Professional notice
The Vienna boutique won an ICSID claim against Argentina
| People in Who’s Who Legal | 3 |
|---|---|
| People in Future Leaders | 2 |
| Pending cases as counsel | 12 |
| Value of pending counsel work | US$1.3 billion |
| Treaty cases as counsel | 1 |
| Third-party funded cases | 2 |
| Current arbitrator appointments | 11 (6 as chair or sole) |
| Lawyers sitting as arbitrator | 3 |
NEW ENTRY: Vienna disputes boutique Knoetzl was founded in 2016, largely out of a breakaway team from fellow Austrian firm Wolf Theiss.
That team was led by well-known Austrian practitioner Florian Haugeneder, who had led Wolf Theiss’ international arbitration practice. He is the current president of the Austrian Arbitration Association and is also part of an ICC task force on corruption in arbitration.
Another of the founding partners is Patrizia Netal, formerly a partner at Platte Rechtsanwälte and one-time head of arbitration at Siemer Siegl Füreder & Partner. She is well known to the international arbitration community for serving as a director of the Willem C Vis Moot and is also a board member of the Vienna International Arbitral Centre.
Natascha Tunkel, who was associate at Wolf Theiss and is now partner at Knoetzl, has experience in insolvency-related matters. She is also Knoetzl’s head of investigations.
Knoetzl works on commercial and investment disputes, as well as arbitration-related litigation, but doesn’t like to share details about its cases. In two cases the firm has worked on that are public, it has achieved great results for claimants.
The first of those came in 2016, when Knoetzl helped Austrian State Printing House win a €5 million ICC award against Kosovo – over 85% of the original claim. The tribunal ruled that Kosovo paid funds under a supply contract for passports into an incorrect bank account, enabling a third-party fraudster to steal money owed to the company.
Five years later, in November 2021, Knoetzl picked up a win for Casinos Austria in an ICSID claim against Argentina over the revocation of a gaming licence. The casino group was awarded US$22 million for an unlawful expropriation, plus costs. Including interest, it is understood that the award is worth around US$36 million.
KNOETZL is a leading Austrian law firm dedicated to providing the highest quality of advocacy in arbitration and litigation, asset recovery and business crime.
KNOETZL’s arbitration practice encompasses international commercial arbitration, investment protection and arbitration-related court proceedings. KNOETZL’s expertise includes construction and engineering, energy, post-M&A, gaming, hospitality, automotive, IT and telecommunications, life science, healthcare and pharmaceuticals and aviation. The members of the arbitration team are routinely engaged as counsel and arbitrators under all significant arbitration rules.
KNOETZL’s team has been successfully involved in some of the largest and most complex commercial arbitrations in Austria and the CEE region of the last decade, and on behalf of some of the world’s largest companies. KNOETZL has a consistent track record of delivering favorable results to its clients. The distinct ability of KNOETZL to collaborate with partner law firms, experts and in-house counsel ensures high standards and efficient handling of the most complex cases.
KNOETZL is proud of providing high-end arbitration work with a truly cultural and gender diverse team at all levels, including partners. Our lawyers are widely regarded as leaders and innovators in the CEE and SEE regions, with top-tier international law firms routinely seeking out KNOETZL as co-counsel. The role KNOETZL’s team members hold in different institutions is testimony to the firm’s significance in the field of international arbitration.