Executive and General Board
Executive Board
Photo by Tina Christensen
The current PEOPIL Executive Board was formally appointed at the Annual General Meeting in Copenhagen on 16 September 2022.
The Executive Board is responsible for running the day-to-day affairs of the organisation.
The Administrator assists the Executive Board in the operations. Each Board member has his or her specific role. The Board meet on average once per 6 weeks (remotely).
Ana Romero Porro
President
Ana is a recognised litigator specialising in personal injury claims and has over twenty years of experience representing Spanish and International victims. She is one of the founding partners of Astrom Legal, based in Malaga.
Her work involves several different backgrounds including travel related claims, clinical negligence, product liability and industrial illness.
Ana has also been a Governor of the American Association for Justice and currently co-chairs the International Practice Section. Furthermore, she is an Associate Lecturer in Tort Law at the International University of Andalucía and the University of Málaga. Ana is fluent in English and French.
Ana can be reached via president@peopil.com
Liam Moloney
Vice-President
Liam is the Managing Partner of Moloney Solicitors based in Dublin, Ireland and was the first appointed Revitalisation Officer on the Executive Board.
When Ana was appointed President, Liam took over her task of treasurer and he has been appointed Vice-President at the AGM in Copenhagen in 2022.
Liam specialises in Plaintiff personal injury and medical negligence claims. He is a former Chairman of the American Association of Justice International Practice Section and is a current member of its Board of Governors.
Mirella Hartman
Treasurer
Mirella is partner at Beer advocaten in Amsterdam and has been the General Board member for The Netherlands for many years.
Admitted to the bar in 1990, Mirella has been a partner at the well known Dutch firm of Beer advocaten, Amsterdam www.beeradvocaten.nl since 1998.
Mirella’s particular expertise lies in personal injury, in particular in medical negligence and RTA cases, catastrophic injury and cross-border litigation.
Mirella is a fan of PEOPIL, because being a member broadens your view on personal injury issues and it's educational.
But above all, the foreign colleagues are pleasant Europeans with whom it is good to work.
Stefano Dangel
Secretary
Dr Stefano Dangel, a Partner at Dolce Lauda Partnerschaftsgesellschaft mbB, was first appointed to the PEOPIL Executive Board for a two-year period to serve as its Revitalisation Officer.
After one year, however, he was appointed secretary to the Board.
Dr Dangel is a prominent German lawyer and mediator and is also a Board Member of the Society for the Exchange of Ideas of German-Italian Lawyers, a member of the Institute for European Traffic Law, the American Association of Justice (AAJ) and as a trusted lawyer of the ADAC (German Automobile Club). He is fluent in German, Italian, English and French and is licenced to practice law at the Bar in Frankfurt am Main.
Cheryl Palmer-Hughes
Revitalisation Officer
Cheryl was appointed as Revitalisation Officer in 2022 and her main focus is new membership recruitment, marketing and strategic planning.
Cheryl is a Partner in Irwin Mitchell’s International Personal Injury department. She acts for clients who have been injured in incidents abroad.
She deals with complex, high value claims including brain and spinal injuries, multiple fractures, psychological trauma and fatal accidents and clinical negligence cases. She deals exclusively with cases which involve a cross-border element and specialise in conflicts of law issues.
Cheryl has been involved in PEOPIL since many years as co-chair of the Young Lawyers Group and with her wide experience, she brings new, valuable ideas to the Board.
General Board
The PEOPIL General Board members (GBMs) represent the different jurisdictions.
They are the visible and active representatives of PEOPIL in their national jurisdictions and have a formal role in the organisation, next to the Executive Board.
The GBMs liaise with the local and national Bar Associations and introduce PEOPIL to them with a view to promoting the organisation and establishing areas of common interest.
The GBM is expected to actively recruit new PEOPIL members by recommending the organisation to colleagues who deal with cross border cases.
The General Board meets twice a year and GBMs are required to attend at least one Annual Conference every 2 years.
There are currently 24 General Board members.
Christine Schneider
Austria
MAG. IUR. CHRISTINE SCHNEIDER has been working as a registered lawyer since 2009. She mainly deals with the (judicial) enforcement of claims for damaged persons.
