Arlene’s global consultancy work for sovereign governments on the legal framework needed to promote private sector development makes her a valuable asset to any clients or government agencies requiring or providing assistance in emerging markets. She is well-known for her work in judicial infrastructure development; banking sector reform; corporate governance; privatization; enterprise restructuring and bankruptcy; and secured lending. Her knowledge gained as the co-developer and manager of judicial reform projects throughout Central and Eastern Europe also means that she can add value to any international development project, whether through government-sponsored agencies, development banks, nonprofit organizations, multilateral institutions or foreign governments.
Arlene’s legal, political and economic policy expertise gained from advising her corporate clients on cross-border transactions as well as from her work in emerging markets with The World Bank and the US Agency for International Development provides her with the unique ability to quickly assess country risk and the business environment for company purchases, debt restructuring and/or financing decisions, including the ability to assess the foreign country’s political, economic and legal systems and infrastructure issues.
Representative International Legal Consulting Matters
- Member of a World Bank (“WB”) Team engaged in the preparation of an EFSAL Action Program for Slovakia; author of section of Action Program on the legal, judicial and institutional reforms needed in the area of bankruptcy and restructuring.
- Member of a WB Team engaged in the preparation and delivery of five policy papers requested by the Government of Russia as part of the WB Structural Adjustment Program; author of WB policy note addressed to the GOR on the legal, judicial and related institutional reforms needed in the areas of enterprise insolvency and creditor protection.
- Counsel to Deloitte & Touche, London, the international "administrators" (liquidators) appointed by the Government of Albania, under a WB contract, to wind up and liquidate the 5 largest pyramid schemes in that country; assisted in the analysis of and efforts to recover wrongfully-transferred assets outside of Albania; coordinated the Administrators' efforts with the GOA, the WB and the Albanian "Contact Group" of Bilateral Donors.
- Co-developed and managed, with a Deloitte & Touche partner, a U.S. Agency for International Development (“USAID”) bankruptcy and judicial reform project in Ukraine; co-authored the report which identified the problems with the bankruptcy, banking, legal and judicial systems and recommended reforms, many of which were carried out; co-designed and implemented an extensive country-wide judicial training program for Ukrainian bankruptcy and commercial law judges on legal, judicial, market economy, business and financial issues related to the bankruptcy process; designed a pilot enterprise restructuring project for an insolvent Ukrainian firm; advised the GOU, in country, on various bankruptcy and judicial reform issues.
- Legal consultant to the WB in Ukraine on several missions; advised on the necessary legislative, judicial and governmental reforms to bankruptcy, banking and related laws; analyzed the problems unique to Ukraine’s insolvent coal sector; investigated the overall payment arrears problem in Ukraine; and, commented on the GOU’s progress in these areas as part of the conditionality to various WB loans.
- U.S. Counsel to Deloitte & Touche, the international liquidators appointed by the Government of Latvia, in cooperation with the WB, to windup and liquidate Banka Baltija, one of the largest banks in Latvia; in that capacity, assisted the liquidators to recover funds claimed by a Russian Bank in New York; utilized a U.S. ancillary proceeding in the S.D.N.Y. to accomplish the stay, seizure and transfer to Latvia of the disputed funds.
- Co-advisor to the Government of Bulgaria, with a partner of Deloitte & Touche, in the GOB's negotiations with the WB and the IMF as part of a USAID-funded project; in that capacity, we assisted the GOB in designing a program for the isolation and recovery of 70 large loss-making state-owned enterprises.
- Co-developed and managed, with a partner of Deloitte & Touche, a thirteen-country USAID bankruptcy and judicial reform project in Central and Eastern Europe (Albania, Bulgaria, Croatia, Czech Republic, Estonia, Hungary, Macedonia, Latvia, Lithuania, Poland, Romania, Slovakia, and Slovenia); co-authored the thirteen- country comparative report which identified the problems with the bankruptcy and judicial systems in each of these countries and recommended legislative, judicial and institutional reforms, many of which were carried out; co-designed and implemented an extensive judicial training program, in each of these countries, for bankruptcy and commercial law judges on legal, judicial, market economy, business and financial issues related to the bankruptcy process; participated in extensive policy dialogues on bankruptcy, restructuring and judicial reform issues with the Governments of each of these countries.
- Legal advisor to the Lithuanian Court-Appointed Administrator (Trustee) of a large Lithuanian television manufacturing enterprise in connection with a WB "pilot" court-led enterprise restructuring project.
- Legal consultant to the WB on a project to coordinate the efforts of three Scandinavian bilateral donors (Sweden, Denmark and Norway) in the development and design of post-command economy era lien and mortgage registries, land registries, and the like, for Latvia, Lithuania and Estonia.
- Legal consultant to the WB on bankruptcy, restructuring and secured credit issues in Lithuania; participated in extensive in-country policy dialogues on these issues with the Government of Lithuania as part of the WB’s on-going lending and assistance programs to the GOL.