Expertise
We focus on what we are good at
Our team advises and represents you in all kinds of legal challenges, particularly in the following practice areas.
If necessary, we involve experts (e.g. tax experts, forensic experts, lawyers qualified abroad) from our extensive national and international network.
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Private Clients & Families
You want to plan your succession? You are looking for solutions in an estate? You are planning to move to Switzerland? You have questions about child protection or family law? We support private clients and families over generations. We advise you in particular in the following areas:
- Estate planning (wills, matrimonial and inheritance agreements, executorship, estate distribution and inheritance law proceedings)
- Inventories and estate administration
- Succession planning for entrepreneurs and companies
- Foundations and trusts
- Real estate transactions
- Donations
- Residence and settlement
- Philanthropy
- Art Law
- Sports law
- Matrimonial property law
- Cohabitation
- Name law
- Preventive care plan (living wills, powers of attorney, patient’s directives)
- Representation in proceedings before state courts and authorities
- Establishment of all contracts and deeds required for you by our notaries, including all dealings with the authorities and registration processes (commercial register, land registry)
Our experts
Most notably, the following team members are available to assist you in this area:
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Companies & Entrepreneurs
Like you, we think entrepreneurially. We support national and international companies, entrepreneurs and investors in all aspects of their business activities. This includes in particular the following areas:
Corporate and Contract Law
- Incorporation and restructuring (merger, de-merger, etc.)
- Acquisition and sale of companies (M&A)
- Capital change (especially capital increase and decrease)
- Financing
- Shareholder and partnership agreements
- Corporate housekeeping
- Regulations and operating manuals (corporate governance)
- Legal due diligence
- Contract documentation and negotiations
- Data protection
- Legal issues in daily business operations (contract, employment, rental, real estate, construction and insurance law, etc.)
- Representation in proceedings before state courts and authorities
- Establishment of all contracts and deeds required for you by our notaries, including all dealings with the authorities and registration processes (commercial register, land registry)
Employment Law
- Employment contract
- General terms and conditions of employment, staff regulations, bonus regulations
- Employee participation programme (Employee Stock Option Plan, ESOP, Phantom Shares and Virtual Employee Stock Option Plan, VSOP)
- Salary and bonus disputes
- Non-competition
- Overtime
- Holiday entitlement
- Data protection
- Discrimination and sexual harassment in the workplace
- Internal investigations
- Termination of employment (dismissal, suspension, mutual agreement)
- Reference letter
- Incapacity to work
- Health and safety at work
- Restructuring and mass redundancies
- Temporary employment
- Work permits and secondment
- Labour code; collective labour law; public personnel law
- Litigation before state courts and authorities
Rental Law
- Contract drafting and negotiation
- Subletting
- Advice on rent setting (initial rent, rent increases and reductions)
- Contesting rental termination and extending tenancy
- Reviewing service charge statements
- Defects rights
- Eviction of tenants
- Litigation before state courts and authorities
Real Estate
- Assistance in the sale and purchase of real estate, industrial, commercial and residential properties
- Legal due diligence, contract documentation and negotiation
- Approval procedures (Lex Koller, etc.)
- Condominium ownership
- Contractor’s liens
- Neighbourhood law
- Investments and financing
- Planning and environmental law
- Litigation before state courts and authorities
- Drafting of all necessary contracts and deeds by our notary’s office, including communication with authorities and registry entries (commercial register, land registry)
Debt Enforcement & Bankruptcy
- Debt enforcement register
- Debt enforcement proceedings (debt enforcement, objections, legal enforcement, continuation request and seizure)
- Bankruptcy proceedings (bankruptcy proceedings, cancellation and revocation of bankruptcy)
- Seizure proceedings (seizure requests, objections and seizure proceedings)
- Restructuring/reorganisation
- Conducting proceedings before state courts and authorities
Our experts
Most notably, the following team members are available to assist you in this area:
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Notarial Services
Are you buying a property in the canton of Bern, setting up a company, in need of a lasting power of attorney or simply looking for a notary? Our notary’s office will draw up all notarial deeds for you efficiently and – as far as legally permissible – digitally; from the initial consultation to public notarisation, including electronic copies and registrations, and complete execution.