Her office is located in Tyrol, a popular holiday region, but also a transit country for travellers travelling from the North to the South. Accidents with a cross-border dimension are therefore common. Due to her long-term experience and esp. her specialisation, she is often approached by victims of sports (skiing/snowboarding, sledding, flying, etc.) and traffic accidents or those who need help enforcing their claims for medical malpractice.
In addition to her education as an attorney-at-law, she has also completed the supplementary education for judges and, in addition to PEOPIL, she is also a member of IETL, the Institute for European Traffic Law, SKILEX, an international association of lawyers, judges, notaries, experts and public attorneys, the Austrian Society for Medical Law and the German-Austrian Lawyers' Association.
She has already written articles for the specialist trade journal DAR (Deutsches Automobil Recht). Many years she was also very committed in the German-speaking PEOPIL group, organising events and holding speeches as the cooperation from lawyers of the DACH region who are specialised in handling cross border cases is very helpful if only because of their geographical proximity. She is a true and passionate practitioner with a lot of experience in court proceedings and is always keen to bring practitioners together to enable effectively a worthful legal exchange.
Peter de Maeyer
Belgium
Our Belgian representative Peter De Maeyer has been practising as a lawyer since 1991 and is a Partner with the Antwerp based Law Firm HBSV. Peter specialises in liability and insurance law (victims support), assessing human suffering (on National and International levels), traffic accidents, medical and product liability claims, damage caused by animals and sexual offence cases. Peter is also Board Member of the Antwerp Bar Insurance Work Group and a member of the Commission for Financial Assistance to Victims of Deliberate Acts of Violence and persons who assist them.
Ana Sihtar
Croatia
Ana Sihtar founded her own law firm, SIHTAR Attorneys at Law, in 1992. and it is based in Rijeka, Croatia, providing a comprehensive range of legal services for the business community not only in Croatia but also in the South-East European region (ex-Yugoslavia). Over almost three decades she has developed a consolidated experience in representing personal injury claims ranging from transport of passengers by sea and road to claims involving tour operators and hotels. Her broad involvement in matters of international private law build up her considerable experience in the implementation of conflict of laws principles as well as EU law to cross-borders accidents. In addition to acting as an attorney in personal injury cases Ana also provides legal insights and advice on Croatian law as well as opinions on applicable law and quantum for foreign lawyers. Ana was admitted to the Croatian Bar in 1992 and speaks Croatian, English and Italian. Apart from being a member of PEOPIL since 2004 and one of its board members since 2006, Ana is also the former Secretary of the IBA’s Women Lawyers’ Interest Group.
Klara Dvorakova
Czech Republic
Klara is a partner of Holubova advokati s.r.o., which provides legal services in the Czech Republic since 1991 and is particularly known for its expertise in travel business law, personal injury, private clients, multi-generation planning in the Czech Republic and education law. Klara is an experienced personal injury lawyer acting for claimants. She deals with all types of cases including MedNeg and RTA, but she has a special interest in cases involving accidents during traveling, and sports. In addition, Klara is a leading travel business law advisor in the Czech Republic. Her travel law clients are predominantly tour operators, travel agents, guides, hotels and other travel businesses, whom she advises on how to get started or realize new projects and how to overcome problems which travel business brings.
Julie Harder
Denmark
Julie Harder is PEOPIL’s Danish Board Member. She works as an attorney at Elmer Advokater in Copenhagen (www.elmer-adv.dk). Julie works with all types of personal injury cases, including injuries in cases of violence, medical negligence and road traffic accidents which she handles both inside and outside of court. Furthermore, Julie is particularly skilled in the calculation of claims for compensation in accordance with the Danish Liability for Damages Act. Along with her work at Elmer Advokater, Julie has taught at the Faculty of Law at the University of Copenhagen.
