Mark Barmes

Mark Barmes

Attorney-at-Law  |  Lenz & Staehelin
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Estates: Planning

Trusts & Trusteeship

Trusts: Planning

Office Location

Switzerland

Short Biography

Mark Barmes contributes actively in the field of wealth planning in Switzerland and particularly in connection with trusts and trust disputes. Mark Barmes also acts for international organizations in employment disputes before the Administrative Tribunal of the International Labour Organization.

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

What was your first job?

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?


Marion Binder

Marion Binder

Counsel  |  LALIVE
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Estates: Contentious

Office Location

Zurich, Switzerland

Short Biography

Marion Binder joined LALIVE in 2017. Her practice focuses mainly on civil and commercial law and she specializes in advising and representing private clients in complex national and international inheritance and family law disputes. Marion Binder is a member of the Swiss Bar Association (SAV), the Zurich Bar Association (ZAV), the Association Successio, the Swiss Association for Family Mediation and the Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA).

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

What was your first job?

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?


Mario Cohn

Mario Cohn

Managing Director – ZEDRA Switzerland  |  ZEDRA
JURISDICTION

Switzerland

TOP SPECIALISMS

Family Governance and Business

Trusts & Trusteeship

Trusts: Planning

Office Location

Geneva, Switzerland

Short Biography

Mario predominantly looks after Latin American clients and has extensive experience with both Corporate and Private clients. His expertise lies in Cross-Border Transactions and Structuring. He started his career as a Tax Consultant in Germany with a global leader in Assurance, Tax, Transaction and Advisory services. In 2011, he worked for a Corporate and Fiduciary service provider in Luxembourg and Zürich, before joining ZEDRA in 2016 as Director for Latin America. In July 2019 Mario has taken on the role of Managing Director for Switzerland, overseeing all the local offices. Mario has experience managing the Incorporation of Companies and establishing Corporate and Private International Structures, working in close collaboration with legal and tax advisers. Mario is a Spanish qualified lawyer and is a member of the Spanish Bar. He has a degree in Law, and two Master degrees in Law and Foreign Trade Law.

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

Anywhere with a nice burger or a good steak!

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

Always look forward and not to fear mistakes

What was your first job?

Waiting tables in summer during university

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

The Alchemist

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?

Sector integration and as always, continued regulatory changes!


Marc Buchmann

Marc Buchmann

Partner  |  Fischer Ramp Buchmann
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Estates: Planning

Relocation and Cross-Border Advisory

Tax Advisory

Office Location

Zurich, Switzerland

Short Biography

Marc focuses on domestic and international tax law as well as private client matters. He regularly advises Swiss and foreign private clients on legal and taxation issues. Marc assists his clients in wealth and succession planning and in social security matters.

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

Everywhere where authentic oriental dishes are served.

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

Do the best you can until you know better. Then when you know better, do better.

What was your first job?

Working at the gazoline station

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

The Stranger - Alber Camus

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?

Despite the digitalisation, personal contacts and exchanges will play an even more important role.


Lucien Masmejan

Lucien Masmejan

Partner, Head of Private Clients  |  Lenz & Staehelin
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Family Governance and Business

Real Estate

Tax Advisory

Office Location

Switzerland

Short Biography

Dr. Lucien Masmejan is a partner heading up the Private Clients group in Geneva and Lausanne. He is widely considered one of Switzerland’s leading lawyers in private client matters and chairs the board of L&S Trust Services SA. Lucien's main practice area is private clients and this encompasses tax law and real estate, as well as general contractual and corporate matters. He advises Swiss and international families and privately owned companies, as well as their owners which include a number of high net worth individuals. Lucien is a member and/or chairman of various boards of directors in Switzerland and internationally, with a focus on services to private clients and families. He is also a frequent conference speaker on tax and company law and has published a number of articles including a 'Commentaire de la loi vaudoise d'impôt'.

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

Café Beau-Rivage, Lausanne

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

Be yourself at all time

What was your first job?

Bookstore boy

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

"Fourrure" by Adelaïde de Clermont-Tonnerre

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?

Less regulations


Laura Luongo

Laura Luongo

Counsel  |  Walder Wyss
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Immigration

Employment

Office Location

Geneva, Switzerland

Short Biography

Laura Luongo is counsel in the Employment Law Team. She regularly advises and represents our clients in all aspects of employment law, including litigation matters, primarily complex employment disputes, whether for domestic or international clients. She also advises our clients on immigration, social security and insurance matters. Her expertise also includes succession law and advising international high-net-worth individuals on asset holding structures, estate planning, relocation and philanthropy.

