The global law firm Jones Day has announced that Thomas Weimann will join as a partner in its Global Disputes Practice, based in the Firm’s Düsseldorf Office.
Mr. Weimann is one of the leading dispute resolution lawyers in Germany, with a practice that spans a wide range of litigation and arbitration work, and a special focus on high-value construction-related disputes including plant construction, industrial engineering and civil construction projects, and disputes such as turn-key civil construction projects, power plants, sludge water plants, pulp mills, off-shore and on-shore energy infrastructure projects with a special focus on wind farms, cable laying and converter platforms, chemical industry, railway projects, shopping malls, and museums.
“In Thomas, we are adding a globally recognized disputes leader for our steadily growing Global Disputes practice in Germany”, said Ansgar Rempp, Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day’s German practice. “Following the arrival of Amy Kläsener, a leading German international arbitration lawyer who joined our Global Disputes Practice in May, we are becoming one of the leading dispute practices in Germany, in addition to being among the leading dispute resolution firms in the world.”
Mr. Weimann has represented German and international clients for more than 30 years in numerous well-known legal disputes before national courts in Germany and arbitration courts around the world. He has deep experience in transatlantic international disputes to be litigated in parallel in Europe and the United States, technology disputes, product liability, commercial law disputes, and post-M&A disputes. Mr. Weimann’s varying representations include more than 60 major construction arbitrations with a regional focus on Germany, the Arab region, the United States, and Russia. As the former President of the Chinese European Legal Association (“CELA”) and one of the founders of the Chinese European Arbitration Centre (“CEAC”), seated in Hamburg, he has well-developed links with China and sits as arbitrator on China International Economic and Trade Arbitration Commission (“CIETAC”) arbitrations.
“Thomas’ international litigation and arbitration experience in large scale construction, real estate, projects, and post-M&A disputes will add significant value for our clients because it complements our already strong offerings in those practices,” said Greg Shumaker, who leads Jones Day’s Global Disputes Practice. “He joins a growing team of more than 200 Global Disputes lawyers worldwide who advise clients on how to successfully resolve high-value business disputes wherever they arise. We look forward to adding his many talents to our team.”
With disputes such as the Flex | N | Gate proceedings that have been conducted in several jurisdictions for more than ten years before arbitration and state courts, Mr. Weimann’s work as lead counsel for the defendant has contributed to the development of German and international arbitration. In Germany, the arbitral award, rendered by a high profile tribunal and the highest DIS award ever rendered until then, was successfully challenged in annulment proceedings in front of the Frankfurt Higher Court of Appeals (OLG Frankfurt), a decision confirmed by the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof – BGH), Germany’s highest court of civil and criminal jurisdiction. Federal courts, state courts, and courts of appeals in the United States and provincial and appellate courts in Canada were dealing with several individual aspects of this well-known conflict.
“Thomas is not only a first-class international litigation counsel and arbitrator, but is also highly regarded throughout Düsseldorf’s business community,” says Ulrich Brauer, Partner-in-Charge of Jones Day’s Düsseldorf Office. “His arrival is another important step forward in the successful development of Jones Day’s Düsseldorf Office. We look forward to his contributions to the Firm.”
Jones Day’s Global Disputes Practice has generated significant industry attention in recent months. The Firm’s International Arbitration team received the elite “Band 1” ranking in the 2021 edition of Chambers USA, which praised the group as a “well-established team with expertise in commercial and investment arbitration that offers notable strength in handling disputes arising from the construction, energy and mining sectors.” Jones Day was also recognized as one of the world’s leading firms for international arbitration in the 2021 edition of the Global Arbitration Review 30, the sixth consecutive year in which the Firm was included in the prestigious list. Earlier this year, in addition to Ms. Kläsener in Frankfurt, leading arbitration lawyers Michelle Bradfield and Michael Lundberg joined the practice as partners in London and Perth, respectively, and in July four additional Global Disputes lawyers joined Mr. Lundberg in Perth.
“Jones Day has been one of the leading international law firms in the field of disputes for decades and I look forward using my international experience to contribute to the further development of this world-leading firm in Germany,” said Mr. Weimann.