Dr Marc Jacob LL.M.

Partner

He has unparalleled advocacy skills … Marc is very experienced and nice to work with.

— Lexology 2025

About

Areas of FocusLitigation, Arbitration and Investigations Regulatory and Government Affairs Energy and Natural Resources Industrials Infrastructure, Construction and Transport Life Sciences International Arbitration

Professional QualificationsBarrister in England and WalesRechtsanwalt admitted with Rechtsanwaltskammer Frankfurt am Main

EXPERIENCE

The Netherlands in BIT / ad hoc arbitration against a Middle Eastern exploration and production company.
US/European joint venture in ICC arbitration against a multinational chemicals company.
Leading multinational healthcare company in ICC arbitration against a European life sciences company.
US energy and services corporation in multiple disputes concerning equipment manufacturing and global hedging services.
European specialty chemicals company in DIS arbitration against an African company.
Leading chemical producer in ad hoc arbitration and state court proceedings against a multinational petrochemical trading group.
Globally active investor in several BIT / UNCITRAL arbitrations concerning industrial plants in CEE.
UK bank in a BIT dispute against a West Asian government concerning the expropriation of a hospitality complex.
State-owned energy company of a former Soviet Republic in a BIT dispute against a CIS state.
Ukraine in BIT / SCC arbitration against the Russian state development corporation.
Lithuania in BIT / ICSID arbitration brought by a multinational group in relation to heat and power generation systems in Lithuania.
China in BIT / ICSID arbitration against a European investor in the consumer goods sector.
Croatia in BIT / ICSID arbitration against an Austrian investor in relation to real estate and post-Socialist property transformation.
Global investment firm headquartered in North America regarding BIT protection for infrastructure and energy investments in the Middle East.
European bank and a major European industrial company regarding BIT / ECT protection, sanctions and procedural recourse against a CIS state.
Energy investors and award creditors regarding recognition and enforcement of an ECT / UNCITRAL award.
Global leader in pharmaceuticals in German state court proceedings against a European biotech company.
Global consumer products company in German state court proceedings against a South American agricultural and export company.
European healthcare company in German law DIS arbitration brought by a European chemicals company under an SPA.
Middle Eastern company in ICC arbitration in Doha against a state-owned energy giant. The dispute arose from a long-term gas supply agreement.
US biotech company in ICC arbitration in France against a German company in the global pharmaceutical market.
Pro bono proceedings before the European Court of Human Rights, including “pushback” cases.

Languages

Awards and Recognitions

Handelsblatt in cooperation with Best Lawyers 2025/2026: Recommended for international arbitration, litigation and mediation
Lexology Index: Arbitration 2025 – Partners: “He has unparalleled advocacy skills”; “Marc is very experienced and nice to work with”; “He is an articulate, incisive and incredibly effective advocate"
Legal 500 Germany 2025: Recommended for trade and distribution: foreign trade law (including sanction law) as well as dispute resolution: arbitration (including international arbitration) and commercial litigation: “We had the great pleasure of working with Marc Jacob, whose exceptional legal acumen and dedication were instrumental in our case … Marc Jacob's deep expertise in Bilateral Investment Treaties (BITs) is unparalleled … extensive experience in [investment protection proceedings].”
Handelsblatt in cooperation with Best Lawyers 2024/2025: Recommended for international arbitration, litigation and mediation
Who's Who Legal 2024 – Arbitration Future Leaders – Partners: “He is an excellent advocate with outstanding skills”; “an excellent strategist and has great knowledge of public international law”; “Marc is diligent, attentive and responsive”; “Marc is a legal encyclopedia and can navigate with ease through the thorniest technical issues”
Who's Who Legal 2023 – Arbitration Future Leaders – Partners: “Marc is top-notch in the field”; “He can decipher the most complex legal issues and he is extremely comfortable with disputes involving complex legal issues”; “He knows how to handle disputes at the interface between common law and German civil law”
Legal 500 The Arbitration Powerlist: DACH 2023: Listed among “leading arbitration counsel in Germany, Austria and Switzerland” and ”practitioners that are deemed the gold standard by businesses”
GAR Global Arbitration Review 2022: “brilliant advocate and terrific colleague”; “He combines significant experience in international commercial and investment arbitration with an uncommon strategic sense”; “super impressive and persuasive practitioner who... masters not only his own systems of English and German law, but also has an outstanding grasp of the rules and processes of international law”; “highly regarded expert in the field of arbitration”
Legal Media Group's Expert Guides 2015-2019: Noted as a rising star in Commercial Arbitration (Germany)

