LLM alumna Yasmine Guennouni (2024) excels in international arbitration writing competition
Yasmine Guennouni, who completed her LLM in International Business Law in 2024, has been awarded second place in the 2025 Young ITA Writing Competition: New Voices in International Arbitration.
Run by the Institute for Transnational Arbitration (ITA), this Competition provides ‘a unique opportunity for young professionals to contribute actively to the research of international arbitration and to be recognized as qualified voices in this area’. It is open to members aged under 40, who are invited to submit papers related to any topic in the field of international commercial or investment arbitration.
This year’s distinguished judging panel included Klaus Reichert SC of Brick Court Chambers; Rachel Kent, Partner at Wilmer Hale; and Professor Diane Desierto of the University of Notre Dame.
Yasmine’s paper was based on her LLM dissertation, entitled Incorporating Transition Risks into Discounted Cash Flow Analysis: The Solution for Fixing the Investor-State Dispute Settlement Legitimacy Crisis? The paper explores how climate change and energy transition risks may be integrated into the main method of damages valuation to increase the accuracy and legitimacy of arbitral awards. It will be published in a forthcoming issue of the ITA in Review.
Responding to the news, Yasmine said: ‘I am deeply honoured to have been awarded second place and I am thankful to the ITA for its commitment to fostering the next generation of arbitration practitioners. My idea to explore the intersection between transition risks and valuation practices first emerged during a discussion on international law in the climate crisis at the LLM Cumberland Lodge retreat, where Wendy Miles KC sparked my interest in how arbitrators might address sustainability concerns. LSE provided an exceptional academic environment to develop this interdisciplinary project, drawing together legal analysis, financial modelling, and environmental considerations. I am grateful to Dr Giulia Leonelli, who supervised my dissertation, and to Dr Oliver Hailes, whose generous feedback and guidance were central to its development. Writing on a topic with limited literature was challenging, but I hope this work contributes, however modestly, to current reflections on ISDS legitimacy.’
Yasmine is originally from Morocco. After the French Baccalaureate, she completed a dual law degree in France and England then began her LLM studies. Since leaving the LSE, Yasmine has been preparing for the Paris Bar exam and aspires to build a career in commercial and investment law.Yasmine’s success is the second recent achievement of LSE alumnae in arbitration writing competitions. In 2024, Sara D’Sousa (LLM, 2023) won the Nappert Prize in International Arbitration and has since published her article on ‘The Protection of Crypto-Assets in International Investment Law’ in the ICSID Review.