ASA Town Hall 2023

Agenda

September 29, 2023

ASAb40 Seminar

09:00 - 09:30

Registration and Breakfast

09:30 - 11:00

ASAb40 Seminar

Sebastian Coulon Bauer

Courtney Furner

Association activities (only for ASA members)

11:15 - 12:15

General Meeting (Only for ASA Members)

ASA Town Hall

12:15 - 13:20

Lunch

13:20 - 13:30

Welcome and introduction to the new format

Nadja Jaisli Kull

Christian Oetiker

13:30 - 13:45

Conflicts of interest and disclosure – conflicting rules all over the place?

Marieke Van Hooijdonk

13:45 - 14:00

The Revision of the 2014 IBA Guidelines on Conflicts of Interest in International Arbitration

Xavier Favre-Bulle

Roundtable #1

14:00 - 15:15

Arbitrators' disclosure (Part 1)

This roundtable will discuss relationships between arbitrators, between arbitrators and counsel, and between arbitrators and experts. When do such relationships need to be disclosed and when do they create a conflict? Is the current practice of increased disclosure moving in the right direction?

Simon Gabriel

Friederike Schäfer

Roundtable #2

14:00 - 15:15

Arbitrators' disclosure (Part 2)

This roundtable deals with the question of what kind of relationships between the arbitrator (and/or partners in the arbitrator's firm) and a party (and/or a party's affiliates) create a conflict, which clearly do not and what are the grey areas. The group will also discuss the proper approach to the disclosure in such circumstances.

Jean Marguerat

Olena Perepelynska

Roundtable #3

14:00 - 15:15

Issue conflicts

This roundtable deals with potential or apparent bias of arbitrators regarding the subject matter of the dispute. When do similar factual or legal issues dealt with by an arbitrator require disclosure, what are reasonable expectations of an arbitrator’s “open mind”, and is the topic of issue conflicts overrated or rather understated?

Christopher Harris

Tilman Niedermaier

Roundtable #4

14:00 - 15:15

Third-party funding

The involvement of a third-party funder on either side of the case may significantly change the dynamics in relation to conflicts of interest. Must the involvement of a third-party funder be disclosed? What information must be disclosed? To what extent is the relationship between the funder and the arbitrator relevant?

Sarah Ganz

Benjamin Gottlieb

Roundtable #5

14:00 - 15:15

Social media

This roundtable will address the interplay between social media, conflicts of interest and disclosure. To what extent can social media posts create conflict issues? Should arbitrators avoid actively using social media and to what extent are parties required to continuously monitor the arbitrators’ social media activity?

Catherine Anne Kunz

Shirin Saif

Roundtable #6

14:00 - 15:15

Regulation

For years, the IBA Guidelines were the gold standard. In recent years, institutions have issued additional rules. This raises the question of whether more or less regulation of the issue is the better approach and whether there is enough uniformity between the various regulations. Contradicting regulations on disclosure obligations may bring arbitrators in a catch-22 situation. To what extent should the regulation require arbitrators to disclose issues that do not create a conflict for reasons of transparency?

Diana Akikol

Thomas Stouten

ASA Town Hall

15:15 - 15:45

Networking break

15:45 - 16:45

Plenary wrap-up

- Short presentations of discussion outcome
- Q&A with panelists and roundtable moderators
- Polling questions

Nadja Jaisli Kull

Christian Oetiker

16:45 - 17:00

Closing

Felix Dasser

17:00 - 18:00

Network drinks

Registration

Early Bird rates expire on Thursday 31 August, 2023 23:55

Documents

Event details

Experience ASA Town Hall 2023, the reinvented September Conference focusing on developing arbitration together. Engage in interactive discussions, workshops, and networking while exploring the topical issue of Conflicts of Interest and Disclosure. Join us for a unique event with expert speakers, moderated group discussions, and a tangible output. ASA Town Hall 2023: Where Swiss arbitration community thrives.

Speakers

Diana Akikol

Partner at Walder Wyss Ltd

Sebastian Coulon Bauer

Schellenberg Wittmer Ltd

Felix Dasser

Swiss Arbitration Association President and Partner at Homburger

Xavier Favre-Bulle

President of the Arbitration Court of the Swiss Arbitration Centre and Partner at Lenz & Staehelin

Courtney Furner

LALIVE

Simon Gabriel

Partner at Gabriel Arbitration AG.

