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Litigation & Arbitration

Our strong expertise and extensive experience enable our clients to benefit from a personalised strategy to effectively resolve disputes across various areas of litigation.

Since its establishment, Borel & Barbey has successfully assisted a diverse range of clients, both private and institutional, based in Switzerland and internationally. Our clients include family offices, high-net-worth individuals, and large corporate entities, including banking and financial institutions. We handle a wide spectrum of litigation matters, including asset recovery, company and contract disputes, criminal cases, as well as restructuring and insolvency. Additionally, our arbitration team collaborates with clients worldwide to resolve significant commercial disputes spanning sectors such as oil and gas, natural resources, infrastructure, manufacturing, technology, sports, and finance.

Our deep understanding of our clients’ needs and businesses, coupled with our ability to collaborate closely with other practice groups at Borel & Barbey, ensures a bespoke approach to each dispute. This approach is founded on a thorough factual and legal assessment to determine the likelihood of success. For every unique situation, our dispute resolution team identifies the most suitable tools and strategies, while working alongside you to assess and mitigate risks, thereby achieving cost-effective and targeted outcomes. Recognising that discretion and confidentiality are crucial to safeguarding your success and reputation, we leverage our negotiation skills and explore alternative dispute resolution methods, while remaining prepared to pursue robust litigation when necessary.

Your success in asserting your rights or mitigating threats to your strategic, reputational, or financial assets is our foremost priority.

Our team operates proficiently in French, English, Italian, Spanish, Turkish, German, and Swiss German.

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Civil & commercial litigation

Our litigation strategy aims to achieve your goals while managing costs effectively.

Our team, one of the largest in the Canton of Geneva, leverages extensive experience to develop personalised strategies tailored to meet our clients’ specific needs. Following a thorough assessment of your situation, we identify and deploy the most appropriate tools and strategies to address each stage of the process, from initial correspondence to enforcing court decisions or arbitral awards.

While prepared to pursue vigorous court proceedings when necessary, we adopt a results-oriented, efficient, and constructive approach. Where suitable, we engage in negotiation or alternative dispute resolution methods. Our experience spans from assisting individuals and enterprises with multimillion claims to smaller, yet equally significant cases.

White collar crime

We live in an increasingly transparent society where news articles or social media can swiftly escalate situations into crises. Business leaders, high-net-worth individuals, and companies across diverse industries such as finance, commodity trading, banking, certification, arts, or real estate face constant scrutiny. This scrutiny has led to a rise in internal and external investigations and proceedings by regulators, tax authorities, or criminal agencies.

We possess the expertise and capability to respond discreetly and/or assertively to any scenario with speed, vigour, and finesse. Our Firm is widely acknowledged for our proficiency in defending individuals and companies embroiled in high-profile cases involving allegations of securities and accounting fraud, tax evasion, public and private corruption, money laundering, internal audits, or investigations, both domestically and internationally.

Insolvency & debt enforcement

Insolvency, debt enforcement, and bankruptcy proceedings are inherently complex matters that demand sound advice and swift responsiveness during challenging times.

We have amassed considerable experience in supporting creditors, debtors, and bankruptcy estates through intricate insolvency proceedings. This includes aiding individuals in recovering their investments and assisting insolvent institutions, particularly banks and financial establishments.

Our ability to swiftly assess the merits and pitfalls of your case empowers you to navigate the process with clarity and assurance.

Arbitration

Whether you are a Swiss, foreign, or multinational company, an international investor, or a private equity Firm, our arbitration practice can assist you in successfully resolving international disputes.

Our dedicated arbitration team collaborates with clients worldwide to resolve significant commercial disputes across a diverse range of industries, including oil and gas, natural resources, infrastructure, technology, construction, and finance. Our case portfolio spans Europe, North Africa, French and English-speaking sub-Saharan Africa, the Middle East and Gulf region, Central Asia, and the Americas.

We serve as strategic advisors, lawyers, and arbitrators, handling every phase of commercial arbitration proceedings from initial case analysis to the enforcement of arbitral awards. Our practice also includes proceedings before national courts when arbitral tribunals require judicial support. We work on both ad hoc arbitration and arbitration initiated under major arbitration rules, including the Swiss Rules, ICC, LCIA, ICSID, UNCITRAL Regulations, and the Code of the Court of Arbitration for Sport.

Sports law

We have extensive experience advising on a wide range of legal issues within the sports industry, including:

  • Proceedings before corporate sports bodies and the Court of Arbitration for Sport
  • Agency and representation agreements, sports-related financial transactions such as player transfers, franchise acquisitions, and operational issues concerning sports federations
  • Marketing, promotion, privacy, sponsorships, domain names, social media, and other intellectual property matters
  • Sports sponsorship, event contracts, TV rights, and broadcast programming
  • Protection of personalities, names, and brands for professional athletes in all aspects of their personal, professional, and charitable activities, encompassing domain names, social media, trademarks, corporate matters, representation issues, inheritance law, and charitable foundations.

We represent athletes, agents, coaches, clubs, national federations, and other entities involved in disputes before the Court of Arbitration for Sport. Our team members have litigated cases against major global sports associations, bringing decades of experience to assist clients in asserting their rights effectively.

NEWS Litigation & Arbitration

Borel & Barbey represented Yoko Ono in her legal action concerning the theft of John Lennon’s watch

Borel & Barbey represented Yoko Ono in her action for the recovery of a watch which belonged to her late husband, John Lennon, and which had been stolen from her....
15 November 2024

“Criminal liability of a media editor not opposing against a publication constituting a criminal offence”

Punissabilité du responsable rédactionnel d’un média ne s’opposant pas à une publication constituant une infraction pénale, iusNet DP-PP 26.08.2024   Loris Bertoliatti summarizes the Swiss Supreme Court’s decision 6B_1033/2023 dated...
5 November 2024

“How to become a lawyer?”

Invited by the Geneva Bar Association, our Partner Céline Gautier participated in the third episode of their podcast PodLex, discussing the journey to become a lawyer. She particularly highlights the...
18 September 2024