Find Lawyers in Geneva, Switzerland
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Practice Areas
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...
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...
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...
A Senior Counsel at Lenz & Staehelin, Mark Barmes contributes actively in the field of wealth planning in Switzerland and particularly in connection with trusts and trust disputes.Mark Barmes also acts for international organizations in employment disputes before the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organization. Mark Barmes studied economics and law at the University of Queensland, Brisbane, Australia. He is qualified as a solicitor in Australia (1987) and in England a...
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...
Jean-Luc Bochatay is the cofounder and the chairman of the FBT Attorneys-at-law. He has broad experience in tax, finance and corporate commercial issues regarding Swiss and foreign corporations and their shareholders. He regularly advises individuals and corporate clients on complex domestic and cross-border matters. Jean-Luc Bochatay has extensive experience in handling and coordinating multi-jurisdictional projects. He is considered as a leading expert in Swiss-French regulatory and tax mat...
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 ...
Jamar E. Brown specializes in international aspects of private client practice and dispute resolution. He regularly advises trust companies and family offices on financial account information exchange regimes, including the U.S. Foreign Account Tax Compliance Act and the Organization for Economic Co-operation and Development’s Standard for the Automatic Exchange of Financial Account Information. He also coordinates cross-border litigation for private clients and corporate trustees, and ...
Partner Olivier Carrard mainly focuses on Sports law, litigation, arbitration, commercial law, construction law, inheritance law and bankruptcy. Graduated from the University of Fribourg (1982), he was admitted at the Geneva Bar in 1985. He worked at the General Direction of SBS (Basel). He founded his own firm in 1990, and joined ZPG as a partner in 2005, which merged with CMS in 2014. Olivier Carrard is now a Partner of CMS Geneva office. Since January 1st 2016, he has been appointed in 98 ...
Yves de Coulon heads the Real Estate and Construction practice group at BianchiSchwald LLC. He has an in-depth knowledge of the Lake Geneva region real estate market. He is one of the founding partners of the firm. His practice focuses on all majorfields of real estate industry: transactions, construction, leases, management of real estate assets, financing and investmentvehicles, public procurement and zoning as well as urban and mobility planning. He is President of the listed real fund Bon...
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...
Shelby R. du Pasquier is considered as a leading lawyer in banking and financial services in Switzerland. He is the co-head and Partner of the Banking and Finance group of Lenz & Staehelin in Geneva. Shelby R. du Pasquier advises a number of Swiss and international financial institutions, as well as Swiss and offshore private equity, hedge funds and funds managers. He is a frequent speaker at professional conferences on banking and financial law issues, as well as investment funds. Shelby...
Jean-Blaise Eckert is considered as a leading lawyer in tax and private client matters in Switzerland. He is the co-head and a Partner of the tax group of Lenz & Staehelin. He advises a number of multinational groups of companies as well as HNWIs. He sits on the board of a number of public and private companies. Jean-Blaise is a frequent speaker at professional conferences on tax matters. Jean-Blaise is General Secretary of the International Fiscal Association (IFA). Jean-Blaise Eckert st...
Serge Fasel is a Partner with FBT and head of its Litigation and Arbitration group. He has extensive experience both in Swiss and international court litigation and arbitration. His fields of activities cover all forms of commercial disputes, particularly in the financial sector.Serge Fasel is also active in the areas of insolvency law, employment law and economic crime. He has a vast knowledge of the Swiss judicial environment. He is recommended by Legal500 for his expertise in dispute resol...
Dr. Favre-Bulle has more than 25 years of experience in dispute resolution (arbitration as counsel or arbitrator, ADR, court litigation). He has been involved in more than 245 arbitrations (e.g. sales agreements, agency & distribution, licences, joint ventures, shareholders agreements, post-M&A disputes, etc., in various business industries such as energy, construction, luxury goods, telecommunications, pharmaceuticals, banking, aerospace, sports, investment protection, etc.). At Lenz...
Partner Pascal Favre is the head of the Corporate/M&A and Competition Practice Groups of CMS Geneva. Pascal regularly advises clients on all types of international and domestic M&A transactions, transaction finance, corporate restructurings, relocations, corporate law and general contract matters. His practice focuses particularly on joint ventures and projects based both in Switzerland and abroad. Pascal also has extensive experience in acquisition finance, corporate lending, crowdfu...
Rodolphe Gautier heads the Dispute Resolution practice of Geneva. He has more than 15 years of experience working in litigation and arbitration. His practice focuses on commercial and banking disputes in Switzerland and international arbitration involving Swiss-connected parties, assets, substantive law or seats of arbitration. He frequently acts for multinationals, domestic companies and individuals before civil and criminal courts and arbitral tribunals. His practice also includes applicati...
Roman Graf is a partner at Lenz & Staehelin. He specializes in M&A (including private equity) transactions and insolvency and has extensive experience in complex national and international M&A transactions and cross-border restructurings. He also regularly advises companies, managers, and creditors on insolvencies and corporate reorganizations (including management liability). His other areas of practice include corporate, commercial and contract law, corporate finance, and corpor...
