Speakers

Bernadette is responsible for International Labour and Employment Law, which covers all regions outside of the Americas and also the lead lawyer for Cummins Europe region and a member of its European Leadership Team. Cummins is a US headquartered company which employs 75,000 employees in operations around the world and designs, manufactures, distributes and services a broad portfolio of power solutions including engines, power generation and components. Bernadette’s legal career started (more years ago than she cares to admit) at Pinsent Masons, then Fox Williams, before she moved to Mayer Brown and became a partner in the London employment law team.

David is Chair of Epstein Becker Green’s Labor and Employment Steering Committee and a member of the firm's Board of Directors. He has earned a national reputation as a veteran trial attorney and has prevailed in courtroom defence against claims of sex harassment, employment discrimination, whistleblowing, retaliation, breach of contract, and more.

Desmond is Head of Rajah & Tann Singapore’s corporate commercial practice and non-contentious employment practice, which has one of the largest teams of lawyers in Singapore. Highly regarded for his strong expertise in the labour and employment field, Desmond has been recognised as a Recommended Practitioner by Who’s Who Legal, a Notable Practitioner by Chambers Asia-Pacific, a Leading Individual by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, a Distinguished Practitioner by asialaw, and a Recommended Lawyer in Doyle’s Guide.

Fadi frequently participates and leads international projects with Ius Laboris with a focus on the employment aspects of mergers and acquisitions. Fadi regularly leads high profile restructuring and reorganisation matters for foreign clients in all parts of France and gained experience working for a New York law firm advising on US working time regulations and New York Labor Law discrimination cases.

Gisella has extensive experience assisting Spanish and international clients from a variety of sectors who are setting up, developing or winding down their business activities in Spain. She advises on day to day matters, projects and to litigation and represents clients in different fields including administrative and judicial proceedings. She is an expert in European Works Councils and in representation of employees in European companies. She also manages and coordinates international projects for Spanish companies with a presence in different countries. Gisella is an Associate Professor at the Faculty of Law at Carlos III University of Madrid and a speaker on business schools and events on various international aspects of employment law, such as international expansion processes, management of transnational relations and expatriation.

Hylda has been advising Dutch and international companies on the full range of employment matters for almost 20 years. She has extensive experience in cross-border matters, global mobility and assisting companies in restructurings. Hylda also has extensive experience in assisting international companies without a local HR presence on employment matters.

Inger Verhelst advises clients on individual and collective labour issues and assists companies with redundancies, restructuring, acquisitions and negotiations with the unions. She also frequently advises clients on the privacy and data protection laws, more specifically the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). She also assists clients in conducting internal (disciplinary) investigations.

Javier, a member of the Madrid Bar Association, serves as an Associate Professor at various academic institutions and counsellor to the Spanish Expatriation Forum. is a present member of several associations, including EELA, IPEBLA and the International Bar Association.

John Dabney has been in-house counsel at Paramount Global (formerly known as ViacomCBS) since 2005. In his role, he advises all of the company’s diverse brands and businesses (including CBS, MTV, Paramount Pictures, Paramount + and Pluto TV) on employment law and related issues, both domestically and internationally. His responsibilities are focused on providing daily guidance and support to business line leaders, production teams, and HR, acquiring and integrating new businesses around the world, supporting Paramount’s workplace data privacy program, supervising the employee benefits and immigration legal functions, and providing daily support to the Corporate M&A team. As the lead labor lawyer for the Paramount international business, he’s responsible for overseeing outside counsel in 25 countries.

Kasia has been supporting clients in the People & Culture area, in particular in the broad field of labour and employment laws for more than 20 years. In particular Kasia specialises in:

• workforce restructuring, including individual and collective redundancies,
• performance-related dismissals, 
• adapting global procedures to the requirements of Polish law,
• workplace transition processes,
• parental entitlements.

Kasia is recommended by the international rankings of The Legal 500 EMEA and Chambers & Partners as an expert in labour law. Kasia is rated very highly by clients. She has authored numerous articles on labour law and regularly participates in both domestic and international conferences and seminars in the are of her expertise. She is guardian of the School of Employment Law Maters – a complex and practical training for HR practitioners.