Ian Denham
England & Wales
Ian is a barrister at Outer Temple Chambers in London. He specialises in personal injury claims with a cross-border element, claims with features of fraud, dishonesty and exaggeration and wrongful death claims. His cross-border practice covers advising on jurisdiction, applicable law, direct rights of action against insurers, claims against the MIB, holiday claims including claims under the Package Travel Regulations covering local standards, accidents in the air and on sea, and claims involving a cross-border employment aspect. He regularly advises European insurers on cross-border issues. He also acts for tour operators in defending suspected fraudulent holiday claims. Ian lectures extensively on cross-border personal injury law topics both domestically and abroad, such as at PEOPIL Conferences. He is the Secretary of the PEOPIL RTA & Whiplash SIG.
Solenn le Tutour
France
Solenn is the founding partner of Le Tutour Avocats, which specialises in cross boarder claims in aviation, sports accidents, mass claims.
She is an avocat at the Paris Bar and a solicitor of England and Wales (np).
Solenn is a litigator, dealing with medical negligence claims, road traffic accidents, crimes and abuse.
Solenn’s clients are mostly residents of the EU and of oversees countries. All lawyers of the firm speak English fluently.
Solenn’s knowledge of common law enables her to offer a comprehensive and international strategy to her clients.
She also acts as an Expert before the courts of England and Wales.
She is an active member of several associations including the French Air and Space Law Society (SFDAS), the Association of Former Secretaries of the Paris Bar Conference, Gray’s Inn Exchange Alumni Association, the AAJ, APIL and of course, Peopil.
Lars Kohnert
Germany
Lars Kohnert has joined PEOPIL in 2024 and was appointed in the General Board that same year.
Lars is founding partner at Lind-Johnen & Kohnert Partnerschaftsgesellschaft mbB based in Otterndorf, Germany.
His professional career started in 2017. Since then he has gained a lot of experience in RTA cases includig personal injuries.
In 2022, Lars qualified as a traffic law specialist. Since then he is also member of the German Traffic Law Working Group.
Lars represents claimants both out of court and before German courts. He mainly handles personal injury cases based on RTA , tort and violence.
As part of the PEOPIL community, Lars appreciates the lively exchange with colleagues about across borders litigation.
George Moschos
Greece
George Moschos is PEOPIL’s General Board Member for Greece, having taken over this role from his mother Silina after many years of dedicated service.
George is partner in the family run firm Pavlakis-Moschos in Peiraeus.
Pavlakis – Moschos have expertise and experience in pursuing cases with foreign and international elements and aspects, both in Greece and foreign jurisdictions.
Born in 1984, George graduated from the Faculty of Law of the University of Athens Greece and obtained a post-graduate LL.M diploma from the Queen Mary and Westfield College, University of London, UK (2009) in the subjects of maritime law, commercial law and conflict of laws. He has been a member of the Athens Bar Association since 2007, being licensed to practice as an attorney before all Civil and Penal Courts of Greece, as well as before the Supreme Court of Greece. He mainly specializes in personal injury cases, with particular experience in Greek and foreign seafarers’ accidents, transport accidents, tourists’ accidents, aviation accidents, asbestos exposure, medical malpractice and product liability cases.
Dr. Tibor Pataky
Hungary
Dr Tibor Pataky has been practising as a Hungarian Attorney since April 2011 and in 2014 he obtained the professional qualification of Lawyer specialising in insurance law.
In October 2010, Tibor was elected to the Executive Board of the Institute for European Traffic Law and has been re-elected to that prestigious body twice, in 2014 and in 2017. In September 2012, he was also elected to the General Board of PEOPIL. Since September 2013 Tibor has been a co-chair of the Young Lawyers Group within the framework of PEOPIL.
In 2017 Tibor completed a PhD (summa cum laude) with his field of research being compulsory motor vehicle liability insurance, with special regard to the European motor insurance directives. Tibor’s special fields of activity are civil law, with special regard to tort law, insurance law, company law, real estate law, private international law and traffic (criminal) law www.drpataky.hu.
If you are a Hungarian based lawyer and wish to become a member of PEOPIL www.peopil.com to network with other European Personal Injury Lawyers, to exchange information about EU Law and get case referrals please feel free to click on this link to become a PEOPIL member.
Giulia Oberto
Italy
Giulia Oberto is PEOPIL’s General Board Member for Italy. She is a Senior Lawyer at Bona Oliva Associati Law Firm, which she has joined since its foundation (2011), having already worked alongside Marco Bona since 2009 at Ambrosio & Commodo Law Firm.
