Dr. Kristoffer Svendsen, Esq. is the Assistant Dean of the Energy Law Program at George Washington University Law School, Associate Professor of Law at the University of Stavanger Business School and Kristiania University College, Associate Member of the Aberdeen University Centre for Energy Law, and an international arbitrator.
Dr Svendsen holds a Bachelor and Master of Laws from Bond University, Australia, specializing in public and energy law, a Master of Laws in Russian oil and gas law from MGIMO-University in Moscow, Russia, and a PhD in law from the Arctic University of Norway. He has also spent a semester as an exchange student at Kutafin Moscow State Law University.
Dr Svendsen spent a brief period working in at an investment bank in Russia followed by several years working in private practice at a law firm in Moscow. After which he held the position of visiting research fellow at the EU-Russia focused NGO in Brussels working on energy and rule-of-law issues for EU-Russia relations. Dr Svendsen followed his time in Brussels by embarking on his PhD research in liability and compensation rules for cross boarder oil spills from offshore installations in the Barents Sea. He also has experience as former visiting scholar at Duke University Law School, from private practice as Of Counsel at Timofeev, Vahrenwald & Partners LLP and international arbitrator.
Dr Svendsen has guest lectured globally and published extensively, about topics such as liability and compensation for offshore oil pollution damage, contractual risk allocation in oil and gas related contracts, offshore wind, deep sea mining, international oil spill disputes, pure economic loss, and Russian energy and environmental law.
His most recent book publications include: Kristoffer Svendsen, Liability and Compensation for Offshore Oil Pollution Damage in the Arctic, (Brill, 2023); and, Kristoffer Svendsen, Endre Stavang and Greg Gordon (eds), Knock-for-Knock Indemnities and the Law Contractual Limitation and Delictual Liability (Routledge, 2023). A forthcoming book authored by Dr Svendsen, “Research Handbook on Offshore Wind Law”, is scheduled to be published in 2024 by Brill in their Research Handbook series on Energy Law.
Dr Svendsen is originally from Norway, is fluent in Russian, English, and Norwegian, and an avid soccer player and runner. He is active in a number of athletics organizations and volunteered as a National Olympic Committee volunteer during the 2014 Winter Olympics.
Dr. Svendsen is admitted to practice law in New South Wales, New York, and Norway
