LKK Promotion

LKK Lévy Kaufmann-Kohler is pleased to announce the promotion of Dr. Silja Schaffstein to Partner, as of 1st January 2025.

A dual-qualified lawyer (New York and Geneva), Silja joined LKK in 2011 and was promoted to Counsel in 2020. She has acted as arbitrator, counsel and tribunal secretary in over 40 international commercial and investment arbitrations. Silja also regularly advises and represents parties before the Swiss courts in complex cross-border litigations and arbitration-related proceedings, including actions to set aside Swiss arbitral awards and to recognize or enforce foreign awards. She has authored a well-known book, The Doctrine of Res Judicata before International Commercial Arbitral Tribunals (OUP, 2016), and routinely provides specialist Swiss law advice and analysis to clients, in particular on arbitration issues and questions related to res judicata.

Since 2021, Silja has consistently been recognized as a Leading associate and a Rising star by the Legal500 EMEA Dispute Resolution – Arbitration Guide, and has been ranked as a “Global Elite Thought Leader”, “Future Leader” and one of the “Most highly regarded individuals” in the EMEA region in several editions of the Who’s Who Legal Arbitration – Lexology Index (2020-2024). In 2023, she was nominated to the inaugural edition of the Legal 500 Private Practice Power List – Arbitration (DACH Region), a selective directory of leading arbitration practitioners in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.

Silja’s areas of specialization include international agreements such as joint ventures, shareholder and share purchase agreements, as well as distribution, sales, works and services, and licensing contracts. Her experience spans different industries, including banking and finance, life sciences, pharmaceuticals, insurance, telecommunications, automotive, energy and natural resources.