Hendrik Puschmann

Hendrik has nearly 20 years' experience advising clients on a wide range of complex and high-value disputes, both in arbitration and in court. He also acts as arbitrator and mediator, and as expert witness on English law in foreign proceedings.

Hendrik has extensive experience in representing entrepreneurs, family offices, companies and governments in cases ranging across M&A, joint ventures, franchising, construction, engineering, insurance, shipping, commodities, art and cultural property and other fields.

He has acted as party representative and arbitrator in both commercial and investor-state arbitrations under various rules, such as LCIA, ICC, VIAC, SIAC, DIS, LMAA, UNCITRAL, ICSID and the ICSID Additional Facility. He also assists clients with the enforcement, appeal, annulment, and injunction of arbitral awards and has given strategic advice to several governments on their investment treaty portfolio.

Hendrik is multilingual and qualified in four jurisdictions (both civil law and common law), which enables him to handle cross-border issues effectively. He is known for his pragmatic and assertive approach to dispute resolution and advocacy.

An academic as well as a practitioner, he holds fellowships at both Green Templeton College, Oxford and Clare Hall, Cambridge, and has taught at a number of universities, including Exeter, the European Business School (Germany) the University of Malawi, Middlesex, and Linz (Austria). Widely published on a variety of arbitration matters, he is the principal author of a leading textbook on challenges against arbitrators and arbitral awards. He is currently completing a commentary of the LMAA Terms. 

Recent cases

As party representative

• Acting for the claimant in an arbitration concerning the sale and shipment of soybean meal (English law; GAFTA; London)
• Acting for the claimant in an arbitration arising out of a joint venture agreement for the provsion of medical supplies (English law; LCIA; London)
• Acting for a major international salvage and offshore construction services company in several arbitrations relating to charterparties, marine construction, and salvage contracts (English law; ad hoc/LMAA; London)
• Acting for the charterers in several interrelated LMAA charterparty disputes (London)
• Acting for a private company in relation to a claim against a state entity for breach of a joint venture agreement (English law; LCIA; London)
• Advising a state-owned central Asian power company in a dispute against a supplier of raw materials (English law; LCIA; London)
• Acting for an East European distributor of a major automotive brand in a dispute about the termination of interrelated retail and distribution agreements (German law; VIAC; Vienna)
• Assisted an investor with settling a favourable ICSID award
• Acted for a group of investors in an UNCITRAL BIT claim
• Representing a luxury travel goods retailer in several dispute against the developers of its online sales platform (German law; DIS; Berlin/English law; Mercantile Court)
• Party-appointed arbitrator in an arbitration between a US company and an African state entity for breach of a consultancy agreement (Law of an African jurisdiction; UNCITRAL Rules; Geneva)
• Acting for the contractor in a delay case relating to a combine cycle gas turbine plant in the Middle East (law of a Middle Eastern jurisdiction; ICC; London)
• Assisting a North American company with an UNCITRAL BIT arbitration against a sovereign state arising out of the revocation of a licence for a mine
• Acted for a property developer in an arbitration arising out of the contractual framework of a large-scale master-planned community (English law and the law of a Caribbean jurisdiction; LCIA; London)
• Represented an emerging markets investment fund in a dispute (and successful settlement negotiations) against a former member relating to the termination of their partnership agreement (English law and the law of a Caribbean jurisdiction; LCIA; London)
• Acted for an East Asian franchisee of a global retail brand in relation to the purported termination of the franchise (English law; UNCITRAL ad-hoc arbitration; London)
• Represented an EU telecoms company against a former director regarding breach of a settlement agreement and breach of director's duties (English law; SIAC; Singapore)
• Advised a consortium of construction companies in several insurance/reinsurance disputes under contracts governed by Brazilian, English, and French law (LCIA; London/ICC; Geneva)

As arbitrator and mediator

• Mediator in an ad-hoc mediation between a UK and a Polish party settling a dispute under a sales contract
• Party-appointed arbitrator in several LMAA charterparty and shipbuilding arbitrations (seat: London)
• Sole arbitrator in a VIAC arbitration (seat: Vienna) concerning the overhaul of a coal power plant
• Sole arbitrator in an ICAC arbitration (seat: Kyiv) arising out of an IT licensing and services contract
• Party-appointed arbitrator in an UNCITRAL arbitration (seat: Geneva) revoling around an educational services contract