Franz X. Stirnimann Fuentes is an international lawyer with over 25 years of experience in international and Swiss dispute resolution as well as Swiss commercial and white-collar criminal law.

He is admitted as an attorney in Switzerland, England & Wales (non-practising) as well as New York. He is a Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb). He has been appointed by the Government of Switzerland to the ICSID Panel of Conciliators.

He has acted as counsel and arbitrator in over 90 international arbitrations, both commercial and investor-State, under the rules of the ICC, ICSID, LCIA, UNCITRAL, the Swiss Rules, DIS (Germany), SCC (Stockholm), FAI (Finland), CAM, CIAM and CIMA (Madrid), VIAC (Vienna), CCB (Bogotá), CCL (Lima), and ad hoc.

Of Swiss and Latin American origin and trained and with work experience in both civil and common law, Franz X. Stirnimann Fuentes has worked in arbitrations conducted in English, Spanish, German and French (he drafts awards, orders, written submissions and procedural correspondence in these four languages), under the substantive laws of civil as well as common law jurisdictions. The arbitrations dealt with international joint ventures, M&A, construction/FIDIC, shareholder agreements, licensing/intellectual property rights, industrial manufacturing, international sales and investor-State disputes in the energy (oil & gas, electrical, renewables), mining, commodities, infrastructure/construction, automobile, aviation, telecommunications, food/beverage, and finance sectors.

Franz X. Stirnimann Fuentes is also a Swiss court litigator. He has tried more than 50 commercial cases before civil courts in both the German and French speaking part of Switzerland. This practice includes appearing before the Swiss Supreme Court in proceedings relating to the annulment of arbitral awards. He has also acted as advisor in court proceedings in England, Germany, Spain, the USA, and various countries in Latin America.

In addition, he regularly advises on cross-border commercial transactions subject to Swiss law (joint venture, shareholders, agency, distribution, commodity trading, construction, licensing, and R&D agreements) and has represented foreign clients in Swiss white-collar criminal matters (freezing of bank account in the context of a criminal investigation). He also occasionally advises on Swiss antitrust, IP/IT, customs, and employment law matters.

He is described by clients and peers as “An excellent counsel who is always to the point”; “A brilliant arbitrator”, and “A Swiss lawyer with a real international outlook”, and as having “extensive arbitration experience in Latin American cases” (Who’s Who Legal, Arbitration).

He holds a Doctorate/SJD from the University of Zurich (summa cum laude, Prof. Walther Hug Prize for best Swiss dissertation), a Master/LL.M. from Georgetown University (with distinction, Prof. Heinrich Kronstein Scholarship and Fellowship of the Swiss National Fund) and a law degree/JD from the Universities of Fribourg and Durham (UK).

He frequently publishes and gives panel presentations in his fields of work and is a board member of academic institutions and law journals in Switzerland, Spain, Latin America, and the USA. 

Emmanuel E. Atencio Delicio is a lawyer with over 10 years of experience in international dispute resolution and litigation in a wide range of civil and commercial matters.

He is admitted to practice in Argentina.

Emmanuel E. Atencio has worked in a number of international commercial arbitrations, under the rules of the ICC, LCIA, CAM (Madrid), CIAM (Madrid), CAS (Lausanne) and ad hoc, under Spanish, Swiss, Colombian, Mexican, Peruvian, Argentinian and other laws. The arbitrations have dealt with shareholders' agreements, financial investments, construction under FIDIC terms, oil and gas, and (renewable) energy.

Emmanuel E. Atencio is also a practising litigator in Argentina, where he represents both domestic and international companies in a wide range of civil and corporate matters, including Argentine labour and employment law, tax, international investments, corporate governance, shareholder disputes, joint ventures, financial investments, automotive, retail, and real estate.

He also advises in the area of corporate legal consulting and has extensive experience in M&A, joint ventures and regulatory law, real estate, private wealth law and tax planning, both for individuals and companies, in Argentina.

Emmanuel E. Atencio is an Argentine and Spanish citizen and has trained and worked with one of the leading firms of Argentina. He is fluent in Spanish and English and has working knowledge of French. He holds an LL.M. in International Business Law from the Universidad Complutense de Madrid, Spain, and an LL.B. with distinction from the Universidad Nacional de Cuyo, in Mendoza, Argentina, and has completed a course in International Arbitration at the University of Basel, Switzerland.

