Pierre-Yves Gunter is a partner and co-head of the international arbitration group at Bär & Karrer. He graduated in 1987 from the Law School of Neuchâtel University (summa cum laude) and holds an LLM from Harvard Law School.
He has been acting since 1991 in the field of international commercial arbitration.
Up to December 2018, he has acted as counsel and arbitrator (chairman, sole arbitrator and party-appointed arbitrator) in Switzerland and abroad in a total of 207 arbitration proceedings, both ad hoc (including UNCITRAL) and administered (ICC, Swiss Rules, LCIA, ICDR, WIPO, FOSFA, Vienna International Arbitral Center, Stockholm Chamber of Commerce, etc).
He is regularly appointed as arbitrator by the leading arbitration institutions.
He is experienced in several fields, in particular disputes relating to agency, sales, distribution, joint venture, construction and complex projects, oil and gas, telecommunications and IT, intellectual property, pharmaceutical, real estate, hotel management, commodity and international trade, and corporate/post-M&A.
He also frequently represents parties in arbitration matters before the Swiss Supreme Court (appeals filed against arbitration awards) and before other Swiss courts.
Before joining Bär & Karrer, Mr Gunter worked for 19 years with Python (previously Python & Peter) and previously for four years with Lalive & Partners in Geneva, as well as for two years as a foreign associate in London and Paris with the international arbitration group at Clifford Chance.
Between 1996 and 1999, he was a member of the arbitration committee of the Geneva Chamber of Commerce and Industry (now the Geneva Swiss Chamber) and between 1991 and 1998 he was a member of the editorial board of the Swiss Arbitration Bulletin (Bulletin ASA). Between 2007 and 2009 he was co-chair of the international arbitration committee of the American Bar Association (section international law and practice). From March 2009 until March 2013, he was sitting as board member of the Singapore International Arbitration Centre (SIAC) and during that period was part of the rules revision committee.
He has written various articles on international arbitration and frequently appears as a speaker at conferences on arbitration.
Who is Who Legal says: Pierre-Yves Gunter stands out as "an extremely experienced and internationally renowned lawyer" with a strong regulatory and arbitration practice.