Alicia Zwanikken

My name is Alicia Zwanikken and I am a graduate of Erasmus University Rotterdam (Erasmus School of Law), class of 2014. I am currently 34 years old and working in Rotterdam as a lawyer for Van Traa Lawyers. Moreover, I am an editor for the legal review “Tijdschrift Vervoer en Recht” and a co-editor for a book on liabilities for carriers during international road transport that will soon be published. My department within the law firm focuses on nearly all legal issues surrounding the (inter)national transport of goods. As this is a complex field including many parties such as carriers, cargo-interested parties and insurers from around the world, the legal issues involved are diverse. My work usually focuses on the issues where public law requirements and civil law obligations clash. As the regulatory and contractual environment is a fast-changing world in which lawyers can truly make a difference for transport-oriented companies, to me my work is challenging and deeply satisfying.

I am certain that I would not have ended up where I am today had it not been for the LL.M. Commercial Law programme at the Erasmus School of Law. The programme was intellectually challenging, all the more so as the input from fellow students from all around the world taught me to always challenge the status quo. I thoroughly enjoyed the in-depth academic discussions with the accomplished professors, highly professional teaching staff and my fellow students. Without even fully realising it at the time, I walked away with an improved skill set for analysing and arguing certain points of law from which I still reap the benefits in my day to day work. The entire year provided me with an invaluable experience that I have always cherished and which is not easily encountered elsewhere. I would highly recommend this programme to anyone interested in the international aspects of commercial transport of goods.