International Gaming Summit Conference Program Committee
The Conference Program Committee
plans and coordinates the IAGA International Gaming Conference program, recruits as speakers key gaming industry leaders and regulators from around the world, and ensures that each year's topics address cutting edge and current issues involving all facets of the gaming industry and the regulation of gaming.




          BAHAR ALAEDDINI is a Partner at Harris Hagan in the UK and specialises in all aspects of online and land-based gambling law. She advises many of the world’s largest land-based and online gambling businesses (B2C and B2B operators) as well as many start-ups, investors and leading international law firms. Bahar has extensive gambling legal, regulatory and licensing experience advising on legal classification, licence applications, investor due diligence, change of corporate control applications, complex group restructuring and specialist regulatory matters relating to mergers and acquisitions. She also advises on regulatory compliance assessments and investigations and licence reviews.

          SANTIAGO ASENSI is the Managing Partner of Asensi Abogados, an expertise law firm in the Gaming and Gambling sector with offices in Spain (Madrid and Majorca) and Colombia (Bogota). Asensi provides legal advice to a large number of gambling operators (online and terrestrial), software providers, slot suppliers with interests located in Spain, Europe and Latin America as well as to gaming jurisdictions. Santiago is a Trustee at the International Association of Gaming Advisors (IAGA). Santiago is included in the Gaming & Gambling section of the independent and leading publication Chambers Global ("Band 1"), being mentioned as "a pioneer" in his field, "an obvious go-to guy for gaming advice" and "has built a strong reputation over a number of years". In 2015, Asensi Abogados won a public tender before COLJUEGOS, the Colombian gaming regulator, in order to develop the first regulatory regime in Latin America for online gambling. In 2014 and 2016, Asensi Abogados was awarded as the best service provider in Spain in the JDigital-eGaming Awards. He is co-author of the Gaming Law Book published by Thomson Reuters/ Chambers and Partners and of the Spanish Gambling Market Report for MECN (Editions 2007 / 2011). Asensi is frequent speaker at the major gaming conferences and publishes articles about the Spanish gaming industry on a frequent basis.

 


 

         

KATHERINE BAKER is a partner in the Boston office of Nelson Mullins Riley & Scarborough LLP.  She developed the gaming practice at the firm and represents businesses and individuals in complex civil litigation matters at the trial and appellate levels. A primary focus of her practice is assisting casino gaming, sports betting, and fantasy sports operators, vendors, and entrepreneurs to navigate the state and federal commercial and tribal gaming landscape, including leveraging FinTech solutions. In addition, Katherine is one of a small group of attorneys with expertise in all aspects of the Massachusetts initiative petition process, including gaming initiatives. Katherine co-founded the Women in FinTech (WinFin) affinity group at the firm and writes and speaks on the intersection between gaming regulation and FinTech.

         

PEDRO CORTES is currently Managing Partner of Rato, Ling, Lei & Cortés | Lektou, where he began his career as lawyer in 2003 and has experience in gaming, corporate and M&A, capital markets, and banking and finance. He is admitted to practice law in Macau, Portugal, Brazil (São Paulo), China (as a cross-border Macau Lawyer) and in East Timor. He is a member of IAGA (International Association of Gaming Advisors), HKIoD (Hong Kong Institute of Directors) IBA (International Bar Association), CIArb (Chartered Institute of Arbitrators) and HKIA (Hong Kong Institute of Arbitrators). He is lecturer of Gaming Law and Macau Law of the Law Degree Undergraduate Programme, and coordinator of the Advanced Course in Sports Betting, at the Católica | Lisbon School of Law. He is also lecturer of Sports Betting in the Sports Law Post Graduation Course at the Autónoma University in Lisbon. Previously, he was guest lecturer at the Master of Social Science in Global Political Economy (MGPE) Programme of the Chinese University of Hong Kong. 

         

AMY ELDER has extensive experience in all aspects of gaming law. Ms. Elder represents and advises privately held and publicly-held casino operators, gaming-related manufacturers, casino management companies, investors, developers, commercial lenders and private equity firms in a wide range of gaming matters, including licensure, regulatory compliance, administrative hearings, financing and project development. Her clients include the largest gaming operators and gaming equipment manufacturers in the casino industry. Ms. Elder is a past board member of the International Association of Gaming Advisors and is listed in Best Lawyers in America® in Gaming and Leisure and Hospitality Law and ranked in Chambers USA: America's Leading Business Lawyers as a leading lawyer nationwide in the area of Gaming & Licensing law.

