LKK promotions
Lévy Kaufmann-Kohler is pleased to announce the promotion of three of the firm’s members.
Counsel Eva Kalnina has been promoted to Partner.
Eva joined LKK in 2009, and was promoted to Counsel in 2017. In 2018 and 2019, she has been listed among Who’s Who Legal’s Future Leaders’ most highly regarded individuals in Europe. Eva specializes in international commercial and investment arbitration, with focus on energy, oil and gas and construction matters. Over the past 5 years, Eva’s practice has mostly focused on arbitrator work. She has acted as arbitrator in numerous disputes stemming from a wide array of industries under all major institutional arbitration rules. In addition to Italian, French, German and Spanish, she speaks Latvian and Russian, which has allowed her to gain particular expertise in CIS disputes involving international companies and governments from Eastern Europe, including Russia. She is on the recommended list of arbitrators of the Russian Arbitration Center (RAC) and a council member of the Georgian International Arbitration Center (GIAC). She sits as arbitrator under the ICC, LCIA, SCC and other rules, is a member of the Court at the PCA, a member of the ICSID Panel of Arbitrators, and a member of the Council of Independent Experts in International and European Law of the Republic of Latvia. She is also a Representative of ICC YAF Europe (2017-2019), has acted as the co-coordinator of Young ICCA Europe, and speaks and publishes regularly on international arbitration topics. Eva holds an LLM from Harvard Law School and is admitted to the New York Bar.
Senior associates Michele Potestà and Rahul Donde have been promoted to Counsel.
Michele has participated in over 30 international investment and commercial arbitrations as counsel, arbitrator and arbitral secretary, under all major arbitral rules and in different jurisdictions. He joined LKK in 2013 and was promoted to Senior Associate in 2015. Michele has been identified in WWL Arbitration – Future Leaders 2017, 2018, 2019 as one of the most highly regarded individuals of the under-45 generation. In the 2019 edition he was described as “the go-to person in matters relating to public international law and investment arbitration”. Prior to joining Lévy Kaufmann-Kohler, he was a full-time lecturer in international arbitration at the Geneva Master in International Dispute Settlement (MIDS) (2010-2013). Michele, who holds a Ph.D. from the University of Milan, is qualified to practice law in Italy and registered with the Geneva bar (foreign lawyers section). He speaks English, Italian, French, German, and Spanish.
Rahul has acted as arbitrator, counsel, secretary and assistant of the arbitral tribunal in over 30 international commercial and investment arbitration proceedings under most of the major institutional rules, as well as ad hoc proceedings. Rahul joined LKK in 2012 and was promoted to senior associate in 2015. Prior to that, he was an associate at an Indian firm. Rahul has a specialization in energy law with focus on oil, gas and renewable energy. He has specific experience in disputes relating to utilities, natural resources, commercial (agency, distribution, sales, purchase, services agreements) and corporate laws in different jurisdictions. Rahul is a Steering Committee Member of the young arbitration practitioners groups of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators and the Mumbai Center for International Arbitration. He is regularly invited to lecture, speak at conferences and conduct workshops organized by the ICC World Business Institute, UN organizations and others.