Marc Blessing studied law at the University of Zurich, graduated in 1969 and obtained a doctoral degree in 1973. In 1972 he was admitted to the Zurich and Swiss Bar. Blessing has been partner of Bär & Karrer from 1979 to 2007.
He has more than thirty years of experience in international arbitration and mostly serves as Chairman (or party-nominated arbitrator) of international arbitral tribunals, either in ad hoc arbitrations, or in arbitrations under the major Institutional Arbitration Rules (such as ICC, LCIA, AAA-ICDR, Swiss Rules, WIPO Rules, DIS Rules, Singapore (SIAC), Beijing (CIETAC), Vienna Centre, Stockholm Arbitration Institute etc.); he is an accredited arbitrator of numerous other institutions. He is also frequently called to serve as mediator in international disputes.
Blessing also advises the parties as counsel or co-counsel in matters of international arbitration as well as serving as a legal expert on Swiss law and on the practice of international arbitration. The arbitrations cases handled involved international transactions, mergers & acquisitions, large constructions, finance, joint-ventures, oil & gas, IP-matters, EU- and US antitrust law, energy contracts, telecom, concessions and procurement contracts with states, pipelines, matters under Bilateral Investment Treaties and the Energy Charter Treaty. Many cases involve states and state-controlled entities.
Memberships and Public Offices: Honorary President of the Swiss Arbitration Association and Past President 1991 to 1997; Past Court Member of the LCIA – London Court of International Arbitration (1992-2004); Chartered Arbitrator, Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, London; Since 1996 regular lecturer at the Universities of Zurich and St. Gallen in LL.M.-, Executive M.B.L.- and MBA Programmes, particularly on EU Competition Law and Arbitration; Lecturer in the programs of the Chartered Institute of Arbitrators, in Oxford; Member of the Arbitration Council of the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) (1994-2001); Past Vice-President of the International Federation of Commercial Arbitration Institutions (IFCAI)(1991-2001); Zurich and Swiss Bar Association; International Bar Association (IBA).
Blessing is author of some seventy articles, books and published conference reports.
For a list of publications see:
http://www.baerkarrer.ch/publications-en/publikationen-results/?type=publications&author=415