Former MKS Law intern wins German legal scholarship prize
Felix Aiwanger’s work is the first in German language legal scholarship to comprehensively analyse the legal phenomenon of asset protection.
Former MKS Law intern Felix Aiwanger has been awarded a major legal scholarship prize in Germany, for a dissertation on asset protection as a means to avoid liabilities.
The Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg has awarded the 2025 Elise Reimarus Prize to Max Plank Institute for Comparative and International Private Law research fellow, and former MKS Law intern, Felix Aiwanger for his dissertation “Beyond Liability – Analysis and Critique of Self-Settled Asset Protection”.
His work is the first in German language legal scholarship to comprehensively analyse the legal phenomenon of asset protection.
The jury for the Elise Reimarus Prize based its decision on the work’s outstanding analysis of the legal phenomenon of asset protection, along with the topicality and social relevance of the subject.
Felix Aiwanger’s dissertation has also been honoured with the German Academic Scholarship Foundation’s Lieselotte Pongratz Doctoral Prize as well as the Law Faculty Prize by Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München.
He previously served as an intern at MKS Law from November 2019 to February 2020. He worked on, in part, the Tethyan v Islamic Republic of Pakistan $6 billion ICSID arbitral award matter while at the firm.
The Academy in Hamburg said:
“Aiwanger was seen to have completed an in-depth analysis of a nature never before undertaken. Also striking was his ability to present legal content in a clear and interdisciplinary manner capable of appealing to a broad, non-legal audience. The unusual and bold structure of the work was also singled out for praise. Further, by deploying a literary meta-level, the complex content was made understandable and accessible for readers.”
Martin Kenney added:
“Felix was an outstanding intern. He worked very diligently. I recall driving him home at 4:00 am one night after he assisted me with the preparation of an urgent piece of client work. Felix is a gifted academic lawyer.”
Elise Reimarus Prize
Since 2021 the Academy of Sciences and Humanities in Hamburg has annually recognised outstanding book-length studies from all areas of the humanities and social sciences.
The Elise Reimarus Prizesis named after the Hamburg writer, educator, translator, and philosopher Elise Reimarus (1735–1805), a figure who is now considered one of the most important representatives of the Enlightenment in Germany.
Dr. Felix Aiwanger
Dr. Felix Aiwanger studied law at the Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München, where he conducted research at the Chair of Private Law, Private International Law, and Comparative Law and received his doctoral degree in 2023.
His academic efforts have also led him to the International Institute for the Unification of Private Law (UNIDROIT) in Rome and to Martin Kenney & Co. Solicitors (now MKS Law) in the British Virgin Islands.
In 2023 he was a legal advisor for the State Animal Protection Commissioner at the Berlin Senate Department for Justice and Consumer Protection. He has been employed at the Institute as a research fellow since 2024.
