Maxi Scherer

Practice Areas

Maxi Scherer has over 25 years of experience in international arbitration in both civil and common law systems. She has extensive experience in commercial and investor-State arbitrations across various sectors including energy (oil and gas, renewable energy, hydroelectric), pharmaceuticals, telecommunications, aerospace, construction and infrastructure, shipping and maritime, semiconductors, finance, cryptocurrency, intellectual property, hospitality, and steel and manufacturing. She has experience with all major institutional rules (ICC, LCIA, SIAC, HKIAC, ICSID, SCC, DIS, VIAC, PCA, among others) as well as conducting ad hoc UNCITRAL arbitrations.

Career

Maxi Scherer is Co-Founder of ArbBoutique. She is admitted to the bar in Paris (France) and as a solicitor in England and Wales. Maxi has represented clients and served as arbitrator or legal expert in more than 160 commercial and investor-State arbitrations. Her arbitrations regularly involve States, concern multi-billion amounts in dispute and are conducted in English, French and German.

Prior to co-founding ArbBoutique in 2024, Maxi acted as counsel and arbitrator for two decades at Wilmer Cutler Pickering Hale and Dorr LLP in London.

Maxi is a tenured Professor of Law at Queen Mary, University of London, where she holds the Chair for International Arbitration, Dispute Resolution and Energy Law. She was previously a Global Professor at NYU School of Law in Paris and has held visiting professorships at numerous prestigious institutions worldwide.

Professional Memberships

Maxi is President of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA), Co-Chair of the IBA Subcommittee on Rules and Guidelines, and a member of the Governing Board of the International Council for Commercial Arbitration (ICCA). She is on the panel of arbitrators of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID).

She serves on numerous arbitrator rosters including AIAC, HCCI, EDAC, HKIAC, ICSID, KCAB, and SIAC.

Clients

Regularly ranked by Lexology Index (formerly Who’s Who Legal), Chambers & Partners and Legal 500 as a leading arbitration practitioner, Maxi has been identified amongst the top 20 “Global Elite Thought Leaders.”

Chambers Global ranks Maxi among the “Most in Demand International Arbitrators – Europe” and describes her as “excellent” and “very diplomatic and commanding,” adding that “she knows when to be strict and when to be more flexible.”

Peers credit her as producing “stellar work” and “very skilled in unpacking complex investment treaty issues,” “widely considered as a first-rate name in arbitration,” “one of the greatest and most complete arbitrators of her generation” and “one of the most sought-after currently practicing.”

Work Highlights

Maxi has served as arbitrator in more than 160 commercial and investor-State arbitrations under all major institutional rules and ad hoc UNCITRAL procedures. Her arbitrations regularly involve States, concern multi-billion amounts in dispute (over 15+ billion USD total in dispute), and span 25+ jurisdictions.

Investment Treaty Arbitration (Selection):

• Presiding arbitrator in ICSID Case No. ARB/25/8 Orano Mining SAS v. Republic of Niger (language: French)

• Presiding arbitrator in an ad hoc BIT arbitration under the UNCITRAL Rules (1976) (seat London, amount in dispute approx. USD 440 million)

• President of ad hoc annulment committee in ICSID Case No. ARB/20/49 Ahron G. Frenkel v. Republic of Croatia

• Presiding arbitrator in ICSID Case No. ARB(AF)/22/4 RTI Rotalin Gas Trading AG and Rotalin Gaz Trading S.R.L. v. Republic of Moldova

• Presiding arbitrator in ICSID Case No. ARB/20/37 Durres Kurum Shipping SH. P.K. and others v. Republic of Albania

• Presiding arbitrator in ICSID Case No. ARB/20/15 EP Wind Project (Rom) Six Ltd. v. Romania

• Presiding arbitrator in ICSID Case No. ARB/20/2 Hope Services LLC v. Republic of Cameroon (language: French)

• Co-arbitrator in ICSID Case No. ARB/21/13 APG SGA SA and D.O.O. za promet i usluge Alma Quattro Beograd v. Republic of Serbia

• Co-arbitrator in ICSID Case No. ARB/22/34 Naftiran Intertrade Co. (NICO) Limited v. Kingdom of Bahrain

• Co-arbitrator in ICSID Case No. ARB/23/30 United Agencies Limited SA, Mediterranean Shipping Company Algérie SARL and Maghrebine des Transports & Auxiliaires SARL v. People’s Democratic Republic of Algeria (language: French)

• Presiding arbitrator in PCA Case No. 2018-37 Doutremepuich (France) v. Republic of Mauritius (languages: English and French)

• Presiding arbitrator in a PCA administered investor-State arbitration based on a production sharing agreement governed by UNCITRAL Rules concerning an oil and gas field in the Caucasus region (seat Sweden, amount in dispute over 3.5 billion USD)

Commercial Arbitration (Selection):

• Presiding arbitrator in an ICC arbitration concerning a joint venture dispute between European and Asian parties in the pharmaceutical sector (seat Germany, German law, amount is dispute approx. 12 billion USD)

