Franz Schwarz

• Successfully represented a leading pharmaceutical company in a multibillion-dollar arbitration relating to a co-marketing and licensing agreement. The case raised unique and complex issues of U.S. patent law, EU competition law, and Japanese private international law.
• Successfully defended an oil & gas infrastructure company against claims of USD 800 million arising from the construction of gas caverns, raising complex and highly technical issues of liability, attribution and quantum.
• Successfully represented Swatch Group in a high-profile international arbitration against Tiffany arising from the breakdown of a long-term cooperation agreement. The tribunal found that Tiffany had materially breached the agreement, entitling Swatch Group to terminate it early. It awarded Swatch Group USD 480 million in lost profits and dismissed Tiffany’s USD 500 million counterclaims. The case is notable for the scale of the award and its international significance, attracting extensive global media coverage, including in the Wall Street Journal, New York Times, Financial Times, Der Spiegel and Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung.
• Represented a Hong Kong-based telecommunications company against a Middle Eastern state regarding the unlawful revocation of a telecommunications license, with damages quantified in excess of USD 1 billion.

Franz Schwarz focuses on international arbitration and dispute resolution, and leads the Firm’s Civil Law disputes practice. He provides strategic advice, cross-cultural thinking, and powerful advocacy in disputes threatening critical investments and business operations across sectors. He has been described by clients and peers as “one of the best lawyers of his generation,” with “extraordinary strategic sense and masterful judgment” and “a magical ability to connect with the tribunal.”

Franz represents corporates, investors, and financial institutions in international arbitrations around the world and under all major institutional rules. He has 27 years of experience in the field, has been involved in over 300 arbitrations, and has an outstanding track record of securing successful outcomes for clients in their most challenging matters.

Franz’s work frequently centers on joint venture, shareholder, M&A, and other commercial disputes. He has experience with a wide variety of sectors, including life sciences, energy, infrastructure, finance, media, trade and other often heavily-regulated sectors. Franz also frequently advises on the protection of foreign investments, supporting clients in understanding and leveraging treaty protections in disputes involving sovereign counterparties.

In addition to his role as counsel, Franz regularly serves as arbitrator and is included on the roster of several major arbitral institutions. He has acted as president, sole arbitrator, and party-nominated arbitrator under the auspices of all major institutions. In 2020, the Republic of Austria appointed him to the panel of conciliators at the International Center for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) at the World Bank.

Franz has lectured on international arbitration at Harvard Law School, the London School of Economics, Vienna University Law School, the University of Zurich, the European Institute at Saarland University, Germany, the Vienna School of Economics, and Johns Hopkins School of Advanced International Studies in Bologna, and frequently speaks and publishes on topical issues of international arbitration.