Sarah Ganz

Special Counsel at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale & Dorr

Benjamin Gottlieb

Partner at Schellenberg Wittmer Ltd

Christopher Harris

King's Counsel at 3 Verulam Buildings

Nadja Jaisli Kull

Partner at Bär & Karrer

Catherine Anne Kunz

Partner at LALIVE

Jean Marguerat

Partner at MLL Meyerlustenberger Lachenal Froriep

Tilman Niedermaier

Partner at CMS Germany

Christian Oetiker

Managing Partner at Vischer

Marieke Van Hooijdonk

Partner at Allen & Overy

Olena Perepelynska

Partner at Integrites

Shirin Saif

Partner at Roschier

Friederike Schäfer

Partner at Zeiler Floyd Zadkovich

Thomas Stouten

Partner at Houthoff

Felix Dasser is President of the Swiss Arbitration Association since 2020. He is a senior member and former head of the dispute resolution practice of Swiss firm Homburger. He has more than 30 years of experience with a focus on litigating and arbitrating international commercial disputes. He sits as arbitrator and acts as counsel in arbitral proceedings under various arbitration rules.
Felix Dasser is also an adjunct professor at the University of Zurich, and is often retained as expert on Swiss substantive and procedural law. He taught e.g. at the Hague Academy of International Law and is a visiting professor at the China University of Political Science and Law on international commercial arbitration. He studied law at the University of Zurich (PhD 1989 s.c.l.) and at the Harvard Law School (LL.M. '90).

Courtney Furner is an Associate at LALIVE in Zurich. She is qualified to practice in Australia and is registered as a foreign lawyer with the Zürcher Anwaltsverband.

Courtney’s main area of practice is international arbitration with a focus on complex disputes involving infrastructure projects. She has acted as counsel, tribunal secretary and arbitrator in arbitration proceedings under various institutional rules and in different industry sectors.

Before joining LALIVE, Courtney worked as a judicial clerk at the Supreme Court of Western Australia and in the dispute resolution team of Norton Rose Fulbright in Perth, Australia.

She holds a combined Bachelor of Laws/Arts from the University of Western Australia and an LL.M. in International Dispute Settlement from the MIDS in Geneva.

Courtney is an active member of numerous arbitration associations. She is presently Co-Director of the Young ICCA Mentoring Programme and an international representative of ACICA45’s Steering Committee.

Town Hall Co-Organizer
Nadja Jaisli co-heads Bär & Karrer's arbitration practice and is a member of the ASA Board. She has more than 15 years of experience in international arbitration as counsel and arbitrator and also represents clients in complex state court proceedings. She has particular experience in the banking and finance, the pharmaceutical and the construction industries and regularly handles complex disputes arising from M&A transactions, joint ventures, shareholders' agreements as well as license and supply agreements. Nadja Jaisli is listed in Chambers Global and Chambers Europe, Legal 500 and Who's Who Legal. According to Chambers Europe 2023, she is "very quick, able to control witnesses, and a very impressive cross-examiner". In 2021 and 2022, Nadja Jaisli was awarded with the Europe Women in Business Law Award as Commercial Arbitration Lawyer of the Year.

Catherine Anne Kunz joined LALIVE in 2010 and specialises in international arbitration and disputes relating to commercial contracts.

Dual-qualified in Switzerland and in England (Solicitor), she advises and represents clients in international disputes, in ad hoc and institutional arbitration proceedings under all major rules of arbitration and governed by various substantive laws, both common law and civil law. She also represents parties in arbitration-related court proceedings, especially in the setting aside of international arbitral awards before the Swiss Supreme Court. She also acts as arbitrator and advises clients on other forms of dispute resolution, such as commercial mediation. Her experience spans various sectors and includes joint ventures, shareholders, sales, energy, telecommunications and engineering disputes. Catherine A. Kunz also regularly advises public international organizations on a range of issues, including immunities and privileges, internal dispute resolution mechanisms, litigation exposure, compliance and governance.

Catherine Anne Kunz is a member of the editorial board of the ASA Bulletin, the Swiss Arbitration Association’s journal. She is currently a member of the ICC Swiss Commission of Arbitration and ADR, co-chair of the ASA Marketing Committee, member of the ERA Young Practitioners Subcommittee, as well as a co-founder and co-chair of Mute Off Thursdays. She previously served as a co-chair of ASA below 40 and as regional representative (Europe) for the LCIA Young International Arbitration Group (YIAG). She is a frequent speaker and publishes regularly on matters relating to international dispute resolution. She has been recognised for several years as a Future Leader in International Arbitration by Who’s Who Legal and was ranked one of the 15 most highly regarded arbitration partners in EMEA under the age of 45 years in their 2022 edition.