Marco specialises in employment law, advising national and international companies on all aspects, with a particular focus on the employment law issues arising from corporate restructuring and mergers and acquisitions, commercial agency agreements, the gig economy, corporate internal investigations and compliance. He is a member of the Italian Employment Lawyers Association and the International Bar Association and has been consistently recognised by Who's Who Legal for labour and employment law.

Natalie heads up the global employment law team, helping DXC to navigate complex international legal issues and providing strategic advice to senior executives and HR professionals on topics including restructuring and reorganisation; employee investigations; pay and incentives; policy and procedure; health and safety; crisis communications, and anything else she’s asked to turn her hand to! She serves on both the Legal and HR senior leadership teams and is passionate about promoting gender parity and creating an environment where all employees can thrive.

Ornella specialises in employment law, labour law and commercial agency agreements and often manages cross-border employment law projects. She is a Professor at the Ius Laboris University, as well as a member of the Ius Laboris Expert Groups on Employment Rights and Restructuring, the European Employment Lawyers Association and the Italian Employment Lawyers Association.

Sonia Regenbogen has dedicated her practice for more than 15 years to representing employers in labour, employment and human rights law matters. She works with employers through the process of collective bargaining, drafting employment agreements and policies, as well as defending employers before arbitrators, human rights tribunals, labour relations boards and the courts. Sonia has extensive experience litigating complex cases involving claims of wrongful dismissal, sexual harassment, discrimination and disability issues. In addition, Sonia is frequently retained to conduct independent workplace investigations into allegations of workplace harassment, discrimination and other employee complaints, and has been recognized by Who’s Who Legal as having a “top reputation” as a workplace investigator. She also has extensive experience advising on the conduct of investigations, including the implementation of an investigation, decision making, report writing and communication of findings. Since 2003 Sonia has represented Canadian employers at the International Labour Organization (ILO), a specialized agency of the United Nations. She is presently the Employer Spokesperson on the Application of Standards Committee at the ILO, a committee which supervises international labour standards on topics such as child labour and anti-discrimination to health and safety and working hours. Sonia sits on the board of the Canadian Employers Council (CEC). Drawing on her experience with the ILO, she regularly advises both Canadian and multinational employers on a full range of cross-border and international labour and employment matters, including supply chain issues and codes of conduct. Sonia has served as an adjunct faculty member at Queen’s University Faculty of Law where she taught Employment Law for more than a decade. She has also taught Employment Law at Osgoode Faculty of Law. She has completed the Mediator Training Course at Harvard Law School and uses this training to assist her clients resolve even the most difficult disputes.

Sophie advises national and international clients on a wide range of employment matters, with a particular focus on global mobility, corporate immigration, and flexible work arrangements. Her expertise includes business immigration, individual and collective employment law, social security, and cross-border employment structures. She regularly supports clients with employee secondments, starting operations in Belgium, restructurings, and acquisitions, often working closely with Ius Laboris colleagues on transnational projects. Sophie also advises on day-to-day HR and dismissal issues.

Till advises employers with a focus on corporate transactions, restructuring, and regulated compensation. He has a wealth of experience in managing international projects, frequently working with international businesses, stakeholders and teams in cross-border scenarios. He heads a focus group on remuneration in regulated sectors.

Valeria Morosini is a Partner at Toffoletto De Luca Tamajo, one of Italy’s leading employment law firms. With a strong international background and over two decades of experience, she advises multinational clients on cross-border employment and industrial relations matters, including restructuring, collective redundancies, international mobility, and immigration.

Valeria serves as the Italian Board Member of the European Employment Lawyers Association (EELA). She also plays an active role in the International Bar Association (IBA), where she is an Officer of the Global Employment Institute and former Co-Chair of the Diversity and Equality Law Committee.

A Chambers & Partners ranked lawyer for Employment Law in Italy, she has also been recognised by the Lexology Index and Legal 500. Valeria is a regular speaker at major international conferences and a trusted advisor on complex, multi-jurisdictional projects.