Nicolas J.S. Lockhart

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...

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...

Manuel Bianchi della Porta advises entrepreneurs and companies. He assists them for their projects and when important operations are ahead (acquisitions, transmissions, restructuring, etc.). He helps them assess risks/opportunities and take difficult decisions. He is also on their side when weather turns bad. His relationship with clients is defined by personal commitment and availability. Recognized for his thoroughness, pragmatic approach and sense of priorities, he never loses sight of the...

Partner Sidonie Morvan has 20-years experience in real estate law with a wealth of expertise in construction law, having expedited developments in both the private (real estate transactions, brokerages, contracts for architects and builders, and leases) and public (planning and construction permits) sectors. Ms Morvan regularly advises developers, architects, real-estate agents, general contractors and property owners on the day-to-day management of their businesses, and can represent them be...

Thomas Goossens is an expert in the fields of banking and financial law, investment funds and corporate law. He regularly advises banks, securities dealers, financial institutions and trading companies, and assists promoters, asset managers of Swiss and foreign investment funds on regulatory matters. He also advises start-ups, entrepreneurs, investors, buyers, sellers and financial sponsors in all kinds of corporate finance deals, mergers and acquisitions, private equity, refinancing and proj...

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,...

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...

Sarah Busca Bonvin is a lawyer and tax expert specialised in both corporate and individual tax law. Together with M. Andrio Orler, she is responsible for CMS’ tax department in Geneva, which she joined in 2017. She worked for 15 years in the Geneva tax administration as Director of the tax affairs where she was responsible for tax rulings before being appointed Deputy Director-General in 2010. This experience has given her significant breadth and depth of knowledge and practice in many ...

Philippe Mantel is an attorney-at-law, member of the Geneva bar Association (ODAGE), the International Fiscal Association (IFA) and the association of Business Lawyers (AIBL). Philippe gained his experience working for about 10 years in the corporate tax department of the big fours in Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich. As from 2015, he was an associate and since 2019 a partner of Meyerlustenberger Lachenal (MLL) in Geneva, assisting private individuals and corporate clients in all tax matters. Phil...

Rayan Houdrouge advises and represents Swiss and multinational companies as well as international organizations on all employment law matters. He has an extensive experience in executive transfers, compensation packages, work regulations, internal audits and collective procedures such as business transfers and collective dismissals. Rayan Houdrouge is also an accredited social security expert (Swiss federal certificate) and regularly assists clients in matters related to social security and p...