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

What was your first job?

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?


Kinga M. Weiss

Kinga M. Weiss

Dr., LLM./TEP  |  Walder Wyss
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Estates: Planning

Relocation and Cross-Border Advisory

Trusts: Planning

Office Location

Switzerland

Short Biography

Kinga M. Weiss is a partner and co-head of the Private Clients team of Walder Wyss. Her areas of expertise are centered in matters of inheritance law and family law primarily relating to estate planning, execution of wills and divorces. Cross-border cases account for the bulk of her field of action. Besides, she also assists clients in relocation, asset structuring, real estate, trust and endowment matters as well as personal tax affairs. She advises clients in contentious and non-contentious cases. She regularly holds speeches and publishes articles in and outside of Switzerland. Kinga is chairing the conference Schulthess Forum Erbrecht. She is a member of the Zurich and Swiss Bar Association, the IBA, STEP, the International Academy of Estate and Trust Law as well as the American College of Trust and Estate Counsel. She is a member of the advisory board of Global Female Leaders.

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

Haute, Zurich

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

Sleep over the email before you send it out

What was your first job?

Waitress in a coffee place

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

I'm Ok, You're Ok (Thomas A. Harris)

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?

After the pandemic the trend of globalization is increasing, hence cross-border cases will become standard


Jutta Gangsted

Jutta Gangsted

Senior Associate  |  Lenz & Staehelin
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Estates: Planning

Family Office

Trusts: Planning

Office Location

Switzerland

Short Biography

Jutta Gangsted is a senior associate in the private client group of Lenz & Staehelin. Her practice focuses on various aspects of international wealth and estate planning, advising families across different generations, trustees and family offices in both contentious and non-contentious cross-border private wealth matters. She originally obtained her law degree in Belgium (Brussels and Leuven), trained as a lawyer in the corporate department at Cleary Gottlieb Steen & Hamilton in Brussels, then did her LL.M. at Columbia Law School (New York, USA) and passed the New York State bar before joining Lenz & Staehelin in Geneva where she has been practicing ever since. She also passed her STEP Diploma in International Trust Management achieving the highest Switzerland and Liechtenstein score for the Diploma and several of the individual examinations.

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

When in Geneva, "Le Bologne"

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

"Always make sure you are prepared to defend anything you write before a judge"

What was your first job?

High-School teacher in my free time at university

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

The Fall of Giants trilogy

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?

The rise of Legal Artificial Intelligence (and learning how to use it to our best advantage)


Julien Tron

Julien Tron

Partner  |  MLL Legal
JURISDICTION

TOP SPECIALISMS

Estates: Contentious

Estates: Planning

Tax Advisory

Office Location

Geneva, Switzerland

Short Biography

After growing up in Italian-speaking southern Switzerland, Julien obtained a law degree at the University of Basel (magna cum laude). He eventually started his legal traineeship in Geneva, where he was admitted to the bar in 2010. Julien later obtained a LL.M. at King’s College in London specialising in trust law an in international succession law. Julien Tron advises clients in several languages and his international practice is an advantage in dealing with foreign clients with Swiss interests or with complex cases involving several jurisdictions and applicable laws. Julien Tron is also committed to culture and he is Board member for the Verbier Festival Foundation that organises a very prestigious festival of classical music. He is also active in various boards of foundations and charitable associations . Julien’s working languages are French, English, German, Italian and Spanish.

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

Le coin du bar in Geneva

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

Writers write literature, lawyers write clear texts!

What was your first job?

Gardener

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

La belle du seigneur by Albert Cohen

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?

Foreign tax special regimes getting more and more restrictive.


Jochen Vogler, CFP©

Jochen Vogler, CFP©

Partner  |  Bellecapital
JURISDICTION

United States, Switzerland

TOP SPECIALISMS

Asset Management

Private Banking

Office Location

Switzerland

Short Biography

Trusted advisor to wealthy (mainly US-connected) families with 24 years experience. Truly independent advice and carefully tailored securities portfolio construction with acute tax awareness.

What is your favorite restaurant to take a client or colleague to?

What is the best piece of advice you have ever received?

Listen well, be patient and work hard.

What was your first job?

What is the book you recommend to everyone?

What changes do you expect to see in your practice over the next year?

Digitalization of private client services, while the personal relationship and trust grows in importance.