Dr iur Niklaus Zaugg > CMS von Erlach Partners Ltd. > Zurich, Switzerland > Lawyer Profile

Dr iur Niklaus Zaugg

+41 44 285 11 11 niklaus.zaugg@cms-vep.com View profile View profile

Work Department

Dispute Resolution (including International Arbitration)

Position

Partner

Career

Niklaus Zaugg advises clients in a wide range of commercial disputes, including banking disputes, and represents their interests both before domestic courts and international arbitral tribunals. He has engaged in various international and domestic arbitrations as counsel, secretary to the arbitral tribunal, and arbitrator. Most arbitrations he was involved in related to construction projects, various supply agreements, and post M&A disputes. He has also repeatedly published in the area of international arbitration, such as his doctoral thesis on the effects of partial and interim awards in international arbitral proceedings conducted in Switzerland.

Niklaus Zaugg graduated from the Universities of Geneva and Zurich in 2003. In 2006, he was admitted to the bar and passed the Concours Diplomatique of the Swiss Foreign Ministry. He further holds an LL.M. degree from the University of Sydney Law School, obtained in 2011. In 2014, Niklaus Zaugg’s doctoral thesis was approved by the University of Lucerne.

From 2003 to 2005, Niklaus Zaugg worked as a law clerk at the District Court of Zurich. From 2007 to 2008, he worked as a diplomatic trainee and diplomatic attaché at the Swiss Foreign Ministry in Berne as well as at the Political and Legal Affairs’ Section of the Swiss Embassy in Washington, D.C. From 2011 to 2013 he was the executive secretary at the Center for Conflict Resolution CCR at the Faculty of Law of the University of Lucerne. Niklaus Zaugg joined CMS in 2008 and again in 2013 and was promoted to partner as per 1 January 2018.

Publications

• Imposing Virtual Arbitration Hearings in Times of COVID-19: The Swiss Perspective, Kluwer Arbitration Blog, January 2021
• The modification of Switzerland’s international arbitration law, CMS International Disputes Digest, June 2020
• The New Swiss Financial Market Legislation – New Momentum for ADR?, juriste international 4/2019, Union Internationale des Avocats, March 2020
• ADR under the new Swiss Financial Services Act, CMS International Disputes Digest, July 2019
• Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit als alternative Streitbeilegungsmethode, KMU-Magazin Nr. 9, September 2018
• Implications of Third Party Funding on the integrity of arbitral proceedings – Is there need for action in Switzerland?, Von A wie Arbitration über T wie Transport bis Z wie Zivilprozess – Liber discipulorum für Professor Dr. Andreas Furrer zum 55. Geburtstag, April 2018
• Objective scope of res judicata of arbitral awards – Is there room for discretion?, ASA Bulletin 2/2017, June 2017
• Teil- und Zwischenschiedssprüche – Treue Diener im Dienste der Verfah-rensökonomie?, News Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit der Zürcher Handelskammer, May 2016
• Vorprozessualer Anspruch von Bankkunden auf Erstellung von Stichtag-bewertungen ihrer Portfolios?, AJP/PJA 7/2015, July 2015
• Verfahrensgliederung in der internationalen Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit – Wir-kungsweise von Teil- und Zwischenschiedssprüchen unter dem 12. Kapitel IPRG, Luzerner Beiträge zur Rechtswissenschaft, Diss. Lucerne/Zurich 2014
• How caucusing and other elements of mediation fit into International Commercial Arbitration, The Australian ADR Reporter, Sydney (Australia), June 2012 [awarded Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (Australia Branch) Book Price for the best essay in the International Commercial Arbitration class 2010 (University of Sydney Law School)]

Speaking engagements

• How to prepare a Witness Statement, Lecture at YOUNG ICCA Skills Training Workshop on Cross-Examination in International Arbitration, Zurich, May 2019
• Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit in der Finanzindustrie – Gibt es handfeste Vorteile? Lecture and panel moderation at Swiss Chambers’ Arbitration Institution Event, Zurich, March 2019
• Zum Umgang mit Anlegerklagen, Lecture at CMS Breakfast “FIDLEG und FINIG – Herausforderungen für Unabhängige Vermögensverwalter”, Zurich, November 2018
• Multi-tiered dispute resolution clauses – the Swiss perspective, Lecture at UIA 13th Winter Seminar in Zermatt, March 2018
• Prozessfinanzierung in der internationalen Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit – Besteht Handlungsbedarf?, Lecture and panel moderation at ASA Local Group/ZAV FG Schiedsgerichtsrecht Event in Zurich, November 2017
• Dos and Don’ts bei der Vertragsgestaltung aus Schweizer Sicht, Lecture at Handelskammer Schweiz-Mitteleuropa (SEC) Event “Polen Kompakt” in Zurich, November 2017
• Res Judicata – Can the diverging national approaches be bridged in international arbitration?, Lecture at ELSA Switzerland Summer Law School on Arbitration in Geneva, August 2017
• Die Forderung der Beklagten: Strategien und Hindernisse rund um die Widerklage, Lecture and panel moderation at 3. Tagung zur Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit: Hot Topics, Europa Institut der Universität Zürich, Zurich, May 2017
• Die Rechtskraft von Schiedssprüchen – Praxis in der Schweiz, Lecture at ASA/arb aut/LIS Dreiländer-Conference in Schaan, September 2016
• Enforcing Contracts with Russian Parties, Lecture at Switzerland Global Enterprise Event in Zurich, September 2015

Languages

German, English, French, Norwegian, Spanish

Memberships

• Zurich Bar Association (ZAV)
• Swiss Bar Association (SAV)
• Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA/ASA below 40)
• AFIA Asia-Pacific Forum for International Arbitration
• Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA)

Education

• 2014 – PhD (Doktorat), University of Lucerne
• 2011 – Master of Law (LL.M.), University of Sydney Law School
• 2006 – Concours diplomatique, Swiss Foreign Ministry
• 2006 – Bar admission, Zurich