Member Profiles

The practice was commenced in 1841 by F. J. de Saram. Snr., the same year in which the overland emigration to California began by wagon trail. Melbourne in Australia was founded only six years before that. In Sri Lanka those were the early days of British rule; their conquest of the whole island was completed in 1818. After the British captured the maritime provinces of Sri Lanka from the Dutch, in 1796, they accepted responsibility for the debt notes, known as Kredit Brieven, carrying 3% interest per annum issued by the Dutch regime. The Firm held these for its clients until its redemption 91 years later. The economy under the British was built on the plantation industry. The Firm played a key role in the establishment and development of that industry. British planters turned the Island into what was referred to years later as "Lipton's Tea Garden" after the name of the founder of the famous company. He was a client of the Firm. The Firm also acted for other pioneering planters, road builders and for individuals such as Charles Hay Cameron who framed the Judicial Charter of 1833 and sat as the member of the Colebrook Commission which introduced the first Legislative Council of Sri Lanka of modern times. The contribution the Firm made to the development of the economy of Sri Lanka transcended to every other area as well. Establishment of banks followed the expansion of the plantation industry. The Firm acted as the lawyers for most of these banks including the Mercantile Bank, the first bank established in Sri Lanka in 1854. Throughout its history, the Firm has also played a major role in the development of the law of Sri Lanka. F. J. de Saram, Jnr., was a member of the Council of Legal Education. The Royal Commission on Banking appointed in 1936 recommended the establishment of an indigenous bank. Consequently the Bank of Ceylon Ordinance No. 53 of 1938 was promulgated. The legislation was drafted by the Firm. The Mortgage Commission appointed in 1945 recommended major changes to the common law. The Firm represented the Commercial Banks Association of Ceylon which played a leading role before the Commission. In recent times the Firm assisted in the restructuring of the electricity sector, in preparing legislation that established a public utilities regulator and the setting up of the regulatory framework for the electricity sector. A partner of the Firm was a member of the Advisory Council which drafted the new Company Law of Sri Lanka The Firm lobbied for and had a modern law enacted on arbitration. The Firm played the key role in drafting this law and in setting up an Arbitration Centre affiliated to other international arbitration centres. Since the inception of the Ceylon Chamber of Commerce in the year 1895, the Firm has acted and still acts for them, the premier mercantile body of Sri Lanka. In that capacity, the Firm has represented the Chamber before many commissions appointed by the Government from time to time relating to commerce and the economy. The Firm acted as lawyers for the Colombo Brokers' Association which operated the Colombo Stock Exchange in its nascent stage. After the stock exchange was regulated by legislation through the Securities and Exchange Commission of Sri Lanka Act, the Firm advised the Colombo Stock Exchange on the framing of its rules including the rules enabling scripless trading of treasury bills and debt securities. Since 1861, when company registration began in Sri Lanka, many family owned plantation businesses and partnerships were converted to limited liability companies. The Firm attended to the incorporation of many such companies including the leading agency houses of the day that managed the major part of the then economy of Sri Lanka. During the socialist era of Sri Lanka from the late fifties to the seventies of the twentieth century, the Firm were the lawyers for most of the State owned Corporations that were set up by the Government to engage in business, industry and finance, such as the Ceylon Steel Corporation, State Distilleries Corporation, Sri Lanka State Plantations Corporation, Janatha Estates Development Board and the Development Finance Corporation of Ceylon. The Firm was also the lawyers for the universities that existed then. As the years rolled by, the Firm continuously added to its portfolio of clients many of the leading companies doing business in Sri Lanka. The pre-eminence enjoyed by the Firm throughout its practice continues to this day. In the diversified economy of Sri Lanka today, the Firm acts for one party or the other in most of the major commercial transactions. As Deshamanya H. L. de Silva, Presidents' Counsel, the doyen of the Bar, stated in his Foreword to the book, F. J. & G. de Saram - 160 year Practice of a Law Firm in its Historical Setting, “But above everything else what was most noteworthy was their moral integrity and probity which inspired confidence and trust in all those who did business with them and for whom they acted. If we ask the question how this firm of lawyers succeeded in their collective endeavour - the answer surely is that the values and ideals, which the original founders of the firm fashioned for themselves, constituted a living tradition that was internalized and transmitted to succeeding generations of lawyers of the firm as a precious gift to the community, which they continue to serve. It is indeed a matter of admiration and pride to all Sri Lankans that the firm has preserved and maintained the noble traditions of its founders.”

