Assistant Professor of Law

Mark McLaughlin is an Assistant Professor of Law at Singapore Management University and the Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy. His research focuses on the reform of arbitration and mediation, international economic law, and the intersection of law and technology.

Mark has been a trainer for government officials around the world in managing their investment treaty commitments and navigating investor-state disputes. In 2022, he became of a member of the ISDS Academic Forum. He has published in leading international journals on novel areas of law, such as investor-state mediation, state-owned enterprises, and artificial intelligence. 

He holds an LL.B. from the University of Glasgow and a Ph.D. from the China University of Political Science and Law, where he was a lecturer in international investment law. Mark was awarded a Chinese Government Scholarship from 2016-2019.

He is also an accredited Level 1 mediator with the Singapore International Mediation Institute

Principal Research Fellow

Mariam Gotsiridze is a lawyer specializing in international dispute settlement. Prior to joining SIDRA, Mariam worked for the government of Georgia. For 10 years (2012-2022) she was a Head of Department in the Ministry of Justice in charge of state representation in international arbitration. Mariam has been involved in major investment and commercial arbitration matters before ICSID, ICC, SCC arbitrations, as well as before ad hoc arbitration under UNCITRAL rules. She has negotiated number of Bilateral Investment Treaties and Free Trade Agreements on behalf of Georgia. Mariam was the Head of Delegation for Georgia in UNCITRAL Working Group III, in ICSID Rule amendment process and in Modernization of the Energy Charter Treaty. Mariam has contributed to legislative reforms and other developments in arbitration and mediation in Georgia.

She is also an accredited Level 1 mediator with the Singapore International Mediation Institute. 

Senior Research Fellow

Emad Hussein is an independent arbitrator and accredited mediator specializing in research and ADR capacity building projects in the Middle East & North Africa (MENA) region. He is a fellow (FCIArb) as well as an Approved Faculty List Member (AFL-CIArb) of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and an accredited mediator by CEDR (UK)  & SIMI (Singapore). He has trained arbitrators and mediators in the MENA region under the CIArb fellowship program and SCCA mediation training. 

Emad has been appointed in arbitrations under UNCITRAL, ICC, LCIA, SCCA, DIAC, CRCICA and ADCCAC Rules in the fields of construction, supply chain management, commercial partnerships and media disputes. He has mediated cases under ad-hoc and institutional mediation rules in the Gulf States. He is a researcher and author and has also been invited as a keynote speaker in the areas of comparative international commercial arbitration, mediation, ADR surveys, legislative, judicial and institutional reforms in ADR, competitive analysis and assessment  of arbitration seats and multi-door justice. 

Emad holds a PhD in International Commercial Arbitration from SOAS, University of London and a PhD in International Business Management  from ISM, New York. He obtained his LL.M in international arbitration and ADR from the Queen Mary University of London (QMUL). 

Research Fellow

Dr Anna Howard is a lecturer, mediator and researcher with over 20 years’ experience in legal practice, mediation, teaching and research. 

Anna is a Guest Lecturer at University College London, Faculty of Laws, a Research Fellow at the Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy and a member of the Academic Forum of the Civil Mediation Council (England).  

Anna’s book, EU Cross-Border Commercial Mediation (Wolters Kluwer 2021) has been described as “a thought-leading text for those engaged in teaching and practising in the dispute resolution field” Anna has spoken on mediation at leading universities and institutions including Oxford University, the UNCITRAL Academy, the International Mediation Institute and CEDR. 

Anna’s publications and research focus on international mediation and investor-state dispute settlement. In her mediation practice, Anna is currently working with two internationally-renowned mediators on a series of long-term, multi-party mediations.
Before training as a mediator, Anna was a competition lawyer at leading international law firms, including Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. From 2011-2014, Anna was Lecturer of Law at Singapore Management University. 

Research Fellow

Eunice is the CEO of the Financial Industry Disputes Resolution Centre (FIDReC). Prior to her appointment at FIDReC, Eunice was an Assistant Professor of Law at the Singapore Management University School of Law where she specialised in alternative dispute resolution, evidence and procedure. Eunice has previously served as a Justices' Law Clerk and an Assistant Registrar of the Supreme Court of Singapore. While at the Supreme Court, she concurrently held appointments as a Magistrate of the State Courts and Assistant Director of the Singapore Mediation Centre. She was also the Deputy CEO of the Singapore International Mediation Centre and played a key role in its establishment.

Research Fellow

Shouyu has been a Research Fellow at SIDRA since March 2020. He was formerly a Research Associate of SIDRA in 2019. After being shortlisted for SSRC research funding, he has been awarded SMU’s Fellowship for Social Science (Graduate) Research in May 2022, and will concurrently be a Research Fellow with SMU until May 2024. 
 
Shouyu is also a PhD Research Student at the Centre of Construction Law & Dispute Resolution, King’s College London (KCL), and a Visiting Lecturer at the Dickson Poon School of Law, KCL. His PhD research is funded by the Centre of Construction Law & Dispute Resolution (Nash Research Scholarship), and the Society of Construction Law (UK) (Frances Paterson Scholarship). He is writing up his  doctoral thesis on party autonomy underlying the enforcement of commercial choice of court and arbitration clauses. Furthermore, he researches and publishes his papers on private international law and cross-border ADR mechanisms. One of his papers, was awarded a ‘Commendation’ in by the 2020 Society of Construction Law (UK) Hudson Prize.
 
At SIDRA, Shouyu continues to research and write extensively on the Singapore Convention on Mediation and ADR in Singapore. His research output with the SIDRA Research Team contributes significantly to the development of Singapore and international ADR law and policy. 
 

Research Associate

Yuying is a Research Associate at SIDRA and is qualified to practice in Singapore. She always had an interest in amicable dispute resolution, with her taking related courses during her studies at the Yong Pung How School of Law in Singapore Management University. She joined mediation competitions during her studies such as the IMSG in 2019 and 2020, winning gold for mediation and mediation advocacy respectively. She has spoken at events such as the 6^th UNCITRAL Intersessional Meeting held in Singapore in 2023, as well as the Asian International Arbitration Centre and other academic conferences.  She is also an accredited Level 1 mediator with the Singapore International Mediation Institute. 

Research Associate

Sarah Lim Hui Feng is a Research Associate at SIDRA. She is qualified to practise law in Singapore and the state of New York. Before joining SIDRA, Sarah clerked for two leading international arbitrators and also assisted them in their research. Prior to that, she worked at a top Singapore law firm, handling litigation and arbitration cases. Sarah holds an LL.B. from the National University of Singapore.