Questions:
Could you please give us a brief overview of your career?
As an Austrian and German admitted attorney advising international, mainly Asian clients, I have worked many years at large international law firms. I started my career in corporate litigation and M&A and built up a practice group serving China related matters for one of the largest Austrian law firm. Due to the fact that arbitration clauses are essential when dealing with cross-border transactions, I gained my new passion for arbitration law when acting as counsel for a well-known multinational Chinese company with a technical dispute.
You are also the founder of the European Chinese Arbitrators Association (ECAA). Could you please elaborate on ECAA’ main ideas, values, missions and targets?
I am one of the ten founding members of European Chinese Arbitrators Association. We have five Chinese arbitrators and five European arbitrators as founding members of ECAA. Our vision is to bring Chinese arbitration experts closer to European arbitration experts. Following the advice of CIETAC (Beijing) with its establishment of the CIETAC European Arbitration Centre in Vienna, I saw an increased need for national balanced arbitration panels. The nomination of arbitrators is generally based on professional recommendations and on professional exchange within independent platforms. ECAA further envisages to draw the Chinese and the European legal cultures closer to each other.
On 1 January 2023, the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act enters into force ensuring compliance with human rights and material standards of environmental protection along international supply chains. Please let us know your view on the impact of the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act on supply chains involving Asian companies. Do you think that the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act will give rise to more supply chain-related arbitrations?
The German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act originates from a very impressive vision, i.e. to create more fairness for the smaller business players and to prevent unfair treatment, human rights violation and environmental pollutions, which often have been tolerated justified by the goal of profit maximization. I believe that the German Supply Chain Due Diligence Act will form part of the contract negotiations and eventually be part of the supply chain-related arbitrations.
Considering the well-developed case law and the pro-arbitration stance of courts in Singapore, do you view Singapore as the ideal neutral seat for arbitrations between European and Asian parties?
Singapore has a very impressive effective jurisdiction and is a neutral forum for disputes between Chinese and European parties.
As an arbitrator, what in your view are the key qualities or traits an arbitration counsel should possess when representing a party?
An arbitration counsel shall be prepared to study all relevant technical and material information applicable for the case, in particular the counsel shall try to understand the expert statements in detail. Without full understanding of the logical technical, mechanical or other non-legal details of the case, a successful cross examination of experts cannot be completed.
How would you describe yourself in three words?
Determined, ambitious, choosy
Given the choice of anyone in the world, whom would you want as a dinner guest?
In these times of conflict, my first preference would be Gandhi.
Is there something that you have always wanted to do but never had a chance to accomplish it?
Studying physics.
What’s your guilty pleasure?
Cooking.
What is one talent that not many people know you have?
One may describe it as “effective communication”, others may see if as “direct communication” – I like asking the right questions while sparing unnecessary additional time.