Nicolas Curchod

Nicolas Curchod is an associate in Quinn Emanuel’s Zurich office. He is an attorney-at-law admitted to practice law before all Swiss courts, whose practice focuses on commercial litigation and arbitration.

Prior to joining the firm, Nicolas worked for the Supreme Court of Switzerland. As a law clerk to Justice Kathrin Klett and Chief Justice Martha Niquille, he drafted over 120 decisions of the Court in the fields of, inter alia, (international) arbitration, corporate law, IP, contract law, and international private law. He worked on some of the Court’s highest-profile cases, including high-stake cross-border disputes. In particular, he drafted the first decision in the history of the Court setting aside an award rendered in an investment treaty arbitration. Before his time at the Supreme Court, Nicolas was a Junior associate in the Corporate/M&A and Litigation/Arbitration teams of Homburger, a leading Swiss law firm.

Nicolas holds law degrees from the University of Zurich and St. Gallen as well as an LL.M. degree from Harvard Law School. In addition, he obtained a B.A. in business administration from the University of St. Gallen. In the course of his studies, he spent semesters abroad at the Singapore Management University and the University of São Paulo. He was also a visiting researcher at Sciences Po Paris.

Nicolas is in the process of finishing his PhD dissertation on the topic of judicial intervention in arbitration. In his thesis, he examines the ways in which courts both assist arbitral tribunals and exercise control over the arbitration process. He is the author of several articles on topics related to his practice areas, most recently a piece titled "Judicial Involvement in Arbitration: Towards a Collaborative Approach" that was published in the quarterly journal of the Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA Bulletin). He teaches private law at UniDistance, a university institute recognized by the Swiss Confederation, and is a former editor of the Harvard International Law Journal.

Nicolas speaks English, French, German and Portuguese.