Her professional activity has always been focused on personal injury litigation, developing professional experience as plaintiff lawyer in the area of cross-border litigation, specializing particularly in maritime claims, road traffic accidents, accidents occurred during holidays, sporting activities, cruise ship, medical malpractice.
Giulia is also a member of Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and of Associazione Italiana Danno alla Persona (AIDAP-Italian Association of Personal Injury Lawyers).
She graduated from the University of Torino in June 2003 and obtained a post-graduate diploma from the ‘Bruno Caccia e Fulvio Croce’ School of Specialisation for the Legal Professions.
Giulia is a member of the Torino’s Bar Association and of its International Relationship and Human Rights Commission.
Clara Tilanus
The Netherlands
Clara graduated in 2016 and and joined Van Wassenaer Wytema (www.vanww.nl) in September 2019.
She started her career at a large Amsterdam-based law firm, where she focused on healthcare related issues and liability cases. However, for the last years she has been committed to “the other side”: the side of victims. She represents claimants with various types of damages, including (international) traffic accidents, medical negligence, employer liability etc.
She regularly gives guest lectures on medical liability law at the Vrije Universiteit in Amsterdam.
Clara is also a certified mediator. if a conflict between the insurer and the victim cannot be resolved out of court, she can persuade the parties to come closer together through mediation.
Oonagh McClure
Northern Ireland
Oonagh Mc Clure is the Managing Partner of Thompsons N.I and is a serious injury and medical negligence Solicitor. Oonagh is a leader in the personal injury field in the North of Ireland and also deals with medical negligence cases including birth defect, serious spinal and head trauma injury claims.
Oonagh is also an expert in handling compensation claims for asbestos – related diseases. Her expertise was acknowledged when she was invited to attend before a committee of the Northern Ireland Parliament to give evidence regarding the impact of living with a diagnosis of pleural plaques. These efforts lead to the introduction of the Damages (asbestos related conditions) N.I (Act 2011) which secured the right for people diagnosed with pleural plaques to be compensated for bodily injury.
Oonagh also serves on the Executive Board of the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL), is a member of the Belfast Solicitors Association, the Spinal Injuries Association and AVMA (Action against Medical Accidents).
Cecilie Haukalid
Norway
Cecilie Haukalid is a lawyer at Haver Advokatfirma AS, with law offices in Stavanger and Bryne. She graduated from the University of Bergen in June 2018 and obtained the professional qualification to practice as a lawyer in October 2020.
Cecilie specializes in tort law and has significant experience assisting clients - usually claimants - with different kinds of personal injury cases. In addition to tort law, Cecilie works with contract law, in which she provides legal advice to both private parties and enterprises. She has useful experience in dispute resolution/litigation, both from her work in Haver Advokatfirma, and from her work as a deputy judge in the district court in Sandnes from September 2020 to March 2022. Cecilie has written two published articles within the fields of personal injury and human rights.
Along with her work as a lawyer, Cecilie often participates as an external examiner at the University of Bergen, the University of Stavanger and the University of Tromsø.
Karolina Kolary
Poland
Karolina was appointed as General Board member in 2024.
She is a partner at Budzowska Fiutowski and Partners – a law firm that is known for its expertise in compensation and personal injury law.
From the very beginning of her legal practice, she has been dealing almost exclusively with personal injury issues, including, to a large extent, damages resulting from medical negligence.
As a trial lawyer she usually represents the interests of victims, but without losing sight of the functioning - and prospects for improvement - of the system in which these damages occur and are repaired.
Over the years, Karolina has also actively participated, as a speaker and panelist, in conferences on personal injury law. She has also been involved in the activities of the Board of attorneys – at - law self - government, recently responsible for issues such as promotion, integration and international cooperation.
Rita Pereira
Portugal
Rita joined the General Board in 2024.
She is a partner at EDGE International Lawyers which she joined in 2003 and, after having worked in the firm’s UK and Cape Verde offices, she is now Head of the Litigation Department in the Lisbon office.
She became a Partner in 2014.
Rita is also qualified as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales since 2008.
