Areas of
practice

Litigation, covering both domestic and international litigation, as well as assistance in cross-border proceedings, has traditionally been a key practice area of LALIVE's practice. With offices in Geneva, Zurich and Doha (Lalive in Qatar LLP), the firm is one of the leading  domestic and international litigation practices in Switzerland and in continental Europe.

LALIVE advises and represents clients before all Swiss courts, as well as on a regular basis before foreign jurisdictions including France, Germany, Italy, Austria, Belgium, England, and other jurisdictions with the assistance of local counsel.

LALIVE operates on a worldwide basis and its clients include private and public sector entities, States and international organizations. The firm has developed substantial expertise in assessing and dealing with complex multi-jurisdictional cases managing voluminous documentation and evidence, leading large teams of lawyers and experts in multidisciplinary fields.  LALIVE works in close partnership with its clients and local counsel and aims at delivering effective and innovative solutions.

The firm's lawyers often lecture on civil procedure and civil law and frequently publish in the field. Some of our litigators also hold positions within the judiciary.

Our civil litigation work mainly encompasses:

General civil litigation

• Advice on dispute resolution strategies
• Energy sector (oil & gas, electricity and renewable energy)
• Banking and finance litigation
• Corporate litigation including shareholder disputes
• Debt recovery and insolvency proceedings
• Employment law litigation
• Intellectual property litigation
• Real estate and construction disputes
• Inheritance litigation
• Art and cultural property law litigation
• Advice on issues of state immunity, state responsibility and diplomatic and consular protection

Cross-border proceedings

• International legal assistance
• Pre-trial attachment and other interlocutory proceedings
• Enforcement, including order for the freezing of assets, foreign judgments and arbitral awards
• Asset tracing
• International administrative assistance proceedings in the fields of financial market supervision and taxation

Selected recent and current assignments

LALIVE's Swiss and international litigation practice includes representing the following parties:

• A Western European petroleum company in challenging a US$ 2 billion arbitral award before the Swiss Supreme Court
• A private individual in a US$1.5 billion fraud investigation taking place in the Middle East at the detriment of a bank
• An important Middle-Eastern privately owned conglomerate with various interests in the enforcement of a monetary claim in Switzerland of US$1.4 billion
• An Eastern African State in relation to investigations and requests of mutual legal assistance relating to half a dozen cases of corruption involving several State Ministries and valuing US$800 million
• A major Russian industrial group regarding strategic options in cross-border litigation and arbitration proceedings worth CHF500 million
• A Serbian minority shareholder in relation to a €250 million dispute over the transfer of shares in one of the largest Serbian company
• A major Russian conglomerate in a €126 million dispute against a Geneva-based bank regarding financial products
• A Swiss family and a Swiss company in a US$90 investment million dispute against the Federal Republic of Nigeria in several jurisdictions