Pierre-Alain Guillaume is a tax partner with Walder Wyss. He specializes in Swiss and international taxation. His mission is to reduce our clients’ tax burden to the bare minimum and to prevent any tax risk at their level, while complying fully with applicable tax rules. He handles matters related to direct taxes (individual income tax, wealth tax, corporate income tax, capital tax) as well as to indirect taxes (VAT, withholding tax, gift tax and inheritance tax). He provides the follow...
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...
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...
A Partner at Lenz & Staehelin's Geneva office, Dr. Jacques Iffland is a specialist in corporate law, securities regulation and M&A, with an emphasis on transactions involving public companies. He regularly advises listed companies, investors and financial intermediaries. Jacques Iffland is authorized to represent issuers before the SIX Swiss Exchange. After graduating from University of Lausanne (Dr iur, 1994), he was a legal adviser with the Swiss Takeover Board (1997). Jacques Iffla...
Partner Daniel Kinzer advises and defends businesses and individuals in regards to contentious matters in the areas of criminal law, economic criminal law, administrative criminal law, contractual and financial litigation, real estate law (public and private), employment law (public service and private law), computer law and data protection. Following his graduation from the University of Oxford (UK) with a MA in Physics and Philosophy, Daniel Kinzer obtained a degree in Swiss law and a Maste...
David Ledermann is an expert on corporate law, M&A and financing transactions with a particular emphasis on complex equity financing for privately held companies, convertible debt financing and debt financing backed by traditional and non-traditional assets (such as art collection), where he regularly advises Swiss and international investors, borrowers and lenders. He also has a broad experience in M&A transactions (share deal as well as asset deal) across a wide range of industries ...
Counsel Fabien Liégeois advises businesses (groups, banks and SMEs) and individuals on Swiss and international taxation matters.His practice focuses on restructurings (mergers and acquisitions, demergers or transfers of assets), cross-border transactions and setting up businesses in Switzerland. He also assists individuals in their relocation to Switzerland (wealth and inheritance planning), in particular in anticipating the legal and economic consequences of such decisions. He also de...
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...
Hikmat Maleh is a criminal and commercial litigator. He is notably recognized for his work in white-collar crime, asset recovery and investigations. Hikmat Maleh represents clients before Swiss courts in complex litigation, with a focus on multi-jurisdictional proceedings arising out of financial sector disputes. He co-heads the Investigations practice group in Geneva and is recommended in the national and global editions of Who's Who Legal's "Business Crime Defense" guides. Hikmat Maleh is t...
Dr. Lucien Masmejan is considered as a leading lawyer in private client matters in Switzerland. Head of the Private Clients group in Geneva and Lausanne, he chairs the board of L&S Trust Services SA. His main practice area is private clients, with a broad scope including tax law, real estate as well as general contractual and corporate matters. Lucien Masmejan advises Swiss and international families or privately owned companies as well as their owners, amongst whom a number of HNWIs. He ...
Dr. Valérie Menoud is a partner at Lenz & Staehelin. She specializes in banking and finance law, as well as corporate law. She advises Swiss and international clients from the banking, insurance, and wealth management sectors on a wide range of issues, including regulatory, compliance and contractual matters. Valérie Menoud regularly assists in dispute proceedings, in particular in financial matters, and represents clients in proceedings before the Swiss Financial Market Sup...
Managing Partner at Lenz & Staehelin's Geneva office, Dr. Benoît Merkt is a leading expert in competition law and is renowned for his first-rate practice. He specializes in all areas of Swiss and European merger control work and competition law, notably in the banking and finance, energy, high-tech, infrastructures (electricity), consumer goods, chemical, luxury goods, motor-car distribution, public broadcasting and retail sectors. He has been responsible for a large number of merge...
A Partner at Lenz & Staehelin’s Geneva office, Cécile Berger Meyer leads the Real Estate practice group of Lenz & Staehelin in Geneva. She advises both private and institutional clients in the field of real estate law, and in respect of both civil matters (purchases, sales, structuring and financing) and administrative law matters (planning, construction licenses, restrictions on acquisitions). Cécile Berger Meyer is also a judge with the Geneva Lease Court (landlo...
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...
Frédéric Neukomm is a certified tax expert in the Geneva office. His main areas of work are company tax law and tax law for high net worth individuals. He also works in the fields of banking and finance. Frédéric Neukomm graduated from the University of Fribourg (2000) and studied Law at Georgetown University (2003). He was admitted to the Geneva Bar in 2005. Frédéric joined Lenz & Staehelin in 2005 and became a Partner in 2013.
Miguel Oural is a partner in the Litigation department of Lenz & Staehelin and divides his time between our offices in Geneva and Lausanne. He is an expert on national and international complex litigation. He advises individual and corporate clients on various criminal law matters, including international mutual legal assistance. Other areas of his practice include internal investigations, tort law and commercial and contract law. Miguel Oural graduated from the universities of Geneva and...
Floran Ponce is a lawyer and certified tax expert advising Swiss and foreign corporations, investment funds and banks on a broad range of domestic and international tax and commercial law matters. He advises them on aspects relating to mergers, acquisitions, divestitures, financing transactions and restructurings, as well as on the management of tax affairs and controversies before Swiss tax authorities. He also assists companies and corporate executives on executive compensation and private ...
