Dr. Inka Hanefeld, LL.M. (NYU)
Founding and Managing Partner
Dr. Inka Hanefeld, LL.M.
Rechtsanwältin (also registered with the Paris Bar (Directive 98/5/CE)) – Attorney at law (New York)
Dr. Inka Hanefeld, LL.M. primarily acts as arbitrator and counsel in international arbitration proceedings in the fields of international trade, industrial plant and machine building, energy, banking & finance, as well as in post-M&A and investor-State disputes.
Her expertise has been recognized in various international rankings.
From 2013 to 2019, Inka was nominated by the Federal Republic of Germany for the ICSID list of arbitrators. From 2015 to 2020, she was also a member of the LCIA London Court of International Arbitration, and from 2015 to 2021, Inka served as Vice-President of the ICC International Court of Arbitration.
Before establishing her own private practice in 2005, Inka worked in the dispute resolution department of a leading international law firm for seven years from its offices in Vienna, New York, Frankfurt, and Hamburg. She holds a Master of Laws in International Legal Studies (LL.M.) from New York University School of Law and is admitted to the German and New York Bar. Moreover, she is a member of the Paris Bar (Directive 98/5/EC).
Her working languages are English and German.
As Arbitrator
- More than 100 cases as arbitrator, including cases with amounts in dispute valued in the several billions and several cases involving States or State entities
- Co-Arbitrator: 63 arbitrations (ICC, ICSID, SCC, DIS, PCA, VIAC, CEAC, ad hoc), 3 of which involved State-controlled entities or a sovereign State and 2 of which constituted investor-State Treaty Arbitrations
- Presiding Arbitrator: 36 arbitrations (ICC, ICSID, LCIA, DIS, GMAA, CEAC, Hamburg CC, ad hoc), 6 of which involved State-controlled entities and 3 of which constituted investor-State Treaty Arbitrations
- Sole Arbitrator: 7 arbitrations (ICC, DIS, VIAC, Hamburg CC), 1 of which involved a State-controlled entity
As Counsel
Party representation in numerous domestic and international arbitral proceedings (e.g., ICC, ICSID, DIS, ZHK, VIAC, AAA, ad hoc)
Others
- 3x Member of an ICSID Annulment Committee
- 1x Member of a LCIA Challenge Division
Arbitrator and Counsel, in particular in the following sectors: Energy, Industrial Plant Construction, Banking & Finance, post-M&A, investor-State
German
- English
- German
- “Inka Hanefeld is a leading arbitration practitioner extolled by peers as ‘brilliant’ and ‘impressive’. She is exceptionally active in the field and is acclaimed as ‘precise, efficient and very capable of handling the largest cases’.”
Who’s Who Legal - “Inka Hanefeld is a highly sought-after arbitrator and counsel known for ‘consistently delivering top-class service in complex cases’.”
Who's Who Legal - Recommended and named, inter alia, in GAR, Who’s Who Legal, Chambers Global, Chambers Europe, The Legal 500, JUVE
- “Inka Hanefeld of Hanefeld Rechtsanwälte is regarded as ‘very impressive’ by her peers. Recognized both as arbitrator and counsel, her expertise in project, trade and post M&A related disputes is ‘top drawer’.”
Who's Who Legal - “Inka Hanefeld is a ‘top arbitrator’, ‘very professional’ with a ‘distinct sense of justice’.”
The Legal 500 - “Inka Hanefeld [...] has both studied and practiced in New York. She is a well-regarded arbitrator whom interviewees champion as ‘extremely organized and sharp-minded’.”
Chambers Global - “Hailed as an extremely talented and effective advocate for her clients, sources praise Inka Hanefeld [...] for her arbitration expertise.”
Chambers Global - “Inka Hanefeld [...] in Hamburg is recognized as ‘an outstanding choice for arbitration cases - a fantastic advocate with a very successful track record’.”
Chambers Europe - “Dr. Inka Hanefeld [has] great expertise in the field”; “[is] sensationally well prepared.”; “[is] absolutely reliable as co-arbitrator.”; “[is] a pioneer for her generation.”; “[is] experienced and well connected.”
