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Laurence
Ponty
Partner
Geneva
Member of the Paris Bar, registered at the Geneva Bar, Solicitor, England & Wales (non-practising)
+41 (0) 22 555 82 20
Expertise
- International arbitration
- Cross-border litigation
- Enforcement & Asset recovery
- International contracts
- Wine law
Professional background
- Counsel, Archipel (2019-2021)
- Associate, Lalive, Geneva (2013-2018)
- Counsel at the Secretariat of the London Court of International Arbitration (LCIA, 2010-2013)
- Associate, Bonnard Lawson, Geneva (2006-2010).
Education
- Master's degree in International Commercial Law, University of Paris I Panthéon – Sorbonne (2003)
- Master’s degree in Business Law and postgraduate diploma in Russian Law, University Paris X Nanterre (2002)
- Master in Wine, Bordeaux Universitiy, with a focus on international dispute resolution in the wine sector (2022)
Languages
- French
- English
- Russian (Good command)

Professional affiliations
- Geneva Bar Association, Commission of Lawyers from Foreign Bars (CABE)
- Joint Chamber of Commerce of Switzerland and Eastern Europe (non-EU), Central Asia and South Caucasus countries (JCC), Board Member and Chair of the Legal & Tax Chapter
- Thought Leaders 4, Member of FIRE Starter Switzerland Committee
- Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA)
- Comité français de l’arbitrage (CFA)
- ArbitralWomen
- International Wine Law Association (IWLA)
Laurence Ponty has over 15 years’ experience representing private and state-owned entities of the EMEA and the CIS regions in complex arbitration proceedings in the fields of energy, construction, real estate, engineering, telecommunications and services, under all major arbitration rules.

She also frequently sits as an arbitrator and has experience in high-profile cross-border litigations, recognition and enforcement proceedings and asset recovery.

Laurence is a dual qualified lawyer (France and England & Wales) and is registered to practice in Geneva.

She is an active member of several professional associations. She serves as Board Member of the Joint Chamber of Commerce between Switzerland and Eastern Europe (non-EU), Central Asia and South Caucasus countries (JCC), as well as Chair of its Legal & Tax Chapter.
Full bio
Details of recent activities
- Representing a Moroccan company in a procurement related dispute against a French company (ICC Rules, Paris seat, French law)
- Advising a State in a telecommunication related dispute against local and off-shore companies (ICC Rules, Geneva seat, Swiss law)
- Representing a European-based client in a treaty claim dispute against an African State
- Representing Swiss-based clients in a construction dispute (ad hoc arbitration & Swiss Courts, Swiss law)
- Representing a wealthy EU country national in complex arbitral award enforcement proceedings in Switzerland
- Coordinating multi-jurisdictional recognition and enforcement proceedings in a complex recovery case
- Representing a European company in criminal proceedings in Switzerland in the context of a high-profile fraud scheme and recovery efforts
- Advising a major US company for the purpose of launching and coordinating criminal proceedings arising out of a complex bribery scheme
- Representing EU nationals against a bank in the context of an OFAC sanctions related dispute (Swiss courts, Swiss & US law)
- Representing Cyprus-based clients in injunction enforcement proceedings in Switzerland
- Acting as sole arbitrator in a sanctions related trading dispute between EMEA companies belonging to a Russian group and a Turkish company (ICC Rules, Geneva seat, Swiss law)
- Acting as co-arbitrator in dispute arising out of a contract for the supply and installation of a complex production unit between European companies (ICC Rules, Geneva seat, Swiss law)
- Acting as sole arbitrator in a dispute arising out of engineering agreements between an Asian company and UAE companies (ICC Rules, Paris seat, UAE law)
- Acting as sole arbitrator in a dispute arising out of a consultancy agreement between a CIS country national and an Italian company (ICC Rules, Geneva seat, Swiss law)
- Acting as sole arbitrator in a trading dispute between a Swiss company and UAE and Indian entities (Swiss Rules, Geneva seat, Swiss law)
- Acting as sole arbitrator in a dispute arising out of loan agreements between a Russian company and a Dutch company (Swiss Rules, Geneva seat, Russian law)
Full bio
Conferences
- Sovereign Arbitration Arising Out of Russia Ukraine Conflict, TL4 Sovereign & States Disputes and Enforcement Summit, London (January 2025)
- JCC Sanctions Roundtable, Zurich (September 2024)
- Provisional Measures in International Arbitration: Too much, too soon or too little too late, Ciarb YMG, Geneva (November 2023)
- Enforcing Awards against States – the French, Swiss and English perspectives, CEIA, Geneva (September 2023)
- Arbitration Panel, English Law Day, Yerevan (June 2023)
- Uzbekistan Privatization Webinar, JCC Legal & Tax Chapter (moderating) (March 2023)
- Sanctions Compliance Webinar, JCC Legal & Tax Chapter (moderating) (January 2023)
- Targeting Third Parties for Accessory Liability, ThoughtLeaders4, Fire Starters Global Summit: Dublin (February 2022)
Full bio
Publications
- Enforcement of arbitral awards in Switzerland co-authored with R. Papp, LexisNexis, December 2024
- The fate of a reference to the Court of Justice for a preliminary ruling, made on the eve of Brexit (London Steam-Ship Owners’ Mutual Insurance Association v Kingdom of Spain; The ‘Prestige’), LexisNexis, March 2022
- Challenging arbitral awards in Switzerland – no room for coronavirus (COVID-19) alibi; no room for issue estoppel, LexisNexis, September 2021
- The Protection of Foreign Investment in the Wine Sector (Chapter 10), co-authored with B. Rigaudeau & J-R. Costargent (Wine Law and Policy, From National Terroirs to a Global Market, Brill | Nijhoff, ed. J. Chaisse, F. Dias Simões, D. Friedmann, November 2020)