International & Cross-Border Disputes | Global

Bar & Karrer is a top-tier Swiss law firm with offices in Zürich, Geneva, Lugano and Zug. The team offers excellent international capabilities through seamless cooperation with other leading law firms across the world. The firm's formidable reputation makes it a popular choice for Swiss and international clients, including major corporations and financial institutions.

The team is highly rated across a range of transactional and contentious practice areas. The key pillars for international transactional work include M&A, banking, capital markets and tax. The firm handles both inbound and outbound matters, such as assisting Swiss lenders with outbound financing mandates and representing non-Swiss buyers investing in Swiss targets.

In the contentious space, the team is recognised for its market-leading arbitration, litigation and white-collar crime practice groups. Cross-border work includes the handling of disputes relating to data, planning, real estate and construction, as well as acting in ICC arbitrations and a variety of national rules arbitrations.

Homburger is a prominent independent law firm offering high-level expertise in transactional and contentious matters. Located in Zürich, the team is well regarded for its capacity to handle international mandates by joining forces with overseas counsel. The law firm is highly experienced in advising on inbound investment into Switzerland, and it also assists Swiss clients with outbound business through its strong connections and non-exclusive relationships with foreign firms.

In the cross-border transactional space, Homburger offers noteworthy capabilities in TMT, banking, capital markets and M&A. The team represents domestic and international clients, typically advising on Swiss aspects of law and assisting other firms with complex international transactions. Equally, the law firm has a leading competition practice, in which it has experience leading multi-jurisdictional merger control cases.

On the disputes side, the law firm's arbitration and litigation teams are active on cross-border matters, particularly concerning Middle Eastern, UK and US jurisdictions, and the law firm also offers a well-regarded white-collar crime team.

Lenz & Staehelin is a robust Swiss law firm offering a full service to a roster of domestic and international clients. Based in Geneva, Zürich and Lausanne, the team has an active inbound practice and advises clients on Swiss elements of impressive international projects. The law firm is praised for effective collaboration with firms in foreign jurisdictions when handling cross-border mandates, frequently working with UK and US counterparts.

Lenz & Staehelin possesses wide-ranging expertise in transactional and contentious areas. The law firm's M&A, banking and tax practices are much sought after for big-ticket and mid-market inbound mandates, representing clients from a range of sectors including pharmaceuticals, shipping and luxury goods.

The law firm further hosts an excellent disputes team, which is widely recognised for its ability in multi-jurisdictional commercial litigation and arbitration proceedings, and the white-collar-crime team at the firm also offers competent services.

Headquartered in Geneva and Zürich, Lalive is known as a powerhouse for dispute resolution and arbitration cases. The law firm's presence in London is an asset for clients facing cross-border disputes, and the team cooperates with a wide range of firms from other jurisdictions to further enhance its international capability and offering.

Lalive is primarily recognised for its outstanding arbitration practice, in which it acts as counsel in ICC arbitrations for an array of international clients where international laws apply, including European and US law. The law firm also advises clients on financing disputes and corporate litigation. Additionally, it has a thriving white-collar crime practice, which typically advises international clients subject to Swiss investigations.

Schellenberg Wittmer is a notable Swiss law firm with offices in Zürich and Geneva and a presence in Singapore, expanding its international reach into the Asia-Pacific region. The team has strong experience in cooperating with a range of firms from other jurisdictions, adopting a regular co-counsel role on cross-border matters.

In relation to the law firm's transactional focus, Schellenberg Wittmer represents an array of international clients and routinely acts as lead counsel for matters that span Europe and further afield. Additionally, the law firm hosts a top-tier restructuring practice that advises on high-profile cross-border restructuring and insolvencies, with increasing activity on the enforcement of foreign bankruptcies. The firm is also well regarded for its international work in M&A, banking and capital markets, demonstrating the ability to handle both inbound and outbound cross-border transactions.

On the contentious side, Schellenberg Wittmer has significant experience across the Geneva and Zürich teams, and particularly stands out for its expertise in dispute resolution and white-collar crime. These teams are devoted to supporting clients from the pharmaceutical, energy and banking industries with a range of litigation, including post-M&A and shareholder disputes, as well as corporate investigations.

Pestalozzi is a well-regarded independent law firm with offices in Zürich and Geneva. The team has a strong global outlook and assists both international and Swiss clients. Pestalozzi is the only firm in Switzerland to hold membership of the Lex Mundi network, which facilitates its ability to coordinate with co-counsel from a number of major jurisdictions and emerging markets worldwide. The team demonstrates the capacity to handle both inbound and outbound cross-border mandates.

While Pestalozzi offers expertise across a range of practice areas, it stands out for its activity in the financial services sector. Its banking practice provides strong expertise in the financing of cross-border acquisitions, representing a raft of Swiss and international banks in litigation, investigations and other compliance mandates. Equally, its capital markets practice acts for issuers, bookrunners and underwriters, and it regularly advises international clients on securities exchange listings and Swiss regulations.

The law firm also houses strong expertise in contentious matters, including complex criminal and commercial disputes. Its lawyers are well versed in handling banking litigation, multi-jurisdictional asset recovery claims and corruption investigations. The firm has extensive experience in the disputes arena and is noted for its representation of financial institutions and individuals.

Walder Wyss has offices across Switzerland, including in Zürich and Geneva, and clients benefit from the law firm's presence in all language regions of the country. The team offers notable international and cross-border capabilities through effective collaboration with overseas counsel.

Walder Wyss regularly advises domestic and international clients from the pharmaceutical, energy and manufacturing industries on their acquisition of Swiss companies and other cross-border transactional activity. With significant expertise in handling regulatory and tax compliance matters, the lawyers are well regarded by Swiss clients for their knowledge of multi-jurisdictional regulations.

On the disputes front, the team is adept at handling a range of contentious matters. Its practitioners have robust skills in high-profile litigation and arbitrations, and are experienced in matters such as international investigations, fraud cases and commercial disputes.