Walder Wyss Ltd

Firm Details:
Managing Partners: Pierre-Alain Guillaume, Florian Gunz Niedermann, Michael Isler, Irène Suter-Sieber
Number of partners: 71
Number of lawyers: 250
Languages: Croatian, Dutch, English, Farsi, French, Greek, German, Hebrew, Hindi, Hungarian, Italian, Persian, Polish, Rhaeto Romanic, Russian, Serbian, Spanish, Swedish

Firm Overview:
Walder Wyss is one of Switzerland’s leading law firms, specialising in corporate and commercial law, banking and finance, intellectual property and competition law, dispute resolution and tax law. Walder Wyss has established a leading position in specific sectors and product areas. Its national and international networks of correspondents and partners from a broad range of disciplines are selected according to the highest standards of professional competence.

Practice areas:

• Arbitration
• Art & Entertainment
• Banking, Finance & Insurance
• Capital Markets
• Commercial Contracts
• Competition
• White Collar Crime & Investigations
• Corporate / M&A
• Data & Technology
• Employment
• Energy & Infrastructure
• Healthcare & Life Sciences
• Intellectual Property
• Litigation
• Notarial Services
• Private Clients
• Private Equity & Funds
• Public Law & Litigation
• Public Procurement
• Real Estate & Construction
• Restructuring & Insolvency
• Sports
• Start-ups & Venture Capital
• Tax

Main Areas of Practice:
Banking, Finance, Real Estate & Insurance:
Walder Wyss handles domestic and international banking, securitisations, infrastructure and project finance, domestic and cross-border leasing, and structured financial instruments as well as over-the-counter and exchange-traded derivatives. Walder Wyss advises on all aspects of Swiss securities laws and regulations, including public equity and debt offerings, government finance, private placements and investment fund offerings. Walder Wyss advises on insurance matters, including engagements regarding the establishment of agencies and branches, the formation of new insurance companies, cross-border provision of insurance services and contemplated acquisitions of, or joint ventures with, existing insurance companies. Acting for the real estate industry’s leading players, Walder Wyss provides advice on all aspects of real estate projects (commercial and residential properties), including acquisition of properties or real estate companies, structuring, financing, lease and tax planning.

IT, Telecommunications & Multimedia:
Walder Wyss focuses on the interlinked and converging areas of information technology, internet, multimedia, media and telecommunications law. It advises on software protection, licensing issues, systems integration contracts, data processing contracts, regulatory and other issues relating to the use of software by financial institutions, outsourcing contracts, online information systems, data protection and electronic commerce. The firm’s telecom practice covers corporate issues, contracts, intellectual property, application for and transfer of licences, registrations, sharing/co-using of infrastructure, third party access, antitrust, data protection, construction and environmental matters.

Intellectual Property:
The firm has a wide range of experience in protecting intellectual property rights as well as exploiting such rights by way of licensing, franchising and merchandising. The firm’s intellectual property lawyers assist in registration matters, negotiate acquisition of rights, and represent clients in infringement disputes.

Corporate & Commercial:
Walder Wyss advises on and assists in the incorporation and organisation of various business activities in Switzerland. The firm helps its clients to create suitable corporate governance structures, and provides efficient advice on legal and compliance matters, including, but not limited to, corporate, environmental and labour issues,business leases and property management, immigration and foreign employee recruitment, closing-down procedures and data protection law issues. Walder Wyss also assists in finding the most adequate legal solution for the protection and transfer of rights in technology as well as the distribution of goods and the provision of services.

M&A, Restructuring, Joint Ventures, IPOs & Private Equity:
Walder Wyss handles the structuring and implementation of corporate mergers, acquisitions and divestitures, outsourcings, shareholder agreements, takeovers, demergers, capital restructurings, repurchases of shares, management buyouts, joint ventures, reorganisations, crossborder business arrangements and other direct investment transactions. Walder Wyss advises on seed, early stage and growth financing. Walder Wyss acts in relation to structuring and setting up funds, preparing organizational and offering documents, fundraising, advising on legal, tax and regulatory aspects of investments and implementing the investment strategy. The firm also structures the exit from the target companies including IPOs.

Litigation, Arbitration & ADR:
Walder Wyss has one of the pre-eminent litigation/arbitration teams in Switzerland. The firm advises and represents its clients in all commercial litigation and arbitration matters. The firm specialises in cross-border proceedings and all the legal and cultural challenges involved in such actions. It represents clients before all Swiss courts in civil proceedings and is also experienced in the procedural areas of injunctions, attachment and seizure of assets, enforcement of foreign judgements and judicial assistance. The firm’s arbitration specialists represent their clients or act as arbitrators in national and international arbitration proceedings – both in Switzerland and abroad.