Counsel
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PROVIDING A VOICE

Sabrine Schnyder represents clients in domestic and cross-border commercial disputes before arbitral tribunals and state courts.

She has a vast amount of experience in Swiss contract law, including the CISG; conflict of law rules, including the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgements and mutual judicial assistance; as well as cross-border investigations. She also advises clients on data protection, art law as well as intellectual property and technology law.

Sabrine assists clients in the pharmaceutical industry, the MedTech, FemTech, food/beverage, art, technology, renewable energy, metal, semi-conductor, fashion and luxury sectors.

PAST EXPERIENCE

including cases handled as part of the legal team at previous firms

Arbitration

  • Defending an international beverage company in an ICC emergency arbitration regarding a distribution agreement involving Israel.
  • Representing the South African athlete Caster Semenya in a challenge proceedings on human rights and ethical grounds before the Swiss Federal Tribunal against an arbitral award rendered by the Court of Arbitration for Sports.
  • Acting for two affiliates of a global leader in the semiconductor market in an ICC arbitration seated in Paris under Belgian law concerning a joint research and development project. The dispute concerned the ownership of and utilisation rights for important patents used in modern mobile device applications, and parallel patent infringement litigation in several countries.
  • Acting for an Eastern European company active in the steel industry in a Swiss Rules arbitration with seat in Zürich. The dispute was governed by Swiss, Serbian, and Slovak law and concerned a multitude of contracts on the delivery of raw materials and end-products, as well as the privatisation of a steel mill.
  • Defending a Swiss company in an ICC arbitration with seat in Paris against claims that arose out of a service agreement regarding the analysis and testing of grains. The dispute was governed by Swiss law.
  • Obtaining a US$71 million ICC award for an affiliate of a leading CIS metals company. The award represented a third straight victory in a long-running dispute relating to a series of important supply contracts.
  • Obtaining a US$275 million award for a CIS aluminium company and successfully defending against over US$800 million in counterclaims in an arbitration filed in Zürich under the Swiss Rules against an important state-owned entity in Central Asia. The case involved complex issues of Swiss, English, BVI, and Russian law.

  • Obtaining a large award for an African minerals trading company in an ICC arbitration in Geneva against a multinational company involving the termination of an off-take agreement against the backdrop of the UN sanctions regime. The award was upheld in setting-aside proceedings before the Swiss Federal Supreme Court.

Data Protection

  • Successfully defending a Swiss insurance company in Swiss court proceedings against a data protection claim (right to information).

  • Assisting a sport association with the drafting of various privacy policies governed by Swiss law and EU GDPR.
  • Assisting a global pharmaceutical company with a multi-jurisdictional data protection project, including the implementation of binding corporate rules, dealing with cross-border data transfer issues, and assisting with data protection filings.
  • Assisting a Swiss-based company offering carpooling services in restructuring its internal organisation in a way that is compliant with Swiss data protection law and the EU GDPR. The assignment included the drafting of a number of compliance documents, such as the privacy policy and internal guidelines.
  • Assisting several multinational companies with internal investigations, the transfer of evidence from Switzerland to the United States, as well as judicial assistance for potential proceedings before U.S. authorities, such as the Office of Foreign Assets Control and the Department of Justice.

Intellectual Property

  • Representing a client in a trademark litigation before a Swiss German court.

  • Assisting a Swiss start-up in registering their trademarks, drafting a software-licensing agreement as well as the terms of use.