Julian Cardenas, Research Assistant Professor & Director - Center for U.S. and Mexican Law, University of Houston Law Center
Professor Cardenas joined the University of Houston Law Center in 2012 as an Energy Scholar and a Visiting Professor affiliated to the Environment, Energy and Natural Resources Center (EENR Center), focusing on transnational petroleum law and arbitration. Since October 2022, he is the Director of the Center for U.S. and Mexican Law working on bilateral legal affairs between the two nations and promoting exchanges among academic institutions.
As a visiting professor, he has also taught the investment law of major industrial projects (energy, mining, and construction), arbitration, and oil and gas industry practices at the Universidade do Estado do Rio de Janeiro (UERJ) in Brazil; the Universidad Autónoma de Nuevo León (UANL) in Monterrey, and the Instituto Tecnológico Autónomo de México – ITAM, in Mexico City, Mexico; the University Externado, in Bogota, Colombia; and the University Paris Sud, France.
He frequently works with companies, public authorities, and governments in various areas of oil and gas law and policy. At the EENR Center, he is the coordinator of the "Inter-American Hydrocarbons Regulators Dialogue," an initiative conceived to create a nexus between national hydrocarbons agencies, the private sector, and the academia. Since June 2019, he sits on the Ad Hoc Administrative Board of Directors of Petróleos de Venezuela (PDVSA), the Venezuelan National Oil Company.
He is a conference speaker on transnational oil and gas law, investment law, international arbitration, best oil and gas industry practices, and oil and gas geopolitics. He has been a guest speaker in conferences related to these issues in the U.S., Canada, France, Germany, Scotland, the Netherlands, Mexico, Brazil, Cuba, Costa Rica, Trinidad & Tobago, Ecuador, Colombia, Venezuela, Gabon, and Kuwait. Also, Professor Cardenas is frequently interviewed by media outlets on Latin American affairs and oil and gas industry matters.
Professor Cardenas has been retained as an independent expert in international arbitrations regarding the upstream petroleum sector in Venezuela and has also been involved in ICC, AAA, and ICSID arbitration cases concerning downstream petroleum transactions, direct foreign investments, and international construction projects.
Before joining the EENR Center, he worked as a foreign legal clerk at the Arbitration Department of Dewey & Leboeuf in Paris, and also served for nearly six years as a career diplomat for the Venezuelan Ministry of Foreign Affairs, working on multilateral affairs with the Organization of the American States (OAS) and the United Nations (U.N.), and bilateral affairs related to sovereign boundary issues. He works effectively in Spanish, French, and English, and has some working proficiency in Portuguese.
He holds a law degree and a B.A. in International Relations from the Universidad Central de Venezuela; a Master of Laws in Arbitration and a Diplôme Superieur d'Université in Business Law from the Sorbonne University Paris II Pantheon-Assas; and an LL.M. with a Certificate in Energy, Environment & Natural Resources Law from the University of Houston Law Center. He was a Doctoral Fellow at the Research Center for Investment and International Trade Law (CREDIMI-CNRS) at the University of Bourgogne, Dijon, France.
Professor Cárdenas is an accomplished violinist who has played with different symphony orchestras in Venezuela, France, and the U.S. He holds a “Professional Amateur” Diploma from Pro Violin Institute in Frankfurt, Germany. Prof. Cárdenas was awarded the First-Place Prize winner, Amateur Category, in the 2023 American Protégé International Piano and Strings Competition at the Carnegie Hall, in New York City. He has performed as well at the Berlin Philharmonie, the Sorbonne Amphitheatre, the Teatro Teresa Carreño, among other renowned music venues.
