LALIVE > Geneva, Switzerland > Firm Profile

‘The Lalive team are hyper-efficient, both as to costs and driving the case forward. They’re sharp, aggressive and highly competent.’

‘The Lalive team did not waste words and did not simply create ‘paper’ or unnecessary write-ups. They were unique in their decisiveness and efficiency, without compromising quality. This, to me, is the hallmark of a bona fide expert.’

‘Unique focus on litigation and international arbitration. Great coverage of a variety of different jurisdictions within the team.’

‘Lalive have a high functioning team that delivers seamless advice and documents from the firm. It is a well oiled machine that is focused, smart and timely. I have been very impressed by the dedication of its staff to deliver an absolutely first class product.’

‘They are not only great lawyers but also commercially savvy. They have made a real effort to understand our business and its drivers. Their advice is smart and makes good common sense. A very practical group of people.’

‘Joachim Knoll and Melissa Magliana are very good lawyers, experienced and easy to work with. Joachim has very good knowledge about the market and the experts to be engaged. Melissa is very strong on tactics and strategy applied to the facts. On top of that, Teresa Giovannini always guarantees the highest possible quality for any client.’

‘Matthias Scherer: extensive knowledge and experience in investor-state arbitration, including ICSID proceedings; very good analytical skills; provides high quality advice; efficient and focused way of working; reacts quickly to new developments; very pleasant and approachable personality.’

‘Veijo Heiskanen: good strategic planning of the proceedings; very experienced consultant with excellent analytical skills; very pleasant and calm personality.’

‘Very client-oriented and success-driven approach. Large resources to form a team for specific litigation cases.’

‘Simone Nadelhofer is very professional and experienced and focuses on client protection. Good cooperation with other internal and external lawyer teams.’

‘Great mix of litigation skills, from criminal/compliance issues through art law/evidence.’

‘Sandrine Giroud: brilliant, user-friendly, my go-to litigator for anything in the jurisdiction.’

‘Great team to work with. All at the top of their game as litigators and highly polished. I would see Lalive as the stand out firm for us in Geneva.’

‘Sandrine Giroud is an extremely smart and capable lawyer. Highly knowledgeable and has particular expertise in conflict of law issues and complex litigation more generally, as well as art law. Simone Nadelhofer, also very impressive and clearly very well regarded among her peers in Switzerland.’

‘Daniel Buhr is a wonderful combination of investigative expert and compliance counsellor. He knows how the pieces fit together and can predict obstacles and find solutions.’

‘Alex Troller is respected by the banks and an excellent advisor on issues involving bank regulation.’

‘Smart, commercially-minded lawyers who always understand how the Swiss part of the case fits into a broader international context.’

‘What is really impressive about Lalive is their internal organisation. They are so efficient in providing feedback to the client.’

‘The team is very business-oriented and pragmatic. Advice is cutting-edge and at the forefront of development in the compliance and ethics areas. They are also very valuable in helping bring the regulations into practice.’

‘The firm is a highly professional, efficient and trustful firm with qualified partners in various sectors.’

‘Matthias Gstoehl, Simone Nadelhofer, and Sandrine Giroud are extremely responsive and real thought leaders on Swiss law issues.’

‘Daniel Bühr is extremely knowledgeable and a “safe bet”.’

‘Simone Nadelhofer is a quite unique mix of kindness and elegance before the client, and of efficiency and quality of the legal advice provided. We have always been impressed by her approach to cases, from the smaller to the bigger ones.’

‘Sandrine Giroud has a perfect knowledge of both the laws and the practice as well as the jurisprudence (court cases and precedents) which allows her to foresee the problems and their consequences and find therefore the best solutions. She is very professional with high skills. Besides, she has a wide knowledge of commercial law, finance and all matters in connection with corruption and illicit financial flows with adequate solutions to freeze and retrieve ill-gotten assets.’

‘We find the team we work with efficient and highly professional.’

‘We find the following persons most efficient, highly professional and doing an excellent job: – Marc Henzelin, Sandrine Giroud and Nicolas Ollivier.’

‘The team are very good technically and are able to apply the law in a pragmatic, commercial fashion.’

‘Thomas Widner: great lawyer – very friendly, pragmatic and technically solid. Able to apply the law to complex matters even when there is little precedent.’

‘Thomas Widmer: excellent litigator with a great focus on details and strategy. The teaming works seamless with a clear understanding of what is needed from the client’s perspective.’

‘Working with Thomas Widmer and team is an outstanding experience. The case and the client’s interest are front and center to them and each one of them invests themselves fully into the case. You can not be in better hands.’

‘Very professional, excellent client attention, ability to develop a reliable strategy and gain client trust. Wide international knowledge.’

‘Very professional, knowledgable and responsive, it’s not only one individual, it’s the whole team, great teamwork at all times.’

‘The team was indeed very helpful and responsive to all the raised queries and concerns. All the team members demonstrated professionalism and personal attention to the details of the arbitration case.’

‘Veijo Heiskanen and Sam Moss both have strong analytical thinking skills that have been demonstrated in their ability of targeted questioning and effective problem-solving within the arbitration case.’

‘Very strong client focus, ability to understand complex cases within a short period of time. Focused on client needs and finding optimal solutions. Fair and transparent pricing. Use of state of the art technology.’

‘André Brunschweiler: Excellent lawyer and advisor, very focused on client needs, excellent understanding of banking/finance industry.’

‘Troller, Alexander: very experienced in developing creative solutions to create win/win‘s instead of wasting time and energy in useless confrontations. Very pleasant personality and highly responsive.’

‘I had a stellar experience with partner Werner Jahnel and his team in the Zurich office of Lalive. The service we received was outstanding and commensurate with Lalive’s reputation as one of Switzerland’s premier firms. Werner Jahnel is technically excellent with regard to Swiss inheritance law. Lalive are unafraid of representing the individual client against the Swiss banking establishment.’

‘Werner Jahnel: very smart; quick turnarounds; and has good contacts. He has a lovely ‘bedside manner’ (i.e. great empathy) with clients, which warmed our hearts and gave us hope. He always made himself available when we needed to speak to him and was very engaged with our case.’

‘Werner Jahnel turned out to be a godsend and saviour in more ways than one.’

‘Throughout our engagement Werner Jahnel together with the entirety of his team, from receptionist through to associates, have conducted themselves with the utmost professionalism; conscientious, reliable, consistent, courteous, unwearied and most importantly they delivered thorough and diligent legal counsel.’

‘They are prompt, responsive and knowledgeable, and always keen to assist.’

‘Sandrine Giroud is a stand-out star in my opinion. She is thoughtful, insightful, and has a very thorough knowledge of the law. She is always eager to assist and very prompt. Werner Jahnel is also excellent. He not only has the law at his fingertips, but is an absolute pleasure to work with. I imagine that he is popular with clients and opponents alike, exactly what a family lawyer should be.’