University Thomas Pfeiffer is New President of German Arbitration Institute
15 January 2026
Heidelberg legal scholar heads central contact point in Germany for arbitration and other dispute resolution procedures
Heidelberg legal scholar Prof. Dr Thomas Pfeiffer has been elected the new president of the German Arbitration Institute (DIS). The DIS is the central contact point in Germany for alternative dispute resolution procedures, in particular for national and international commercial disputes. Prof. Pfeiffer is director of the Institute for Comparative Law, Conflicts of Law and International Business Law at Heidelberg University. His term of office as DIS President lasts four years.
The German Arbitration Institute has a longstanding tradition and experience in the administration of arbitration cases and other dispute resolution mechanisms. They aim to settle commercial disputes outside public court proceedings. Furthermore, the DIS hosts the German Court of Arbitration for Sport established in 2008 and promotes research and teaching in the field of arbitration law. As a registered association, the DIS is independent and – according to Prof. Pfeiffer – only responsible to its over 1,600 members. They encompass, the DIS President says, all major actors in dispute resolution in Germany, including chambers of industry and trade, companies, barristers and corporate lawyers, as well as academics. Around 170 arbitration proceedings are initiated each year under the DIS Arbitration Rules – an upwards trend, Prof. Pfeiffer explains. The new Presiding Committee was elected by the DIS 13-person Board of Directors. Prof. Pfeiffer’s two vice-presidents are the lawyers Niuscha Bassiri (Brussels) and Dr Rouven F. Bodenheimer (Cologne).
Thomas Pfeiffer studied law at Goethe University Frankfurt. He also obtained a doctorate there and, after spending time as a visiting scholar at Yale Law School (USA), his habilitation. In 1994 he was appointed to a professorship at Bielefeld University; since 2002 the scholar has been teaching and doing research as professor of civil law, private international law, comparative law and international procedural law at the Faculty of Law of Heidelberg University. His main research interests include European and international private and procedural law.