JUVE
- 2011
Founder of HANEFELD - 2006 - 2011
Friedrich Korch Hanefeld, Hamburg - 2002 - 2005
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Dispute Resolution Department, Frankfurt and Hamburg - 2002
New York State Bar Exam - 1999 - 2002
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Dispute Resolution Department, Vienna and New York - 1998 - 1999
Master of Laws in International Legal Studies (LL.M.), New York University School of Law - 1997 - 1998
Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, Dispute Resolution Department, Vienna - 1995 - 1997
Legal traineeship (Referendariat) in Lower Saxony including work experience with the United Nations Organization for Industrial Development (UNIDO) in Vienna - 1995
Doctor of Laws (Dr. iur.), University of Hamburg - 1989 - 1993
Studies of law at the University of Hamburg
- Fellow lecturer at the New York University School of Law (September 2012/2016, May 2020)
- Lecturer at the University of Hamburg for domestic and international arbitration (2011 until 2013)
| Date | Event | Speech | City | Country |
|---|---|---|---|---|
| 2020 | Harvard International Arbitration Law Students Association | International Arbitration in the new Era of Virtual Reality | Cambridge | USA |
| 2019 | CIArb Diploma in International Arbitration | Arbitration: Past, Present and the Future | Oxford | United Kingdom |
| 2019 | ICC Germany 4th Arbitration Day | Procedural and Practical Implications of Sanctions on Arbitration Proceedings | Frankfurt | Germany |
| 2019 | Copenhagen Arbitration Day | Inherent Powers in Arbitration | Copenhagen | Denmark |
| 2018 | Arbitration Forum of the Law and Economics Foundation | Fighting Institutional Bureaucracy | St. Gallen | Switzerland |
| 2017 | Science Po Conference | Inherent Powers of Arbitrators to Streamline the Proceedings | Paris | France |
| 2017 | YAWP | Introduction to Young Arbitral Practitioners | Singapore | Singapore |
| 2017 | BMJV | Dispute Resolution Venue Germany – The Arbitration Perspective | Berlin | Germany |
| 2017 | Finish Arbitration Days | The Work of the ICC Court in Practice | Helsinki | Finland |
| 2017 | LCIA | Regional Challenges to Arbitration in Germany | Tylney Hall | United Kingdom |
| 2017 | 1st European ICC Conference | Regional Challenges to Arbitration in Germany | Paris | France |
| 2017 | International Investment Arbitration | Challenges facing arbitrators in investment arbitration | Oxford | United Kingdom |
| 2016 | Conference organized by Young ArbitralWomen Practitioners | Women in Arbitration | Zurich | Switzerland |
| 2015 | Conference hosted by NYU | Limits to Party Autonomy imposed by Mandatory European Law | New York | USA |
| 2014 | Convergence and Divergence of Investment and International Commercial Arbitration Conference | The Value of the IBA Guidelines on Taking of Evidence | Santo Domingo | Dominican Republic |
| 2014 | DIS Fall Conference | Predictability and flexibility seen from a client's perspective | Berlin | Germany |
| 2013 | Energy Arbitration Center Switzerland | Dispute Resolution with regard to the Construction and Development of Off-Shore Wind Farms (in German) | Berlin | Germany |
| 2013 | Hamburger Schiedsgespräche | Annulment of Arbitral Awards from the Arbitrator's and Parties' Perspective (in German) | Hamburg | Germany |
| 2013 | Annual Spring Symposium at New York University | Project Finance Arbitration Panel | New York | USA |
| 2012 | Lecture at New York University | Arbitration in Banking & Finance | New York | USA |
| Year | Publication | Source |
|---|---|---|
| 2020 | The Prague Rules – The New Contender and its Old Champion | Festschrift für Roderich Thümmel zum 65. Geburtstag am 23.10.2020, pp. 283 et seq. |
| 2019 | Country Report: Germany | Weigand / Baumann (eds.), Practitioner’s Handbook on International Commercial Arbitration, 3rd ed. |
| 2019 | § 20 Arbitral Awards (in German) | Salger / Trittmann (eds.), Internationale Schiedsverfahren – Praxishandbuch |
| 2017 | Inherent Powers to Streamline the Proceedings | European International Arbitration Review 2017, pp. 49 et seq. |
| 2015 | International Arbitration between standardization and flexibility - Predictability and flexibility seen from a client’s perspective | SchiedsVZ 2015, pp. 20 et seq. |
| 2014 | Alternative Dispute Resolution with regard to (Off-Shore) Wind Farms (in German) | EnWZ 2014, pp. 537 et seq. |
| 2013 | Arbitration in Banking and Finance | NYU Journal of Law & Business 2013, pp. 917 et seq. |
| 2012 | Enforcement of Arbitral Awards that are Incapable of being Executed under Domestic Law | NYU Transnational Notes |
| 2010 | Country Report: Germany | Weigand (ed.), Practitioner’s Handbook on International Commercial Arbitration, 2nd ed. |
- Since June 2015, Vice President of the ICC International Court of Arbitration
- Since March 2015, member of the ICDR International Panel of Arbitrators
- From May 2015 to May 2020, member of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)
- From 2013 to 2019, nominated by the Federal Republic of Germany for the ICSID list of arbitrators
- Former Member of the ICC "Task Force on Arbitration involving States or State Entities"
- Recommended and named, inter alia, in GAR, Who’s Who Legal, Chambers Global, Chambers Europe, The Legal 500, JUVE
