Michael E. Schneider

Olivier Sigg is a partner in the Private Clients team as well as an experienced employment lawyer. He heads our Geneva office. He is known, both in Geneva and in London, where he worked for one year, as an expert in complex crossborder matters and is regularly instructed by foreign lawyers, in particular from common law jurisdictions. Olivier Sigg’s private client practice includes various estate-planning techniques. In particular, as a TEP expert, he specialises in trusts, foundations,...

Hubertus Hillerström is a partner in the Banking & Finance Team. He is specialised in national and international financings and mergers & acquisitions, including structured finance as well as private equity and venture capital transactions. He has accompanied numerous commodities and trade finance operations (oil and gas, metals and soft commodities) and follows closely the legislative changes in this field. Hubertus Hillerström also specialises in real estate transactions a...

Expert in corporate tax law, international tax planning, mergers and acquisitions, as well as strategy and transfer pricing. Also acts as counsel in domestic and international tax criminal proceedings. Seats on the Board of directors of several companies. He has extensive experience in banking tax law, as well as in taxation of investment structures (investment funds and corporate holdings) and commodity trading companies.

Christian Lüscher mainly focuses on litigation, banking and commercial law, construction law, landlord-tenant disputes, white collar crime, and international judicial assistance in civil and criminal matters. He was admitted at the Geneva Bar in 1990, and attended law school in the United States graduating as a Master of Laws (LL.M.) from Tulane Law School in 1991. He founded his own firm in 1994, and joined ZPG as a partner in 2005, which merged with CMS in 2014. In 2001, he was elected...

Andrio Orler is a top attorney recognized by Best Lawyers in the practice area(s) of Tax Law. Andrio, who practices law in Geneva, Switzerland, has been recognized since 2026. This recognition is based on an exhaustive peer-review survey, reflecting the high esteem in which Andrio is held by other top lawyers in the same geographic and legal practice area.

Adriano Antonietti advises domestic and foreign banking and financial institutions, as well as collective investment schemes and asset managers on a wide range of matters, in particular regulatory issues, private placements, the drafting of banking contracts and certain tax related matters (FATCA, CRS). He also defends banks and their clients in a number of disputes and deals with all aspects of corporate and commercial law. His main fields include financial products and services, including r...

Partner Pierre Ducret is a partner and co-head of the Private Clients and Sports Law departments of CMS von Erlach Partners. He advises and assists clients in complex litigation, mainly in civil and commercial matters, usually with international ramifications. He is particularly active in the field of inheritance law. He also acts as counsel or arbitrator in international arbitration proceedings. In addition to his dispute resolution practice, Pierre Ducret advises his clients on wealth and e...

Frédérique Bensahel is considered as a leading lawyer in the banking and financial sector in Switzerland. As Partner at FBT and head of its Banking and Finance group, Frédérique Bensahel advises Swiss and foreign financial institutions, in particular banks, asset managers, brokers, dealers as well as investment funds and fund managers on all regulatory and contractual issues. Frédérique Bensahel’s practice covers, in particular, fund and structu...

Diana Akikol represents our clients in complex commercial arbitrations and regularly sits as an arbitrator, often as president. She has been involved in more than 65 arbitrations seated in a number of jurisdictions and involving claims governed by various national laws. Her expertise extends to both institutional arbitrations (e.g. Swiss Rules, ICC, LCIA and DIS Rules) and ad hoc arbitrations (including UNCITRAL proceedings). Diana Akikol acts as counsel or arbitrator in all types of contract...

Michel Abt is the co-head of the Tax Group and a member of the Banking & Finance Group. He advises both natural persons and legal entities such as banks, family offices and trusts, as well as investors and administrators whether in Switzerland or abroad, with a specific emphasis on asset holding structures. Since 2009, Michel Abt has been advising a large number of French clients in their regularization process and has assisted them with their tax optimisation. He thus addresses all tax m...