I have, in my capacity as General Counsel, In-house Counsel and independent Senior legal counsel, acted as an independent arbitrator and mediator, been responsible for handling, managing and defending my employers’ position as plaintiffs or defendants in various disputes as well as supervising and appointing external counsels both in domestic and international arbitrations and alternative dispute resolutions. My industry knowhow includes, amongst others, the handling of legal and contractual disputes within the international manufacturing, infrastructure, energy, construction, Life Science and Med Tech industry, hence my belief that I would be suitable as an Industrial specialist.

My practice as part of the firm’s Dispute Resolution Group focuses on international dispute settlement. In particular, I advise and represent States and private entities in matters pertaining to public international law, treaty-based dispute settlement and international human rights. I have expertise on a wide range of public international law topics, including inter alia the law of treaties, the law on State responsibility, the law on State and diplomatic immunity, international investment law, the law of the sea and Business & Human Rights. I have experience of protecting foreign investments through international arbitration, advising individuals and companies on claims against governments and on the enforcement of awards against sovereign entities. I have equally assisted States defending against claims before international courts and tribunals and safeguarding sovereign and diplomatic immunities before national courts. I have represented corporate as well as sovereign clients in international arbitration and litigation and have appeared as an advocate before the International Court of Justice in The Hague and the Swedish Supreme Court. I also practice in human rights, advising in particular on Business and Human Rights regulatory and guidance frameworks, corporate ESG responsibilities and human rights due diligence. I hold a Master of Laws in Public International Law and Procedural Law and a Doctor of Laws in Public International Law, both from Uppsala University. Prior to joining Westerberg & Partners in 2020, I practiced for six years at the public international law firm Volterra Fietta in London, where I primarily worked on State-to-State disputes and high-profile investor-State arbitration cases. Notable representations in the public domain include acting for the United Arab Emirates in Qatar v. United Arab Emirates (International Court of Justice), acting for the Federal Republic of Nigeria in Nigeria v. Interocean (ICSID), acting for the Arab Republic of Egypt in Al Jazeera v. Egypt (ICSID) and acting for Owens-Illinois EG on annulment in OIEG v. Venezuela (ICSID). I also provided advice to a number of governments on public international law matters, including inter alia the legality of military intervention and the use of force, international humanitarian law, international human rights, reservations to treaties and State and diplomatic immunities. I furthermore advised private parties on investor claims and Business and Human Rights issues. Before entering into practice, I taught public international law at Uppsala University, acted as a clerk and junior judge at a Swedish district court and conducted an internship with the International Criminal Court. I regularly speak and publish on public international law issues in various venues. Selected speaking engagements and publications “Protecting Swedish investments in Russia through international arbitration” (with Jacob Ericson), International Law Office, Expert Contribution, 2022 “Swedish Supreme Court Weighs in on Immunity of Sovereign Wealth Fund Assets Under Central Bank Management” (with Ginta Ahrel), Kluwer Arbitration Blog, 2022 “Protecting Foreign Investments (Part III): Calculating loss and valuing claims”, presentation and moderation at seminar organised by Westerberg & Partners as part of a series on protection of foreign investments through international arbitration, online, 2021 “Protecting Foreign Investments (Part II): Why engage with arbitration finance?”, presentation and moderation at seminar organised by Westerberg & Partners as part of a series on protection of foreign investments through international arbitration, online, 2021 “Protecting Foreign Investments (Part I): Managing risks and planning ahead”, presentation and moderation at seminar organised by Westerberg & Partners as part of a series on protection of foreign investments through international arbitration, online, 2021 “Obligations of non-State actors with respect to COVID-19 protections in noninternational armed conflict”, presentation at seminar organised by Volterra Fietta as part of a series on COVID-19 and international law, online, 2020 “Human Rights and ESG Diligence in a COVID-19 World”, presentation at seminar organised by Volterra Fietta as part of a series on COVID-19 and international law, online, 2020 “Post-Brexit EU-UK dispute settlement: critical and contentious issues”, presentation at seminar organised by Young Public International Law Group and Arnold & Porter, online, 2020 “Who’s at Fault with the Cobalt? Class actions against corporate end users for supply chain working conditions” (with Graham Coop), Commercial Dispute Resolution, 11 March 2020 “Financial Institutions and Human Rights: Identifying and Mitigating Risks”, presentation at Volterra Fietta Breakfast Seminar, London, 2019 “Human Rights and the Money Trail: Challenges for Financial Institutions in the Field of Business and Human Rights”, presentation at Global Business and Human Rights Scholars Association, 5th Annual Conference, University of Essex, Colchester, England, 2019 “Corporate liability for human rights impacts” (with Robert Volterra and Graham Coop), International Trade Magazine, 9 September 2019, pp. 24–25 “Protection of Investments in War-Torn States: A Practitioner’s Perspective on War Clauses in Bilateral Investment Treaties” (with Suzanne Spears) in: Katia Fach Gómez, Anastasios Gourgourinis and Catharine Titi (eds), International Investment Law and the Law of Armed Conflict, Special Issue of the European Yearbook of International Economic Law (Springer 2019) pp. 283–317; based on presentation at Colloquium on International Investment Law and the Law of Armed Conflict, National and Kapodistrian University of Athens, 2017 Interaction and Delimitation of International Legal Orders (monograph, Brill/Martinus Nijhoff, 2014) “Strategies and Success in Litigation and Negotiation in the WTO”, (2012) 17 International Negotiation pp. 139–162; based on presentation at Fourth International Biennale on Commercial Negotiations – A New Approach to Commercial Relations, Negocia Grande École du Commerce, Paris, 2010 “The New Global Law and the Interfacing of Legal Orders: The Constitutional Implications of Regime Collisions”, invited guest speaker, presentation at University of Edinburgh, 2011 “Assessing the Judgment of Judges – The External Relations of the European Court of Justice”, presentation at Uppsala University European Law Colloquium: The Coherence and Effectiveness of EU External Relations after Lisbon, 2011 “Special Regimes Beyond the Postmodern Condition: A Performatist Reading”, presentation at conference on Method or Methods in Legal Science – New Methodological Challenges in Postmodernity, Uppsala, 2010 “Dying a Thousand Deaths: Recurring Emergencies and Exceptional Measures in International Law”, (2010) 2 Göttingen Journal of International Law pp. 219–242; based on presentation at Inter-disciplinary Workshop on Strategies for Solving Global Crises – The Financial Crisis and Beyond, Georg-August-Universität, Göttingen, 2009 “Fact-Finding in Dialogue Between International Courts and Tribunals”, presentation at Fourth International Graduate Legal Research Conference, King’s College London, 2010 “The Invocation of Necessity in International Law”, (2009) 56 Netherlands International Law Review pp. 95–135

