ILI - Key Persons
Job Titles:
- Director, American Bar Association, Rule of Law Initiative / Executive Director of Global Programs Human Rights Center and UN Relations
Job Titles:
- Director of Global Parnerships
- Director of Global Partnerships
Carlos Ivan Davila is the Director of Global Parnerships at ILI. Carlos is an attorney with more than twenty years of experience. Carlos worked in litigation and arbitration in Mexico for seven years. Before joining the ILI in 2007, he was an in-house counsel for FINCA International, Inc., an international microfinance company based in Washington, DC. He served as co-arbitrator in an ICC power related dispute. Carlos has experience on areas of government contracts, construction, power generation, microfinance, corporate governance, employment, and services.
Carlos has been with the ILI for more than 15 years, in charge of seminars and technical assistance programs. Carlos is also an instructor on topics such as ADR, contracts, and U.S. Legal Institutions. Carlos is an Adjunct Professor at Universidad La Salle Noroeste in Mexico, teaching the assignments on international trade law and international arbitration. He represents the ILI as delegate observer to the UNCITRAL Working Group II on Dispute Settlement.
Carlos has an LL.M. from the Georgetown University (2006), LL.M. from the I.T.E.S.M. Graduate School of Public Policy (2005), and a Bachelor in Law degree (Licenciado en Derecho) from the University of Sonora, Mexico (2003). He was a visiting student at the University of Arizona James E. Rogers College of Law, LL.M. Program in 2004.
Job Titles:
- Co - Vice Chairman, International Law Institute / Partner, Wiley Rein LLP
Job Titles:
- Director of Business Development
- Director of Business Development Acting Client Services Director
Cristina has over 12 years of experience in economic development, international education and business development. As Director of Development & Operations at the International Law Institute (ILI), she has primary responsibility developing, implementing, and overseeing contract and grant development. She also supports internal operations, brand management, and project management.
Her experience and leadership have been internationally focused and driven by the values of cultural humility and respect. She was Assistant Dean of Global Locations at the University of Arizona. She oversaw the implementation and operations of UA locations abroad; leading a team spanning over 10 countries around the world, ensuring student success, curriculum design and quality, and marketing and branding. At the UA, she led 2 strategic initiatives in the 2018 strategic plan.
Cristina has also worked on international development law projects around the world. She has advised foreign governments on the adoption of commercial law reforms and has provided training to stakeholders in both the public and private sectors, particularly in Latin America.
She has been faculty with ArizonaLEND (a leadership training program) at the University of Arizona since 2013, and leads seminars and workshops in law, leadership and culture. Cristina is originally from El Salvador and holds a law degree from El Salvador, and an LLM in International Trade and Business Law from the University of Arizona.
Job Titles:
- Assoc. Vice President & Chief Operating Officer, GULC, Wash.
Dr. Gerhard Botha is the Director of Programs at the International Law Institute in Washington D.C. Previously, he worked for the World Bank as a senior sector specialist in private and financial sector development, and in legal and judicial reform. Gerhard has over 40 years' experience in law and international development practice, and in conflict- and dispute resolution. He has practiced as an Attorney in both the Private and Public sectors and holds B.A. and LL.B degrees from the University of Stellenbosch in South Africa; an LL.M in labor law, from the University of South Africa and an LL.M focusing on labor/employment law and alternate dispute resolution, from The George Washington University Law School in Washington DC. He also holds a Ph.D. in Conflict Analysis and Resolution, from the Carter School for Peace and Conflict Resolution, at George Mason University.
Job Titles:
- Director of Law Reform Programs
Dr. Marek Dubovec is the Director of Law Reform Programs at the International Law Institute (ILI). For over 15 years, Marek has been working with international standard-setters, including UNCITRAL and UNIDROIT to draft conventions, model laws, principles and guides that assist States in modernizing their commercial law frameworks. He has worked on the implementation of these standards under projects funded by the World Bank Group, the European Bank for Reconstruction and Development, FSD-Kenya, and others. He has assisted countries in Africa (e.g., Kenya), Asia (e.g., the Philippines), Eastern Europe (e.g., the Ukraine), the Middle East (e.g., the UAE) and Latin America (e.g., Colombia), with reforms of their frameworks on secured transactions, factoring, warehouse receipts and related legislation. In these projects, Marek drafted laws and regulations, assisted with building technological infrastructures, including collateral registries, and provided capacity building to various stakeholders, including financial institutions, government officials, and judges.
Marek has produced several policy papers, reports and other publications for international organizations, including the Secured Transactions, Collateral Registries, and Movable Asset-Based Financing Knowledge Guide, and Guidance Notes on Distributed Ledger Technology and Secured Transactions for the World Bank Group. He has authored and co-authored numerous articles and books, including the 2019 Secured Transactions Law Reform in Africa. Additionally, Marek is Professor of Practice at the University of Arizona, James E. Rogers College of Law and has served as a visiting scholar at the Institute for Monetary and Economic Studies of the Bank of Japan, and a visiting professor at the University of Puerto Rico, School of Law.
Job Titles:
- Partner - Arnold & Porter / Former Executive Director, World Bank
Job Titles:
- Executive Director, World Justice Project
Job Titles:
- Director of Operations
- Director of ILI Operations and Marketing
Jeff Ziarnik is the Director of Operations at the International Law Institute, where he works with and teaches regulators and other legal professionals who participate in ILI's training programs. Jeff has nearly two decades of experience in international development, starting out as a U.S. Peace Corps volunteer in The Gambia in 2002. He has been a member of the Virginia State Bar since 2010.
