FACULTY

Cristina Antonello is an associate at PARAGON Advocacy in Vienna.

She specializes in international arbitration and litigation and has represented clients in cases involving a range of common and civil-law jurisdictions. She has experience in ad hoc as well as in institutional arbitrations conducted under major institutional rules (including the Vienna, ICC, DIS, HKIAC and the CAM-Milan Rules).

Prior to joining PARAGON, Cristina worked as a trainee lawyer in Italy and as an arbitration paralegal in Austria.

She has contributed to various publications on topical issues in alternative dispute resolution and is a member of several international arbitration associations.

Cristina studied law in Italy (University of Ferrara) as well as in Austria (University of Graz) and is admitted to practice as an attorney-at-law (avvocato).

Davide Castagno is Assistant Professor at the Department of Law, University of Turin, where he teaches Civil Procedural Law and International Litigation. His research focuses on civil procedure — with special attention to strategic litigation — and ADR, with publications in national and international journals. He has been Visiting Professor at Aix-Marseille University, Visiting Doctoral Researcher at the University of Nice and Tallinn University of Technology, and Scientific Guest at the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg for Procedural Law. He is a member of the International Association of Procedural Law, the European Association of Private International Law, the French Société de Législation Comparée, and other national associations on procedural law and ADR

Giovanni Chiapponi is legal secretary at the Court of Justice of the European Union. He previously worked as a post-doc researcher in private international law at the University of Florence and as research fellow at the Max Planck Institute Luxembourg.

He holds a PhD in law at the universities of Luxembourg and Bologna. His area of expertise deals with EU procedural and private international law. 

Elena D'Alessandro is Full Professor of Civil Procedure at the University of Turin, where she has taught Italian and European civil procedure at undergraduate, postgraduate and doctoral level since 2011. She holds a PhD cum laude from the University of Rome "La Sapienza" and is a leading expert in EU judicial cooperation in civil and commercial matters, with a particular focus on jurisdiction, cross-border litigation, and the recognition and enforcement of judgments under the Brussels I Recast Regulation. She has led and participated in numerous EU Justice Programme research projects, and her publications include monographs, edited volumes, and policy-oriented reports for EU institutions. Since 2023 she serves as Executive General Secretary of the International Association of Procedural Law (IAPL). She regularly teaches in English at international institutions, including the Center for Transnational Legal Studies in London.

Sara De Vido is Full Professor of International Law, Department of Economics, Ca' Foscari University of Venice, and delegate of the Rector for Gender Equality. She is senior expert on violence against women, by appointment of the European Commission, at the European Network of legal experts in gender equality and non-discrimination (EELN Network). She is legal expert for the European Commission of the EU network on preventing gender-based violence and domestic violence (2023-26) and drafted the report EU law in light of the Istanbul Convention. Legal Implications After the Accession (EU Publications Office, 2025). She was PI of the PRIN project Gendering international legal responses to chronic emergencies (2023- 2025), exploring ecofeminist approaches to international environmental law. Her recent publication is the edited book "Gendering international legal responses to environmental chronic emergencies" (Elgar, 2026, open access) co-edited with Enzamaria Tramontana and Deborah Russo. Her research has been focused on international and European legal instruments to prevent and counter gender-based violence against women and on critical approaches to public and private international law. 

Ester di Napoli is an attorney specialised in Private International Law, with a focus on family matters and children’s rights. She holds a Ph.D. in International Law from the University of Padova and she has been teaching European Private International Law at the LUMSA University in Rome and at the University of Ferrara. She has served as a consultant for the Italian Authority for Children and Adolescents and for the Department of Family Policies at the Presidency of the Council of Ministers. She is an expert appointed by the Ministry of Justice to the European Judicial Network in civil and commercial matters, currently serving as Project Manager for EJNita 3.0 - as well as Editor-in-chief of its Portal Aldricus (https://aldricus.giustizia.it/) - the EU co-funded project focused on the development of civil judicial cooperation in Italy.

Marco Farina is an Associate Professor of Civil Procedure. He also teaches international arbitration at the European University of Rome.

He holds a PhD in Civil Procedure from Sapienza University, Rome (2007) and regularly lectures at academic and professional conferences.

He is the author of two books and around 70 papers covering various areas of civil procedure (both domestic and transnational), arbitration, and insolvency law.

He has been a practicing lawyer since 2003 and has been entitled to practice before the Supreme Court (Corte di Cassazione) since 2016. He specializes in litigation and arbitration in commercial and corporate matters, insolvency-related matters, and corporate and banking contractual transactions.

