Hello. I'm Ula.
I’m the brains behind Cortex Capital, and wearer of many hats. I’m a consultant, speaker and scientist. I specialise in applying psychology and neuroscience to business and law. Cortex Capital is founded on a bed of knowledge from leading psychology researchers, neuroscientists, business and legal figures. I’ve packaged my content to make it memorable (in a good way), and I promise it’ll get your cogs whirring.
My knowledge stems from 12 years as a lawyer in global law firms working in and out of London, Hong Kong and Madrid. I spent that time as a dispute resolution lawyer, specialising in international arbitration (and I've more than a good grasp of Spanish too). I also have first-hand experience in regulatory, risk and compliance in investment bank and telecoms firms.
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Stepping away from my desk, I’m often speaking at international conferences and lecturing at universities like Queen Mary's University of London and Humboldt University of Berlin. My focus is wider than just law: I’ve delivered training courses for financial institutions, technology firms, telecoms, and the energy sector – and been invited to speak in more than 15 cities across 5 continents.
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My experience across these areas is framed by a deep understanding of psychology. Cognitive Psychology and Neuroscience featured heavily in my MA and PhD, and I bring all of this to my current scientific collaborations with leading researchers at UCL and Warwick.
Some of my speaking events
Psychology in Virtual Arbitration, HK45 Seoul Arbitration Festival, Virtual Nov. 2020
The Psychology of Decision-Making in International Arbitration, DIS40 Frankfurt, Virtual Oct. 2020
Resolving Disputes Online: the Human Factor, Future of Law Dundee, Virtual Sep. 2020
Negotiation Strategies for your Organisation, Women, Influence & Power in Law, London Nov. 2019
Psychology in Dispute Resolution, Commercial Litigation & Arbitration Forum, London Nov. 2019
The Pervasive Role of Psychology in Negotiated Settlement, ADR in Asia, Hong Kong Oct. 2019
The Psychology of Decision-Making in International Arbitration, ICC YAF Conference, Warsaw May 2019
Human Memory & Witness Evidence in International Arbitration, SIAC-CIL Academic-Practitioner Colloquim, Singapore Nov. 2017
Usefulness and reliabilty of witness evidence, IBA Annual Conference, Sydney Oct. 2017
Cognitive Biases and International Arbitration, CIARb YMG Evening Talk, Hong Kong Nov. 2015
Other good-to-know highlights
Who’s Who Legal (Arbitration Future Leaders) has ranked me for the past 4 years
I sit on the Steering Committee of the ICC Task Force on Witness Evidence in International Arbitration
I sit on the Board of Advisors of the Centre for Online Resolution of Disputes (CORD)
I'm a Founding Member of Ladies in Litigation & Arbitration (LILA, Hong Kong)
I've served as Tribunal Secretary to ICC and HKIAC Arbitral Tribunals and I'm a regular judge at the LSE-Featherstone Sexual Orientation & Gender Identity Moot
My paper on Applying Psychology to International Arbitration won the ICC YAF & YAAP Prize
I’m a Visiting Researcher at UCL (Brain Sciences)
I hold an MA in Psychology (University of St Andrews) and a PhD in Psychology (UCL)
At St Andrews I was awarded the Psychology Trophy for Best Research Project and the School of Psychology Medal for highest overall mark in the year (including 100% in Computational Neuroscience)
I won the British Psychology Society Prize for the highest national mark in A-Level Psychology (~25,000 entrants)
