Speaker details

Biography

Dr. Nikolaus Pitkowitz is founding partner and head of dispute resolution and real estate at Graf & Pitkowitz, Vienna. He holds law degrees from University of Vienna (JD and PhD) and University of Sankt Gallen, Switzerland (MBL) and is also qualified and certified as a Mediator. Dr. Pitkowitz co-founded Graf & Pitkowitz in 1995 which has since then developed into one of the leading Austrian law firms. His practice has always been predominantly international and expanded from transactional work to international dispute resolution where he acted as party counsel and arbitrator in over 100 international disputes, in a range from smaller to multibillion cases. Nikolaus Pitkowitz is Vice-President of the Vienna International Arbitral Centre (VIAC), arbitrator and panel member of all leading arbitration institutions, and Fellow of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators (FCIArb). He also acts as Vice-Chair of the International Arbitration Committee of the Section of International Law of the American Bar Association (ABA) and Court Member of the Casablanca International Mediation and Arbitration Centre (CIMAC). Dr. Pitkowitz is also active as counsel in significant real estate projects and currently serves as chair of the Advisory Board of the IBA Real Estate Section, the world’s largest association of real estate practitioners. Dr. Pitkowitz frequently speaks at seminars and is author of over 50 publications including a treatise on setting aside arbitral awards (2008) and the Handbook on Third Party Funding in International Arbitration (2018). For the last decade he has continuously received highest rankings in his fields of expertise in reputable guides such as Chambers Global (Band 2) and the TREND Ranking of Best Austrian Attorneys (top ten).