The DIS community gathered in Leipzig on 12 May 2026 to prove once again that arbitration thrives not only on answers, but on the courage to ask the right questions.
The conference opened with a welcome address by Thomas Pfeiffer (DIS President) and a moving tribute by Stefan Kröll (DIS Board Member) to DIS Honorary President Karl-Heinz Böckstiegel, who passed away in December.
The opening panel explored the uneasy triangle between party, counsel and experts. While instructions are the starting point, true expertise begins where they end – in judgment. At the same time, increasingly interventionist counsel risks eroding that independence. The message was clear: expert evidence derives its value from intellectual autonomy – and that autonomy must be safeguarded.
The second panel – on tribunal secretaries – sparked one of the most vivid debates of the day. What began as a discussion on efficiency quickly became a more fundamental question: Are we even asking the right question? Views ranged from scepticism to recognising their role as sparring partners and procedural backbone. To others, the real fault lines lay elsewhere – drafting, cost, and the integrity of deliberations. One point stood out: the issue is not whether tribunal secretaries contribute, but how transparently and to what extent. The debate inevitably turned to AI. If key support functions can already be replicated – faster, sometimes better – what remains of the traditional role?
The third panel revisited a familiar boundary: preparation vs. manipulation. Preparation is necessary – shaping testimony is not. As one panellist put it: the duty of counsel is to extract the truth, not to pour it into the witness. Practical tensions remain – objections, procedural cultures, “contamination”. The principle is clear: with great procedural power comes great responsibility. And the Oscar went to Philipp Wagner and Florian Cahn – for their outstanding demonstration of how not to prepare witnesses.
The final panel addressed multiparty arbitration, where bilateral design meets multipolar reality. Joinder, consolidation and competing interests expose structural limits. Rules offer tools – not solutions. Efficiency, due process and party autonomy remain in tension. In short: more parties, more complexity.
In his closing remarks, Pfeiffer captured the essence of the day: the achievement lay not in resolving questions, but in asking those we might otherwise avoid.
A heartfelt thank you to all speakers and moderators: Antje Baumann, Klaus Peter Berger, Filip Boras, Eric Decker, Ragnar Harbst, Rudolf Hennecke, Ole Jensen, Amy Kläsener, Marc Krestin, Stefan Kröll, Ekaterina Lohwasser, Anna Masser, Annabelle Möckesch, Tilman Niedermaier, Stefanie Pfisterer, Karl Pörnbacher, Paul Salazar, Friederike Schäfer, Nathalie Voser.
Polina Lehmann
Take a look at the gala dinner and the DIS Conference 'Everything you always wanted to know about arbitration*…*but were afraid to ask…' in our photo gallery.