Leonardo D’Urso is the CEO and co-founder of ADR Center in Italy. Leonardo has 20 years of full-time work in the field of Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR), he manges 31 Resolution Centers in Italy and created the ODR Center, an innovative cloud platform developed to manage the mediation process.

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Leonardo has been designated by the Council of Europe as the Scientific Expert of the Working Group on Mediation within CEPEJ (The European Commission for the Efficiency of Justice).

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He has managed complex capacity-building projects funded by international donors in Africa, Europe and Central America (Serbia, Turkey, Nigeria, Barbados and all Eu Member States and North African countries). He is the author of several books, publications and video on mediation and ADR and an experienced trainer of mediators and trainer-of-trainers.

Georges is a lawyer and ADR professional practicing at the Georges Feghali Conflict Management & Resolution Office. He further serves as a Regional Mediator at the UN and the World Bank for the Middle East and North Africa region and France.

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He is the President of the Mediation and Conflict Prevention Commission at the International Association of Lawyers, Union International des Avocats UIA. He teaches Mediation at the Beirut Bar Association Institute, a course he established at the Institute in 2012. He also teaches Mediation Law at CPM Saint Joseph University in Lebanon and is a Board member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators CIArb, Lebanon branch.George drafted a mediation bill for the Lebanese parliament. He promotes mediation and ADR in Lebanon and other Arab and Gulf countries.

Gary Birnberg is a mediator and arbitrator specialized in complex commercial and cross border cases. He is associated with both JAMS and Gulf Mediation, and on the rosters of some twenty other institutions worldwide, including the Hague Court of Arbitration for Aviation, of which he was part of the founding team and is the Chair of its Advisory Board, the Court of Arbitration for Sport (Lausanne), CAM-CCBC (Brazil), and CMAP (France), as he also works frequently with the ICC and ICDR. A Fellow of the Chartered institute of Arbitrators, a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators, and a Certified IMI Mediator, he is a former Chair of the Florida Chapter of CIArb, the IBA Mediation Committee, and the French-American Chamber of Commerce of Florida, and is the current Chair of the Arbitration and Mediation Committee of the International Law Section of the Florida Bar. Also a trainer in both arbitration and mediation, he writes frequently on ADR topics and is Co-Editor and chapter author of the upcoming, inaugural, GAR Guide to Aviation and Aerospace Disputes. He works in French and Portuguese, in addition to English.

Dr Aseel Zimmo is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and served as an arbitrator in many proceedings both institutional and ad hoc proceedings and issued awards in Arabic and in English. She also an experienced commercial mediator.

She has conducted professional training for lawyers and practitioners in arbitration and mediation. She also sat on many panels at various arbitration events.

Dr Zimmo is experienced in both Civil and Common law jurisdictions as she graduated with a PhD from the LSE in international commercial arbitration and with an LLM from Kings College, London. She is also a qualified lawyer in New York and Jordan. She also practiced law in London, New York and Amman, through which appeared before arbitration tribunal and worked as tribunal secretary.

She taught civil and commercial law at the London School of Economics, University of Bahrain, the Royal University for Women and American University of Bahrain. She also conducted many workshops and training for judges and lawyers.

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Zouhdi Yakan is a skilled mediator, negotiator, arbitrator and legal professional and holds an LL.M. in Dispute Resolution from Pepperdine University-Straus Institute for Dispute Resolution (2004). He is CEDR accredited mediator, IMI qualified, and a Partner at Shaikha Almehrzi Advocates; Legal Consultants -LAW HOUSE. He brings over two decades of experience, including significant tenure in the UAE, specializing in corporate and commercial law, banking and finance, and dispute resolution. He leads the firm’s arbitration and ADR practice and represents clients in resolving disputes through strategic negotiation and out-of-court settlements.

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Zouhdi advices on business transactions, including setups, corporate structuring, M&As, joint ventures, and complex contracts. His work spans multiple sectors, including construction, architecture, commercial finance, banking (conventional and Islamic), insurance and brokerage, real estate, IT, employment and commercial agencies. He counsels domestic and international clients on UAE laws and regulations, compliance and corporate governance.

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Zouhdi has mediated and co-mediated a wide range of disputes as a volunteer with the California Academy for Mediation Professionals (CAMP) in Los Angeles, within the Los Angeles County Superior Court’s mediation programs. He trained under and shadowed leading US mediators, including Lee Jay Berman (American Institute of Mediation) and Richard Chernick (VP and MD, JAMS Arbitration Practice), gaining practical insight into complex mediations across diverse practice areas.

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Zouhdi currently serves as a trainer with the ADR Center, delivering “Mediation Advocacy” workshops under The Government of Dubai Legal Affairs Department CLPD program. He also served as a trainer with Dubai International Arbitration Center (DIAC) as part of its Professional Diploma in International Arbitration, where he lectured on “Types, Structure and Contents of Arbitral Awards”, May 2025. He co-trained a 40-Hour Mediation Training Program with the ABA and Pepperdine University in Jordan, 2007.

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Zouhdi also contributes actively to the field through publishing and thought leadership. He has authored and co-authored several works, including his most recent publications: “Filing Civil and Commercial Lawsuits Before Dubai Courts: Overview” (Thomson Reuters, 1 August 2025); “Mediation: Are All Disputes Alike? Strategies for a Mediator to Successfully Navigate Particular Situations” (LexisNexis, 10 February 2025); and “Procedural Steps in a DIAC Arbitration (2022 Rules)” (Thomson Reuters Practical Law, 14 January 2025). He has also written on “The Adoption of the UNCITRAL Model Law by Egypt and Tunisia”, and contributed significantly to the third Arabic edition of Dr. El Ahdab’s “Encyclopedia of Arbitration” (three volumes). He serves as an Assessor at the CDRC Vienna IBA-VIAC Mediation & Negotiation Competitions.

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He is listed on the mediation panels of ADGM Dispute Resolution Hearing Centre, Saudi Center for Commercial Arbitration (SCCA) and the Lebanese Arbitration and Mediation Center (LAMC) as both mediator and arbitrator. Zouhdi is a Ciarb member and Advisory Council member of The Mediation Hub MENA, and speaks regularly at international conferences, and contributes actively to the field of ADR and other areas of law.

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Zouhdi is admitted to the Bierut Bar Association and holds a B.A. in Political Science.

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Director of ADR Center's international activities, Constantin-Adi Gavrilă received his Ph.D. from University of Craiova with emphasis on” Mediation and Access to Justice” and is a well-known Romanian mediator with over 15 years of experience in the field of mediation.

Mr. Gavrilă is co-founder and General Manager of the Craiova Mediation Center Association, and he serves as Co-Chair of the Independent Standards Commission convened by the International Mediation Institute (IMI).

He has been mediated hundreds of civil and commercial cases, both domestic and international, including multi-party, company – community cases, specific to the development context, for which he is working with the Office of the Compliance Advisor/Ombudsman (CAO), the independent recourse mechanism for IFC and MIGA, the private sector lending arms of the World Bank Group. Among other awards, Mr. Gavrilă was honored with the Association for Conflict Resolution (ACR) International Development Committee’s 2009 Outstanding Leadership Award for outstanding contributions to international conflict resolution.

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