He is a member of the European Association of Private International Law (EAPIL) and the Italian Association of Civil Procedure Scholars (AISPC).

He coaches teams from the University of Bologna for the Vis Moot and Pax Moot competitions.

Francesca Ferrari, a professor of Civil Procedure Law at the University of Insubria – Como/Varese, has an extensive academic background, having served as a visiting scholar at both Harvard Law School and Maastricht University. She holds the qualification for full professorship both in Civil Procedure and in Comparative Law. She boasts a prolific publication record, with over one hundred works focusing on civil procedure and intellectual property (IP) subjects, including four books and numerous essays published in esteemed journals. Presently, she holds the position of IP and Consumer Protection attaché at the Italian Permanent Representation at the European Union, appointed by the Italian Ministry of Foreign Affairs. In addition to her academic pursuits, she is also an experienced lawyer and had been partner and of counsel of several law firms in Milan, the latter being Eptalex, with offices in Beirut, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, etc. Ferrari's professional trajectory has endowed her with profound insights into Intellectual Property (IP) law, particularly in transnational litigation involving patents and trademarks, with a focus on pharmaceuticals. She also possesses expertise in copyright law, particularly in relation to emerging technologies and artificial intelligence as well as in antitrust law. Actively engaged in scholarly communities, Ferrari is a member of several scientific associations and seats in the editorial boards of prestigious journals. She is frequently invited to speak at both domestic and international conferences on civil procedure and IP-related matters.

dr. K.C. (Kirsten) Henckel LL.M. is an assistant professor of Private International Law at the University of Groningen where she teaches several courses on private international law. She specialises in the more commercial aspects of private international law, most notably cross-border commercial transactions and the impact of digitalisation and new technologies. Kirsten held a Lindemann Fellowship in Residence at Hamburg University (2025) and is part of the editorial board of several journals, including Nederlands Internationaal Privaatrecht (NIPR). She is the author of a variety of books, articles and advisory reports, including a monograph on Cross-border Transfers of Undertakings. She has been involved in several international research projects, including studies on the Brussels Ibis Regulation, recognition and enforcement, the cloud and digital assets. In addition, she has worked as a guest lecturer at Shandong University in China and is a Member of the EAPIL working group on digital assets.

Nina Jankovic, Senior Associate at Aceris Law, holds an LLM in Public International Law from Leiden University, the Netherlands, and an LLB from Belgrade University, Serbia, graduating summa cum laude. She has a decade of experience in international construction, investment and commercial arbitration. Prior to joining Aceris, Nina was a Graduate Trainee in the International Arbitration Group of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer in Paris and a former intern at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA) in The Hague. Nina has served as counsel in numerous arbitrations under the UNCITRAL, SIAC, SCC, ICC, LCIA, PCA, AAA, ICDR and other arbitration rules, involving English, Swiss, Bosnian, Saudi, Omani, Qatari, Uzbek, Angolan, Singapore, Montenegrin and other laws. Recent cases, concluded successfully in favor of Aceris Law’s clients, include, inter alia, an LCIA arbitration under Saudi law regarding the construction of a desalination plant in the Middle East; an UNCITRAL ad hoc arbitration involving the construction of a water distribution network in Angola; and a SIAC arbitration under Singapore law regarding the construction of a desalination plant in Oman. She has also represented a publicly listed Malaysian company in a USD 400 million dispute involving a natural gas construction project in Uzbekistan against a subsidiary of a Russian multinational company in the oil and gas sector, as well as a Greek construction company in an UNCITRAL arbitration administered by the PCA against a Bosnian state agency involving the construction of a wastewater treatment plant governed by Bosnian law. Nina has represented a French magnate, investor and high-net-worth individual, Mr. Bachar Kiwan, in a USD 800 million ICSID arbitration against Kuwait (Bachar Kiwan v. State of Kuwait, ICSID Case No. ARB/20/53). Clients praise her as a “very well organized”, a “methodical researcher” with “a very sharp intellect”, “cutting through unnecessary information with excellent drafting ability to present the case succinctly”. They also find her very “friendly and professional”, “easily approachable and very responsive”. Nina speaks English, Serbian/Croatian, Spanish, German, French and Italian fluently, and she has basic knowledge of Portuguese. She is qualified to practice law in Serbia.

