Georg Scherpf

Full Profile

Georg works with the firm's Global Arbitration Group representing clients in commercial and investment arbitrations as well as in complex cross-border litigations. He also sits as arbitrator.

His commercial arbitration work covers a broad range of legal issues and sectors including international trade (CISG), corporate disputes (joint venture and post-M&A), energy (particularly wind, PV and CSP) as well as construction disputes. He has represented clients in ad hoc arbitrations seated in Germany, England, Switzerland, Austria, France, and Singapore and under various institutional rules (DIS, ICC, LCIA, AAA, SIAC and SCAI). Georg has a particular focus on disputes relating to investments and business transactions in the wider CIS region and the Western Balkans.   

His public international law experience includes advising clients in relation to bilateral investment treaties (BITs) and multilateral investment treaties including the Energy Charter Treaty (ECT). He has acted for investors in several complex treaty cases (ICSID, UNCITRAL and ad hoc) relating to infrastructure and energy investments in Spain, Czech Republic, Albania, and Germany. Closely related to his investment arbitration work, albeit of commercial nature, is his disputes work in the field of political risk insurance and climate change.  

Georg Scherpf studied law at Humboldt University Berlin and King’s College London, and practises as a German attorney (Rechtsanwalt) and a solicitor (England and Wales). Between 2013 and 2016 he was regional representative of the DIS40 and from 2016 to 2018 YIAG regional representative for Europe. Georg regularly publishes and speaks on international dispute resolution and arbitration. Clients and peers praise him as “astute and results-driven” with “a sharp mind who is very able at thinking outside of the box” (Who’s Who Legal Arbitration - Future Leaders). Clients commend Georg Scherpf for his “attention to detail” and “vigilance” whilst also being impressed with his cross-examination skills (GAR 100 - Global Arbitration Review). He is also recommended by Legal 500 and Legal Media Group's Expert Guides for commercial arbitration.

Before joining Clyde in 2021, Georg worked several years for the arbitration group of a German law firm.

Recognitions

• Who's Who Legal Future Arbitration Leaders listed since 2017

• Legal 500 - Arbitration recommended since 2019

• Expert Guides - Rising Star in Commercial Arbitration listed since 2019

Speaking Engagements

• Total Recall: Witness evidence and the fallibility of human memory, Arbitration Happy Hour

• Arbitrating with Public Entities, “Piercing the corporate veil, non-signatories, attribution of responsibility and umbrella clauses”, DIS40-CAM/CANACO-CCA

• Offshore Wind – Insights on the Legal Framework and Effective Dispute Resolution, Turkish Offshore Wind Energy Association & Russian Association of Wind Power Industry

• Imagine all the treaties – a comment on Nicolás M. Perrone’s book “Investment Treaties and the Legal Imagination: How Foreign Investors Play By Their Own Rules” and on the criticism of substantive investment law - Riga, Latvia, Baltic Arbitration Days

• Resolving and Managing Disputes in Offshore Wind and Investment Protection in Turkey - Hamburg, Germany / Istanbul, Turkey

• The Klein-Klein of Climate Change Contracts, Hamburg International Arbitration Days (HIAD) - Hamburg, Germany   

• Investment Arbitration in Practice: The Limits of Treaty Planning - Hamburg, Germany

• Protection of RES Investments – Bespoke Solutions - Kiev, Ukraine
• What Kind of Regulatory Changes Trigger Investment Arbitrations? – Czech Republic, Spain and now Ukraine? Arbitration Risks and Effects - Kiev, Ukraine
• DIS40: Taking of Evidence in International Arbitration: Prague Rules vs IBA Rules - Hamburg, Germany
• ICC Young Arbitrators Forum (ICC-YAF): Sellers’ Liability for Conformity of Goods under Domestic and International Law (CISG) - Riga, Latvia
• DIS40 Autumn Conference 2017:  World trade and investment arbitration – towards a new economic world order?- Berlin, Germany
• Young International Arbitration Group (YIAG): Document Production in International Arbitration - Moscow, Russia
• London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA): Emerging Trends in Institutional Arbitration - Berlin, Germany
• ICC Young Arbitrators Forum (ICC-YAF): Hands-on Third-Party Funding - Milan, Italy

Experience

• Representing a German energy utility in an ICC proceedings relating to an offshore wind park in the North Sea (post-M&A) 
• Counsel for a German utility in an ICSID proceedings against Spain relating to renewable energy investments
• Representing German investors in ad hoc arbitration against the Czech Republic relating to renewable energy investments
• Counsel in an ICC proceedings (post-M&A) relating to an infrastructure project  
• Representing an Austrian rail company in parallel SIAC arbitrations relating to a construction project in Asia
• Counsel in proceedings for a Swedish Investor in a multi-billion ICSID proceedings against Germany 
• Representing a Greek family-owned oil company in an ICSID proceedings against Albania
• Representing a Turkish engineering company in arbitration proceedings and parallel litigation before the High Court in London (successful application under section 67 Arbitration Act 1996)
• Advising an engineering firm in a dispute relating to a submarine power cable dispute
• Representing a German client in a multi-million euro DIS arbitration (post-M&A) in new media   
• Sitting as Arbitrator under the LCIA, DIS rules as well as ad hoc (both sole and panel appointments)

Selected Publications

• Investment Protection and Arbitration in the CIS Region
  German Arbitration Journal (German Arb. J.).
  SchiedsVZ 01/2020, 9. C.H. Beck
  Georg Scherpf, Nikita Kondrashov
• DIS Arbitration – Rules for Improved Efficiency
  Expert Guides
• Country Chapter: Germany – 2016 and 2017
  Global Arbitration Review, "The European Arbitration Review"
• Case Note: Home Department v Raytheon Systems
  German Arbitration Journal (German Arb. J.).
  SchiedsVZ 10/2015, 253. C.H. Beck
  Georg Scherpf, Shantanu Majumdar
• A Review of German Arbitration Law in 2014 and 2015
  Global Arbitration Review, Edition "EMEA Arbitration Review 2015"
  Dr Richard Happ, Georg Scherpf and Tim Rauschning
• The Revised LCIA Arbitration Rules 2014
  German Arbitration Journal (German Arb. J.).
  SchiedsVZ 11/2014, 227. C.H. Beck
  Georg Scherpf, Shantanu Majumdar
• A Review of German Arbitration Law in 2012 and 2013
  Global Arbitration Review, Edition "EMEA Arbitration Review 2014"
  Karolin Hoffmann, Dr Richard Happ, Dr René-Alexander Hirth, Georg Scherpf