Arbitration
Recognised arbitration experts in Central and Eastern Europe
Experienced in complex domestic and international arbitration law
When it comes to arbitration proceedings, knowing the law is sometimes not enough; you need a team which knows the rules, and which knows the major players in the field. This is a huge advantage when it comes to choosing the right arbitrator and maximising your chance of success.
The experts in our 13 offices act as counsel in domestic and international arbitration proceedings. Additionally, team members have specialised expertise in industry sectors such as energy or construction and infrastructure, and fields such as post M&A disputes. The benefit for you? Seamless service and the necessary specialised industry and legal expertise to meet your business needs.
“Unrivalled in terms of capabilities in Austria and CEE, very convenient one-stop-shop for multi-jurisdictional cases.”
– The Legal 500
“Wolf Theiss’ ‘strong’ team is experienced in investment arbitrations and corporate and commercial disputes involving construction, energy and telecommunication sector players across the CEE and SEE region.”
– The Legal 500
“Praised for being ‘unrivalled in terms of capabilities in Austria and CEE’, Wolf Theiss acts for clients in post-M&A, telecoms and construction disputes as well as investment arbitration proceedings, with notable expertise in the energy, construction, infrastructure and telecoms sectors.”
– The Legal 500
What makes our team the best arbitration law firm for you?
Our regional, integrated firm offers distinct advantages, spanning the full spectrum of legal services.
- An established international law firm with 60+ years of experience in Austria and CEE/SEE
- A fully integrated team of jurisdiction-specific qualified lawyers across our offices in 13 countries.
- Collaboration and innovation across multidisciplinary teams and offices
- Excellent client satisfaction – responsive, client-oriented, and consistent
- Experience with complex and cross-border matters covering the full spectrum of legal services
- Knowledge and expertise to add value to deals across industries
Leading the legal field
Our lawyers are involved in key transactions and matters across the region, bringing their industry expertise and specialised business knowledge to add value to our clients’ work.
Successfully defended major energy company in investment arbitration against Republic of Croatia
Represented client in €1 billion arbitration dispute over factory damage
Represented client in arbitration involving 3 billion Kč post-acquisition claims
Specialised knowledge in energy, telecoms, infrastructure, construction arbitration law and post-M&A disputes
Arbitration involving major energy company
Our team has represented a major energy company in two arbitration matters against the Republic of Croatia related to the management of Croatia’s incumbent oil and gas company.
Successful client defence
In the first arbitration, we successfully defended the client from Croatia’s attempts to disassemble the corporate governance of the Croatian company and claw-back control over it by relying on allegations of corruption and on false criminal charges Croatia has been pursuing through local courts.
The second arbitration concerns protection of the client’s investment into Croatia before the ICSID, which includes defence against false criminal charges before Croatian courts and challenging various breaches of contractual obligations and other commitments on the treatment of the client’s investment into Croatia.
Czech arbitration proceedings involving factory damage
We have been advising and representing a client in several proceedings relating to a major fire at one of its factories. Currently, we are: representing the client in arbitration proceedings against the presumed responsible party; supervising and coordinating the representation of several persons in criminal proceedings; and advising on matters of Czech law in foreign civil law proceedings.
The matter is particularly demanding, as any arguments used in any of the proceedings must be compatible with different theories of civil law liability across all involved countries.
Arbitration over post-acquisition claims
Our lawyers advised and represented a client in ICC arbitration proceedings related to CZK 3 billion post-acquisition claims arising out of a share purchase agreement.
What others say about us
“The team has been creative and feedback has always been on time. They really perform their work according to the highest international standards.”
– The Legal 500
“The team is approachable, committed and offer a personal touch that gives us, as a company, real peace of mind knowing that we are in capable hands.”
– The Legal 500
“Experts in complex multi-national disputes with a fantastic understanding of the political, cultural and commercial ecosystems of South-Eastern Europe.”
– The Legal 500
“Interviewees highlight that the team “always provides us with comprehensive updates on the status of the proceedings. They work quickly and effectively and are available whenever we need their support.”
– Chambers Europe
Areas of specialisation
Commercial Arbitration
Our regional team has the knowledge and capacity to advise you on all aspects of domestic and international commercial arbitration proceedings. Many of our cases involve cross-border elements, meaning you benefit from our international network of offices and our ability to deal with international arbitration and multijurisdictional issues effectively.
We have experience acting under major arbitration rules, such as UNCITRAL, ICC, and LCIA, as well as those of the national Arbitration Courts attached to the respective Chambers of Commerce in the CEE/SEE region, and in ad-hoc arbitration proceedings.
Investment Treaty Arbitration
Whether you are an investor or a sovereign state, we can assist you in arbitration disputes that arise under bilateral and multilateral investment treaties, and have experience acting under both the ICSID and UNCITRAL Rules. Prevention is better than cure. If you are an investor, we can also advise you on the structuring and restructuring of your overseas investments to secure investment treaty protection.
Arbitration-related Court Proceedings
We can represent you in all court-related arbitration proceedings; including obtaining interim injunctions to protect your assets both before and during arbitration, representing you in setting-aside proceedings as well as advising on the recognition and enforcement of arbitral awards.
Where enforcement looks particularly difficult or time-consuming, or when assets are split between several countries, our asset tracing experts help identify the most strategically important jurisdictions for you.
Energy Arbitration
Energy is a complex sector; characterised by high investment costs, long-term contracts and state involvement. The stakes are high and consequently, investment treaty arbitration under bilateral or multilateral treaties – especially the Energy Charter Treaty – is common.
