Lenz & Staehelin

Managing Partners: Benoît Merkt (Geneva), Thierry Calame (Zurich)

Number of partners worldwide: 49

Number of other lawyers worldwide: 175

Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Russian, Spanish

Firm Overview: 

Lenz & Staehelin is the world’s Swiss law firm, serving global clients from our Geneva, Lausanne and Zurich offices. Our 200+ expert lawyers cover all areas of business law, providing many of the world’s leading companies, organisations and private individuals with insightful – yet always pragmatic and practical – advice.

Main Areas of Practice: 

Asset Management 

Our pioneering, market-leading asset management lawyers unravel the sector’s increasingly challenging regulations to help client portfolios grow now and into the future. Understanding the implications for both direct and indirect asset management structures, we’re also experts in all regulatory and governance aspects of ESG – helping asset managers, institutional investors and issuers to choose the best path at every stage.

Litigation and Arbitration 

Decades of experience combined with forensically thorough, creative thinking have made our 50-lawyer team a market leader for civil, administrative and criminal litigation, international arbitration and high-profile corporate investigations. Acting either as counsel or arbitrators, we work under all major arbitration rules including the ICC, Swiss Arbitration Centre, LCIA, UNCITRAL and SIAC.

Banking & Finance 

Lenz & Staehelin is one of Switzerland's leading practices with a focus on commercial banking and structured finance, financial services and regulatory, derivatives and private banking. We cover all client needs whatever a case’s size, intricacies or timescale – backed by long-established connections and engagement with the relevant authorities and professional organisations, plus excellent relationships with top tier law firms globally.

Capital Markets 

Bringing both in-depth experience and fresh thinking to the table, we advise issuers, shareholders and investors, and financial institutions in all types of capital markets transactions including equity, equity-linked and debt capital markets. We’re at the forefront of developments including ESG, green and sustainability-linked bonds. And we also help clients make the most of new technology to execute capital markets transactions and lead industry efforts to embrace change.

Commercial and Contracts 

From small- and medium-sized enterprises through to international giants, we cover the full range of commercial activity. We specialise in establishing and structuring all aspects of new business operations and cooperation schemes in and out of Switzerland, as well as helping businesses already up and running. We’re expert in all areas of traditional contract law, from drafting and negotiations through to implementation and enforcement.

Competition and regulated markets 

One of Switzerland's largest and most experienced antitrust and competition law teams, we cover all areas that come before the Swiss Competition Commission and Swiss courts. We regularly advise on high stakes matters across diverse industries spanning products, services and infrastructure. Our team delivers clear, succinct, practical advice that makes sense first time round.

Corporate & M&A 

Our 70-strong team is Switzerland's leading corporate and M&A practice. We advise on both domestic and cross-border matters, and are closely involved in many of Switzerland’s most important public and private corporate deals. Alongside assisting large corporations and private equity firms, we work for small and mid-size businesses throughout the corporate lifecycle. We also advise start-ups and university spin-offs, from early-stage activities right through to IPO or trade sale.

Data Protection and Privacy 

Our Data Protection and Privacy practice brings together experienced lawyers from a wide range of disciplines including regulatory, technology, corporate, contract, business sourcing, IP, competition and employment law. An agile team of specialists, we ensure clients stay ahead of fast-evolving compliance requirements, leveraging strong links with regulators as they work with clients to design, draft, review, implement and update corporate privacy and security policies. We also advise on whistleblowing, responding to cyberattacks and cross-border data transfer.

Employment, Pensions and Immigration 

Our Employment, Pensions and Immigration team brings deep experience and an expert understanding of corporate, tax, data protection, labour, immigration and intellectual property matters. Our track record has made us one of Switzerland's leading employment sector law firms, advising employers, senior executives and employees in all areas of private employment law and public labour law, including litigation and arbitration. We also work cross-border through our extensive international network.

ESG 

Our multidisciplinary team of highly experienced lawyers advises clients on the full range of ESG questions. This includes support across corporate and regulatory issues linked to ESG compliance, human rights, anti-bribery and corruption, corporate governance, shareholder engagement, reporting obligations, product disclosures, and, more generally, risk management processes and controls. It also extends to environmental law and climate litigation, as well as ESG advisory services for individuals, charities, private and public organisations.

Insolvency and Restructuring 

Our highly experienced restructuring experts and insolvency litigators handle domestic and cross-borders cases in and out of court, representing both debtors and creditors. We can help you identify and address all insolvency-related risks. By appropriately structuring transactions, contract drafting and counselling creditors, we can tailor-make your pre-insolvency strategy – drawing on diverse expertise pooled across Banking and Finance, Corporate and M&A, Litigation and Tax practice groups.

Intellectual Property 

Our Intellectual Property team help our clients handle any IP challenge they face, whatever the market and commercial sector, and throughout all areas of the Swiss courts, government agencies and arbitral tribunals. Deploying highly ranked, joined-up teams, we make the most of our experience, methodology and powerful use of legal technology throughout the full IP lifecycle – from first IP creation and prosecution right through to commercialisation and enforcement.

Investigations 

Our respected, experienced Investigations team – one of Switzerland’s leading practices – provides insightful, proactive advice around strengthening compliance policies, practices, codes of conduct and whistleblowing programmes. We can help you respond to statutory, regulatory and disciplinary investigations. And, partnering with wider external teams including forensic accountants when needed, we can also help you answer external questions into antitrust, anti-corruption, sanctions or financial services matters, as well as support your own investigations.

Private Clients 

As one of the largest Private Client teams in Switzerland – with a network that spans continents – we’re proud of our experience and long-standing relationships with high-net-worth individuals. Expert in estate planning and proactive tax strategies, we work across all family, inheritance and immigration law. We act as executors and tax advisors, as well as trustees through our own trust companies in Switzerland and Guernsey. And we advise on the formation and management of charitable organisations.

Public Procurement 

Our highly specialised public procurement team acts for both contracting authorities and suppliers, offering a national and local perspective on all aspects of public procurement and administrative law. We practise throughout Switzerland at national and cantonal levels. And we advise clients on market access within Switzerland, foreign suppliers on access to the Swiss market, and Swiss suppliers on access to foreign markets based on international agreements.

Real Estate 

Our experienced real estate practice covers everything from transactions, leases, developments, zoning and construction laws, and financing, through to sale and lease backs, regulatory, environmental, labelling and other matters. We advise on real estate developments, as well as the architect and supplier agreements behind them. And we’re as comfortable working with private clients as with commercial users, institutional investors and finance parties. We’re experts in the growing field of ESG-related real estate law.

Tax 

At Switzerland’s largest law firm tax department, we pride ourselves on personalised service – drawing on our excellent national and international connections to ensure faster, smoother transactions. Our fully comprehensive tax portfolio covers all fields of Swiss and international tax law, enabling clients to achieve their personal and business goals tax efficiently. Our team’s agility and insight mean we can act quickly when clients are facing urgent demands.

Technology and Outsourcing 

The specialised teams in our Technology and Outsourcing practice handle a wide range of transactional and regulatory work in all fields of technology and digitalisation across industries. From digital transformation and ICT projects, through to data protection and cybersecurity, distributed leger technology (DLT), media and telecoms, we offer a fully integrated technology law service. As demand for greater information regulation grows, so does our expertise in helping our clients respond and stay ahead.