On Tuesday 12 December 2023, we co-organised with Garrigues, an event which offered a comprehensive exploration of third-party funding (TPF) in litigation and arbitration, featuring insights from the UK and Spanish perspectives. The speakers of this event were Dr. Diego Agulló Agulló (Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Madrid), Ania Farren (Fieldfisher, London), Fernando Gragera Contador (Madrid), with Elisa Vicente (Garrigues, Madrid) moderating (short bios below).
ABOUT THE SPEAKERS
Dr. Diego Agulló Agulló holds an International PhD in Law from Universidad Pontificia Comillas, Universidad de Deusto, and Universidad Ramón Llull. He has received the Award from the Royal Academy of Doctors of Spain for the best doctoral thesis in Law and the XXIV “José María Ramón de San Pedro” Award for the best doctoral thesis defended at the Schools of Economics and Business Administration and Law at Universidad Pontificia Comillas. Assistant Professor Agulló has been a Max Planck scholarship holder as a predoctoral guest at the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for International, European, and Regulatory Procedural Law; a Graduate Research Trainee at the Faculty of Law at McGill University in Montreal; a postdoctoral researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg; a Visiting Scholar at Columbia Law School in New York City; and has attended the summer courses at the Hague Academy of International Law. His research interests include International Procedural Law, Comparative Law, Foreign Investment Law, International Contracts, and International Arbitration. Dr. Agulló is the academic sponsor for the Comillas Alumni International Arbitration Club and a member of the Spanish Arbitration Club. He is currently the director of the Master’s Degree in International Lawyering at Universidad Pontificia Comillas.
Ania Farren is a Partner at Fieldfisher. She is a highly experienced practitioner who advises and represents States and corporate entities in a wide variety of international dispute resolution and public international law matters, including commercial and investment treaty arbitrations. She has over 20 years of experience as counsel; She has acted as counsel in disputes conducted under all of the major arbitration rules including ICC, ICSID, ICSID Additional Facility, LCIA and SCC. She is Chair of the ICC UK Committee for Arbitration and ADR and Co-Chair of the International Arbitration Charity Ball. She also sits as an Arbitrator and is a member of Arbitra. She previously worked at a leading third party funder.
Fernando Gragera Contador is a dual-qualified lawyer (Spanish Abogado & Solicitor of England and Wales) with +13 PQE, specialised on the resolution of complex litigation and arbitration matters. Throughout his professional career, Fernando has gained experience as a lawyer in leading law firms, as an in-house legal counsel of a multinational company, and as an investment manager of a litigation funder. He actively participates in the work of legal associations, such as the International Bar Association and the recently created Spanish Business Litigation Club, of which he is a member of the governing board. Since 2020, his practice has been focused on the litigation funding industry. He has recently been recognised by Who’s Who Legal as a Thought Leader in Third-Party Funding in Spain, being the only lawyer recognised in this category.
Elisa Vicente Maravall is a senior associate in the international arbitration group at Garrigues. She has extensive experience in international commercial transactions, advising clients on pre-litigation negotiation processes and on ad hoc and institutional arbitration proceedings before the most prestigious international institutions, under very diverse jurisdictions, as well as on matters relating to bilateral investment agreements, providing advice to large companies, financial institutions and governments. Elsewhere, she has also acquired specific experience in international construction disputes and, in particular, in FIDIC contracts. She holds a Double Degree in Law and Business Administration and an Executive Master’s Degree in Business Law at Centro de Estudios Garrigues in collaboration with Harvard Law School. She has been recently ranked amongst the top 10 Best Young Lawyers of Spain of the V Edition of the Expansión Jurídico Awards. She is actively involved in the Spanish Arbitration Club, and currently chairs one of the working groups of the Dispute Boards Committee.