Zehaan Trivedi is an international disputes lawyer specialising in construction, commercial and investor-state disputes. His experience spans a variety of institutional rules including the ICC Rules, LCIA Rules, SIAC Rules and the ICSID Rules, among others. 

He is admitted to practice in India and is fluent in English, Hindi and Gujarati and has a basic knowledge of French. 

Zehaan Trivedi holds the MIDS LL.M. from the Graduate Institute Geneva and the University of Geneva (Switzerland), and an LL.B. (Hons.) from Gujarat National Law University (India). He has previously worked in four jurisdictions – India, Switzerland, France and the United Kingdom with several leading international law firms over a period of 12 years.

Among construction disputes, he has represented both Owners and Contractors, across a wide range of projects involving public works such as bridges, highways and roadways, tunnels, on and offshore oil and gas facilities, power plants etc. His expertise includes disputes under FIDIC Contracts, JCT Contracts and bespoke construction contracts. 

Among commercial disputes, he has experience in shareholder disputes, pre-and-post acquisition disputes, sales of goods disputes among others.

Among investor-state disputes, he has represented both States, corporations and individuals in claims brought under bilateral and multi-lateral international investment law treaties.

Param Bhalerao is an international lawyer with over four years of experience in international dispute resolution as well as sanctions advisory.

He is admitted to practice as an advocate in India.

Param Bhalerao has worked in a number of international arbitrations, both commercial and investor-state, under the rules of ICC, ICSID, LCIA, SIAC, UNCITRAL, Swiss Rules, DIS (Germany), CIMA (Madrid), DIAC (India), and ad-hoc., under the substantive laws of civil as well as common law jurisdictions, in the international joint ventures, pharmaceuticals, M&A, international sales, oil and gas, hotel, construction, and infrastructure sectors. His investor-state disputes experience has been in the banking, pharmaceuticals, mining, and infrastructure sectors.   

Param Bhalerao is also an Indian court litigator. His practice covers appearing before High Courts and the Supreme Court of India in arbitration-related proceedings, including interim reliefs, enforcement of awards, and annulment of awards. He has also advised on court proceedings in England and France. In addition, he advises on cross-border commercial transactions subject to Indian law, as well as sanctions regulations in the UK, EU, and Canada.

Param Bhalerao is of Indian origin and has trained and worked with global firms in Europe and India. He is fluent in English, Hindi, and Marathi, and has a basic knowledge of German and French. He holds the MIDS LL.M. from the Graduate Institute Geneva and the University of Geneva (Switzerland), and an LL.B. (Hons.) from Gujarat National Law University (India).

Naomi Esmel graduated from the University of Geneva (Bachelor of Law) and the University of Fribourg (Master of Law, summa cum laude). She also spent a semester at the University of Bologna as part of the University of Fribourg's exchange program, during which she was commended for her research in sports law and international environmental law.

Naomi Esmel previously worked as a legal assistant in a Geneva law firm specializing in tax and commercial law.

She also helped revise a brochure on social insurance law for students at a Geneva university.

A native French speaker, Naomi Esmel is also fluent in English and has a working knowledge of German.

Fabienne Joly is the firm's and Dr. Stirnimann's personal and administrative assistant.

After her high school diploma in Switzerland, Fabienne studied Nutrition and dietetics at Haute École de Santé de Genève, Switzerland, and then worked at a concept restaurant offering culinary workshops in Lausanne, Switzerland. Fabienne also has taken the IATA training course to qualify as an international flight attendant and worked in Vienna, Austria, as a flight attendant for a junior airline. She has worked in a sales team of a Swiss consumer goods company in the cosmetic and eyewear sectors and more recently, before joining the firm, as office manager of a Geneva law firm.

She is fluent in French, German and English.

Amani Nassereddine graduated in Law from the Universidad Autónoma de Madrid. She also holds a Master's Degree in Access to the Legal Profession to be admitted to practice in Spain and EU/EFTA.

During her final year of studies, she worked as an intern at the Provincial Criminal Court of Madrid. She also worked for a law firm in Tenerife specialising in criminal and administrative law.

During her years in Spain, she was a member of the Tenerife Equality Committee, where she represented the young people of Tenerife. She also has a long experience in administrative work for different international companies, both in Spain and in Beirut.

She is a native Spanish and Arabic speaker and fluent in English and French.