Pool of Arbitrators

Florian Schmidt-Gabain

Rechtsanwalt, Nobel & Hug Attorneys; President, Centre for Artistic Estates (ZKN)

Florian is an attorney and arbitrator focused on art law, copyright and entertainment law with a special focus on successions and inheritance law in the artistic field. He has been involved in several cases concerning looted art. He teaches Art Law at the Universities of Basel and Zurich and is co-founder and president of the Centre for Artistic Estates (Zentrum für künstlerische Nachlässe, ZKN) in Zurich. He is a member of the Legal Commission of the Swiss Music Publishers’ Association. Florian is a frequent speaker and has published extensively on issues related to art law and copyright. Recent articles and presentations examine the Swiss view on colonial artifacts or the legal ramifications of selling and buying fakes. Several times, he publicly called for an amicable settlement between the United Kingdom and Greece in the case of the Parthenon Marbles.

Florian’s law practice has included arbitration since 2010. He has represented parties in various arbitration procedures and has been a secretary to Arbitrators and Umpires in many disputes at both the domestic and international level. He was appointed to the original Arbitration pool of CAfA in January 2020.

Florian is a member of the Swiss Bar Association, the Zurich Bar Association, the Centre for Art Law (Geneva), INGRES (Institute for Commercial Rights’ Protection) and the International Association of Entertainment Lawyers (IAEL).

Florian’s educational background includes: Admission to the Zurich Bar (2012); Doctor of Law (thesis: “The Souls of the Laws”, University of Zurich, 2011); Marie-Curie-Scholarship of the European Union (London School of Economics, Istituto delle Science Umane, Florence, Ecole des Hautes Etudes en Sciences Sociales, 2006-2009); University Law Degree (lic. iur., University of Zurich, 2006) and Studium generale in Art History (University of Zurich, 2002-2006). Florian is fluent in German (mother tongue), English, French and Italian.

Jurisdiction: Switzerland