About

Oliver Albrecht took over the role of country general counsel Switzerland in June 2016. Before joining the ABB Switzerland legal department in 2009, he was in private practice for several years in Zurich law firms, focusing on dispute resolution, commercial contracts, liquidations, IP and sports law. At ABB he manages all of the legal affairs of the company’s Swiss operations. ABB is one of the world’s largest robotics, power, electrical equipment and automation technology companies headquartered in Switzerland with Swiss-Swedish origins. As general counsel, Albrecht handles the company’s commercial legal arrangements as well as any legal problems that occur. He has dealt with a large multi-jurisdiction IP and business secret enforcement action, which resulted in damages payments to ABB, the criminal custody of an ex-employee, and the bankruptcy of the major competitor. He identified that, ‘the project has been a tremendous success from the legal perspective, and the business was very happy too. With the competitor bankruptcy, the job was essentially done from the legal side, it was only the start of a business initiative to win back customers. This learning, that the business never sleeps also after legal has beautifully delivered, was key to me’. He transitioned into his country counsel role rapidly and took on the challenge of leading the team and changing the way the department was structured, while enhancing the relationship between the legal department and senior management across the firm.