Att Dr Virginie Tassin Campanella

Dr Virginie Tassin Campanella is the founder and managing director of VTA Tassin, a public international law firm dedicated to the ocean and the seas. Operating from Switzerland, her practice has been named recipient of the Corporate INTL Global Awards 2026 — Sea & Ocean Law Firm of the Year in Switzerland, recognising a highly specialised focus on the law of the sea and ocean governance.

A firm dedicated to the ocean

VTA Tassin concentrates on public international law and policy concerning the oceans and seas. The firm offers legal, policy and business monitoring, research and advice; representation before institutions; the creation and development of projects; and capacity training tailored to each client's needs. Its approach is built around what it describes as the science–policy–business nexus, integrating international law and policy into strategic decision-making for both traditional maritime sectors and the emerging ocean economy. This positions the firm to advise on the legal and institutional questions that arise as states, international organisations and businesses seek to use and protect ocean space and its resources.

The founder

Dr Tassin Campanella is a lawyer admitted to the Paris Bar. She holds a doctorate in law awarded through a dual-degree programme between the Sorbonne and the University of Melbourne, and her doctoral research on the law of the sea was recognised with a PhD Prize from INDEMER in Monaco and a research prize from the Escola Superior Dom Helder Câmara in Brazil. She has served as an Associate Legal Officer at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea (ITLOS), the specialised court established under the United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea, giving her direct experience of how international ocean disputes are argued and resolved.

Her broader career spans some of the most significant institutions working on international law and the environment. She has acted as a consultant for the World Health Organisation on international economic law, contributed to World Bank reports touching on international human rights and criminal law, and served as an expert for the French Economic, Social and Environmental Council on matters concerning the extended continental shelf. This experience across adjudication, policy and advisory work underpins the firm's distinctive offering.

The law of the sea and ocean governance

The law of the sea is a cornerstone of the international legal order. The United Nations Convention on the Law of the Sea establishes the framework of maritime zones — territorial seas, exclusive economic zones and the continental shelf — and governs navigation, the exploitation of living and non-living resources, marine scientific research and the protection of the marine environment. In recent years the field has expanded rapidly, with growing attention to the sustainable management of fisheries, the regulation of activity in the deep seabed, the delimitation of extended continental shelves, and the new international instrument on the conservation of marine biodiversity in areas beyond national jurisdiction. The blue economy — encompassing shipping, offshore energy, aquaculture, marine biotechnology and more — is expanding at the same time.

These developments create demand for advisers who can bridge international law, science and commercial strategy. States require support in maritime delimitation and before international tribunals; international organisations need policy and legal input; and businesses operating at sea must understand the legal framework governing their activities. A boutique firm dedicated specifically to ocean and sea law, led by a lawyer with tribunal, policy and academic credentials, is unusually well suited to this work.

Recognition

In naming Dr Virginie Tassin Campanella and VTA Tassin Sea & Ocean Law Firm of the Year in Switzerland for 2026, the Corporate INTL Global Awards recognise a rare specialist practice. Combining expertise in public international law, experience at the International Tribunal for the Law of the Sea, and a focus on the science–policy–business nexus, the firm offers clients focused guidance on the legal questions that will shape the future of the world's oceans.