Catherine Anne Kunz worked in the international arbitration group of Skadden, Arps, Slate, Meagher & Floms LLP in London from 2014-2015 and re-joined LALIVE thereafter in early 2016. She graduated from the University of Fribourg (Bilingual French-German Master of Law, with major in European Law) and holds a Certificate in International Business Transactions with Chinese Characteristics from the Cornell-Bucerius Summer Law Institute in Suzhou, China.

Jean Marguerat has experience across all areas of dispute resolution, with particular expertise in international arbitration and in international litigation. Jean Marguerat is one of the authors of the Commentary on the Swiss Rules of International Arbitration.

Jean Marguerat has been a Partner at MLL Meyerlustenberger Lachenal Froriep since 2010.

Jean Marguerat’s practice focuses on international arbitration, litigation and contract law. Jean Marguerat has experience as party counsel and as arbitrator in more than 100 institutional (ICC, SCAI, LCIA, VIAC, CAS, etc.) and ad hoc international arbitrations involving sale of goods and commodities, distribution and agency, construction, marine works, joint ventures, corporate transactions and sport related matters. He also regularly represents clients before the Swiss courts in all fields of commercial disputes and notably those in relation to arbitration (enforcement and challenge of arbitral awards). His activity includes recognition & enforcement proceedings (including attachments) and international legal assistance.

Town Hall Co-Organizer
Christian Oetiker is one of our proven specialists in litigation and arbitration. He represents businesses in proceedings before national courts throughout Switzerland, as well as before national and foreign arbitral tribunals. He also acts as arbitrator. Christian studied at the University of St. Gallen (HSG) and the London School of Economics, and he has an in-depth understanding of economic issues. He regularly represents both national and international companies from the chemical industry and aviation industry. He also acts as counsel in proceedings on claims based on derivative agreements which are governed by the ISDA Master Agreement. In addition to dispute resolution, he advises on private international law and unfair competition law. Christian publishes and speaks regularly on litigation and arbitration matters as well as other selected topics. He is a member of the Board of the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA) and of the Swiss Commission of Arbitration and ADR of the ICC. From 2008 until 2019, he was a member of the Arbitration Court of the Swiss Chambers' Arbitration Institution.

Shirin Saif is a Dispute Resolution Partner in Stockholm. She is an experienced commercial arbitration practitioner and litigator and her primary focus is international disputes involving complex technologies. Shirin has acted as counsel in telecommunications, construction and infrastructure, pharmaceuticals, product liability, IT, oil and gas, post-M&A, and various other commercial disputes before numerous judicial and arbitral bodies in Sweden and abroad. She also has significant experience as counsel in investment treaty arbitrations. Along with acting as counsel, Shirin also acts as an arbitrator and administrative secretary. She holds a Swedish LL.M. degree from Uppsala University and a U.S. LL.M. degree from UCLA.

Before joining ZFZ in July 2022 Friederike was counsel at the Secretariat of the ICC Court leading the team dealing with the German speaking region, Netherlands and Northern Europe. Before her time at the ICC Secretariat Friederike worked with a Viennese boutique firm concentrating on disputes and advisory work on a wide variety of commercial, corporate and private foundation matters.
In her current work Friederike focuses on counsel and arbitrator work as well as advisory work in international disputes and transactions, mostly in the energy sector and general commercial matters. She has experience with different arbitration rules like ICC, VIAC, UNCITRAL and DIS. She advises clients in German and Austrian law and has strong expertise in international private and procedural law and the CISG.
Friederike is admitted to the bar in Germany and Austria.

Swiss Arbitration

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Agenda

September 29, 2023

ASAb40 Seminar

Association activities (only for ASA members)

ASA Town Hall

Roundtable #1

Roundtable #2

Roundtable #3

Roundtable #4

Roundtable #5

Roundtable #6

ASA Town Hall

Registration

Documents

Event details

Venue

Venue

Contact us

Speakers

Diana Akikol

Sebastian Coulon Bauer

Felix Dasser

Xavier Favre-Bulle

Courtney Furner

Simon Gabriel

Sarah Ganz

Benjamin Gottlieb

Christopher Harris

Nadja Jaisli Kull

Catherine Anne Kunz

Jean Marguerat

Tilman Niedermaier

Christian Oetiker

Marieke Van Hooijdonk

Olena Perepelynska

Shirin Saif

Friederike Schäfer

Thomas Stouten

Sponsors and Partners

Organizer

Sponsors