Daniel Hochstrasser is the senior partner and heads the arbitration group of Bär & Karrer, a large Swiss law firm with offices in Zurich, Geneva, Lugano and Zug.
Bär & Karrer's arbitration practice profits from a dedicated team of lawyers trained both in Switzerland and overseas, with vast experience in all types of commercial disputes. The firm has been recognised by Chambers & Partners as one of the Europe-wide leading firms in dispute resolution.
Daniel graduated from the University of Zurich Law School in 1986. He spent one year in the legal department of an industrial company in France and two years at a Zurich District Court, and served three years with the Zurich Court of Appeals and the Zurich Court of Cassation (Supreme Court). After one year in the US (Cornell Law School, LLM, 1993), he joined Bär & Karrer.
In his practice, Daniel concentrates on commercial litigation and international arbitration. His primary focus is on representing parties in complex disputes arising out of M&A transactions, industrial and infrastructure projects, banking and finance, and licence agreements.
He recently acted as counsel (together with French colleagues) for Areva in an arbitration against Siemens, which resulted in a big success for Areva; Siemens was found guilty of contract violations, and has to pay €648 million to Areva. Moreover, his team represented one of the globally leading Swiss pharmaceutical companies against an American company's claim for damages based on an alleged violation of a manufacturing agreement ($150 million), and defended the international network of a Big Four accounting firm against claims of a national firm arising out of the expulsion of that firm from the network. The team also acted for an international commodity company against claims of a mining company for alleged violation of an off-take agreement, and successfully represented a large Swiss bank in the Commercial Court of Zurich against a SFr65 million claim of a German bank; the lawsuit was dismissed, and the appeal of the opposing party to the Swiss Supreme Court was rejected.
In addition to representing parties, Daniel is frequently chosen as party-appointed arbitrator and chairman of international arbitrations, most of them under the Rules of the ICC or the Swiss Rules, but also other institutions or ad hoc arbitrations.
He is a member of the Zurich, Swiss and International Bar Associations, the Association Suisse de l'Arbitrage, and used to be the President of the Arbitration Commission of the International Association of Young Lawyers. He is also a member of the Arbitration Committee of the Swiss Chambers of Commerce, the Ethics Court of the Zurich Bar Association, and of the Executive Committee of the Swedish Arbitration Association (until 2011). He has published and lectured on arbitration and litigation in Switzerland and abroad.
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