Profile

Dr Sanaz Youssefi is a specialist in climate, energy, and investment law with over a decade of academic research and advisory practice in the banking and petroleum sectors. She earned her LL.B. (GPA 18.65/20), LL.M. in International Trade and Economic Law (GPA 18.52/20), and Ph.D. in Oil & Gas Law (GPA 18.32/20) from the University of Tehran, where her doctoral dissertation on contractual strategies for mitigating environmental risks received an "excellent" grade. She was a visiting researcher at the University of Calgary (2018-19) and a postdoctoral fellow at Dalhousie University's Schulich School of Law (2022-23), focusing on comparative environmental regulation and the global energy transition.

Since 2012, Dr Youssefi has advised Pasargad Bank and its energy subsidiaries on cross-border contracting, compliance, and project finance, and in 2024 became Legal Manager of SEPID and Keyson Inc., expanding her practice to renewable energy. She has lectured at the University of Tehran, taught at the Iran Chamber Arbitration Centre, and continues to design executive training programs. Her peer-reviewed publications address insurance, investment, and environmental regulation in energy law, with forthcoming work on contractual tools for oil-rich states. She is a member of GNHRE, Iran's National Elite Foundation, and the Iranian Central Bar Association.