Our People
WTI Advisors is built on a professional core of experienced trade practitioners based in Geneva and Oxford, working
with senior and junior consultants recruited primarily from the faculty,
fellows and Ph.D. students of the World Trade Institute, Berne.
Directors
WTI Advisors is managed by its directors Hannes Schloemann, Christian
Pitschas and Philip Marsden, as well as Hadil Hijazi, director of the
company´s Geneva Branch.
Philip Marsden, D Phil (Oxon),
is Director of the Competition Law Forum and Senior Research Fellow at
the British Institute of International and Comparative Law, London. He
was a trade and competition lawyer at Linklaters´ London office
from 1999 until 2002. He was a case officer at the Canadian Competition
Bureau, Ottawa (1994-1996), where among other things he acted as competition
representative on the Canadian negotiating team for the GATS Telecoms
Reference Paper and at competition-related NAFTA and WTO negotiations.
From 1991-1994 he worked as an attorney with a law firm in Tokyo, Japan,
and from 1989-1991 at a major law firm in Toronto, Canada. Philip is inter
alia the author of A Competition policy
for the WTO (Cameron May, 2003), a member of the Advisory Council of Advocates
for International Development and an editor of the European Competition
Journal. He publishes regularly on trade and competition issues (including
in the context of bilateral and regional trade agreements) and is a visiting
lecturer at CUTS Institute of Regulation and Competition, Jaipur, India,
and the World Trade Institute in Berne, Switzerland.
Dr. Christian Pitschas, LL.M., is a Partner at MSBH Rechtsanwälte in Geneva. Prior to that, he
was a lawyer with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in both Brussels and
Berlin from 1999 until 2005. Before being a private practitioner, Christian
lectured public international law at the Free University of Berlin from
1997 - 1999. He started his professional career at the Court of Appeals
(Kammergericht) in Berlin from 1994 - 1997. Christian specializes in WTO
law (in particular trade in agriculture, trade facilitation, subsidies,
trade in services, government procurement and dispute settlement) and
EU foreign trade law. He publishes widely on WTO and EU foreign trade
law (books e.g. WTO Handbuch, 2003; WTO Recht in
Fällen, 2005) and teaches regularly
at various academic institutions, including the World Trade Institute
in Berne, Switzerland, the Europainstitut at the University of Saarland,
Germany, and the Zentrum für Außenwirtschaftsrecht at the University
of Münster, Germany. In addition to his native German, Christian
speaks English and French.
Hannes Schloemann, LL.M., Partner at MSBH Rechtsanwälte, was a trade lawyer with Baker &
McKenzie´s International Trade & WTO Practice Group from 1999
until 2005. Working from the Berlin and London offices, he co-spearheaded
the group´s Technical Legal Assistance Program for developing countries.
Earlier professional involvements include work for a Member of Parliament,
the German Embassy in New Delhi and another major US law firm in London
and Berlin. Hannes´ practice includes trade in services in GATS
and other agreements, goods/NAMA, WTO dispute settlement, anti-dumping,
subsidies, sanctions and government procurement, as well as regional trade
agreements (EuroMed, EPAs), general public international law and climate
change. One of his major activity areas and specializations is WTO accession
advice and training for governments. Hannes regularly teaches at academic
institutions, e.g. at EDHEC in Nice, France,
Bucerius Law School in Hamburg, Germany, and the WTI in Berne, Switzerland.
He is a member of the advisory board of the Zentrum für Außenwirtschaftsrecht
in Münster, Germany. His publications in the area include the 1999
American Journal of Int´l Law article "Constitutionalization"
and WTO Dispute Settlement Ð National Security as an Issue of Competence
(with S. Ohlhoff) for which he was awarded the ASIL´s Francis Deˆk
Award. Apart from his native German Hannes speaks English, French, Italian,
Spanish and some Arabic.
