: “I look forward to working alongside its management team.”
The duo’s addition follows the arrival of Maisie Taylor as managing director earlier this month. Before joining Arbitra, Taylor spent more than a decade working at recognised sets, including Fountain Court Chambers and 4 Pump Court.
Meanwhile, the SAC said that Bagshaw was exiting the registrar’s role after three years, during which time he moved from Howard Kennedy to NRF. Bagshaw will now join the arbitration centre’s board, which also includes former chair and Arbitra member Brandon Malone.
Mackenzie will be supported in the registrar role by deputy registrar Rebecca Wyke, alongside Bagshaw and former LCIA registrar, Sarah Lancaster, as board members.
SAC chair Gillian Carmichael Lemaire welcomed Bagshaw to the board, saying: “He has played a key role in the centre in recent years as our registrar, and his institutional knowledge and experience will add to our leadership on the board. I am also delighted that Andrew has agreed to take on the role of registrar in addition to his work as our CEO.”
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