Walder Wyss Ltd. advises Swiss and international clients across a wide range of sectors, including retail, finance, healthcare, public administration, technology and research. The team provides guidance on compliance with Swiss and European data protection laws, including GDPR, in addition to assisting with matters of AI governance, cloud outsourcing and regulatory obligations. Department leader Roger Staub is widely recognised for his proficiency in IP, technology contracts and related litigation. David Vasella advises on diverse data protection matters, including compliance implementation, IT projects, and cloud outsourcing. In September 2024, Sigma Legal‘s Alain Alberini and Vincent Pfammatter joined the team, focusing on IP, innovation, cybersecurity and data protection, while Didier Sangiorgio departed in December.
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Profile
Work Department
Information Technology, Intellectual Property and Competition
Position
Partner
Career
David Vasella is a partner on the Information Technology, Intellectual Property and Competition team. He is the co-head of the Regulated Markets, Competition, Technology & IP team, together with Hans Rudolf Trüeb. He advises and represents Swiss and international companies in all industries and at all stages of growth on questions concerning data and technology law. He specialises in data use, negotiating data-related contracts, data security issues, cloud projects and IT contracts and provides support in setting up platform models and data protection compliance in accordance with GDPR and Swiss law (including leading or supporting implementation projects and data protection audits). He regularly gives talks and writes publications on his areas of expertise, for example on datenrecht.ch, a Swiss platform on data law.
David Vasella has a teaching mandate at the University of Zurich and is co-editor of digma (Journal for Data Law and Information Security), swissblawg (the biggest legal blog in Switzerland) and datenrecht.ch (a platform on data law). He is a certified information privacy professional (CIPP/E). Before joining our firm, David Vasella worked at a large business law firm in Zurich for a number of years.
Languages
David Vasella speaks German and English.
Education
After graduating from the University of Fribourg in 2002 with a degree in law, David Vasella was admitted to the Zurich bar in 2004 and went on to receive his doctorate from the University of Zurich in 2011, for which he was awarded the highest distinction as well as the Prof. Walther Hug prize and the Issekutz prize. David Vasella is co-editor of digma (a journal on data law and information security), swissblawg (the biggest legal blog in Switzerland) and datenrecht.ch. He is a certified information privacy professional and manager (CIPP/E, CIPM).
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Testimonials
Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.
'The data protection and technology team at Walder Wyss, led by David Vasella, is known for combining precision with a clear business focus. They handle Swiss and EU data protection, IT, IP and professional secrecy matters.'
'David Vasella combines deep technical knowledge with a rare talent for explaining complex legal and technological questions in plain, actionable terms that help senior management make confident decisions.'
Key clients
- APG SGA
- Armasuisse
Work highlights
Represented Digitec Galaxis in an investigation by the Swiss Data Protection Authority.