Hadil Hijazi, M.Sc., MA,
is the Director of WTI Advisors´ Geneva Branch. She has a rich experience
as a consultant on trade, economic policy and related private sector matters
for various public and private institutions (e.g. UNDP, UNCTAD, PalTrade,
GTZ, InWent, Adam Smith International, Brandicate Consultants, Massar
Consultants). Apart from advisory assistance on trade policy and law,
including in particular GATS, NTBs, rules of origin, WTO accession and
EuroMed negotiations, her recent practice includes providing training
on WTO and trade issues to government officials, parliamentarians and
private sector bodies in various countries around the globe. From 2000
to 2001 Hadil advised the Palestinian Ministry of Economy and Trade on
trade policy, trade negotiations with Israel and other trade issues. Her
guest lectures include appearances at EDHEC, Nice, France and the American
University of Central Asia in Bishkek, Kyrgyzstan. Hadil holds Masters
degrees in Int´l Legal Studies from SOAS, London, and in management
from Boston University. Apart from her native Arabic she speaks English,
German and some French.
WTI Advisors, in addition to its own staff consultants, works closely
with high-quality external trade experts, including in particular faculty,
staff and graduates of the World Trade Institute. Our consultants include,
for example:
Prof.
Thomas Cottier,
Managing Director of the WTI, Professor of European and Int’l
Economic Law and Director of the Institute of European and Int’l
Economic Law at the University of Berne. A former Head of Legal Services
of the GATT Division, Swiss Department of Foreign Economic Relations,
Deputy Director-General at the Swiss Federal Intellectual Property Office,
member of various WTO/GATT dispute settlement panels and Swiss negotiator
at the GATT Uruguay Round and on EEA negotiations, he is one of the key
authorities on international trade and WTO law.
Dr. Benno
Ferrarini,
Director of Economic Research of the WTI. He studied economics in
Italy and at the School of Oriental and African Studies (SOAS), University
of London. His main focus is on international finance and development
economics. Before joining the WTI in 2002, he has worked with research
institutes based in London, and published in the field of international
economics. His teaching interests include microeconomics, econometrics
and international economics.
Hilton Zunckel,
M.I.L.E., a trade practitioner with 15 years experience, is currently
the senior trade advisor with the South African law firm Floor Inc. Attorneys
(www.tradelaw.co.za).
His areas of expertise include in particular trade & development,
agriculture, trade remedies, accessions, services and African regional
trade issues. Hilton previously served as a senior researcher with the
Trade Law Centre for Southern Africa (tralac), where he played a leading
role in building the organization and its research programmes. He was
formerly the Assistant Executive Director of South Africa’s National
Chamber of Milling where he was intimately involved in trade policy and
practice issues within the regional & global grain and food processing
sectors, and formed part of South Africa’s representation in various
international fora, including the WTO Committee on Agriculture, the International
Grains Council, the International Food Aid Convention and Southern African
Customs Union (SACU) bodies. Hilton lectures at several Southern African
universities and publishes regularly on trade issues. He holds a Masters
degree in International Law and Economics (summa cum laude) from the World
Trade Institute, Berne, and degrees in financial accounting and law from
the University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg.
Olga Nartova,
M.I.L.E., legal advisor at “International Business &
Legal Consultants” and a PhD candidate (law). Olga holds Bachelor
degrees in Law from Moscow State Academy of Law and in economics from
Russian Institute of Economics and Finance. She has extensive experience
in the Middle East, having worked in Egypt, the UAE and Qatar. She has
published various articles on Middle Eastern law and also lectures on
international trade at the Oriental Academy and at the Institute of Economics,
Politics and Law. In addition to her native Russian, Olga speaks English,
Arabic and learns German.
Marina Foltea,
lic.iur., M.I.L.E., is a Research Fellow at the WTI and PhD candidate
(law). She holds a law degree from Moldova State University and is a summa
cum laude graduate from the MILE program. At the WTI Marina worked on
a seco-funded project concerning non-tariff barriers in South-Eastern
Europe. Before joining the WTI, she served as a trade lawyer with the
Government of Moldova specialising in trade remedies, dispute settlement,
SPS, rules of origin and pre-shipment inspection. In parallel, she advised
on WTO law in the context of several EC-funded projects. Apart from her
native Romanian she speaks English, Russian, French and some Italian and
German.