         

BILL GANTZ, a Partner with Duane Morris, is a versatile lead trial lawyer with nationwide experience representing gaming, technology, and manufacturing in intellectual property and commercial litigation, including patent infringement, trade secret, consumer class action and appeals. Bill has been advising the igaming industry since 2002 on regulatory, licensing and commercial matters in the United States. He is a well-known speaker and authority on gaming law in the US. He regularly provides counsel on intellectual property and regulatory compliance matters to start-ups and digital entertainment businesses offering igaming, social gaming, pay-to-play or "freemium" games, fantasy sports, esports, sports betting, skill games, sweepstakes, retail product promotions and lottery tickets. Bill is admitted to practice in Massachusetts, Illinois, Rhode Island and numerous federal district courts and courts of appeal nationwide. 

         

DR. WULF HAMBACH is one of the founding partners of Hambach & Hambach. He regularly publishes articles in national and international legal media. Furthermore, he is a co-publisher and one of the authors of the legal commentary “Glücks- und Gewinnspielrecht in den Medien” (Gambling and Sweepstakes Law in the Media, C.H. Beck Verlag). Dr. Hambach is a sought-after lecturer at leading international conferences and board adviser of leading internet service companies. 


         

ROBERT C. KIM is a Co-Leader of the firm's Gaming Team and the Managing Partner of the Las Vegas office. He practices in the areas of corporate law, mergers and acquisitions, securities, and gaming matters. Rob represents clients in business entity formation and operation, corporate governance matters, public offerings, private placements, licensing, and energy-related agreements. He also has experience in renewable energy, public finance, public-private partnerships, and distressed real estate. Rob handles asset- and stock-based transactions and roll-up transactions. He helps structure transactions and guides them through Nevada’s business laws, including compliance with fiduciary duties, anti-takeover statutes, preemptive rights, and appraisal rights. He negotiates representations and warranties, pre- and post-closing covenants, payment structures/earnouts, and indemnification obligations.

 

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SEAN MCGUINNESS is a Partner with Butler Snow LLP and on the firm’s Gaming Industry Team. His practice focuses  on commercial gaming matters in Nevada, Colorado, Iowa and Mississippi and on sports betting matters. Prior to joining the firm in 2018, Sean practiced gaming law for 15 years at a law firm in Reno, Las Vegas and Denver. Sean was Vice President and General Counsel for The Resort at Summerlin and had a private gaming law practice in Mississippi (1994-1997) and served as Compliance Director for the Mississippi Gaming Commission (1992-1993). He started his career as a law clerk with the Iowa Racing & Gaming Commission.


         

JENNIFER ROBERTS is General Counsel of WynnBET, a mobile and Internet sports betting and casino provider. She briefly served in roles as General Counsel and Vice President of Compliance for GameCo, an arcade-style gambling and esports betting company, and as the Director of Sports Gaming Regulation for the Tennessee Education Lottery Corporation. She was the Associate Director and interim Executive Director of the International Center for Gaming Regulation at University of Nevada Las Vegas, where she created a curriculum for educating regulators on sports betting and casino regulatory issues; established the U.S. Sports Betting Forum; and advised governments, including Japan, on the development of gaming regulatory structures and systems.

 

         

EMMANUEL VAN PETEGHEM, Doctor of International Law and graduate of the Paris Bar Law School began his professional career with the Decathlon Group, then practiced as attorney at the Paris Bar, for the PricewaterhouseCoopers. He then joined the Parisian law firm Bataillon & Associés in 2004, then the Singaporean Group in the hospitality sector “The Ascott Limited” as Head of Legal Europe in 2007. In 2012, he joined Société des Bains de Mer as Legal Director, and was appointed General Secretary in December 2017. He supervises the compliance for the Groupe since 2016. He also supervises the Safety and Security Department since 2018 and the Artistic Department since 2019.