Arbitral institutions: fortresses with glass ceilings? Part two

Baptiste Rigaudeau is a partner at Lead up Law in Paris. He specialises in dispute avoidance and dispute resolution, with a particular focus on international arbitration, both commercial and between foreign investors and States (Investor State Dispute Settlement or ISDS). He has significant experience in the mining, banking, pharmaceuticals, hotels, energy, construction and telecommunications sectors. Baptiste has acted as counsel, as tribunal secretary and as arbitrator (sole, party-appointed and president) in ad hoc proceedings, in particular under the UNCITRAL Arbitration Rules, and in institutional arbitration administered under the rules of the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the Abu Dhabi International Arbitration Centre (ArbitrateAD, formerly ADCCAC), the Hong Kong International Arbitration Centre (HKIAC), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC), the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC), the China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), the Centre de médiation et d’arbitrage de Paris (CMAP), the Swiss Arbitration Centre and the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), in proceedings governed by diverse procedural and substantive laws. Beyond contentious work, Baptiste advises clients on settlement negotiations and on multi-jurisdictional disputes relating to asset tracing and recovery. He is included on the international arbitrators’ lists of the Asian International Arbitration Centre, ICC France and the International Arbitration Chamber of Paris. Before joining Lead up, Baptiste practised for more than thirteen years within litigation and arbitration departments of top law firms in Hong Kong, Houston, Madrid, Paris and Geneva. Baptiste is the Global Vice Chair of Young Mining Professionals, the French Ambassador for Swiss Arbitration, a member of the Steering Committee of the under-40 group of the IBA Arbitration Subcommittee, and of the Board of AfricArb. Baptiste is recognised in the Lexology Index 2026 (formerly Who’s Who Legal) for arbitration, published in partnership with Global Arbitration Review (GAR). He is also ranked in the Leaders League 2026 as one of the best arbitrators in France, and is listed by Best Lawyers 2027 as one of the best lawyers in international arbitration in France. He is admitted to the Paris Bar, is a Member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (MCIArb), and works in English, French and Spanish.

Vivek is Registrar of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre. Vivek has over 18 years’ experience in international dispute resolution and arbitration. Prior to joining SIAC, as partner at a leading law firm in Singapore, Vivek regularly acted as counsel on international arbitrations conducted in Singapore under various institutional rules. He has considerable experience acting on emergency arbitrator proceedings, expedited procedure arbitrations, and advising on arbitral award challenge and enforcement actions in Singapore. Vivek has also acted as an arbitrator and has been appointed as emergency arbitrator, and to three-member and sole arbitrator tribunals. Vivek is recommended for his ‘remarkable command over legal nuances’ and as a ‘name to note for India-related disputes’ by The Legal 500 Asia Pacific, is listed by Who’s Who Legal as a ‘Future Leader’ and ‘praised for his knowledge of cases and law’ by GAR100. Vivek graduated from the National Law School of India University, Bangalore and was admitted to the Bar Council of Delhi in 2006.