Jeff has planned, organized, and coordinated over 150 high-level legal and international development training seminars, including more than 50 legislative seminars. He has worked with participants from more than 100 countries. Before working at ILI, Jeff worked as a law clerk in Bucharest, Romania, and studied law in in Cape Town, South Africa.
Jeff earned a B.S. from the University of Wisconsin in History and Political Science and a J.D. from the Western Michigan University Cooley School of Law.
Job Titles:
- Director, Cener for Private Investment in Infrastructure
Job Titles:
- Partner, Lazarus & Associates / Former Counsel to President of the United States
Job Titles:
- Secretary of the Board
- Managing Member, Hagler Law LLC, Denver, CO / Former General Counsel, BOE Midstream, Denver, COP
Job Titles:
- CEO
- Executive Director
- Ex Officio
- Executive Director & EEO
Mark Walter is Executive Director and CEO of the International Law Institute, leading its global efforts to foster prosperity, human development and resilience through the rule of law. Mark has more than 20 years of experience in international legal development, having previously served as Managing Director for Trade for Nathan Associates in Washington, Technical Director in the APEC Secretariat in Singapore, Chief of Party for the USAID WTO Accession Project in Ethiopia, Senior Global Principal for DAI Inc. in Singapore, and Assistant Director of the Center for International Legal Education at the University of Pittsburgh School of Law.
Mark is an expert in international legal development, law and development methodologies, international commercial law, legal education, trade law and policy, and international development management. He is a member of the Board of Advisors of the Center for International Legal Education. Mark has led development projects in more than 30 countries on continents.
Mark earned a B.A. from the University of Pittsburgh, an M.S. in Journalism from Virginia Commonwealth University, and a J.D. from the University of Pittsburgh.
Robert Sargin has over 16 years of experience working directly with senior levels of governments, multilateral development organizations, global legal institutions, and private sector stakeholders. Mr. Sargin represents ILI in specialized programs developed for the U.S. Department of State and the World Bank (MIGA and IFC] programs. He also administers many of ILI's East and South Asian relations and initiatives. Mr. Sargin has over 30 years of experience as a senior executive managing and advising large, multinational corporations, international offices, and developing and maintaining international supply chains. Mr. Sargin serves as a board member of the Friends of the U.S. Law Library of Congress, and is Senior Advisor and Global Program Coordinator for the International Lawyers Practice Course, China.
Job Titles:
- Co - Vice Chairman, International Law Institute / Partner, Akin Gump Strauss Hauer & Feld, LLP
Job Titles:
- President
- Board President, International Law Institute / Former Counsel, Jones Day
Stuart Kerr, ILI's President, has 40 years of experience handling legal reform, regulatory, trade, dispute resolution, and technical assistance issues throughout the developing world. He has advised international organizations, corporations, and governments in scores of developing and emerging economies.
He also served from 1988 to 2002 as ILI's executive director and oversaw years of significant growth. From 2015 until 2020 he was with the law firm Jones Day as Counsel and Africa Practice Coordinator. From 2005 to 2015 he served as legal and regulatory director of the Millennium Challenge Corporation, an independent U.S. government development agency that provides major project grants - averaging $300 million per country - to developing countries that demonstrate better governance practices than their peer countries. At MCC, Stuart developed and helped implement projects in judicial reform, trade, alternative dispute resolution, and anticorruption as well as developing new methods for measuring project performance. He also spent three years as senior counsel for Europe and Eurasia at the Department of Commerce's Commercial Law Development Program, working primarily on customs and judicial reform matters. Stuart is a regular speaker and writer on law and development subjects. While at MCC, he gave more than 100 presentations on rule of law issues at locations as diverse as the U.S. Embassy in Tokyo, the Supreme Court of Singapore, the Palais Royal (Conseil Constitutionnel) in Paris, and the House of Lords in London. Stuart has served on the boards of academic institutions, foundations, NGOs, and bar groups in the U.S. and internationally.
He received his B.A. in English and history from Trinity College, a J.D. from Georgetown University and was a Visiting Scholar at the University of Manchester (UK).
Thomas is a Research Attorney at the International Law Institute (ILI). He has worked on various law reform projects on areas including secured transactions, collateral registries, factoring, and electronic warehouse receipts, among other. He has extensive experience working on legal research and assessments and is versed on relevant international best practices. His work experience spans across Azerbaijan, Belarus, Egypt, Georgia, Jordan, Lebanon, Pakistan, Philippines, Kyrgyzstan, Russia, Somalia, Tajikistan, Ukraine, Uzbekistan, and West Bank and Gaza.
Prior to his work on international economic development projects, he practiced at a commercial law firm in Russia, and is also licensed to practice law in the United States. He is an active legal practitioner, with experience in advisory services and court representation. Thomas holds a J.D. from the University of Arizona and a M.A. in International Trade and Finance Law from the Moscow State Institute of International Relations in Russia.
Job Titles:
- Executive Director of the Uniform Law Commission / Former Attorney, US State Department Office of Legal Advisors
Job Titles:
- Founding Partner - Hergunner Bilgen Ozeke Attorney
Job Titles:
- Vice Dean Graduate Program & Int'L Legal Studies, Harvard Univ