Training arbitrators and lawyers: Geneva as a school

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A legal centre reproduces itself through training. The University of Geneva, with its law faculty and the master’s programme in international dispute settlement that it organises jointly with the Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies, trains lawyers from all over the world every year in arbitration, mediation and international litigation.¹ Geneva law firms take on foreign trainees and associates who leave with a knowledge of Swiss arbitration law and of the Geneva networks. The arbitral institutions, for their part, organise conferences and training courses, while the Swiss Arbitration Association brings practitioners together.

This teaching produces a network effect of the kind that Part C described for the Protestant Bank: Geneva alumni, scattered among the law firms, companies and administrations of the world, recommend Geneva as a seat and as a place to seek advice. For the financial centre, this school of international law is a resource: it supplies the lawyers, arbitrators and in-house counsel that traders, banks and asset managers need, in the languages of the financial centre, and it sustains Geneva’s reputation as a place where disputes are settled.

Notes

MIDS, Master in International Dispute Settlement (mids.ch): a specialised Master of Advanced Studies (LL.M.), organised by the joint centre (CIDS) of the University of Geneva and the Geneva Graduate Institute, whose faculty includes, among others, Zachary Douglas, Laurence Boisson de Chazournes, Thomas Schultz and Makane Moïse Mbengue. ↩

For general information only. This article does not constitute legal or tax advice, does not replace advice on an individual case and creates no lawyer-client relationship. It reflects the legal position as of September 2025.

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Dr Alexander Ressos, TEP

Rechtsanwalt/Attorney-at-Law

I am a Swiss attorney-at-law and also admitted as a solicitor in Hong Kong and in England & Wales, with almost 25 years of experience.

Together with my multilingual team, including Chinese, Japanese, Korean, Russian, Ukrainian and French native speakers, I advise companies and their owners from around the world on the full range of banking, corporate, commercial and tax law matters in Switzerland, including international tax planning, fiduciary services, and legal family office services including immigration & relocation or real estate investments. My practice has a particular focus on clients from growth and frontier markets in Greater China, Central Asia and the Caucasus, the rest of Asia, the Middle East, Africa and Latin America, and I equally advise clients from Europe and North America. Through an affiliated Swiss trust company, we also take care of the incorporation and ongoing administration of their companies and other structures, including accounting, tax returns and corporate secretarial services, and I serve as a professional director where required. With the support of a network of first-class cooperation partners, I also implement solutions worldwide.

My approach is to act as a trusted advisor who works directly with decision-makers, on an equal footing: I start from what you want to achieve and shape every structure, contract and tax decision around your commercial goals and how it improves your after-tax return. As “lawyers who make it happen”, my team and I stay involved until your company is set up, your structure is in place and your transaction has closed, and we remain available for any follow-on work that may be required. You benefit from bespoke solutions and personal attention, and sound, friendly and practical advice. We are not the lowest-cost provider in the market, nor do we intend to be; our aim is to deliver well-founded, proper solutions and excellent value for money.

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Training arbitrators and lawyers: Geneva as a school

Notes

Setting up or expanding in Switzerland?