Simon Manner has significant experience as counsel, in-house counsel and arbitrator, including as president, co-arbitrator, sole and emergency arbitrator, in arbitrations under various rules (ICC, DIS, FAI, SCC, KCAB, CEAC, RUCIP, GMAA, Hamburg Chamber of Commerce, ad hoc) and laws (Austrian, German, Indonesian, Korean, Spanish, Swedish, and Swiss law). He has handled construction, energy (gas and renewables), intellectual property, information technology, corporate shareholder, post-M&A and various contract, trade and other commercial disputes.

Describe your career to date.

I studied law at the University of Freiburg, Germany, worked as a trainee lawyer at the European Commission, was a research assistant to Professor Ingeborg Schwenzer, completed my PhD at the University of Basel, Switzerland, and then started as an associate at Hanefeld, one of Germany’s first dispute resolution boutique law firms.

In 2013, I joined a renewable energy company as an in-house lawyer, where I gained extensive experience in drafting and negotiating complex contracts and was globally responsible for handling the company’s disputes. In 2017, I decided to open my own boutique firm Manner Spangenberg. The boutique firm platform enables us to personally commit to our clients and cases, and to provide bespoke advice in a lean and dynamic structure, and I could not be happier with the development of my practice.

What motivated you to pursue a career in arbitration?

My participation in the Willem C. Vis Moot in Vienna, where I learned to resolve international commercial disputes by arbitration and met new friends and future colleagues, my two and a half years as a research assistant to Ingeborg Schwenzer, which allowed to me study and teach comparative and international contract law, and my internship with the ICC International Court of Arbitration in Paris, where I gained first-hand insight into the international arbitration community, encouraged me to pursue a career in arbitration.

How would you describe your philosophy as an arbitrator?

I am always conscious of party autonomy, differences in culture and experience and of ensuring that the parties are comfortable with the arbitral process affording them an efficient and fair resolution of their dispute with an enforceable outcome.

What are the legal and practical considerations businesses should take into account when considering the use of alternative dispute resolution methods, such as arbitration?

Dispute resolution mechanisms, whether alternative dispute methods or litigation, are all mechanisms to ultimately achieve the same – a swift and efficient resolution of a dispute. The key is to identify and to tailor the right mechanism to the right dispute. Businesses should therefore envisage already in the contract phase, which disputes could arise out of or in connection with their contractual relationship, including multi-party and multi-contract disputes, consider whether to agree on a multi-tier dispute resolution clause, make use of model clauses provided by arbitral institutions, and keep dispute resolution clauses as short and as simple as possible.

What do you expect to be the most significant impact on the arbitration market if current international economic conditions continue on their current trajectory?

I expect that supply chain disruptions will continue to cause difficulties and that disputes over the operation and interpretation of key contractual provisions, including price escalation, currency fluctuation and force majeure clauses as well as over legal concepts of frustration, hardship and change in circumstances will further increase.

Looking back over your career, what is your proudest moment?

Apart from having played the piano at an arbitration conference with more than 200 participants, my proudest moment is the founding of my own dispute resolution law firm in Hamburg.

What is one piece of advice you would give to a young lawyer hoping to one day be in your position?
Participate in a moot court competition!