Dieter Hofmann heads the Litigation & Arbitration Team. His primary focus is dispute resolution in complex, mainly international cases, ranging from pre-litigation advice, representation of clients in court and in arbitration proceedings, coordination in cases involving multiple jurisdictions, enforcement of foreign judgments and arbitral awards and international legal assistance. He also sits as arbitrator in international arbitrations.

Dieter Hofmann has considerable experience in complex disputes arising from shareholders’ agreements, joint ventures, M&A, international contracts, engineering and construction projects, banking, finance, (re-)insurance, directors’ liability, insolvency etc.

Dieter Hofmann is Chair of the Zurich Bar’s Litigation Practice Group and has presented papers at international conferences and published on litigation and arbitration in Switzerland and abroad. In addition, he is a past Vice Chair of the American Bar Association Section of International Law’s International Litigation Committee and a past Chair of Dispute Resolution International (DRI).

Dieter Hofmann studied law at Zurich University (lic. iur. 1991). He has worked as a District Court law clerk in Zurich and as an attorney with major law firms in Zurich and in London. In 1994, he was admitted to the Zurich and Swiss Bar, and in 1999, he was also admitted as a Solicitor of the Supreme Court of England and Wales (not practising).

Dieter Hofmann speaks German, English and French. He is registered with the Zurich Bar Registry and is admitted to practise throughout Switzerland.

Bar Admissions
He is registered with the Zurich Bar Registry and is admitted to practise throughout Switzerland.

Significant Accomplishments

The Best Lawyers Awards 2025

WWL ranking - Arbitration Switzerland 2023

UBS/CS Merger Completed

Legalcommunity.ch Awards: Walder Wyss Receives Awards as Market Leading Firm and Labour Law Firm of the Year

Chambers and Partners has moved Walder Wyss’s Arbitration Team up to Band 2 in its 2023 Global Ranking

Who’s Who Legal has again recognized a record number of Walder Wyss arbitration practitioners as leaders in their field

The Best Lawyers Awards 2022

Record number of arbitration practitioners of Walder Wyss featured in Who’s Who Legal 2020

Data Switzerland Firm of the Year 2020

Nyrstar gab seine erfolgreiche finanzielle Restrukturierung bekannt

Walder Wyss advised 40 North in the acquisition and subsequent sale of shares in Clariant AG

Wichtiger Präzedenzfall: Erfolgreiche Vollstreckbarerklärung einer ausländischen Sicherungsmassnahme unter dem Lugano-Übereinkommen



Professional Associations

• Law Society, England and Wales
• Zurich and Swiss Bar Associations
• Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA)
• London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA)

Doing Business in Switzerland – A Practical Guide
International Arbitration 2021: Switzerland - Trends and Developments
Doing Business in Switzerland – A Practical Guide
Complex Commercial Litigation 2020: Chapter Switzerland
Produkthaftung in der Schweiz
Komplexe handelsrechtliche Auseinandersetzungen in der Schweiz 2019
Vollstreckung ausländischer Gerichtsurteile 2020 – Schweiz
Getting the Deal Through: Complex Commercial Litigation 2018 - Switzerland
5 Jahre ZPO aus der Sicht des internationalen Zivilprozesses und der Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit
Konsumenten in der Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit – Aus Schweizer Sicht
Kommentar zu Art. 5 und Art. 38–52 des Lugano-Übereinkommens
Vorsorgliche Massnahmen im Zusammenhang mit Generalversammlungen im Lichte der Rechtsprechung
Insurance Litigation 2016 – Switzerland
Wirtschaftsrechtliche Streitigkeiten vor staatlichen Gerichten – Schweiz
Insurance Litigation 2015 – Switzerland
Kommentar zu Art. 27 Swiss Rules
Kommentar zu Art. 257 der Schweizerischen Zivilprozessordnung («Rechtsschutz in klaren Fällen»)
New Rules on International Arbitration
IBA Rules of Evidence – Kommentar zu den IBA Rules über die Beweiserhebung in der internationalen Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit
Produkthaftpflicht in der Schweiz
Gerichtsstandvereinbarungen im Lichte des revidierten Lugano-Übereinkommens und der neuen Schweizerischen Zivilprozessordnung
Kommentar zu Art. 5 und Art. 38–52 des Lugano-Übereinkommens
New Landscape of Civil Procedure in Switzerland as of 1 January 2011
Produkthaftpflicht in der Schweiz
Kommentar zu Art. 257 der Schweizerischen Zivilprozessordnung («Rechtsschutz in klaren Fällen»)
Der Internationale Schiedsgerichthof in Handelssachen der Handelskammer der Russischen Föderation
Produktehaftpflichtrecht in der Schweiz
Privatbestechung – «Wenige vermögen dem höchsten Bieter zu widerstehen»
Arbitration Clauses Proposed by the EU Commission in Antitrust and Merger Procedures – Current Approach and Deficiencies
The Lugano Convention and the Swiss Speciality
Wie nehme ich in der Schweiz Beweise auf, ohne verhaftet zu werden?