Michelle Montero Lemoine, Chair (Class 2019)
Michelle is an experienced lawyer in financing operations, capital markets, investment funds, derivative instruments and alternative investments. She has completed Level 1 of the international certification for alternative investments analyst, Chartered Alternative Investment Analyst (CAIA), and holds an Executive LL.M of London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE). She is currently senior structuring professional in the London office of a Swiss private markets asset manager. Before, she was senior associate in Lazo & De Romaña Abogados (2017-2019) and legal advisor of the investment process in several private pension funds in Peru (2012-2017). She was also co-director of the diversity committee of the American Chamber of Commerce in Peru and member of the mentoring committee of Women in the Profession (WIP).
Josh Newton, Vice Chair (Class 2021)
Josh is a lawyer and partner at Best & Krieger LLP in Bend, Oregon, United States. Josh’s practice concentrates on complex dispute resolution with an emphasis on natural resource and environmental disputes and indigenous rights. He focuses on issues affecting the lands, waters, and culture of the western United States. Josh received his LLM degree from London School of Economics and Political Science in 2021.
Omar Salem, General Secretary (Class 2021)
Omar Salem is a Managing Associate at Linklaters specialising in financial regulation and public advocacy. He provides advice on complex regulatory matters, transactions and investigations, as well as on legal aspects of reputation management. His clients include banks, brokers, asset managers, private equity houses, payment service providers, funds, trading and clearing platforms, mortgage lenders and consumer credit providers. Prior to his legal career, Omar worked at the Young Foundation, where he carried out research on responding to the financial crisis and co-founded the UpRising Leadership Programme, which works to develop young leaders from diverse backgrounds. Omar also worked in Parliament as senior researcher to Emily Thornberry MP, who is currently the Shadow Secretary of State for Trade. Omar has an LLB from the University of Law and a BA (Hons) in Philosophy, Politics and Economics from St. Hugh’s College, University of Oxford. Omar tweets at @FinRegLawyer and his LinkedIn profile is here.
Carmen Martorano, Membership Secretary (Class 2021)
Carmen is an Italian qualified lawyer admitted to the Italian Bar in 2016, a Registered European Lawyer in England and Wales since 2018 and a Registered Foreign Lawyer since 2021. She is experienced in commercial and regulatory laws related to Life Sciences industries (among others, pharmaceutical, medical devices, cosmetics, chemicals, food& beverage laws and regulations, e-health). Before moving into the Life sciences industry, she has worked for lending companies as CEO, member of the board and legal counsel and for investment funds as legal counsel. On 2018, she attended courses in Private Equity and Project Finance at London Business School. She held lectures at Luiss Guido Carly University and published articles related to the digital innovation and regulations.
Patricia Brister, Committee Member (Class 2020)
Trish Brister has been a member of the Canadian Bar Association and the Law Society of Alberta since 1988, practicing in the areas of construction, services, energy, general corporate/commercial and commercial real estate law. She has done a significant amount of transactional work in acquisitions and divestitures in addition to training a broad range of front line workers, directors and executives in contract risk management. Her past work experience includes private practice in a multi-national law firm as well as acting as in-house counsel for multi-national energy and construction companies.
Trish is a Graduate of the London School of Economics (LL.M 2020), the University of Victoria (LL.B 1987) and McGill University (B.Comm 1983 with Distinction) and holds certifications from the Institute of Corporate Directors (ICD.D 2018) and the Family Enterprise Exchange (FEA 2018).
Trish is active in the not-for-profit sector, having held board positions recently while working on governance and risk management committees. She is currently involved in mental health research focused on entrepreneurs.
Olga Bezhentseva, Committee Member (Class 2022 – expected)
Verônica Barros, Committee Member (Class 2020)
Verônica is an attorney with an LL.M in Regulating Innovation, Communication and Technology from the London School of Economics and Political Science (LSE), and has completed an Executive Program in Digital Law at INSPER/SP. After some years working as city attorney and as a lawyer at the Brazilian Bank for Economic and Social Development (BNDES), she came back to the private sector to work with consultancy in the areas of digital and personal data protection law, public policies and information security. She holds an EXIN certification in data protection, and is a sitting member of the Science, Technology, and Innovation Commission and of Privacy and Data Protection Commission, both of the Brazilian Bar Association - São Paulo Chapter (OAB/SP).
Dimos Adamos
Pietro Del Bufalo, General Secretary (Class 2019)
Pietro is an Italian qualified lawyer, admitted to the bar of Rome in 2005. He has worked for the Italian association of fund managers (Assogestioni) from 2001 to 2005 and for the law firm Lovells (now Hogan Lovells) from 2005 to 2010. His professional practice focused on financial regulation and compliance matters, specifically for investment and pension funds, and asset managers. In 2010 he moved to the Principality of Monaco to work as legal counsel for a single family office.
Pinar Basdan Cetinel (Class 2017)
Pınar is a qualified lawyer in Turkey and currently the Chief Legal Officer at one of the country's investment banks, Nurolbank. Prior to Nurolbank, Pınar worked as partner in one of the leading law firms active in banking & finance and corporate matters. She is a graduate of Master of Laws from the LSE, 2017 and she holds a Bachelor of Laws from Galatasaray University, 2005. Pınar's broad legal practice includes corporate law, contract law, banking law and capital markets matters. She has been involved in highlight structured finance transactions (including first local covered-bonds and asset-guaranteed bonds programs in Turkey in 2011). Pınar's past work experience also includes foreign associate role at Mayer Brown LLP, in 2008. She is a member of Istanbul Bar and she volunteers for Spina Bifida Association in Turkey and animal rights.
Dr Marizah Minhat (Class 2018)
Marizah is an Associate Professor in Finance and Economics at the University of Bradford, UK. She graduated with LL.M (Financial Law and Regulation) from the LSE. She holds an MSc in Banking and Finance and a PhD from the University of Stirling, and a Bachelor of Commerce (Honours) from Lincoln University, New Zealand. As a professionally qualified accountant, she is a Fellow of Association of Chartered Certified Accountants (ACCA), member of Malaysian Institute of Accountants (MIA), Chartered Accountants Australia & New Zealand (CA ANZ), and Institute of Chartered Accountants in England and Wales (ICAEW). She is also a committee member of ICAEW Scotland and Tech Sub-Group Lead. Marizah has served in various roles within higher education institutions in the UK with stints in Hong Kong and Singapore. Prior to her academic career, she gained corporate experience in energy industry during her years with a Malaysia’s publicly listed government-linked company, as well as a stint in retail financial industry. She has published in Finance, Economics and Human Rights journals, and wider media.
Giuseppe Pinelli
