Bio
Dr. Radwa Elsaman is an Assistant Professor of Commercial Law at Cairo University’s Faculty of Law. Dr. Elsaman’s area of research and scholarship includes Commercial and Corporate Law; International Law and Development; and Gender Equality. She is well known for her empirical analysis of controversial legal issues in these fields. Dr. Elsaman also held visiting positions at major other universities inside and outside Egypt, including including the Central European University in Budapest (2020), Boston University School of Law in the United States (2019), the UNIDROIT (International Institute for Unification of Private Law) in Italy (2018), the German University in Egypt (2018),and others. Further, Dr. Elsaman was a fellow of Kogod Business School in Washington DC (2010), and the American University’s Academy on Human Rights in Washington DC (2009).
An accomplished and well-established practitioner, Dr. Elsaman works as a senior legal advisor, legal trainer, and institutional development professional. She has been assisting governments and private sector entities with legal and institutional reform, legislative drafting, and capacity building, including the IDLO in Italy; the Agence Française de Développement in France; the European Union–Euromed Justice Project in Spain, the GIZ (Deutsche Gesellschaft für Internaionale Zusammenarbeit) in Germany; and the World Bank Group in Washington DC. In addition, Dr. Elsaman has represented international clients in regulatory and transactional matters through engagement with the international law firm of Dentons and DLA Piper. Currently, Dr. Elsaman is Acting as the Legal Expert for the fully-funded European Investment Bank Project promoting AlexBank's lending and advising activities in SMEs sector in Egypt. She is also contributing to the current USAID-funded Judicial Reform Project aiming to improve Economic Courts in Egypt.
Dr. Elsaman received her LLM and SJD (PhD in law) from the Washington College of Law in Washington DC; another LLM from the International Maritime Organization International Maritime Law Institute; and LLB from Cairo University’s Faculty of Law (graduated with First Class Honors Standing with Distinction).
Dr. Elsaman is the author and co-author of many publications in learned international journals including: Transnational Dispute Managment; UCLA Pacific Basin Law Journal; Richmond Journal of Global Law & Business; New England Journal of International & Comparative Law; Yonsei Law Journal; Journal of African & International Law; George Mason Journal of International Commercial Law; Marquette Elder’s Advisor Law Review; Middle East Topics and Arguments Journal issued by the Center for Near and Middle East Studies of Philipps-Universität Marburg; and others. Currently, Dr. Elsaman is contributing a book chapter on the Middle East and North Africa at the Cambridge Handbook on Comparative Law, by Cambridge University Press (CUP). She is also contributing another book chapter on Movement of People: Refugees and Migrants to the Oxford Handbook on International Law and the Arab World, Oxford University Press (OUP).
Dr. Elsaman received many academic and professional awards and honors. Recently,Dr. Elsaman has won the American Association of University Women's Fellowship Award in Washington DC. In addition, Dr. Elsaman has received the Lexis Nexis Middle East's Practical Guide Award for Egypt Profile. In the past, Dr. Elsaman has received various awards for academic achievements such as the Washington College of Law and Pence Law’s Annual Authors’ Award for Scholarly Publications; the Egyptian Bar Association and the Egyptian Parliaments’Awards for academic achievements; the Cairo University’s Honors Faculty Member of the Year Award; and the Egyptian Association for Economy and Legislation Award for Research Excellence.