Ulrike is one of the leading personalities in the field of dispute resolution - in particular for national and international arbitration. Due to her expertise, she is regularly appointed as arbitrator and advises her clients as party representative in complex proceedings. Two main core areas of Ulrike’s practice are turn-key construction (including energy related projects) and post-M&A (relying on her extensive experience as an advisor for corporate and M&A). Furthermore, she is a member of various boards and committees of international arbitration institutions.

What motivated you to specialise in arbitration?

I have always wanted to work internationally. I am passionate about dialogue, challenges, looking at things differently and solving problems. As I come from a family of lawyers, being a lawyer was an anti-climax – and the last thing I wanted to do. I wanted to be an ambassador. I am not exactly sure what stopped me, but I know my trigger moment for arbitration. In University I did a seminar on the CISG with Professor Dr. Claude Witz in Saarbrucken. It was not exactly the Vis Moot, but something very similar. I was a counsel for Respondent, and I absolutely fell in love with everything that it entailed. That’s when I realized I wanted to specialize and work in arbitration and that after all, I would enjoy being a lawyer.

What qualities make a successful arbitrator?

Being an arbitrator, besides knowing the law you in particular need soft skills. You need to listen, be strict but caring, be clear and have an out of the box thinking. You also must be permanently curious to understand briefs, motivations, contexts, people, cultures, expectations and don’t take things personally.

Empathy is extremely important and you need to be able to take people along, as if you had huge arms to take all parties (and at least the arbitrators) together and help them arriving in a safe harbour. During the journey, you must be flexible, but not lose sight of the harbour and be aware that albeit the wind may be stronger from the north or west, you should not lose confidence and passion, not miss the purpose.

It is also important to understand how real life is, so you are not unreasonable with assumptions and expectations, for example.

And of course, you must be independent, transparent and clear about mandates.

What makes Gantenberg Dispute Experts stand out from its competitors in the market?

To stand out, you must be unique. We are.

We are extremely dynamic, and don’t have a box to fit into. We live to our values, are focused, transparent to where we want to go and we all love challenges and actively seek them. Our team is spontaneous, very careful in communication and flexible. We have developed a natural approach to seeing things from many different sides and change perspectives; and to find the better end.

And of course, we love what we do! If you go to work happy even after a long night of drafting, that is a great sign that you are doing the right thing. Our clients seek our company and activity on their tricky paths.

More and more practitioners are leaving firms to set up their own arbitration boutiques. What are the main drivers for this in your experience?

The first thing that comes to mind is independence and avoiding conflicts of interest. But there is much more to it. You may feel self-contained after a couple of years of experience, and different from other practice areas, arbitration lawyers don’t really need big law firms.

So, what is the downside to setting up your own boutique? None. It will be more dynamic, more flexible and the decision making process will be much faster. Also joy and enthusiasm is more immanent. Generally, working in a boutique makes every tiny issue of business and work live very immanent. Great new motivating challenges for me.

To what extent is arbitral discretion limited by due process?

Due process is a fundamental stone of any process, but the “due process paranoia” can be a challenge for arbitral tribunals, especially when counsels (mis-)use due process arguments to jeopardize proceedings. That is where the arbitral tribunal must know its case, be clear and pursue a clear path without fear. Unfortunately, there are still enough arbitral tribunals who have no constant knowledge of their case and are easily intimidated.

In regards to due process paranoia the arbitration community could take some lesson from state court judges.

What are the advantages and disadvantages of arbitration compared to litigation?

Everyone talks about cost-efficiency as an advantage, but that is not necessarily true. Arbitration can (and very often is) be more costly and may even last longer than litigation. However, being able to choose the expertise of who will decide your dispute, as well as the language and applicable law, the immanence of witnesses and their interrogation are huge advantages along with the confidentiality. For complex huge and also international disputes (even inside Europe), there is no alternative to me.

What advice would you give to someone looking to start their own firm?

Go for it! It will turn out alright. Know your strengths, invest on them and keep your ears, eyes and mind open. Reality is always different from what you have expected, and even if you are super prepared, you will never be prepared for every situation you may face. Just trust yourself and do it.

What is the best piece of advice you’ve ever received?

The first one is trust your instincts. Intuition hardly fails.

The second is don’t be afraid of anything, in particular not of arbitral tribunals. You should be polite and collegiate, but don’t be afraid to stand your ground. That is very important to succeed.