Stefan Leimgruber is a partner in Schellenberg Wittmer's dispute resolution group in Zurich. His main areas of practice are domestic and international commercial arbitration and litigation. He has acted as counsel and arbitrator in international arbitrations, both ad hoc and institutional (including ICC, Swiss Rules, UNCITRAL, WIPO, CEPANI), in a wide range of commercial disputes, including disputes arising from international joint ventures, shareholder and share purchase agreements, sales, licensing and distribution agreements and construction contracts. Stefan also represents parties before Swiss courts with a particular focus on banking, post-M&A and corporate litigation, interim measures and enforcement of foreign judgments and awards.
Recent experience in arbitration matters includes: counsel to two Swiss companies in a post-M&A dispute following the rescission of a share purchase agreement by the sellers (CEPANI Arbitration Rules); representation of athletes and sports federations in arbitral proceedings before the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and before state courts; counsel to an international trading company in a Swiss Rules arbitration initiated by the buyer of large quantities of steel bars because of alleged quality issues.
Prior to joining Schellenberg Wittmer in 2007, Stefan worked at the Zurich District Court, first as a legal secretary and later as a judge, mainly dealing with debt enforcement, civil attachments, injunctions, and recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments. From 2010 to 2011, Stefan was a visiting scholar at the University of Sydney Law School, where he conducted extensive research in the fields of international arbitration and transnational litigation. He obtained a doctorate in law from the University of Lucerne in 2013 for his thesis on negative declaratory relief in international arbitration in Switzerland.
