Interview with: Daniel Hayek, Managing Partner  

What do you see as the main points that differentiate Prager Dreifuss from your competitors?

As one of the larger full-service law firms based in Switzerland, Prager Dreifuss is made up of a team of highly qualified and trained individuals, speaking 10 languages, admitted in various jurisdictions with extensive study- and work experience abroad. Many of our lawyers are part one or two practice area teams which enables them to work on complex cases entailing multiple areas of law.

We have realized that shared values are our main driver of success and we take pride in our culture, in particular the culture of equality. We do not function very hierarchically; every employee can contribute to the firm easily without any hurdles.

One aspect that differentiates Prager Dreifuss is our client-centric approach. Our lawyers strive to exceed our clients’ expectations and provide personalized services.

Prager Dreifuss is a forward-thinking organization and we are constantly adopting innovative technologies such as legal software to streamline processes and provide clients with faster and more efficient service.

Lastly, Prager Dreifuss is very well connected around the globe with other law firms, business advisors, political consultants, PR firms and asset tracing firms.

All of these factors make Prager Dreifuss stand out from other law firms in Switzerland.

Which practices do you see growing in the next 12 months? What are the drivers behind that?

The effects of the pandemic and the war raging in Ukraine will continue to concern us throughout the coming year. Obligations to repay Covid loans granted by governments, together with sharply rising interest rates as central banks are trying to combat inflation, are taking their toll on businesses around the world, as can be seen in the Silicon Valley Bank and Credit Suisse cases. Restructuring and insolvency advice will therefore be a central part of our business in the coming years, also as the public‘s confidence in the banking system has suffered lately. There certainly will also be a lot of work in litigation and international arbitration in these respects.

On the other hand, we see positive indicators regarding the start-up segment. This is where we also have built up new resources and set-up our Start Up Desk to help young businesses build and grow successfully. We are close to the start-up centers around Zurich and support founders setting up their companies, legal frameworks, shareholder agreements and cooperation models and finding their financing solutions.

What’s the main change you’ve made in the firm that will benefit clients?

We heavily invested in IT environment and legal tech already before the pandemic. This has ensured continuous service for our clients when our lawyers were working from home. In the future, this will allow us to work and stay in contact with colleagues and clients when working remotely and travelling. Of course, the digitalization process is also aiding us in drastically reducing our use of paper.

Prager Dreifuss has also made a major investment in cyber security. We are aware that this is where the future lies and that we must give our clients the assurance that sensitive data is treated appropriately. Only with this certainty customers want to work with us digitally. In our firm, we have done our homework and we are ready for the next steps with our clients.

Prager Dreifuss is also heavily investing into its staff and legal employees to ensure that long-term retainments. We have introduced new part-time and remote working models to accommodate our employees‘ needs. Clients can thus benefit from longstanding relationships with the same legal advisors at our firm, building a trusting and efficient working relationship.

Is technology changing the way you interact with your clients, and the services you can provide them?

The video conferencing systems have certainly changed the way we interact with our clients. Holding certain discussions and negotiations online rather than in person means less travel, less unproductive downtime spent at airports and in airplanes and thus less costs for our clients. Further, shared data rooms and shared collaboration platforms are facilitating our work with clients on complex cases. We have introduced automated and improved billing and invoicing systems to increase transparency and billing frequency for clients.

In the future, the adoption of cloud computing, artificial intelligence and automation will be a most relevant topic for us and will hopefully allow us to further streamline our operations, reduce costs and improving our agility in responding to client needs.

Can you give us a practical example of how you have helped a client to add value to their business?

We are working intensively with clients, in particular hedge funds, in the distressed assets domain. This is an area where a lawyer progresses from being a cost factor to taking on a strategic core function when analyzing assets to be purchased such as arbitration awards or claims into bankrupt estates. Lawyers can actually contribute to the clients’ earnings which are directly related to their advice. Needless to say, this is a very rewarding task that I am really passionate about.

Are clients looking for stability and strategic direction from their law firms – where do you see the firm in three years’ time?

Clients are actually looking for a long-term relationship with their strategically savvy lawyers. At the same time, they want us to have the adequate technical support, including where appropriate the upheavals shaped by digitalization in order to work with them successfully. Prager Dreifuss can already offer both, but we strive to grow even more in order to offer our expertise to even more and even larger clients.