Jointly with the Liechtenstein Arbitration Association (LIS), the Austrian Arbitration Association (Arb|Aut), the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA), the Swiss Arbitration Center, and the Vienna International Arbitral Center (VIAC), we hosted the first Vierländerkonferenz in Germany.
The conference brought together arbitration experts from the four countries and beyond. As in previous years, the concept of an international German-language arbitration conference proved highly successful, resulting in a lively and fruitful exchange.
In his welcoming address, Reinmar Wolff (DIS) emphasized that, thanks to its flexibility, arbitration can continuously adapt to changing needs and therefore continue to offer attractive dispute resolution options to the parties in the future. Looking beyond national borders is also fruitful because some issues become pressing at different times in different legal systems.
Wolfram Buchwitz (Julius-Maximilians-Universität Würzburg) then gave the opening lecture on the recognition and enforcement of set-aside arbitral awards. He started from the premise of party autonomy and considered set-aside arbitral awards to be enforceable, at least if the setting aside was due to unusual reasons.
The first panel was moderated by Alice Fremuth-Wolf (Paragon) and focused on costs as a location factor. Sebastian Auer (Gasser Partner), Felix Dasser (Homburger), and Hannah Eckhoff (BioNTech) discussed the prohibition of third-party ownership of law firms, contingency fees (the prohibition of which was perceived as a competitive disadvantage), and the cost structure in the four countries. Austrian legal terminology (Winkelschreiber, Rechtsfreunde) provided some amusement.
The second panel dealt with the participation of third parties in arbitration proceedings. Moderated by Kathrin Binder (Schurti Partners), a panel of Christian Borris (Borris Hennecke Kneisel), Christian Koller (Universität Wien), and Andrea Meier (Walder Wyss) first presented the basic problems of third-party participation. The discussion then turned to practical implementation, primarily through the DIS Supplementary Rules for Third-Party Notices (DIS-TPNR). There was a lively debate on the question of why third parties should be willing to participate in the first place. The discussion concluded with rules that make arbitral awards in corporate law disputes effective erga omnes. Such rules are becoming increasingly prevalent in the four countries.
The third panel, moderated by Benjamin Gottlieb (Schellenberg Wittmer), discussed arbitration proceedings in inheritance, trust, and foundation law with Ben Steinbrück (SZA Schilling, Zutt und Anschütz), Manuel Walser (Walser), and Brigitta Zöchling-Jud (Universität Wien). Such arbitration proceedings play a significantly smaller role in Germany than in the other three countries. It was also interesting to learn that non-contractual arbitral proceedings (Section 1066 of the German Code of Civil Procedure) always require substantive regulatory authority, which may lie in freedom of testamentary disposition, freedom of foundation, or association autonomy.
Korinna von Trotha (Swiss Arbitration Association ASA) bid farewell to the participants and announced the next Vierländerkonferenz, 3-4 December 2026 in Switzerland.
Reinmar Wolff
