Professor Maxi Scherer is a special counsel in the firm's Litigation/Controversy Department, and a member of the International Arbitration Practice Group. She has extensive experience with arbitral practice and procedure in civil and common law systems both in commercial and investment arbitration.

Regularly ranked by Who’s Who Legal, The Legal 500 etc. as a leading arbitration practitioner, she has been identified amongst the top 20 “Global Elite Thought Leaders” and described by peers and clients as “one of the greatest and most complete arbitrators of her generation,” “a brilliant legal mind,” “one of the most prominent arbitration scholars in Europe,” “excellent academic and arbitrator” and “one of the very best in both commercial and investment arbitration proceedings.”

She is a full-time tenured professor of law at Queen Mary, University of London, where she holds the Chair for International Arbitration, Dispute Resolution and Energy Law. She is also Queen Mary's Director of the Centre for Commercial Law Studies (CCLS) in Paris. Other current or past academic appointments include Global Professor of Law at NYU Law School, Visiting Professor at SciencesPo Law School Paris, Adjunct Professor at the Georgetown Centre of Transnational Legal Studies, as well as visiting positions at Bucerius Law School Hamburg, University of Melbourne, Freie Universität Berlin, Sorbonne Law School, Université de Versailles, Université de Fribourg Switzerland, Universität Würzburg, Pepperdine Law School, Université de Bourgogne, Universität Basel and Université de Paris X Nanterre.

Practice

 Professor Maxi Scherer has represented and advised clients in numerous international arbitrations before most major arbitral institutions (including DIS, HKIAC, ICC, ICDR, ICSID, LCIA, VIAC, SCC and SIAC) and at various seats, governed by a variety of substantive and procedural laws (including Algerian, Austrian, Belgian, Congolese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hong Kong, Kazakh, Luxembourg, Nigerian, Polish, Turkish, Swedish and Swiss law), in different industry sectors, with a strong focus on energy disputes.

She has served as arbitrator (presiding, sole, co- and emergency arbitrator) in numerous ad hoc and institutional arbitrations, including with States and State-owned parties, with significant amounts in dispute (often over 50 million and up to over 1.3 billion USD) and multiple parties (e.g. over 40 parties), conducted in English, French and German.

Recent highlights include:

• Presiding arbitrator in an ad hoc arbitration between French investors and the Republic of Mauritius (UNCITRAL Rules, seat England, languages: French and English)
• Presiding arbitrator in a PCA administered arbitration between a US investor and an Eastern European State concerning a Production Sharing Agreement (UNCITRAL Rules, seat Sweden, amount in dispute several hundred million USD)
• Presiding arbitrator in a telecommunication dispute in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (ICC Rules, seat France, Congolese law, amount in dispute over 250 million USD)
• Co-arbitrator in a dispute involving parties from CIS States (LCIA Rules, seat England, English law, amount in dispute approx. 300 million USD)
• Co-arbitrator in an arbitration between European parties concerning the price revision of a long-term energy contract (DIS Rules, German/Luxembourg law, amount in dispute over 1.3 billion EUR, language: German)

For a more detailed list of appointments see the Experience section below.

Publications and Speaking Engagements

 Professor Scherer speaks regularly on international arbitration at conferences and seminars, including events organized by the International Bar Association (IBA), the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (CIArb), the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC), the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA), the British Institute for International and Comparative Law (BIICL), the Society of International Economic Law (SIEL) and the Centre for Research on International Investment Law (CREDIMI).

Professor Scherer has also published extensively on topical issues of arbitration and international law. Recent publications include the books "International Arbitration in the Energy Sector" (2018, Oxford University Press, 2018), "Transparency in International Investment Arbitration: A Guide to the UNCITRAL Rules on Transparency in Treaty-Based Investor-State Arbitration" (2015 Cambridge University Press), "Arbitrating Under the 2014 LCIA Rules – A User's Guide (2015 Wolters Kluwer Law and Business), "The New York Convention on Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Arbitral Awards: A Commentary" (C. H. Beck München & Hart Publishing Oxford, 2013) and the articles Inherent Powers to Sanction Party Conduct, in: F. Ferrari (ed.), Inherent Powers, Juris Publishing, 2018, pp. 105-132; A Comparative and Normative Analysis of Parties' Agreements on Judicial Review of Awards, Arbitration International, 2016; L'autorité de chose jugée des décisions relatives au contrôle des sentences, Revue de l'arbitrage 2016, pp. 1-35.