Interactive case workshop – designing solutions under extreme situations
Can a binding dispute outcome be achieved in 48 hours?
What this session is about
When disputes arise late, under regulatory pressure, and with immovable deadlines, traditional litigation or arbitration alone is often incapable of delivering a solution in time. Yet business, safety, reputational and legal risks still need to be managed, and binding outcomes may be required within days or even hours.
This interactive side event explores how mixed-mode dispute resolution processes can be designed and deployed in practice, combining mediation, conciliation, dispute boards, expert determination and arbitration, rather than treating them as isolated silos.
Participants will work through a realistic, high-stakes case study and be invited to design a process capable of:
- enabling urgent performance,
- managing interim funding and risk allocation,
- producing a binding outcome within days,
- while preserving legal positions for later determination where appropriate.
The case study
The discussion will be based on a hypothetical dispute involving a national ski team and a European infrastructure and technology provider, arising just days before a major international competition. The case raises, among other things:
- urgent compliance and certification issues imposed by third parties,
- a multi-million Swiss franc emergency remediation requirement,
- liquidity constraints on both sides,
- reputational, sponsorship and athlete-safety risks,
- potential intellectual property and branding consequences if certification is lost, and
- a Swiss-law contract with an arbitration clause but no institutional rules.
A binding outcome (interim or final) must be achieved within 48 hours, failing which the competition cannot operate on time.
Participants will be asked to consider:
- how different ADR tools could be sequenced or combined,
- whether and when neutrals might “switch hats”,
- how far parties can go with waivers, confidentiality and consent, and
- what safeguards are needed to protect due process.
Format
- Short framing introduction on mixed-mode dispute resolution
- Live discussion of the case with the panel
- Reflections from different institutional and user perspectives
- Practical takeaways on process design under time pressure
- The focus is on what would actually work, and why.
Panellists
- Chelsey Baril
Head of the Operational Law Section, European Organization for Nuclear Research (CERN) - Torsten Bartsch
Former Associate General Counsel, Caterpillar SàRL - Prof. Jacques de Werra
Professor of Law & Member of the MIDS Committee (Geneva Master’s in International Dispute Settlement), University of Geneva
Founder & member of the board of directors of the Digital Law Center - Daduna Kokhreidze
Chief Legal and Contracts Officer, International Federation of Consulting Engineers (FIDIC) - Alexandre Mazuranic
Partner, BMG Avocats (Geneva)
Specialist in international arbitration and dispute resolution
Co-Chair of the ASA Construction Group - Marco Ruggiero
FIDIC President’s List Adjudicator
Disputes Board practitioner - Birgit Sambeth
Partner, Altenburger Ltd (Geneva)
Former President of the Swiss Bar
Accredited Mediator (FSA, FSM, IMI, SCCM)
Member of the ICSID Panel of Conciliators
Mixed Modes Process Designer - Korinna von Trotha
Executive Director, Swiss Arbitration Centre - Urs Weber-Stecher
Independent arbitrator and mediator
Vice-Chair of the Advisory Council for Mediation of the Swiss Arbitration Centre
Experienced in commercial and cross-border dispute resolution - Heike Wollgast
Head, IP Disputes Section, WIPO Arbitration and Mediation Center, World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO)
Moderator
- Jeremy Lack
Lawtech.ch & InnovADR
Who should attend
This session is designed for:
- lawyers advising on complex commercial, construction or technology matters,
- in-house counsel and business leaders,
- arbitrators, mediators and dispute board members,
- anyone interested in practical, user-driven dispute resolution design.
Why attend
This session is for you if you are interested in:
- moving beyond “mediation vs arbitration” debates,
- understanding how hybrid and “mixed-mode” processes can actually function,
- seeing how legal certainty and flexibility can coexist, or
- stress-testing your instincts under real-world constraints.
Registration
Standard pass, day pass or transferable pass needed.
Open registration.