Expert resume of Paula Costa e Silva

Full Professor of Law, University of Lisbon; Principal Researcher at the Private Law Research Center of the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon; President of the Board of the Securities Institute of the University of Lisbon; Director of Ius Dictum. Journal of General Theory of Law; Legal Consultant; Independent Arbitrator. 

Ms. Costa e Silva C.Arb is a Full Professor at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, where she obtained her Bachelor’s, Master’s, and Doctorate degrees in Law, specialising in Legal Sciences. She is a Principal Researcher at the Private Law Research Center of the Faculty of Law of the University of Lisbon, coordinating a research line on the Foundations of Private Law, which includes various research projects in the areas of Civil Law, Commercial Law, Civil Procedure, History of Portuguese Law, Methodology, and Philosophy of Law.

She is the President of the Board of the Securities Institute of the same institution. She is the Director of Ius Dictum. Journal of General Theory of Law. 

Paula Costa e Silva is a fully qualified lawyer at the Portuguese Bar Association and the Brazilian Bar Association, independent arbitrator and legal expert. Her mother tongues are Portuguese and German, and she is fluent in English and Spanish.

Paula Costa e Silva is in "band 1" of the Chambers and Partners Global and Europe rankings (“dispute resolution: most in demand arbitrators”), as well as in the "most in demand arbitrators in Portugal" category, for four years now. She also ranks among Jus Connect’s “Most Active Female Arbitrators 2023” Power List. She features in the Leaders League ranking, with an "excellent" rating in the "Portugal Best Arbitrators" category. She was recognised and honoured by the Portuguese and Brazilian arbitration communities at the IX Coimbra International Arbitration Meeting in 2019.

Paula Costa e Silva is the President of the Arbitration Committee of the Instituto Iberoamericano de Derecho Procesal (Ibero-American Institute of Procedural Law) and Vice-President of the same Institute. She is a member of the Arbitration Committee of the Associação Lusófona de Arbitragem e Mediação(Lusophone Arbitration and Mediation Association).

Paula Costa e Silva is a member of the award panel for the ICC Institute of World Business Law Award, 2023 Edition. She is also a member of the Latin American and Iberian Chapter of the ICC Institute of World Business Law at the International Chamber of Commerce. She is the rapporteur, for Portugal, for the ICC Institute LAI 2nd Study "Is Arbitration under Regulatory Attack in the Ibero-American Countries?".

In 2023, she was entrusted by the European Law Institute (ELI) and the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) with the preparation of a translation of the full official version of the ELI - UNIDROIT Model European Rules of Civil Procedure, published jointly by UNIDROIT and ELI ("ELI-UNIDROIT Model Rules"), into Portuguese, as well as its publication and distribution.

As an independent arbitrator, Paula Costa e Silva has participated as Sole Arbitrator, Presiding Arbitrator and Co-Arbitrator in more than one hundred national and international arbitrations, both institutionalised and ad hoc, mainly in matters relating to corporate law, public-private partnerships, construction, international contracts, banking & financing and patents, among others. She has also acted as a mediator. As arbitrator and legal expert in banking and finance, she was admitted to the Panel of Recognised International Market Experts in Finance (P.R.I.M.E.).

Among others, she acts or has acted as an arbitrator for the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the Arbitration and Mediation Centre of the Brazil-Canada Chamber of Commerce (CAM-CCBC), the Market Arbitration Chamber (CAM) and the Commercial Arbitration Centre of the Portuguese Chamber of Commerce and Industry (CAC), of which she is also Vice-President. Paula Costa e Silva has facilitated the mediation and negotiation of complex disputes.

Ms. Costa e Silva's full CV is available for download.