Elisabeth Eljuri, International Energy Expert, Elisabeth Eljuri, P.A.; Former AIEN President 2013-2014
Elisabeth Eljuri is an Independent Arbitrator and Energy specialist. She regularly sits as arbitrator in major international arbitrations related to Latin America, filed under the rules of the ICC, ICDR, LCIA, UNCITRAL and ICSID. She has over 30 years of experience in such region, and is considered a leading authority in the areas of energy, natural resources and major projects. Her experience covers an extensive international disputes practice as well as a world-class transactional practice, which she complements with her role as executive in an oil company. This provides her with an integral and sophisticated understanding of the industries and cases she is involved in at the highest level that can be achieved in legal practice.
In addition to sitting as arbitrator, Elisabeth Eljuri co-founded and has been part of the executive team of two oil companies over the past decade. She was an executive at Westlawn Americas Offshore, a Houston-based company investing in offshore oil and gas projects located in the US Gulf of Mexico and Latin America. Prior to that, Ms. Eljuri was with Sierra Oil & Gas where she was the Vice President, Chief Negotiator and Chief Legal Counsel. Sierra was a private equity- backed oil upstream company which was created by three major US funds to capture opportunities in the Mexican energy market. She remained there until the successful exit and sale of the company to a large European energy company. Ms. Eljuri was one of two lead negotiators of such sale.
Before venturing into private equity and her executive role, she spent more than 25 years in legal practice at two of the world’s largest law firms. Until December 2015, Ms. Eljuri was the Head of Latin America of Norton Rose Fulbright where she was a senior partner of the Firm focusing in the areas of international arbitration, energy and natural resources and projects/infrastructure for nearly 18 years.
Ms. Eljuri has published extensively in the areas of international arbitration, investment protection, political risk management, oil and gas, natural resources and related topics. An active public speaker, Ms. Eljuri has presented in over one hundred industry conferences around the world. She has led and taught many specialized workshops in oil and gas, co-chaired major training courses and she also spent 20 years involved in the Philip C. Jessup International Law Moot Court Competition. Likewise, she is very active in industry associations, and over the course of her career she has held numerous senior positions in organizations such as the Association of International Energy Negotiators (former AIPN), the Foundation for Natural Resources and Energy Law (FERNL), the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA), the International Bar Association (IBA), the Young Presidents Organization (YPO), to name a few.
For many consecutive years, up until her departure from private practice in 2015, many legal publications including Chambers Global, Chambers Latin America, Latin Lawyer, Legal 500 and Who’s Who Legal in several different areas of practice, ranked Ms. Eljuri as one of the top lawyers in Latin America or globally, and Star Individual for Venezuela. On the disputes side, Who’s Who in Commercial Arbitration ranked Ms. Eljuri as a leading arbitration lawyer.
Ms. Eljuri is both a common law and a civil law lawyer. She graduated from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Venezuela in 1991 (cum laude, valedictorian) and then attended Harvard Law School where she obtained an LL.M. degree in 1992. She is admitted to practice law in New York and Venezuela (she is not admitted in Florida). She is a member of the Young President’s Organization (YPO) and is currently completing YPO Presidents’ Gold Program at Harvard Business School.
Ms. Eljuri is based in Miami, Florida. She is fully bilingual in English and Spanish, and fluent in spoken French.
Imad Khan, Partner, Winston & Strawn LLP
Imad is an international disputes lawyer who represents and advises sovereigns, multinational companies, state-owned entities, and intergovernmental organizations through all aspects of international dispute resolution. He is particularly experienced in investment treaty and international commercial arbitration under all major arbitral rules, including the ICC, ICDR, AAA, HKIAC, LCIA, ICSID, and UNCITRAL. His practice includes enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards. He frequently publishes articles and lectures on topics related to international arbitration and dispute resolution and serves in leadership of leading international organizations and arbitral institutions.
In addition to international arbitration and complex commercial litigation, Imad’s practice extends to handling recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitration awards, including for judgments and awards involving states, state agencies, and state-owned entities which involve state immunity issues. Imad also advises clients in navigating complex discovery involved in international disputes. Imad has a wide variety of experience representing and advising clients across diverse economic sectors, including energy, oil and gas, electricity, renewables, technology, waste management, mining, and pharmaceuticals in numerous arbitrations.
He maintains a deep understanding of his practice by frequently speaking and publishing on topics related to his practice and industry/business-sector focus. He currently holds leadership positions with the ICC International Court of Arbitration, ABA Section of Litigation, American Branch of the International Law Association, and Friends of the Hague Academy. Imad also serves on the Houston Chapter Board of Directors for Developments in Literacy, a non-profit committed to empowering children through education in Pakistan.
Alexandre Lamy, Partner, Baker & McKenzie LLP
Alexandre (Alex) Lamy joined Baker McKenzie in 2009 and currently works in the Firm's International Trade Practice Group. He assists clients with sanctions and export controls (Export Administration Regulations (EAR); International Traffic in Arms Regulations (ITAR)) and he advises clients on corporate compliance matters. Alex contributes regularly to Baker McKenzie's Global Sanctions & Export Controls Update blog and edited the “Navigating the Impending Global Sanctions Enforcement Storm” blog series.
Alex was the sole US winner of the Lexology Client Choice Award for the "Trade & Customs" category in 2021 and 2022. He was recognized in Who's Who Legal 2022 Edition of its Global Guide to Trade & Customs Lawyers "for his outstanding performance facilitating clients on sanctions, export controls and compliance checks." In 2020, the same publication recognized Alex as a "leading individual" in North America on International Sanctions and the publication reported that he "attracts applause for delivering 'a practical service which understands the needs of the business'. His 'ready availability to clients, thorough research and strong presentation skills' are further acclaimed." He was also recognized in the 2019 Edition of the same publication as being "much sought after by clients who praise his 'advice of the highest quality' and add, 'He is technically very good on OFAC sanctions issues and military/dual use export controls.'" Finally, Alex was named by Financier Worldwide in “POWER PLAYERS: International Trade & Sanctions 2021 - Distinguished Advisers."
Between August 2021 and August 2023, Alex was the co-chair of the ABA Section of International Law’s Export Controls & Economic Sanctions Committee. Prior to that appointment, he served on the steering group and as a Vice Chair of the Committee, starting back in August 2011. Alex has organized multiple events regarding recent developments in US trade sanctions and export controls for the Committee.
Francisco Monaldi, Director - Latin America Energy Program, Baker Institute
Francisco J. Monaldi, Ph.D., is the Wallace S. Wilson Fellow in Latin American Energy Policy and director of the Latin America Energy Program at the Center for Energy Studies at Rice University’s Baker Institute for Public Policy.
He is also a fellow at the Claudio X. González Center for the United States and Mexico, a lecturer in energy economics at Rice University’s Department of Economics, and a lecturer in energy management at the Jones Graduate School of Business. He is a member of the International Faculty at IESA School of Management in Venezuela and Panama, where he was a professor and the founding director of the Center for Energy and the Environment. He is a nonresident fellow at the Center on Global Energy Policy at Columbia University.
He is a member of the International Advisory Council of Global Americans, the Venezuela Solutions Group of the Atlantic Council, and the Education Advisory Board of the Association of International Energy Negotiators.
Monaldi was previously a visiting professor at the School of Government at the Tecnológico de Monterrey in México; an adjunct senior research scholar at the School of International and Public Affairs at Columbia University; a visiting professor of energy policy at the Harvard Kennedy School of Government; an associate of the Geopolitics of Energy Project and the Roy Family Fellow of the Environment and Natural Resources Program at the Belfer Center for Science and International Affairs; the Robert F. Kennedy Visiting Professor in Latin American Studies at Harvard University; an adjunct professor of international energy policy at the Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy at Tufts University; a visiting professor of political economy at Stanford University; a national fellow at the Hoover Institution; and a researcher and lecturer in political economy at Universidad Católica Andrés Bello in Caracas. He has also been a visiting lecturer at the Graduate Institute in Geneva, the Universidad de los Andes in Bogotá, and the Universidad ESAN in Lima.
