The biggest deals in Switzerland have one thing in common.
Lenz & Staehelin has played an active part in the biggest deals in recent Swiss business history. Our approach combines breadth, depth and focus. Due to a unique blend of specialist knowledge and the ability to understand the issues affecting different professions and industries, we are able to find solutions that are comprehensive yet also work in practice. Each project is led by an experienced partner who serves as a personal contact, fully understands your objectives and can expertly represent your needs.
To this end, we cover the entire spectrum of business law services without having to rely on external experts.
To understand cross-border issues, you need lawyers who actually cross borders.
National borders apply to legal systems, but not to business. And especially not to us. As a proven specialist in Swiss business law, over the years we have built successful relationships with leading law firms abroad. This way our clients receive effective advice and representation inside and outside Switzerland. At the same time we are the first point of contact for foreign clients in Switzerland. We keep a very close eye on the implications of EU legislation for companies in this country.
In Switzerland, the style of doing business is reserved and consensus-orientated, and in our experience humility and restraint often lead to the quickest results. This basic attitude helps us build long-term relationships with our clients. The ability to nurture relationships with clients as varied as banks, corporations and families over decades or even generations is one of the key strengths and distinguishing features of our firm. And is, of course, the basis of our reputation.
Our lawyers do not just span the globe, they span generations.
Lenz & Staehelin traces its roots back to two law firms founded by Conrad Staehelin in Zurich in 1917 and by Raoul Lenz in Geneva in 1951.
After World War II, Conrad’s son Willy Staehelin realized that Switzerland would make an ideal hub for foreign investment and gained the interest of prominent American investors in Zurich. Joining with other partners in the 1960s, Staehelin, Hafter, Jagmetti, Lutz & Partner continued to serve predominantly American, British, German and Italian clients in addition to its Swiss clientele.
Meanwhile, in Geneva, Raoul Lenz similarly saw the benefits of an international clientele and a larger partnership. Lenz, Schluep, Briner & de Coulon developed representing foreign clients, global and private banks – and with them Swiss and foreign private clients.
By the late 1980s, the Geneva partners recognized the opportunities and synergies of a nationwide presence. They initiated talks with Staehelin, Hafter, Jagmetti, Lutz & Partner and the two firms soon understood that they were a natural match, permitting a swift merger. On 1st January 1991, Lenz & Staehelin was born. Since then it has continued to grow and remains one of Switzerland’s largest independent law firms.
