Biography: Arbitration

Erik Schäfer is partner of Cohausz & Florack, Düsseldorf. He graduated from the University of Freiburg/Germany.

His main areas of practice are arbitration, matters with a technical 'flavour' (especially, IP and IT), and commercial law. Since 1994 he has been acting either as counsel or arbitrator in national and international arbitration proceedings. The subject matters of the disputes included inter alia software-projects, outsourcing; oil-facility construction; oil-exploration & development; trademark, know-how and patent licenses; purchase, distribution and R&D agreements; service and marketing contracts, shareholder and IP-purchase agreements; and IT outsourcing and patent vindications.

Mr Schäfer chaired the Task Force on IT & Arbitration and co-chaired the Task Force on Expertise Proceedings, and was member of the eDisclosure Task Force of the ICC Commission on Arbitration. He is listed on the INTA, VIAC, CEA, Danish Arbitration Institute, and CARAT panels. He is member of GRUR, LES, MARQUES, CEPANI, IBA, DIS, and ASA. He is a trained mediator.

The publications of Mr Schäfer cover a variety of topics pertaining to the fields in which he is active, lastly Arbitration and Mediation, Torggler (Ed.) Praxishandbuch Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit, Arbitration of Intellectual Property Law Disputes in Germany in Böckstiegel et al (Ed.), Arbitration in Germany, Arbitration in IT/IP-disputes in Kilian/Heussen (Ed.) Computerrechtshandbuch, N°28/2010.

Mr Schäfer speaks and writes English, Spanish, French and German. He has conducted arbitral proceedings as chairman or sole arbitrator in these languages.