Fedor Poskriakov is a partner at Lenz & Staehelin in the Banking and Finance group in Geneva and specializes in banking, securities and finance law with a focus on Fintech. He regularly advises on various regulatory, contractual and corporate matters. His practice covers banking, investment management and alternative investments, including private equity and hedge funds. He also advises on complex asset structuring and protection for business and private assets. His other practice areas i...
Philippe Pulfer is widely recognised as one of Switzerland’s leading private client lawyers and, for nearly 20 years, has been constantly top-ranked by all major professional directories. He is, according to Chamber HNW, ‘the go-to person in Switzerland’ in his area of practice and has been described by Legal 500 as 'one of the most knowledgeable trust and private client practitioners in Switzerland'. He has been included in the Legal Week Private Client Global Elite since t...
Dr. François Rayroux is the head of the Investment Management group of Lenz & Staehelin in Geneva. He advises a number of Swiss and international financial institutions in all banking, asset management and regulatory matters, with a particular focus on fund management and distribution as well as all types of financial products, in particular derivative instruments. Considered as a leading lawyer in banking and asset management law in Switzerland, François Rayroux has been co...
Andreas Rötheli heads the Corporate and M&A practice group of Lenz & Staehelin in Geneva. He regularly advises on international and domestic transactions, including private equity buy-outs and transactional real estate matters. Andreas Rötheli is consistently recommended by many rating agencies in his practice areas. Andreas Rötheli graduated from University of Geneva (1988) and also graduated from New York University School of Law (1996). He joined Lenz & Staehelin...
Sara Rousselle-Ruffieux is a Counsel at the Geneva office of Lenz & Staehelin, where she co-heads the Employment, Immigration and Pension group. As an accredited labour law expert (SBA certificate), she advises national and multinational companies as well as international organizations on employment, immigration and social security matters. Her expertise encompasses both individual employment relationships (contract, company regulation, participation or bonus plan, non-competition clause,...
Fouad Sayegh is a partner in the tax team. His expertise covers most aspects of domestic and international taxation. He regularly advises high net worth families in their relocation, wealth reorganization, asset protection, estate planning and charitable projects, which often includes tax advice in relation to trusts, private foundations and investment vehicles. In the field of corporate tax, his practice includes advising on M&A transactions, corporate reorganizations, double tax treaty ...
Daniel Schafer is a certified tax expert with experience in administration, contract and commercial law. He practices domestic and international taxation, with a special focus on corporate tax (including M&A, restructuring and relocation, private equity), Swiss VAT and real estate taxation. He also advises on tax related questions in connection with private clients (UHNWIs) as well as on real estate matters (transaction, structuring, acquisition). He is the Hiring Partner at Lenz & St...
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,...
Olivier Stahler specializes in banking and finance law. He acts for a broad range of Swiss and foreign financial institutions, including banks, insurance companies and fund managers, as well as commodities traders and industrial groups. His work includes regulatory advice in the context of the granting of licences for banks, securities houses and collective investment schemes by the Swiss financial market supervisory authority. Olivier Stahler is also involved in the structuring of financial ...
Jean-Louis Tsimaratos is a Partner with FBT in the Banking and Finance group.He advises a number of Swiss and international banking institutions, as well as companies active in asset management, securities dealing or intermediation as well as Swiss and foreign funds and fund managers. Jean-Louis Tsimaratos has been nominated by various professional organizations in his capacity as expert in banking and financial law.Jean-Louis Tsimaratos also benefits from a broad experience in asset manageme...
Daniel Tunik is a partner in the Litigation and Arbitration group of Lenz & Staehelin in Geneva and is active in both court litigation and international arbitration. His fields of activity cover all forms of commercial disputes, notably in the banking sector. He is also active in the areas of insolvency law, white collar crime and employment disputes. Daniel Tunik graduated from the University of Geneva (lic iur, 1990) and from the Geneva Graduate Institute for International Studies (Dipl...
Marco Villa is a partner with FBT and a member of its Corporate and Banking and Finance groups. He is a leading contract and commercial law expert and specializes in corporate and commercial law. He is a former professor on contract and tort law at the University of Lausanne.He advises individuals and companies of different sizes on domestic as well as cross-border legal issues, namely on banking and finance agreements, mergers and acquisitions, agency and distribution agreements and cooperat...
Patrick W. Vogel is a partner with Walder Wyss. He specializes in corporate law, as well as in banking and finance. He advises domestic and foreign companies on mergers and acquisitions and private equity transactions. With an education in both business and economics (HEC Lausanne) and law, he began his career by working for several years as an associate in the busy corporate finance departments of two pre-eminent US law firms in New York. Patrick Vogel has advised numerous clients on cross-b...
Laurence Vogt Scholler specializes in banking and finance law. She advises clients from the banking and asset management sectors, as well as Swiss and foreign collective investment schemes, on regulatory, contractual and corporate issues, with a special focus on the structure of collective investment schemes and fund managers, as well as their authorization by the supervisory authorities. Her areas of expertise also include anti-money laundering regulations.
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