The international law firm King & Spalding announced today that international arbitration expert Jan K. Schäfer has joined as a partner in its Frankfurt office.
Schäfer comes to King & Spalding from the Frankfurt office of Allen & Overy, where he focused on complex post-M&A arbitration matters as well as foreign investment, construction and energy-related disputes. He brings deep experience in arbitration under ICC, DIS (German Institute of Arbitration) and ICSID rules in multiple venues as well as ad hoc proceedings under both German and Swiss arbitration law. He regularly sits as chairman, party-appointed and sole arbitrator in ICC and DIS arbitration proceedings, and advocates before the German courts on behalf of clients in commercial litigation and arbitration-related matters.
King & Spalding has significantly expanded its global footprint in international arbitration in recent years. The firm opened an office in Paris, a key hub for international commercial arbitration, in 2009 with the hiring of former Dewey & LeBoeuf partners Eric Schwartz, the former secretary-general of the ICC International Court of Arbitration, and James Castello. Former Shearman & Sterling arbitration partner John Savage joined in 2010 to lead the firm’s international arbitration practice in Asia from a new office in Singapore, while Tom Sprange joined from Steptoe & Johnson in 2011 to anchor its London arbitration and litigation practice. Former ICC International Court of Arbitration general counsel Guillermo Aguilar-Alvarez also joined the firm in New York, further strengthening King & Spalding’s global bench in both commercial and treaty arbitration.
“The opportunity to help King & Spalding build a German arm for its renowned global arbitration practice is a unique and exciting one,” said Schäfer. “I very much look forward to playing a role in the continued development of the practice and the firm’s Frankfurt office.”
“Having built a leading real estate capital markets and funds practice in Germany over the last four years, we have now turned our attention to the development of other practices, such as international arbitration and litigation, that are aligned with our strategies in Frankfurt and as a firm,” said Mario Leissner, managing partner of the now 15-lawyer office. “Jan is a perfect fit to help us establish a strong disputes capability for clients that are headquartered in Germany or have business and financial interests here.”
“German companies are among the largest users of international arbitration, and they place tremendous value on having a local German lawyer with access to a fully integrated global arbitration team as their primary contact for their arbitration matters,” added Edward Kehoe, King & Spalding’s worldwide co-head for international arbitration. “We are very pleased to have Jan join our team and serve in that critical role.”
Earlier in his career, Schäfer was an associate at Shearman & Sterling and served as a research fellow at the T.M.C. Asser Institute in The Hague. He studied law in Passau, London, Freiburg and Utrecht and holds an LL.M. degree from the National University of Singapore.