Gert has worked professionally with conflicts and disputes since the early 1980s, first as a police officer, then in court and at law firms. For several years, however, he has worked exclusively as a mediator and teaches mediation, via, among others, Blendow Institute, Fakultetskurser, JUC and Domstolsakademin, as well as at the law school at the University of Copenhagen. He also gives lectures on mediation at various law firms. Gert mediates, among other things, in the following areas: Contract negotiations Commercial disputes Construction disputes Conflicts in workplaces Employment disputes Family disputes, among other things, concerning custody, residence and/or access/visitation rights Cross-border and cross-cultural conflicts and disputes

Nick Dryden is the founder and Managing Partner of Dryden ICS. He specialises in personal and corporate taxation matters as well as the incorporation of new companies in Switzerland. The Firm As an international firm of Chartered Accountants we have been helping international companies to grow their business rapidly by providing accounting, payroll, corporate secretarial and taxation services in Switzerland for over 20 years. Our team of qualified multi-lingual staff are knowledgeable not only about the Swiss jurisdiction but also other jurisdictions so that we can link up your local business requirements with your international corporate requirements. We understand that sometimes business administration can be complicated but we like to explain it so you can proceed with confidence knowing the alternatives and the best solutions for you. If you want to know more or would like to have an introduction, do not hesitate to contact us