Uliana Veller

Uliana is a recognised leader in international arbitration and litigation, Uliana Veller (Cooke) is a dual-qualified English and Russian lawyer with over a decade of experience resolving complex, high-stakes cross-border disputes. Based in London, she is a partner at M.B. KEMP LLP, where she provides strategic counsel to multinational corporations, sovereign entities, and high-net-worth individuals. 

Uliana's expertise includes disputes in the natural resources sector, commodities trading, shareholder and M&A conflicts, financial disputes, and matters arising from international sanctions regimes.

Uliana is highly regarded by Legal 500, which describes her as:

✅ “A hardworking and industrious lawyer with an entrepreneurial spirit. Very intelligent and a great collaborator.”

✅ “A young, talented, and ambitious partner with a tremendous work ethic and great with clients."

Uliana is sought after for her ability to navigate complex, multi-jurisdictional disputes. She has successfully led cases in international commercial and investment treaty arbitration, enforcement of arbitral awards, and litigation before English courts. Her experience spans major arbitration frameworks, including LCIA, ICC, SIAC, UNCITRAL, ICSID, and ad hoc arbitrations, with clients from the CIS, Europe, Central Asia, the Middle East, Africa, and Asia. She has also played a key role in high-profile English court cases, securing interim relief, managing parallel arbitration and litigation, handling sophisticated fraud and asset recovery matters, and advising on public international law.

In addition, Uliana is a Professor at Pericles Law Center where she teaches international commercial arbitration and is a Teaching Fellow at the specialised international arbitration LLM programme at Queen Mary University of London. Uliana also sits as an arbitrator and co-heads the Working Group on Online Dispute Resolution as part of the Silicon Valley Arbitration & Mediation Center.

05/2023 – 07/2024 - gunnercooke LLP, London, Partner, International Arbitration

02/2021 – 05/2023 - PCB Byrne LLP, London, Partner & Head of International Arbitration

10/2019 – 11/2020 - Allen & Overy LLP, London, Associate, International Arbitration

10/2016 – 10/2019 - Withers LLP, London, Associate, International Arbitration

03/2015 – 09/2016 - gunnercooke LLP, London, Trainee Solicitor

08/2011 – 03/2013 - Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan LLP, London, Contract Attorney, Litigation and Arbitration

08/2008 – 08/2010 - Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP, Moscow, Trainee and then Associate, Corporate, M&A

Education:

• Queen Mary, University of London, LLM in Comparative and International Dispute Resolution, Distinction
• BPP Law School, London, GDL and LPC, Commendation
• International Academy for Arbitration Law, Paris
• Moscow State University, Law Degree, specialisation in civil law with the highest marks in all final exams and an award for the best dissertation

Publications

• Chapter in relation to Payward Inc v Chechetkin [2023] EWHC 1780 (Comm), Brill, to come out soon
• International Arbitration for Chinese Parties: Overview, Trends and Predictions, Romanian Arbitration Journal, co-authored with Jean Zhu, June 2022
• Revisions to the IBA Rules on the Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration 2020, ThoughtLeaders4 Disputes Magazine, June 2021
• Market trends and legal issues in third-party funding, Global Arbitration Review, 8 August 2018

Speaking engagements:

• Speaker at Kazakhstan Legal Forum on “EU, US and UK Sanctions” and “English Contract Law Principles” 2024
• Speaker at the London International Disputes Week on “Corruption in International Arbitration”, June 2024
• Moderator of the panel discussion on AI as part of the Paris Arbitration Week, April 2024
• Speaker at the MediateGuru conference on “Arbitration of IP Disputes”, New Delhi, November 2023
• Speaker at the virtual event co-hosted by the SVAMC, California Arbitration Association (CalArb), and Guangzhou Arbitration Commission (GZAC) on “New Trends of Online Dispute Resolution: a 2023 Outlook”, May 2023
• Moderator of the panel discussion on “How Does a GC Drive ESG”, Legal Leaders Europe, London, November 2022
• Moderator of the panel discussion on “Shareholder and Joint Venture Agreements” as part of the English Law Day in Tashkent, Uzbek Arbitration Week, September 2022
• Webinar on “Interim Relief in International Arbitration”, September 2022
• Moderator of the panel discussion on “Financial Disputes in Arbitration”, Global Arbitration Review Live Moscow, October 2021
• Moderator of the panel discussion on the “Notion of Civility in the ICCA Guidelines on the Standards of Practice in International Arbitration”, XIII ABA-RAA Conference on the Resolution of the CIS-Related Disputes, Moscow, September 2021
• Speaker, Innovations in Investment Treaty Arbitration, YMG Conference 2018 on “Innovation in Arbitration: A Brave New World”, Dublin−Speaker, Counterclaims in Investment Treaty Arbitration at the YICCA and YIMA Conference on “Investment Treaty Arbitration: Select Issues Around the 2018 FDI Moot Case”, St Petersburg
• Speaker in the Atameken Arbitration Club on “Pathological arbitration clauses”, Almaty, February 2018