Land and real estate law
- Purchase, trade and gift agreements for real estate (consulting, notarisation, registration)
- Easements (e.g. rights of residence, usufruct, rights of way)
- Mortgages (mortgage deeds, mortgage bonds)
- Establishment, modification and cancellation of condominium ownership
- Assignment on account of future inheritance (e.g. to descendants)
- Purchase rights, pre-emptive rights and repurchase rights
- Parceling, border adjustments and land consolidation
- Building lease agreements
- Execution of all matters, including advice, notarisation, dealings with authorities and entries in the land register
Inheritance law
- Wills
- Inheritance contracts
- Marital and cohabitation agreements
- Marital and inheritance contracts (combined arrangements)
- Distribution of estates and inheritance distribution agreements
- Issuing of certificates of inheritance
- Transfer of real estate, advance inheritance payments and gifts inter vivos
- Executor of the estate
- Structuring of company succession
- Living wills
- Tax, inheritance or public inventories and other inheritance law deeds
- Advice on digital inheritance
- Advice on arrangements for death
Commercial and company law
- Establishment of companies (stock corporations, limited liability companies, general partnerships and limited partnerships)
- Capital increases and capital reductions
- Introduction of a capital band
- Relocation of registered offices
- Change of company name
- Articles of association (review and amendment)
- Changes in the commercial register
- Conversions, mergers, demergers and asset transfers
- Notarisation of contributions in kind, acquisitions of assets and offsetting
- Dissolution and liquidation of companies
- Public notarisation of resolutions of the general meeting
- Execution of all corporate law matters, including commercial register entries
Other notarial services
- Certification of signatures, copies and powers of attorney
- Public notarisation of family law agreements
- Public notarisation of foundations
- Affidavits
- Coordination with the land register, commercial register and other authorities
Our experts
Most notably, the following team members are available to assist you in this area:
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Rent & Real Estate
Be it the purchase or sale of real estate, a construction project, rental or neighbour disputes. We advise private clients and companies in all areas of construction and real estate law, rental law and related areas of law. Our activities cover in particular the following areas:
Construction and Real Estate Law
- Sale and acquisition of properties, industrial, commercial and residential real estate
- Parcelling
- Easement agreements (rights of way, border construction rights, etc.)
- Drafting of promissory notes
- Legal due diligence, contract documentation and negotiation
- Permit procedures (building permit, Lex Koller, etc.)
- Condominium ownership
- Construction contracts, mandate agreements, general contractor and technical contractor contracts
- Construction lien law
- Neighbourhood law
- Investments and financing
- Transfer of farms under agricultural land law
- Advice to agricultural cooperatives, mountain associations, etc.
- Public construction law
- Planning and environmental law
- Representation in proceedings before state courts and authorities
- Establishment of all contracts and deeds required for you by our notaries, including all dealings with the authorities and registration processes (commercial register, land registry).
Rental Law
- Commercial leases (drafting and negotiating contracts)
- Residential leases (drafting and negotiating contracts)
- Advice on rent structuring (rent increases and reductions)
- Contestation of termination and tenant extension
- Defect rights
- Eviction of tenants
- Representation in proceedings before state courts and authorities
- Establishment of all contracts and deeds required for you by our notaries, including all dealings with the authorities and registration processes (commercial register, land registry).
Our experts
Most notably, the following team members are available to assist you in this area:
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Public Law
Local, regional, cantonal or national - dealing with authorities is part of the process. We guide private clients, companies, organisations and municipalities through the maze of public regulations. Among others in the following areas:
- General administrative law
- Administrative proceedings
- Education law / school law
- Migration law (asylum, foreign nationals, citizenship)
- Principle of public access to information in administration
- Political rights
- State and municipal law
- Legal clarifications / expert opinions
- Internal investigations
- Advice and support for parliamentary committees of inquiry
- Conducting proceedings before administrative authorities and courts
- Drafting of all necessary contracts and deeds by our notary’s office, including correspondence with authorities and registry entries (commercial register, land registry)
Our experts
Most notably, the following team members are available to assist you in this area:
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Employment Law
“Work is half of life”. We support employers and employees with the legal challenges at the work place. In particular, we cover the following areas:
- Employment contracts
- General terms and conditions of employment, personnel regulations, bonus regulations
- Employee stock option plan (ESOP)
- Salary and bonus disputes
- Non-competition clause
- Data protection
- Discrimination in the workplace
- Internal investigations
- Termination of employment (dismissal, release, amicable termination)
- Restructuring and mass dismissal
- Staff leasing
- Work permits and secondment
- Public employment law act; collective labour law; public personnel law
- Representation in proceedings before state courts and authorities
Our experts
Most notably, the following team members are available to assist you in this area:
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Debt Enforcement & Bankruptcy
Outstanding claims, debts or bankruptcy - we advise and represent you comprehensively in debt enforcement and bankruptcy law. This includes in particular the following areas:
- Debt enforcement proceedings
- Bankruptcy proceedings
- Attachment proceedings
- Restructuring / Reorganisation
- Represenstation in proceedings before state courts and authorities
Our experts
Most notably, the following team members are available to assist you in this area:
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Criminal Law
Are you facing criminal proceedings or have you been harmed by a crime? We are here to support you – whether you are the accused or the victim. In particular, we cover the following areas:
- White collar crime
- General criminal law
- Ancillary criminal law (in particular road traffic criminal law, narcotics criminal law and migration criminal law)
- Juvenile criminal law
- Administrative criminal law
- International mutual legal assistance in criminal matters
- Internal investigations
- Representation of victims and injured parties
Our experts
Most notably, the following team members are available to assist you in this area:
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Litigation
Sometimes legal disputes are unavoidable. We advise and represent you before all authorities, state courts and appellate courts
- Representation of parties in civil proceedings
- Representation of parties in administrative proceedings
- Criminal defence (penalty orders, summary proceedings, ordinary proceedings)
- Representation of private plaintiffs in criminal proceedings
- International legal assistance in criminal and civil matters
- Provisional legal protection and provisional measures
- Enforcement of judgments
Our experts
Most notably, the following team members are available to assist you in this area: