Thouvenin Rechtsanwälte

The firm: Thouvenin Rechtsanwälte is a successful market player since more than 40 years. The firm distinguishes itself by operating lean teams with a flat hierarchy – the Partners are not only responsible for acquisition and client care but also act personally on each matter. The firm provides efficient and high-quality advice and has established long-term partnerships with its clients.

The fully-integrated structure of the firm’s partnership ensures that the right lawyer is always selected for the right case. The firm’s approach of multiple specialization also ensures that its lawyers not only provide professional and solution-oriented advise within, but also identify relevant aspects outside of their area of specialization. For complex and multidisciplinary matters, the lawyers of Thouvenin Rechtsanwälte also work in small and dedicated teams.

Several members of the firm are specialists certified by the Swiss Bar Association (Fachanwalt) such as in inheritance law or employment law.

Most of the firm’s lawyers have either studied abroad or worked for foreign law firms. Their cumulative experience in foreign jurisdictions, the firm’s long-standing cooperation with partner law firms abroad, and its integration into an international network allow Thouvenin Rechtsanwälte to provide expert advice tailored to its clients’ needs also in cross-border matters.

Practice groups
Corporate and commercial, M&A: Whether for private individuals, companies domiciled in Switzerland or foreign companies or groups of companies, anyone doing business or intending to do business in Switzerland is confronted with various legal hurdles. The firm’s practice group has many years of expertise and experience to develop the legal framework to ensure the success of its clients’ business.

The firm’s corporate law practice ranges from incorporating entities domiciled in Switzerland to advising on capital increases and providing corporate housekeeping, reorganizing companies through mergers, spin-offs, etc. and their liquidation. Its M&A lawyers cover the entire spectrum of the transaction business, namely from the first negotiations, drafting letters of intent, preparation of the data room and due diligence to the purchase contract and closing.

The firm’s commercial practice advises on all matters relating to contract law with work spanning from the drafting, negotiation and implementation of contracts. Moreover, the members provide legal advice the areas of  private equity and venture capital, new technology, ICT and data protection, employment and migration, banking and capital markets law, distribution, competition and intellectual property rights and insolvency and restructuring. The firm has finally also vast experience in the area of white-collar crime, including pertaining proceedings before state courts.

Dispute resolution: In  conflict situation, the firm’s dispute resolution team assesses the clients’ success chances and support them to develop and implement an effective dispute resolution strategy. The group’s lawyers support and represent their clients with commitment, strategic foresight and tactical skill in civil, arbitration and administrative proceedings.

The firm’s litigators have in-depth expertise and many years of experience in contractual and corporate disputes, in particular disputes arising from M&A transactions, joint ventures, liability claims, shareholders’ agreements and disputes arising from distribution, agency, licensing and employment relationships. They are also highly competent in banking and insurance law disputes (including asset management) and in intellectual property and unfair competition disputes and represent clients in insolvency proceedings (including freezing orders, collocation and restitution proceedings), enforce foreign judgments and arbitral awards.

The firm’s arbitration team represents clients in commercial arbitration and in sports-related disputes. As such, it has years of experience in proceedings before domestic and international arbitral tribunals, including those conducted under the most common institutional rules or ad hoc. The team also acts in proceedings to defend against or to set aside arbitral awards before the Swiss Federal Supreme Court. Members of the firm’s arbitration team regularly act as chairman, party-appointed arbitrator or sole arbitrator.

Private client/entrepreneurs: For decades, the firm’s team has closely accompanied and advised private individuals and entrepreneurs in family and inheritance law matters. The team’s experience and the fact that its specialized lawyers often continue working for the same clients for many years has established a relationship of trust and longevity with their clients. The expertise of the team members in other legal areas also allows them to provide comprehensive advice in complex situations, to implement succession and asset arrangements and, if necessary, to represent the clients’ interests in court. In international cases, the team can rely on a global network of specialists.

The group’s work relating to inheritance, estate and asset planning includes the drafting of marriage and inheritance contracts, matrimonial property agreements, gifts and wills but also advising on estate planning, the structuring of private and business assets through trusts, foundations and companies in Switzerland and abroad, and on the establishment and management of charitable foundations.

For families, the firm’s team designs and assumes tailor-made family office functions, including long-term governance and asset structure management.

The practice group also mediates between family members and ensures a balance of interests within the family whenever possible and represents its clients, where legal disputes are unavoidable, in proceedings under property, inheritance and foundation law before the Swiss authorities and courts.