Michel Jaccard

Practice Areas

Michel Jaccard is the founder of id est avocats. For the past 25 years, he has been involved in corporate finance and M&A deals in Switzerland and abroad, acting for entrepreneurs and owners, venture capital and private equity firms, industrial buyers and financial sponsors. He also advises investment funds as well as purpose driven, impact and hybrid companies on governance and sustainability issues (ESG).

Along his corporate expertise, Michel helps SMEs, financial institutions, industrial leaders and global brands navigate the world of innovation, technologies, data protection and cybersecurity, and regularly assists in the negotiation or the resolution of disputes in complex business projects requiring an understanding of advanced technologies (development, outsourcing, hosting, migration, XaaS and platforms, R&D and JV) and intellectual property licensing, in particular open source and open access strategies.

Michel holds a JD and PhD from the University of Lausanne and an LLM from Columbia Law School (Stone Scholar, Fulbright grantee). He is a certified CEDR and ITDR mediator and legal expert, is admitted to practice in Switzerland and New York, and has been highly recommended for many years in Corporate/M&A, Technology, Media/Telecoms and Intellectual Property by leading guides. He is also a recognized expert by the CMTA for the tokenisation of shares.

Michel has frequently acted as jury member, mentor or coach in startup competitions . He is a lecturer in the Master in Sustainable Management and Technology (SMT) managed by the Entreprise for Society Center (E4S) of the University of Lausanne, IMD and EPFL and also teaches a class on innovation, intellectual property and new business models in the master program of the University of Neuchâtel.

Career

2023- Faculty Lecturer in Master of Law in Innovation, University of Neuchâtel

2022- Faculty Lecturer in Master of Science in Sustainable Management and Technology at Enterprise for Society Center (E4S), University of Lausanne - UNIL, IMD, EPFL

2022- Member of the Co-creation team of the Impact Term Sheet, Legal Innovation for Sustainable Investments (LISI)

2022- Listed as a Recognized Expert (Legal) by the Capital Market and Technology Association (CMTA), Geneva

2021- Accredited Mediator, Center for Effective Dispute Resolution (CEDR), London

2019- Mediator, Institution for IT and Data Dispute Resolution (ITDR)

2018- Accredited Special Coach, Innosuisse – Swiss Innovation Agency

2017- Advisory Board Member at Swiss Legal Tech Association (SLTA)

2012 Founding partner of id est avocats

2006-12 Partner at BCCC avocats (now BianchiSchwald GmbH)

2003-4 Foreign Associate at White & Case LLP (New York)

2000-3 Associate at Tavernier Tschanz (now NKF)

Publications

Venture Capital, ESG and Sustainable Investments (upcoming)

Intelligence Artificielle (IA) et prestation de services, Journée de l'économie numérique,

CEDIDAC 2022 (upcoming)

CR/CO II Commentaire des Articles 772-803 CO (Droit de la société à responsabilité

limitée / LLC law), Commentaire romand, Basel, with Fernand Chappuis

Indemnification mechanisms in equity investment agreements – Critical overview with

impact assessment of new legislation, GesKR 2 |2021, p. 267-276, with Mehmet Toral,

September 2021

Smart contracts – de la théorie à la pratique, Bern, with Mehmet Toral, 2020

Les conflits entre actionnaires de sociétés anonymes; enseignements pratiques pour la

rédaction de conventions d'actionnaires, Lausanne, 2016

Le "privilège de liquidation" en cas de revente des titres : affaire de notaire ou affaire

d'actionnaires ?, Lausanne, 2015

De la protection des données personnelles à la sécurisation des données connectées,

Livre anniversaire du Marathon du droit - Chapitre de la protection des données, Geneva,

2015

Internet, médias sociaux, applications : terrains propices à la déloyauté commerciale ?, in

Challenges of Unfair Competition Law, Geneva, 2014

Conventions d’actionnaires et PME – Quelle utilité ?, in L’Expert-Comptable suisse, 2014

Swiss Chapter, The International Free and Open Source Software Law Book, Open Source

Press, 2nd edition of 2014

Protection des données : kit du praticien, Revue de l’avocat 09/2014, 2014

Commentaire des Articles 39a à 39c et 69 LDA (Propriété intellectuelle), Commentaire

Romand, Basel, 2013

Contrat de développement de logiciel, Recueils de contrats commerciaux: Modèles

commentés selon le droit suisse, Basel, 2013 (with Vincent Robert)

Couvrir les risques de l’administrateur, Cedidac no 89, Lausanne, 2012

Le management dans un processus de MBO – Enjeux, conflits d'intérêts et particularités

contractuelles, L'Expert-Comptable Suisse (ECS) 6–7/2011, pp. 457-462, 2011

Le conseil d'administration au service des actionnaires majoritaires – Risques, conflits

d'intérêts et best practices en cas de cession d'actions, RSDA 5/2010, 2010

Sociétés anonymes privées en crise: l’actionnaire majoritaire démuni face au minoritaire?

Réflexions critiques sur la protection renforcée du minoritaire en cas d’assainissement,

GesKR 2/2010, Zürich, 2010

Les contrats informatiques, Publication of the Centre d’études juridiques européennes,

Zurich 2009

L'équilibre des pouvoirs dans le cadre de la révision du droit de la SA – Réflexions à partir

des nouvelles règles sur la rémunération, l'organisation, la transparence et la gestion des

conflits d'intérêts au sein du conseil d'administration, RSDA 2/2008

L'organisation du conseil d’administration, la transparence et la gestion des conflits

d’intérêts selon le projet de révision, CEDIDAC no 76, Lausanne, 2008

Capital-risque et financement par étapes: de nouvelles perspectives suite à la révision du

droit de la Sàrl?, in GesKR, Zürich, 2007