Her main areas of practice are civil and commercial litigation, with particular emphasis on Civil Liability & Personal Injury, Travel Law, Insurance Law, the Law of Contracts and Private International Law.
Rita collaborates with several English and Irish Law Firms and other Authorities, giving legal Expert advice in civil law matters, particularly in matters of Contracts, Civil Liability & Personal Injury and Travel Law. She has also acted as Portuguese Expert in several Civil Liability Matters being heard before foreign courts.
Rita also deals with the judicial enforcement of judgements (both national and foreign) in respect of personal injury claims.
Loredana Dumbrava
Romania
Loredana is a Senior Lawyer at the Jercan, Gheorghe, Vlad & Associates Law firm. Her practice is focused on complex civil litigation – especially personal injury and criminal cases. She graduated from the Law School of Babeș-Bolyai University with the final thesis entitled “The theory of imprevision” (Théorie de l’imprévision), in the field of civil law under the guidance of Liviu Pop. She was admitted in the Romanian Bar Association, in 2014 and in her first years as a lawyer, she was in charge of representing a company of VIENNA INSURANCE GROUP in the area of Cluj County. She joined JERCAN, GHEORGHE, VLAD & ASSOCIATES law firm in 2020, where she manages various cases regarding jurisdiction and applicable law for accidents abroad, personal injury and liabilities incurred from road traffic accidents and a few aviation incidents which happened in Romania. She started writing articles, which will help other colleagues. The first one was published in July and was entitled “Opinion on the jurisdiction of Romanian courts in the case of accidents in the EU territory”.
Simon Richards
Scotland
Simon is a partner at Digby Brown LLP, the number one ranked personal injury law firm in Scotland.
He has worked within Digby Brown’s International, Offshore and Travel department since its inception, becoming a partner in July 2019. Digby Brown LLP is the only firm in Scotland to have a specialist team dealing with international, offshore and travel cases.
Simon graduated in 2006 from the University of Glasgow and joined Digby Brown's Edinburgh office in 2009 as a personal injury solicitor.
Simon deals with accident abroad claims involving Scottish people in foreign countries. He has litigated cases arising from accidents on every continent. This covers all types of accidents including:
• Road traffic accidents abroad
• Workplace accidents abroad
• General holiday accidents
• Accidents on and involving aircraft
• Accidents on sea-going vessels
• Offshore accidents
Simon also acts for foreign nationals injured in Scotland.
Simon has extensive Court experience in both the Sheriff Court and the Court of Session. The majority of his Court work takes place within the Court of Session and the All-Scotland Personal Injury Court, Scotland’s specialist personal injury court.
Simon is a member of both the Association of Personal Injury Lawyers (APIL) and the Pan-European Organisation of Personal Injury Lawyers (PEOPIL). He has been a member of PEOPIL since 2012. He has worked with the Law Society of Scotland devising training for all trainee solicitors across Scotland. He provides an annual lecture to Edinburgh University on personal injury procedure.
Natalia Astigarraga
Spain
Natalia’s professional career started in 2008 when she joined the Personal Injury Department of Irwin Mitchell Abogados in Spain. She then moved to Cremades & Calvo-Sotelo Abogados in 2013.
Natalia is regularly instructed as an expert in Spanish Law injury cases. She has extensive experience in holiday claims resulting from accidents abroad involving Hotels, tour operators as well as claims against public bodies such as Local Authorities and hospitals. Her wide-ranging experience also includes claims resulting from the transport of passengers by road, air and sea and medical negligence, specifically in relation to birth injuries.
She is a member of the Malaga Bar Association, the American Association for Justice (AAJ), APIL (Association of Personal Injury Lawyers UK) and the Spanish Association of Lawyers who specialise in Civil Liability and insurance matters.
In 2023, Natalia joined Ana Romero in founding their own firm Astrom Legal.
Joakim Jäderström
Sweden
Joakim Jäderström is PEOPIL Board member for Sweden and is an expert in Personal Injury and insurance law. His main areas of expertise are claims involving road traffic accidents, medical negligence and claims with a cross-border dimension. He is a Partner at Legare Advokatbyrå www.legare.se with law offices in Stockholm, Umeå and Västerås joakim.jaderstrom@legare.se.
