For the past two years, The American Lawyer has hosted Global Legal Awards, a contest meant to highlight the most significant cross-border work in four major categories: Disputes, Finance, M&A and Citizenship. This year the publication received more than 300 entries from virtually every major law firm in the world and selected only 36 winners. WilmerHale's representation of Swatch Group in Swatch Group v. Tiffany was chosen as the Global Dispute of the Year in the field "Commercial Arbitration."
The case, handled by the firm's International Arbitration Group and led by Partners Franz Schwarz and Duncan Speller, ended in a victory when the court found that Tiffany had breached a long-term cooperation agreement with Swatch Group. Swatch Group was awarded lost profits (plus interest and costs) in the amount of approximately $480 million, and dismissed counterclaims by Tiffany for $500 million.
The decision attracted global news coverage ranging from The Wall Street Journal to Der Spiegel and in January 2014 Schwarz was named a Litigator of the Week by The American Lawyer.
The American Lawyer's 2014 August edition will feature details around WilmerHale's involvement in the case.
A grand prize winner in each category will be announced at an awards dinner on September 15, 2014 at Gotham Hall in New York City.