Mr Christian Girod, LL.M. > Schellenberg Wittmer Ltd > Geneva, Switzerland > Lawyer Profile

Schellenberg Wittmer Ltd Offices

Schellenberg Wittmer Ltd
15bis, rue des Alpes
P.O. Box 2088
1211 Geneva 1
Switzerland
Visit website +41 22 707 8000 +41 22 707 8001

Mr Christian Girod, LL.M.

Christian Girod, LL.M. photo
+41 22 707 8000 christian.girod@swlegal.ch View profile View profile

Work Department

Geneva / Litigation / International Arbitration / Estate and Trust Disputes / Commercial and Banking Litigation / Trade and Transport / Insurance

Position

Christian Girod is a Partner in our Dispute Resolution Group as well as in our Private Wealth Group in Geneva. His main areas of practice are commercial, banking and insurance litigation, as well as estate and trust disputes.

Experience:

  • Representation of a Swiss Foundation as defendant in relation to estates opened in 1928 and 1968 which involve artworks and other assets confiscated by the Nazis in the 1930’s and are governed by the laws of different states
  • Representation of an insurance broker sued by a former client in relation to a complex insurance scheme (claims totaling several tens of millions Swiss francs)
  • Representation of a bank sued by a former client in relation to multiple transfers initiated by a person holding a proxy on the account
  • Representation of a bank sued by a former client in relation to investment proposals made by the bank, their implementation and subsequent investments (claims totaling several tens of millions Swiss francs)
  • Representation of an alleged debtor opposing to an attachment order obtained by a creditor on more than two dozens of accounts (claims totaling several hundreds of millions Swiss francs)

Career

2000-2001 – Member of the Management Committee at Schellenberg Wittmer

1994 – Partner at Schellenberg Wittmer

1986 – Associate at Schellenberg Wittme

Languages

  • French
  • English
  • German

Memberships

Société Romande des Avocats Spécialistes en Successions. STEP. Union Internationale des Avocats (UIA). Swiss Arbitration Association.

Education

2012 –Certified Specialist SBA in Inheritance Law
2006 – Trust and Estate Practitioner (TEP)
1986 – LL.M., Harvard Law School

1985 – Bar Admission in Switzerland

1982 – lic. iur., University of Geneva

Lawyer Rankings

Switzerland > Dispute resolution: litigation

Fielding a team that is ‘commercial, clever, responsive and a pleasure to deal with’, Schellenberg Wittmer Ltd handles high-profile, complex commercial litigation, often with a cross-border element. The team particularly stands out for its commercial and banking expertise and counts Credit Suisse, Volkswagen, EFG International and UBS as clients. Peter Burckhardt heads up the group in Zurich, while Louis Burrus and Clara Poglia were recently appointed as co-heads of the Geneva team. Other key practitioners include Christian Girod and Urs Hoffmann-Nowotny, who focus on banking litigation; ‘top-notch litigator’ Stefan Leimgruber, Benjamin Borsodi, who leads the internal corporate investigations group, and of counsel Vincent Jeanneret. Katherine Bell was promoted to the partnership and Daniela Dardel was promoted to counsel in early 2022.

Switzerland > Private client

The ‘fantastic private client team‘ at Schellenberg Wittmer Ltd ‘stands out for the personalised service it offers to its clients‘. The service encompasses all contentious and non-contentious legal issues for families and individuals, such as estate and succession planning, private wealth and business asset structuring, family office organisation, trust administration and inheritance disputes. The unit is further experienced in the sale or acquisition of unique assets, such as art pieces, private jets and yachts. Bernard Vischer has ‘impressive multi-jurisdictional tax and estate planning knowledge‘, the ‘outstanding‘ Christian Girod has a focus on estate and trust disputes, as does Alexander Jolles. Caroline Lopez Nagai is experienced in cross-border succession planning. The practice further includes Grégoire Wuest. Clients are ‘extremely impressed‘ by David Wallace Wilson and Andrea Dorjee-Good.

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