America's Cup - Jury Is Appointed For The 32nd America's Cup

Valencia, Spain – 2nd June, 2004 – AC Management is pleased to announce the Jury for the 32nd America’s Cup. As per the Protocol for the 32nd America’s Cup, the five members of the Jury have been appointed by the Société Nautique de Genève, and the Golden Gate Yacht Club (representing the Challengers Commission).

The members of the Jury are:

- Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler (SUI)
- Graham McKenzie (NZL)
- Henry Menin (ISV)
- David Tillet (AUS)
- Bryan Willis (GBR), Chairman

The Jury for the 32nd America’s Cup will have broad responsibilities for dispute resolution in the areas of racing disputes normally handled by an International Jury appointed under Appendix M of the Racing Rules of Sailing, and some commercial disputes that may arise between persons or entities under the Jury's jurisdiction.

On the 29th May, 2004, the Jury issued its Rules of Procedures and it began operations effective that date.

Detailed biographies of each member of the Jury are below.

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Professor Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler is a partner with the law firm Schellenberg Wittmer in Geneva, and Professor of Private International Law, including international dispute resolution, at Geneva University Law School. She is a member of the bar of Geneva and of New York.

Professor Kaufmann-Kohler was the Chair of the Ad Hoc Division of the Court of Arbitration for Sports (CAS), which included responsibility for the Olympics in Atlanta 1996, Nagano 1998, and Sydney 2000. She also chaired the CAS Ordinary Division from 1994 to 2001. She has acted as arbitrator on ad hoc sports tribunals, and advised international sports organisations on matters in connection with sports disputes and sports dispute resolution.

Professor Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler speaks English, French, German and Spanish. She is the President of the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA) and a member of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA). She acts as arbitrator in international commercial and investment disputes, and is a member of a number of arbitration panels including the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the International Center for the Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), and the American Arbitration Association. She has written many publications related to sports arbitration, including a book on Arbitration at the Olympics and many other publications in the area of international arbitration and litigation as well as international contracts and electronic commerce.

Professor Gabrielle Kaufmann-Kohler is a Swiss citizen living in Geneva with her husband and three children.

Graham McKenzie is a partner in the legal firm of Bell Gully in New Zealand. He obtained an LLB at Victoria University of Wellington and an LLM at Warwick University, England. He is a Notary Public. He is a corporate Barrister and Solicitor with his experience including advising a range of industry sectors including the aircraft, construction, dairy, food and technology, yachting and wine industries.

McKenzie is a director of several public companies. He is Deputy Chairman of St Kentigern Trust Board (an education trust) and a Trustee of the Bruce McLaren Trust (a charitable trust). McKenzie lives in Auckland with his wife and two children. He also has two adult children living in England and Australia. When he has the time he sails mainly around Auckland in a number of different sailboats.

Henry Menin lives with his wife Fredelle in the U.S. Virgin Islands. He formerly practiced law and now owns a business in St. Thomas. He has raced competitively in dinghies and keel-boats and has won a variety of titles. He is an ISAF ‘International Judge’ and ‘International Umpire’. He was an Umpire and member of the International Jury for the Louis Vuitton Cup and the America’s Cup Match in 1999-2000, and for the Olympic Jury in Sydney 2000. Menin is a member of the ISAF International Umpires Sub-Committee, author of various ISAF Umpire-related manuals and documents, as well as co-author of a book on match racing. He was Rules adviser, coach and Umpire for Oracle BMW Racing for the 31st America’s Cup. Menin is a past Commodore of the Saint Thomas Yacht Club and an honorary member of the Long Beach Yacht Club, California. He is married with two children and two grandchildren.

David Tillett is a partner of the South Australian law firm Duncan Basheer Hannon and practices in Commercial Law. He is Chairman/Board Member of several Adelaide companies. Tillett was a member of the Olympic Jury in Atlanta in 1996 and Sydney in 2000, and has been appointed Chairman of the Athens Olympic Jury 2004. He was an Umpire and Jury Member for the Louis Vuitton Cup in San Diego in 1992 and 1995, and a Jury Member for the 31st America’s Cup in Auckland in 2003. He is a Council Member of the International Sailing Federation and chairs the ISAF Racing Rules Committee. Tillett is an ex-World Dinghy Champion, with a family of two teenage children, and continues to sail competitively.

Bryan Willis has been an International Sailing Federation International Judge and International Umpire since the inception of the schemes. He has chaired the ISAF Race Officials Committee and Race Management Sub Committee and been a member of the Racing Rules Committee for 26 years. Willis is an author and editor of several books on the racing rules, protest procedures and match racing. He has served on several Olympic Juries and was Jury chairman for the Sydney Olympics in 2000. He has been rules advisor for several America’s Cup syndicates (Swedish team in 1980, British ‘Victory’ team in 1983, Australian ‘Kookaburra’ Defence in 1987) and an Umpire and member of the International Jury for the America’s Cup 1992. He was Jury chairman and Chief Umpire for the previous two editions of the America’s Cup. He has four grown-up children and two grandchildren. He is a member of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, and a practising magistrate.