• Presiding arbitrator in an ICC arbitration concerning sale-purchase agreements in the semiconductor sector (seat Zurich, Swiss law, amount in dispute approx. USD 10 million)

• Presiding arbitrator in an ad hoc arbitration under the UNCITRAL Rules concerning a shipping dispute between Chinese and Australian parties in the energy sector (seat Hong Kong, English law)

• Presiding arbitrator in an ICC arbitration concerning a joint venture dispute between Belgian parties in the aerospace sector (seat Belgium, Belgian law, amount in dispute several hundred million USD)

• Presiding arbitrator in consolidated ICC arbitration proceedings between a Singaporean party and an Eastern European State-owned energy company concerning the upgrade of an oil project infrastructure in Eastern Europe (seat Switzerland, Swiss and Kazakh law, amount in dispute approx. USD 50 million)

• Presiding arbitrator in consolidated ICC arbitrations between African parties (including one State-owned energy company) in the oil and gas sector (seat France, amount in dispute over 400 million USD)

• Presiding arbitrator in an ICC arbitration concerning a joint venture dispute between Spanish and Turkish parties concerning in a hydroelectric power plant (seat Switzerland, Swiss law, amount in dispute approx. USD 60 million)

• Presiding arbitrator in an ICC arbitration about the construction of a desalination project in the MENA region (seat Paris, amount in dispute approx. USD 150 million, language: French)

• Presiding arbitrator in an ICC arbitration regarding a telecommunications dispute in the Democratic Republic of the Congo (seat France, Congolese law, amount in dispute over USD 250 million)

• Presiding arbitrator in an ICC arbitration concerning the construction of a gas processing plant (seat UAE, English law, amount in dispute approx. USD 50 million)

• Presiding arbitrator in an ICC arbitration about several distribution and license agreements between US and Swiss parties in the pharmaceutical sector (seat Switzerland, Swiss law, amount in dispute over USD 85 million)

• Co-arbitrator in two parallel ICC arbitration proceedings concerning a finance agreement in the energy sector (seat France, amount in dispute approx. 270 million USD, language: French)

• Sole arbitrator in an ICC arbitration concerning the management of a major port (seat England, English law)

• Presiding arbitrator in an LCIA arbitration between Nigerian and English parties concerning a long-term gas contract (seat England, English law)

• Presiding arbitrator in two parallel LCIA arbitrations concerning a joint venture dispute involving more than 40 parties (seat England, English law)

• Presiding arbitrator in several consolidated LCIA arbitrations between Mauritian and Emirati parties concerning the sale of petroleum (seat England, English law)

• Presiding arbitrator in an LCIA arbitration involving a State and a State-owned company regarding the privatisation of a steel plant in South-Eastern Europe (amount in dispute approx. EUR 50 million)

• Presiding arbitrator in a HKIAC arbitration in relation to a cryptocurrency dispute (seat Hong Kong, Hong Kong law, amount in dispute approx. USD 300 million)

• Co-arbitrator in an ICC arbitration arising from alleged non-performance of a gas supply contract (seat Geneva, German law, amount in dispute quantified partially EUR 35 million)

• Co-arbitrator in a DIS arbitration and a parallel ICC arbitration, concerning the price revision of a long-term energy contract (German/Luxembourg law, amount in dispute: over 1.3 billion EUR, language: German)

• Presiding arbitrator in a Swiss Rules arbitration concerning a licence agreement in the hospitality sector between parties from Switzerland and the UK (Swiss law, Swiss seat, amount in dispute approx. 100 million USD)

• Presiding arbitrator in a SIAC arbitration in relation to an IP dispute between Singaporean and South Korean parties (seat Singapore, Singaporean law)

Expert in these Jurisdictions

Maxi has significant experience with disputes involving parties from and seated in jurisdictions across Europe, Asia, the Americas, Africa, and the Middle East, including:

• Europe: England and Wales, France, Germany, Switzerland, Belgium, Spain, Austria, Netherlands, Sweden, Poland, Czech Republic, Romania, Norway, Ireland, Portugal, Greece, Cyprus, Finland, Latvia, Moldova, Croatia

• Africa: Nigeria, Cameroon, Tunisia, Algeria, Mauritius, Egypt, Ethiopia, Kenya, Niger, Congo (DRC)

• Middle East: UAE (including DIFC), Saudi Arabia, Bahrain

• Asia: Hong Kong, China (PRC), Singapore, Japan, South Korea, India, Kazakhstan, Philippines, Malaysia, Thailand, Vietnam, Georgia/Caucasus region

• Americas: United States, Brazil, Canada, British Virgin Islands, Cayman Islands, Panama

• Other: Australia

Maxi is qualified as a solicitor in England and Wales and admitted to the bar in Paris, France. She has extensive experience with both civil law and common law systems, and regularly conducts proceedings under the laws of numerous jurisdictions including English law, French law, German law, Swiss law, and various other European, Asian, Middle Eastern, and African legal systems.

Languages Spoken

English, French, German

Awards