Schellenberg Wittmer Ltd

Managing Partner: Philippe Bärtsch
Number of partners worldwide: 46 Number of other lawyers worldwide: 137
Languages: Arabic, Chinese, Dutch, English, French, German, Hebrew, Hungarian, Italian, Japanese, Portuguese, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Turkish

Firm Overview:
Schellenberg Wittmer is a leading Swiss business law firm with more than 150 lawyers in Zurich, Geneva and an office in Singapore. The firm takes care of all legal needs – transactions, advisory, disputes. The firm advises domestic and international clients on all aspects of business law and offers a comprehensive range of services from focused advice to project management, for local or foreign companies and high net worth individuals. Schellenberg Wittmer’s Singapore office is a gateway to and from the Asia-Pacific region and covers key jurisdictions and markets in the Asia-Pacific region, assisting clients in both inbound and outbound investments as well as in international arbitration.

Main Areas of Practice:
Dispute Resolution & International Arbitration:
Advising in all aspects of commercial litigation and arbitration, including full representation in proceedings, pre-litigation case assessment and ADR solutions, provisional and interim measures, asset tracing, as well as enforcement of arbitral awards and court judgments. Members of the group frequently sit as arbitrator.

Banking & Finance:
Advising Swiss and foreign banks, borrowers, insurance companies, fund managers and other financial institutions on the full range of legal and regulatory matters, from syndicated lending and acquisition finance to OTC transactions, structured products and prudential rules.

Capital Markets:
As authorised representatives at the six Swiss Exchange, working with domestic and foreign issuers on all aspects of Swiss equity and debt capital markets transactions, including IPOs, rights offerings, convertibles, share buy-backs, derivatives programs, bond and note issues and public tender offers.

Corporate & Commercial:
Assisting companies in all corporate and commercial matters including the establishment of businesses and corporate governance; assisting clients in drafting/ negotiating all contracts related to their businesses.

Mergers & Acquisitions, Private Equity & Venture Capital:
Advising on public takeovers, private mergers and acquisitions, joint ventures, spin-offs and restructurings, assisting with seed/expansion capital, management buy-outs/buy-ins, pre-IPO investments and various aspects of asset management for private equity and venture capital.

Employment:
Assisting in all employment-related matters, i.e. employment documentation, labour litigation, residence and labour permits, employee participation schemes, severance packages, etc.

Taxation:
Advising companies and individuals on Swiss tax law, including double taxation treaties and VAT, acting as counsel in tax litigation, as well as extensive experience in tax enforcement matters.

Private Clients & Estates:
Working with individuals and families in the global planning and structuring of their private and business assets to ensure an efficient wealth structure and enable a smooth succession from one generation to the next; representing clients in estate and trust disputes.

Restructuring & Insolvency:
Assisting creditors and companies in restructuring, bankruptcy and reorganisation proceedings as well as complex insolvency matters; serving as court or FINMA-appointed trustees, liquidators and receivers.

Trade & Transport:
Providing support in all aspects of trade and transport, including sales and import/export contracts, trade finance, marine/cargo insurance, maritime/aviation/ land transportation and ship/aircraft finance.

Real Estate & Construction:
Assisting on all issues relating to real estate and environment, including finding the best financing and investment structure, negotiating/drafting contracts to lease, purchase or sell Swiss real estate, planning/developing construction projects, contract management.

Insurance:
Representation in insurance and reinsurance-related litigation and arbitration; advising on all aspects of insurance law, including the establishment, relocation, conduct and run-off of (re-)insurance relating to activities in and from Switzerland and regulatory issues.

Intellectual Property & IT:
Advising on all areas of intellectual property, including drafting/negotiating agreements and representing clients in litigation and arbitration; assisting in structuring/ negotiating IT projects and in drafting all related contracts.

Competition & Antitrust:
Advising comprehensively on merger control and the impact of Swiss and EU competition law on client commercial practices and agreements; representing clients in administrative proceedings brought by the Swiss Competition Commission.

White-Collar Crime & Compliance:
Representing companies or officers unwillingly involved in criminal investigations and proceedings; leading large scale internal investigations; advice regarding international assistance between foreign and domestic law enforcement authorities and all aspects of compliance.

Sports, Arts & Entertainment:
Advising collectors, museums, auction houses, galleries, artists, insurers, etc. in all matters relating to art works or entire collections, including sale, loan and consignment, import/export, copyrights, insurance as well as litigation; advising sports organisations, athletes and sponsors as well as media companies in all matters related to their businesses. The firm also represents clients both in prosecution and defence, in high-stake cross-border arbitration matters before various adjudicatory bodies of many sports federations, as well as before CAS. This includes violations of the WADA code, issues with media rights and sponsorship agreements, unfair competition and dismissal claims, large-scale corruption investigations, and highly disputed bids for hosting major sports events.
Life Sciences:
Advising in all aspects of pharmaceuticals, biotechnology and food law, including regulatory and contractual matters such as licensing and R&D agreements; assisting clients in health law, medical malpractice and product liability matters.

Blockchain Technologies & Fintech:
Multidisciplinary and integrated team advising clients looking to take full advantage of the high potential of blockchain technology, Areas advised on include crowd-funding (preliminary analysis and set-up), incorporation of legal entities in Switzerland, initial coin offering setup, smart contracts, data protection and transaction security, tax implications, dispute resolution.

Hotels & Leisure:
Counsel to hotel chains and investors on all legal matters in the hospitality industry including acquisitions, disposals, developments, construction, litigation and M&A, leasing and operation.

International Work:
Schellenberg Wittmer has long-standing international experience in all of the practice areas. The firm advises on large-scale international M&A and finance transactions, and handles international litigation and arbitration. It has recently advised international clients on various cross-border acquisitions and recapitalisations, debt and equity capital market transactions, on establishing internationally active investment funds and on the structuring of relocations of corporate world headquarters to Switzerland.

Clients:
The firm’s clients include large and medium sized domestic and international businesses from a wide range of sectors including public and private, banks and financial institutions, industries, insurances, IT and telecommunications, life sciences, etc. The firm also advises private individuals and wealthy families from all over the world.