Joakim represents claimants and acts regularly on behalf of claimants in Swedish courts. He is also a lecturer in Insurance law at the Institute of Business Administration in Stockholm and is often engaged as a speaker on personal injury law topics.
His legal career started, after a law degree at the University of Stockholm, at the District Court in Västervik and thereafter at the Swedish Road Traffic Injuries Commission in Stockholm. Joakim Jäderström joined Legare Advokatbyrå in 2007.
Silvio Riesen
Switzerland
Silvio Riesen is partner of the law firm schadenanwaelte AG, the largest Swiss law firm specialising in liability and insurance law.
He has been appointed as General Board Member for Switzerland in Prague in September 2024.
Silvio Riesen specialises in civil litigation and liability law and represents his clients in complex liability proceedings as well as in out-of-court negotiations with liability insurers.
He only represents injured persons and is particularly interested in liability issues in connection with road traffic, snow sports and other leisure accidents.
He has been working in the field of liability and insurance law since November 2013 and is a “Certified Specialist SBA Tort and Insurance Law” in Switzerland.
Vahit Kaya
Turkey
Vahit Kaya is the first General Board Member for Turkey and was appointed in 2024.
He obtained his law degree from Marmara University and was admitted to the Istanbul Bar in 1991. Following a period of practice as a lawyer, he pursued further education in Australia and the United States. He completed an Advanced Diploma in International Trade at Melbourne-Swinburne University, followed by a Certificate in International and Comparative Law from the University of Queensland in Australia and the University of Wisconsin in the United States. Subsequently, he returned to Australia to obtain an LLM and an MBA from the University of Queensland.
After completing his extensive and significant education, he returned to Turkey, where he founded his law firm, Kaya & Partner Lawyers and Consultants, and resumed his legal practice. With over 30 years of experience in the field, he has been a member of PEOPIL for more than 15 years. His expertise lies in personal injury law, particularly focusing on liability, compensation, recognition, and enforcement in cases involving malpractice, accidents in tourism facilities, and road traffic accidents.
Oleg Fedotov
Ukraine
Oleg Fedotov is PEOPIL’s Ukrainian Board Member and is the founding partner of the “Jurinter Law Firm” based in Mariupol, Ukraine www.jurinter.org.
Oleg and his team specialise in personal injury claims with a particular expertise in handling complex maritime, aviation, road traffic and cross-border personal injury claims.
Oleg started his legal practice in 1993 and headed the legal department of a major marine insurance company in Ukraine “ Azov Insurance Company”. In 1999 he co-founded and took charge of the Jurinter Law Firm which was one of the first Ukrainian Law Firms after the declaration of independence to provide personal injury legal services.
Oleg is also a member of IBA, the Ukrainian Bar Association, IR Global and winner of national and international awards in the field of personal injury.
Oleg is happy to work as co-counsel with foreign law firms and can provide expert opinions on quantum and applicable law for any Ukrainian associated cases.
Anthony Tarricone
USA
Anthony Tarricone is PEOPIL’s first representative from the USA and was elected in 2022.
He is past president of the American Association for Justice, and partner at Kreindler & Kreindler LLP, where he concentrates his practice in aviation accidents and disasters, products liability, civil rights and other complex injury and death cases. He has a special interest and extensive experience in international, cross-border death and injury claims.
Anthony is currently serving on the Plaintiffs' Executive Committee for the Boeing 737 MAX lawsuit arising from the 2019 crash of Ethiopian Airlines Flight 302 - in which all 157 passengers and crew from 35 countries perished.
Leonardo Amarante
Balance of the World
Leonardo Amarante is a Brazilian lawyer who represents the "Balance of the World" at PEOPIL, he acts for the countries without a General Board member.
He is the founding partner of Leonardo Amarante Advogados Associados and has over 35 years of experience in civil liability litigation, focusing mainly on the defense of victims of
(i) work-related accidents;
(ii) major aviation crashes;
(iii) medical and pharmaceutical negligence;
(iv) consumer law cases.
As a consumer law advisor, he is a member of the Brazilian Lawyers Institute (Instituto dos Advogados Brasileiros - IAB).
Leonardo is also a Civil Law college professor.