Tatevik S. Karapetyan, PhD is an international arbitrator, and currently serving as the Deputy Chair of Arbitration and ADR Commission of ICC Armenia, and Director of Resolve Academy. She has been listed arbitrator at International Commercial Arbitration Institute, eBRAM’s Panel, Dubai International Arbitration Centre and also has acted as an ad hoc arbitrator, in high-profile international disputes, specializing in commercial, construction, energy, oil and gas, IT, and IP law. Her expertise extends across the MENA region, Armenia and Russia. She is also a founding partner of MA’AT Partners /Law and Arbitration. She is a member of American University of Armenia Alternative Dispute Resolution (ADR) Clinic, Swiss arbitration association, The Association for International Arbitration, Institute for Transnational Arbitration, Young International Arbitration, ICC Armenia , AIA – Arbit – Below 40, German Arbitration Association (DIS).

Professor and Vice Dean at the University of Vienna; former professor at the University of Innsbruck; held a position as a Post-Doctoral Researcher and Erwin-Schrödinger-Fellow at the University of Zurich from 2009 to 2011; specializes in international commercial arbitration and litigation; main areas of interest include domestic and international civil procedure and its interfaces with private law, international insolvency law, conflict of laws and comparative law.

Michele Angelo Lupoi, the Director of the Ravenna Summer School, is Full Professor of Civil Procedural Law at the Department of Legal Studies of the University of Bologna and Lawyer of the Bologna Bar Association. In 2025, he won a Jean Monnet Chair on European Judicial Cooperation.

He has written extensively in matters of transnational litigation, cross-border jurisdiction, procedural family law, international arbitration, and other areas of civil procedure.

He coaches the Unibo Vis and Pax Moot teams.

He is an editor of the International journal of civil procedure and of the Rivista trimestrale di diritto e procedura civile and is amember of the Associazione italiana tra gli studiosi del processo civile, the International association of procedural law, the European Association of Private International Law and he is responsible for the Emilia Romagna section of the Camera degli avvocati internazionalisti.

Mark McLaughlin is Assistant Professor of Law at the Yong Pung How School of Law, Singapore Management University and the Singapore International Dispute Resolution Academy (SIDRA). His academic and professional career is dedicated to international arbitration and international economic law, with a particular focus on investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS), and investor-state mediation.

For the past four years, he has devised the investor-state dispute settlement (ISDS) capacity-building workshop as part of the UNCITRAL Academy. Its focus is training government officials in the anatomy of different dispute resolution processes available for the settlement of investor-state disputes.

Indeed, Mark has advised and trained government officials worldwide on managing investment treaty commitments and navigating international arbitration. He also contributes to the global discourse on reforming investor-state arbitration through his membership in the ISDS Academic Forum.

Mark’s research, published in leading international journals, explores cutting-edge developments in arbitration, including investor-state mediation, state-owned enterprises in investment disputes, and the impact of emerging technologies on dispute resolution.

JUDr. Ing. Dominika Moravcová, PhD. MBA - currently serves as an Assistant Professor at the Faculty of Law, Trnava University in Trnava, where she focuses on research and teaching related primarily to Private International Law and European Union Law. In addition to her academic role, she also lectures on PIL and EU law on an ad hoc basis for various institutions. Alongside her academic career, she has several years of experience in the private sector, where she is engaged in various entrepreneurial ventures.

Ioana Olaru has been a trainer at the Romanian Notarial Institute since 2011, teaching European Union Private International Law, and brings significant professional experience as a civil law notary in Romania. She holds a PhD in Private Law and has recognised expertise in European law and international relations. Her work encompasses practical guides for notaries in international succession, divorce, and parental responsibility cases, analyses of the jurisprudence of the Court of Justice of the European Union, and contributions to major collective volumes on international civil and commercial litigation, comparative private law, and European private law. She is a Fellow of the European Law Institute (ELI), serves as Co-Chair of the Romanian ELI Hub, and is a member of the European Association for Private International Law (EAPIL) and the Association Henri Capitant. 

Francesca Ragno is Full Professor of International Law at the Department of Political and Social Sciences of the University of Bologna, where she also serves as Director of the Bachelor’s Degree in International Studies.

Before joining the University of Bologna, she was Tenured Researcher and subsequently Associate Professor of International Law at the Department of Legal Sciences of the University of Verona, where she also served as President of the Academic Council of the Law School.

She is currently Global Professor of International Arbitration at New York University (Law Abroad Program in Paris) and a member of the Board of the PhD Programme in International and European Legal Studies at the University of Verona. She has taught at the University of Pittsburgh as a Fulbright Distinguished Chair and has been a visiting professor at several foreign universities. Most recently, she was appointed by the Hague Academy of International Law as Director of Studies for the 2028 Summer Course (Private International Law Session).

Her research focuses on the legal dimension of transnational relations, with particular emphasis on the unification of private international law and substantive law at both global and regional levels, access to justice in cross-border contexts, and the privatization of the judicial function in cross-border settings.

