VISCHER

The firm: VISCHER is one of the largest Swiss law firms, with more than 100 fee earners. The firm supports its clients in a solution oriented manner as regards all aspects of commercial, tax and regulatory law. Its professionals are organised into more than 20 practice teams, each of them under the direction of experienced partners. This enables them to effectively handle instructions, always tailored to the requirements of the individual project.

Practice areas

• Antitrust and competition
• Aviation
• Banking and finance
• China desk
• Civil law notaries
• Corporate and commercial
• Data and privacy
• Employment
• Energy
• Environmental, social and governance (ESG)
• Health care
• Immigration
• Information and communication technology
• Intellectual property
• International judicial assistance
• Investigations and eDiscovery
• Legal profession law
• Life sciences, pharma, biotech
• Litigation and arbitration
• Media and entertainment
• Mergers and acquisitions
• Pension funds
• Private clients
• Private equity and venture capital
• Public sector and regulatory
• Real estate
• Restructuring and insolvency
• Sports law
• Startup desk
• Transport
• Tax
• White-collar crime

Main areas of practice
Corporate and M&A: VISCHER’s corporate and M&A team advises on all legal aspects relating to the listing of securities, mergers, purchase and sale of corporations and participations, spin-offs, management buyouts, execution of shareholder agreements, joint ventures, auction proceedings and related financing.

Litigation and arbitration: VISCHER has a strong and dedicated litigation and arbitration team representing clients before all Swiss Courts, as well as the Swiss Supreme Court in Lausanne and in international and domestic arbitration proceedings. Members of the firm frequently act as arbitrators.

Banking and finance: VISCHER advises banks and other financial institutions in regulatory and supervisory matters. VISCHER’s structured finance team advises Swiss companies and foreign investors with regard to lease and acquisition financing, project financing and securitisation.

Life sciences, pharma, biotech: VISCHER’s life sciences is the leading practice group of its kind in Switzerland. VISCHER represents over 50 private and public companies, from start-ups to listed companies. The firm’s expertise spans the full range of disciplines including transactions and financing; partnering, licensing and commercialisation; know-how and innovation management; and regulatory, administrative procedures and compliance.

Public sector and regulatory: VISCHER has a dedicated and experienced team that advises companies in regulated markets such as energy, telecommunications, electronic media, drugs and health and represents clients before regulatory authorities and in court proceedings.

Tax: VISCHER’s tax team provides advice on all aspects of corporate tax law including value added tax issues. The team also advises high-net-worth individuals in Switzerland and abroad with regard to succession issues and also in obtaining flat rate tax assessments in Switzerland.

Real estate: The VISCHER real estate team advises on all kinds of real estate projects and transactions, including buying or selling real estate property, contractual issues of multiple ownership (joint ventures, community of heirs etc.), land registry issues and issues of zoning.

Antitrust and competition: VISCHER advises domestic and foreign clients on Swiss and EU competition law and represents them before the Swiss Competition Commission and the courts. The team advises on administrative merger control, behavioural, contentious and civil antitrust cases, as well as in compliance matters.

Information technology and intellectual property: The firm’s IP/IT team advises on all areas of intellectual property and IT-related legal issues including telecommunications, outsourcing projects, data protection and regulatory matters. The firm also has a substantial practice in media and entertainment, including production agreements and broadcasting regulatory matters.

Restructuring and insolvency: In financially critical situations, the coordinated collaboration of specialists from a variety of areas of expertise is indispensable: in addition to proficiency in insolvency law itself, expertise in the areas of corporate law, litigation, labour law, IP law and tax law is also essential. The firm has the in-depth knowledge and extensive experience necessary for managing complex mandates, whether from the perspective of a creditor or an affected company.

Aviation: VISCHER advises and represents airline companies in their core business and also in associated fields such as catering. The team’s experience covers litigation and insurance cases of all types, assistance in contract negotiations with travel offices, air-traffic authorities and airport operators as well as advising on the leasing, buying and selling of aircrafts.

Data protection/privacy: VISCHER has one of the largest and most experienced data protection/privacy teams in Switzerland. The team advises national and international clients on all matters regarding data protection and privacy including the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) and represents clients in litigation and other proceedings in these matters.

Employment and executive compensation: VISCHER’s employment and executive compensation team is led by a partner exclusively dedicated to this field. The team advises on all areas of employment law, including regulatory issues, executive compensation, pensions, as well as taxes and social security and has earned an excellent reputation for representing companies and entrepreneurs in litigation.

White-collar / investigations: VISCHER advises and represents companies in white collar crime matters such as fraud, insider trading, money laundering and corruption. A dedicated team supports clients in conducting internal investigations – be it international or domestic matters – and handling eDiscovery cases.

Number of partners worldwide: 35
Number of other lawyers worldwide: 78
Languages: English, French, German, Italian, Mandarin