Monaldi is a leading scholar on the politics and economics of energy and resource policy in Latin America. He also studies institutions and resource wealth management in developing countries. He has consulted with numerous international institutions, governments and companies — including the International Monetary Fund, World Bank, Inter-American Development Bank, CAF Development Bank of Latin America, Saudi Aramco, Ecopetrol, PDVSA, PEMEX, Chevron, ExxonMobil, Shell, Total Energies, Equinor, JP Morgan, Barclays, Natural Resource Governance Institute, Harvard Center for International Development, S&P, Rystad, Wood Mackenzie, Eurasia Group, Medley Advisors, and the governments of Norway, the U.K., the U.S., Argentina, Colombia, Ecuador, Mexico, Venezuela, Saudi Arabia, and Kazakhstan.
Monaldi has authored and coauthored numerous academic publications, including “Shale Renders the Obsolescing Bargain Obsolete: Political Risk and Foreign Investment in Argentina’s Vaca Muerta” (Resources Policy, 2021); “The Cyclical Phenomenon of Resource Nationalism in Latin America” in the Oxford Research Encyclopedia (Oxford University Press, 2020); “The Political Economy of Oil Taxation in Latin America” in “The Political Economy of Taxation in Latin America,” G. Flores-Macias, ed. (Cambridge University Press, 2019); “Institutional Collapse” in “Venezuela Before Chavez: Anatomy of an Economic Collapse,” R. Hausmann and F. Rodriguez, eds. (Penn State University Press, 2014); “Oil Fueled Centralism,” in “Oil and Gas in Federal Systems,” G. Anderson, ed. (Oxford University Press, 2012); and “The Political Economy of Oil Contract Renegotiation in Venezuela,” in “The Natural Resources Trap: Private Investment without Public Commitment,” W. Hogan and F. Struzenegger, eds. (MIT Press, 2010).
He holds a Ph.D. and an M.A. in political science (political economy) from Stanford University, an M.A. in international and development economics from Yale University, and a B.A. in economics from Universidad Católica Andrés Bello.
Luís Miranda, Of Counsel, Miranda Alliance Business Development LLC
Luís started his career in 2008 working in Timor-Leste for an international NGO, where he had the opportunity to participate in the closing of camps for displaced persons and provide legal assistance to local populations in administrative formalities. He then worked for an international law firm in Macao (China), mostly dealing with commercial and litigation matters. Luís then moved to France, where he joined Siemens’ legal department in Paris. He was responsible for advising employees on compliance with a variety of French criminal laws and regulations, assisting in preparing and implementing internal policies on data protection, confidentiality, use of mobile phones, IT and information security, and advising and handling internal employment issues.
In 2012, he joined Miranda & Associados in Lisbon, a leading Portuguese law firm, which heads the Miranda Alliance, an international association of law firms and lawyers with a presence in 19 countries. Luís is currently the Head of Miranda’s Alliance Houston Office. Prior to moving to the United States, Luís gained significant experience advising oil companies and living in West Africa, including in Gabon and Cameroon, where he was based at Miranda’s local offices.
Luís completed his law degree and LL.M. in International Comparative Law at the University of Toulouse (France). He also obtained an LL.M. in Energy, Environment, and Natural Resources Law at the University of Houston. He is fully fluent in Portuguese, French, and English and has a good knowledge of Spanish.
Mark Faesecke, Global Head - Capital Projects, Blue Water Shipping
Mark Faesecke is a global logistics and supply chain expert with more than thirty years of experience supporting complex capital projects across the energy and mining industries. He has led the development and execution of large-scale logistics strategies for major international projects, helping organizations navigate operational challenges, optimize supply chain performance, and deliver critical infrastructure successfully.
Drawing on decades of hands-on leadership and global project experience, Mark provides practical insights into project logistics, supply chain risk management, and execution strategies in demanding industrial environments. His work bridges strategic planning with real-world implementation, making him a sought-after voice on logistics innovation and project delivery excellence.