Her teaching covers a wide range of subjects, including Public International Law, EU Law, International Trade and Business Law, Private International Law, and International Commercial Arbitration.

Milana Ranković, LL.M, is a PhD Candidate at the University of Novi Sad, Faculty of Law, and a Teaching Assistant at the University of Montenegro, Faculty of Law. Her doctoral research focuses on Res judicata and lis pendens under the Brussels I Recast Regulation. She is engaged in teaching Private International Law and Arbitration Law, which also constitute her primary research interests. In addition, she has served as Coordinating Coach of the Willem C. Vis International Commercial Arbitration Moot Team of the University of Montenegro. Ms Ranković was awarded the Chevening Scholarship for the 2019/2020 academic year, through which she obtained her Master (LL.M) degree with distinction in the United Kingdom. She was a Visiting Researcher at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative and International Private Law in Hamburg in 2025. Ms. Ranković is a co-author of a forthcoming monograph on Private International Law in Montenegro and a contributor to a book chapter on Investment protection and Investor–state dispute settlement in Montenegro. She has also authored several scholarly articles in the field of Private International Law and Arbitration Law.

Friedrich Rosenfeld is Partner at Hanefeld, a GAR 100 dispute resolution boutique with offices in Hamburg and Paris. He acts as counsel in international arbitrations with a focus on construction, post-M&A, commercial and investment disputes. In addition, he has been arbitrator in cases involving a range of applicable substantive laws and seats (e.g. Austria, Denmark, England, France, Germany, Greece, Israel, Luxembourg, the Netherlands, Northern Macedonia, Switzerland, and the United States). His expertise is recognized in international rankings. Alongside his full-time practice, Friedrich is also Global Adjunct Professor of Law at NYU Paris, Lecturer at Bucerius Law School in Hamburg as well as Honorary Professor at the International Hellenic University in Thessaloniki. He has authored various books on international arbitration, which have been published in English, French, Spanish and Portuguese. Friedrich holds a PhD in international law (summa cum laude).

Verona Tió Pérez- Albert is a Teaching Fellow and PhD candidate at the Department of International, European Union and Comparative Law at ESADE Law School, Ramon Llull University, Barcelona (Spain). Her doctoral research focuses on the distinction between substance and procedure under Rome I Regulation in the field of contractual remedies, with particular emphasis on penalty clauses. As a researcher, she is a member of the Patrimonial Law Group at ESADE Law School and has published in collective works and law journals. As a Teaching Fellow, she teaches Private International Law, Comparative Law, the CISG, and EU Law. She also coaches the ESADE Law School team for the PAX Moot Court Competition.

Francisco Trebucq is Counsel at the ICC International Court of Arbitration. He is a qualified lawyer both in Argentina and Italy. Before joining the ICC, he worked at a boutique law firm in Milan, where he specialized in international commercial and investment arbitration. Previously, he had worked as a partner at Moyano and Trebucq Abogados in Córdoba, where he handled litigation cases and provided legal advice on corporate, labor, and consumer laws, and interned at UNIDROIT in Rome.

He holds a Ph.D. in Law from “Sapienza” University of Rome, an LL.M. in French, European and International Business Law from Université Panthéon-Assas in Paris, and an LL.M. from Temple University in Philadelphia. 

Marco Torsello is a Full Professor at the University of Verona, School of Law, where he teaches Comparative Private Law and Transnational Commercial Law. He is also a Visiting Professor of Contract Law at the école de droit of Université Sciences Po, Paris, and a Global Professor of Law at NYU, School of Law (Law-Abroad Program in Paris), where he has taught European Business Law since 2014. He has held many other visiting professorships, including those at Bucerius Law School, NYU School of Law, Fordham Law School, University of Pittsburgh School of Law, University of Western Ontario, Columbia Law School, and others.

He is Titular Member of the International Academy of Comparative Law, and a member of several academic and professional associations, including the European Law Institute, the ICC Commission on Arbitration and ADR (Italian branch), the International Council for Commercial Arbitration, and the Società Italiana per la Ricerca nel Diritto Comparato.

He is the author of several books and papers dealing with contracts, international business transactions, and transnational dispute resolution.

Marco has over twenty-five years of experience in private practice, and he is one of the founding partners of ARBLIT – Radicati di Brozolo Sabatini Benedettelli Torsello, a boutique firm specializing in international commercial arbitration and litigation.

Prof Dr Geert Van Calster is full professor at KU Leuven Law, visiting professor at Melbourne University School of Law and a practising member of the Belgian Bar, with instructions in many cases related to international litigation and conflict of laws.