To be successful in energy arbitration proceedings you need a team which understands and deals on a daily basis with the complex regulations of the energy industry, and which also knows the ins and outs of arbitration proceedings. Our team does both.
Construction & Infrastructure Arbitration
Large construction and infrastructure projects often have an international or regional context. Due to the scale and complexity of such projects, disputes when they happen tend to be multi-party and multi-tier. In addition, disputes rarely centre ‘only’ on legal questions; a sound knowledge of the industry itself is essential.
Our construction arbitration experts are qualified as engineers or certified FIDIC-Adjudicators and have direct industry experience. This, together with the regional coverage of Wolf Theiss, gives us and – more importantly – you an unbeatable advantage.
Get in touch
Whether you need an international team with extensive experience, Wolf Theiss can support your business goals through our profound legal practice.
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Wolf Theiss - Leading Lawyers in CEE&SEE
Accessibility Statement
- www.wolftheiss.com
- 2 December 2023
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We firmly believe that the internet should be available and accessible to anyone, and are committed to providing a website that is accessible to the widest possible audience, regardless of circumstance and ability. To fulfill this, we aim to adhere as strictly as possible to the World Wide Web Consortium’s (W3C) Web Content Accessibility Guidelines 2.1 (WCAG 2.1) at the AA level. These guidelines explain how to make web content accessible to people with a wide array of disabilities. Complying with those guidelines helps us ensure that the website is accessible to all people: blind people, people with motor impairments, visual impairment, cognitive disabilities, and more. This website utilizes various technologies that are meant to make it as accessible as possible at all times. We utilize an accessibility interface that allows persons with specific disabilities to adjust the website’s UI (user interface) and design it to their personal needs. Additionally, the website utilizes an AI-based application that runs in the background and optimizes its accessibility level constantly. This application remediates the website’s HTML, adapts Its functionality and behavior for screen-readers used by the blind users, and for keyboard functions used by individuals with motor impairments. If you’ve found a malfunction or have ideas for improvement, we’ll be happy to hear from you. You can reach out to the website’s operators by using the following emailScreen-reader and keyboard navigation
Our website implements the ARIA attributes (Accessible Rich Internet Applications) technique, alongside various different behavioral changes, to ensure blind users visiting with screen-readers are able to read, comprehend, and enjoy the website’s functions. As soon as a user with a screen-reader enters your site, they immediately receive a prompt to enter the Screen-Reader Profile so they can browse and operate your site effectively. Here’s how our website covers some of the most important screen-reader requirements, alongside console screenshots of code examples:- Screen-reader optimization: we run a background process that learns the website’s components from top to bottom, to ensure ongoing compliance even when updating the website. In this process, we provide screen-readers with meaningful data using the ARIA set of attributes. For example, we provide accurate form labels; descriptions for actionable icons (social media icons, search icons, cart icons, etc.); validation guidance for form inputs; element roles such as buttons, menus, modal dialogues (popups), and others. Additionally, the background process scans all of the website’s images and provides an accurate and meaningful image-object-recognition-based description as an ALT (alternate text) tag for images that are not described. It will also extract texts that are embedded within the image, using an OCR (optical character recognition) technology. To turn on screen-reader adjustments at any time, users need only to press the Alt+1 keyboard combination. Screen-reader users also get automatic announcements to turn the Screen-reader mode on as soon as they enter the website.These adjustments are compatible with all popular screen readers, including JAWS and NVDA.
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Disability profiles supported in our website
- Epilepsy Safe Mode: this profile enables people with epilepsy to use the website safely by eliminating the risk of seizures that result from flashing or blinking animations and risky color combinations.
- Visually Impaired Mode: this mode adjusts the website for the convenience of users with visual impairments such as Degrading Eyesight, Tunnel Vision, Cataract, Glaucoma, and others.
- Cognitive Disability Mode: this mode provides different assistive options to help users with cognitive impairments such as Dyslexia, Autism, CVA, and others, to focus on the essential elements of the website more easily.
- ADHD Friendly Mode: this mode helps users with ADHD and Neurodevelopmental disorders to read, browse, and focus on the main website elements more easily while significantly reducing distractions.
- Blindness Mode: this mode configures the website to be compatible with screen-readers such as JAWS, NVDA, VoiceOver, and TalkBack. A screen-reader is software for blind users that is installed on a computer and smartphone, and websites must be compatible with it.
- Keyboard Navigation Profile (Motor-Impaired): this profile enables motor-impaired persons to operate the website using the keyboard Tab, Shift+Tab, and the Enter keys. Users can also use shortcuts such as “M” (menus), “H” (headings), “F” (forms), “B” (buttons), and “G” (graphics) to jump to specific elements.
Additional UI, design, and readability adjustments
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- Animations – epileptic users can stop all running animations with the click of a button. Animations controlled by the interface include videos, GIFs, and CSS flashing transitions.
- Content highlighting – users can choose to emphasize important elements such as links and titles. They can also choose to highlight focused or hovered elements only.
- Audio muting – users with hearing devices may experience headaches or other issues due to automatic audio playing. This option lets users mute the entire website instantly.
- Cognitive disorders – we utilize a search engine that is linked to Wikipedia and Wiktionary, allowing people with cognitive disorders to decipher meanings of phrases, initials, slang, and others.
- Additional functions – we provide users the option to change cursor color and size, use a printing mode, enable a virtual keyboard, and many other functions.