Education

University of Frankfurt am Main, doctorate in law, summa cum laude

Harvard Law School, LL.M., Landon H. Gammon Fellowship for academic excellence

University College London, LL.B., first class honours

Publications

“Seat of Arbitration”, “Witnesses” and “Documentary Evidence” in Elgar Concise Encyclopedia of International Commercial Arbitration (F. Ferrari and F. Rosenfeld eds., Edward Elgar, 2025)
“Common Law of International Adjudication” in Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Procedural Law (H. Ruiz Fabri ed., Oxford University Press, forthcoming) (with M. Ulfat)
“Bilateral investment treaties”, Westlaw, Thomson Reuters, May 2024 (with T. Toweill)
“Investment treaty arbitration”, Westlaw, Thomson Reuters, April 2024 (with L. Bizikova)
“Multilateral investment treaties”, Westlaw, Thomson Reuters, February 2024 (with B. Fletcher)
“When can a state-linked entity bring an investment treaty claim?“, June 2022
“Art. 268 TFEU: Jurisdiction in Disputes Relating to Compensation” in Das Recht der Europäischen Union (Grabitz/Hilf/Nettesheim eds., C.H. Beck, 2021) (with M. Kottmann)
“Art. 340 TFEU: Action for Damages” in Das Recht der Europäischen Union (Grabitz/Hilf/Nettesheim eds., C.H. Beck, 2021) (with M. Kottmann)
“Dispute Settlement Mechanism under the London Agreement on German External Debts (1953)” in Max Planck Encyclopedia of International Procedural Law (H. Ruiz Fabri ed., Oxford University Press, 2019)
“Counterclaims and State Claims” in Contemporary and Emerging Issues on the Law of Damages and Valuation in International Investment Arbitration 347 (C. Beharry ed., Brill Nijhoff, 2018) (with J. Sharpe)
“Fair and Equitable Treatment: Content, Practice, Method” in International Investment Law 700 (M. Bungenberg et al. eds., C.H. Beck, Hart, Nomos, 2015) (with S. Schill)
“Going Soft: Towards a New Age of Soft Law in International Investment Law?” 8(1) World Arbitration & Mediation Review 1 (2014) (with S. Schill)
Precedent and Case-Based Reasoning in the European Court of Justice: Unfinished Business (Cambridge University Press, 2014; paperback, 2016)
“Technique and Contents of International Investment Treaties: Can the Form Affect the Substance?” in Preferential Trade and Investment Agreements: From Recalibration to Reintegration 81 (R. Hofmann et al. eds. Nomos, 2013)
“Common Structures of Investment Law in an Age of Increasingly Complex Treaty-Making” Columbia FDI Perspectives 94, May 2013 (with S. Schill)
“Trends in International Investment Agreements, 2010/2011: The Increasing Complexity of International Investment Law” in Yearbook on International Investment Law & Policy 141 (K. Sauvant ed., Oxford University Press, 2013) (with S. Schill)
“Investments, Bilateral Treaties” in Max Planck Encyclopedia of Public International Law 317 (R. Wolfrum ed., Oxford University Press, 2012)

Seminars

Marc Jacob is a regular speaker on issues of dispute resolution, arbitration and public international law.

Prior Experience

Before joining DLA Piper, Marc Jacob worked in a US law firm in Frankfurt. He was formerly a senior fellow at the Max Planck Institute for Comparative Public Law and International Law in Heidelberg.

Lecturer

Marc Jacob has taught investment arbitration, and international law, and contract and tort at the University of Tübingen and University College London.

Memberships And Affiliations