Birgit Sambeth
Mediator
Short Introduction
Can we afford not to try to mediate?
When we listen, we hear someone into existence ...
Mediation is an opportunity to trade hope for certainty!
How can we change the world, turn disputes into opportunities and transform conflictual situations into constructive communication and relationships?
Dispute prevention, management and resolution through individual or combined ADR processes and tools has changed my life, as well as the one of all those with whom I mediated for 25 years.
About Work
Birgit Sambeth is a Swiss citizen, Partner at Altenburger Ltd in Geneva.
As a former substitute Judge and judicial Conciliator, acting as Mediator, Arbitrator and President of Dispute Boards, she is acknowledged as a forward thinking, holistic and strategic dispute resolution specialist, and is regularly appointed as Neutral to prevent and resolve complex, international and domestic disputes in commercial and international agency/distribution contracts, M&A transactions, construction projects, employment and family/inheritance matters, often with cross cultural and multi-language components
She is a Distinguished Fellow of the International Academy of Mediators (IAM) and is accredited by numerous leading institutions including ICC, CEDR, CPR, ASA IMI, and WIPO. She is also a recognized mediator at the Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS) and served as the external Mediator for the WTO from 2016 to 2022.
In 2024, Birgit has been elected on ICSID Chair’s List of Conciliators at the International Centre for Settlement of Investor State Disputes.
Birgit teaches commercial mediation and mediation advocacy at the MIDS-Graduate Institute in Geneva, as well as at various universities worldwide, and she has played a key role in shaping the ADR landscape in Switzerland. She is the immediate past President of the Swiss Bar Association (2021–2023).
Regularly appointed to resolve high-stakes, multi-jurisdictional disputes, Birgit has been listed among the “Thought Leaders – Mediation” by Who’s Who Legal since 2018 and was named the “#1 most highly regarded mediator in Switzerland.
Expertise
- Employment & Workplace
- Private Client
- Commercial & Corporate
- Construction, Property & Planning
- Banking, Finance & Insurances
- Public Sector & Governance
- Culture, Lifestyle & Sport
- Equality & Social Justice
- Industry, Energy & Environment
- International Trade & Competition
- Healthcare & Personal Matters
- Technology, Media & IP
Languages
- English
- German
- French
- Italian (basic)
- Spanish
Memberships
Swiss Bar Association (FSA/SAV)
International Mediation Institute (IMI)
Swiss Federation of Mediators (FSM/SDM)
Swiss Chamber for Commercial Mediation (SCCM)
INSOL International (Insolvency Mediation)
International Academy of Mediators (IAM), Canada
Centre for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), London
International Institute for Conflict Prevention & Resolution (CPR), New York
Centre de Médiation et d’Arbitrage de Paris (CMAP)
Camera Arbitrale di Milano (CAM)
Court of Arbitration for Sport (CAS)
International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), World Bank Group
Shenzhen Court of International Arbitration (SCIA), China
International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) – Listed as Neutral
World Intellectual Property Organization (WIPO) – Listed as Neutral