• KL Berlin 1920x763
  • Barcelona
  • Bildschirmfoto 2019 08 07 Um 17.09.18

Dr. Lutz Kniprath

Dr. Lutz Kniprath, M.A., FCIArb
German Attorney-at-Law
Partner

Phone +49 (0) 30 8145 8193-0
E-Mail

Dr. Lutz Kniprath, M.A., FCIArb

Biography:

Lutz is an International Arbitration Partner with a particular focus on investment and commercial arbitration for clients in China and Central Asia. He has worked on both, investor-state and commercial arbitrations in sectors such as plant construction, metallurgy, pharmaceuticals, trade in metals, railway, automobile, etc. under a wide variety of institutional or ad-hoc rules.
He received his legal education in Germany and is admitted as an attorney-at-law in Germany. During his legal career, he lived in various German cities, New York City and Shanghai. He currently lives in Istanbul.

 

Specialisation:

International Arbitration (Commercial / Investor-State)

 

Current focus:

  • Investment disputes, in particular regarding investments in Central Asia
  • Infrastructure, Energy, Metallurgy, Transportation
  • Dispute avoidance by contract design according to incentive systems

 

Working languages:

German, English, French, Chinese (Mandarin)

 

Professional Experience:

  • German attorney-at-law since 2000: Arbitration, Litigation, Corporate Law
  • Since 2015 co-founder of the law firm of Kniprath Lopez, Attorneys for Complex Disputes, Berlin / Barcelona, currently living in Istanbul
  • 2015-2019 visiting lecturer for commercial law and dispute resolution, Hanover University for Applied Sciences and Arts, Hanover, Germany
  • 2010-2015 German attorney-at-law with law firms in Düsseldorf, Hamburg and Hanover (since 2011 as partner) (international arbitration, shareholder disputes, corporate law)
  • 2006-2010 Corporate counsel in the corporate legal department of Robert Bosch GmbH (general commercial, corporate law and dispute resolution)
  • 2000-2006 German attorney-at-law with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Frankfurt am Main / Shanghai (dispute resolution, corporate law)

 

Education:

  • Since 2018 Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb)
  • 1999-2000 University of Cologne, Ph.D., thesis: “The arbitration of the Chinese International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC) – administration and procedures”
  • 1996-98 Legal clerkship with the Supreme Court of Lower Saxony in Celle (clerkships in Hanover and New York, U.S.A. – American Arbitration Association) (German Second State Exam)
  • 1989-95 University of Trier Law school (German First State Exam)
  • 1989-95 University of Trier, Master of ARats (M.A.) in Modern China Studies
  • 1988-89 Mandarin Daily News Language Center, Taipei, Taiwan, language training Chinese (Mandarin)
  • 1987-88 University of Bonn, Studium Generale (China Studies, Philosophy, etc.)

 

Selection of substantive matters:

Dispute Resolution

  • Several substantive commercial and investor-state arbitration procedures as party counsel
  • Numerous arbitration proceedings, e.g. regarding commercial, construction, plant construction, energy, metallurgy, railway, etc., according to the arbitration rules of the ICC, DIS, CIETAC, Swiss Rules, VIAC, or ad-hoc rules (e.g., UNCITRAL, national civil procedure rules, arbitration rules of the German Stock Exchange)
  • More than 25 arbitration procedures as arbitrator (chairman, sole, co-arbitrator)
  • Several large shareholder disputes among German or non-German shareholders of German limited liability companies, including numerous interim measures of protection, highly contentious shareholder meetings, multiple shareholder actions (including pleas for nullification, declaration, etc.)

Corporate / Commercial

  • Sale and purchase of shares in corporations (M&A) by a variety of large and mid-sized companies, including privatisations by public entities (e.g., energy, health, securities, real estate sectors), including, e.g., leading a group of 25 legal teams worldwide.
  • Ongoing corporate advice, including for various subsidiaries of an international group of companies in the electronics and automotive supplier sectors.
  • Contractual advice, including drafting and negotiating of contracts in various business sectors such as transport, energy, electronics, automotive and trade in metals, among others.
  • Participation in the organisation and implementation of the global compliance structure of a large group of companies in the electronics and automotive supplier sectors.

 

Memberships:

  • International Bar Association (IBA), German Lawyers’ Association (DAV), German Institution for Arbitration (DIS), Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), German-Chinese Lawyers’ Association (DCJV), German-Russian Lawyers’ Association (DRJV), International Chamber of Commerce (ICC Germany)
  • Included in the arbitrator lists of the Chinese International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (CIETAC), Beijing Arbitration Commission (BAC/BIAC) and the Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC).