Vincenzo Speciale, a Shearman & Sterling international arbitration associate based in Paris, has been awarded the CEPANI Academic Prize for his master thesis entitled “International Law of Indirect Expropriation: Which Test to Retain? An Attempt to Reconcile the Different Tests with Customary Law and New Emerging IIAs Practice.” The master thesis was directed by Giorgio Sacerdoti and Anna De Luca, both from Bocconi University. In his master thesis, Speciale critically examines, in light of customary international law, the variety of tests adopted by arbitral tribunals to find whether an indirect expropriation occurred. 

The CEPANI Academic Prize is designed to recognize a legal writing in the field of national or international arbitration for candidates under 40 years of age. The CEPANI presented the award based on the recommendation of a jury chaired by Françoise Lefèvre and including Hakim Boularbah, Jan Kleinheisterkamp, Jean-François Tossens and Gaëtan Verhoosel.
 
Speciale, who joined Shearman & Sterling’s International Arbitration Group as an associate in May 2016, holds a University Diploma in International Business Dispute Resolution from Paris-Créteil University and a combined Bachelor and Master of Science in Law from Bocconi University. He joined the firm after interning in Shearman & Sterling’s International Arbitration Traineeship program and at the Secretariat of the ICC Court of International Arbitration, as well as at several firms in Italy, India and France.

Shearman & Sterling has a leading practice in the field of international arbitration, comprising over 100 fully-dedicated lawyers with a wide variety of professional and cultural backgrounds, operating from its offices in Abu Dhabi, Beijing, Frankfurt, Hong Kong, London, Milan, New York, Paris, Shanghai, Singapore and Washington, DC. The practice has been repeatedly praised by leading directories for its “strategic view of matters” and “excellent knowledge of arbitration processes,” and recognized as “a force to be reckoned with - contributing to the intellectual leadership in international arbitration.”