General Counsel Services

Engaging a co-captain to dynamically manage the ever changing regulatory environment in a globalized world and potential rapidly evolving threats within defined cost and time budgets is a critical component of sustainable leadership on the basis of the corporate strategy and targets:

External General Counsel

Growing businesses or companies extending their reach into new markets, (for the time being) without a (full-time) in-house legal and/or regulatory and/or compliance counsel still might want to engage a regular coordinating, structuring, planning, foresighted outside legal risk management support and legal expertise without already wishing to hire a (full-time) in-house lawyer.

Also, legal strategy and leadership has to be aligned with and supports the company’s or institution’s strategy (development).

Special projects, expansion of business

Or, even if more mature businesses already have in-house legal staff, they might wish to add more outside legal counsel resources either for special projects or when expanding their businesses or in any other transitional phase on a temporary basis.

Moreover,  integrating a legal operations team/analysis structure might be helpful to streamline and/or design the next organizational levels.

General Counsel deputyship

Also, a sole in-house counsel or general counsel might wish to organize support even if it is only a known contact person that already knows your business and its representatives in case of an urgent matter to be looked into during his or her absence e.g. in view of a longer holiday period or other time off for training reasons etc.

Thank you for always thinking of everything.
CEO of a listed department store group (6+ years of comprehensive advising on all corporate and capital markets law projects, dozens of transactions. Statement after the sale of a company division to foreign investors.)

Services include:

Based on substantial in-house experience or long-term roles as sole legal advisor to companies from various industries for businesses of all maturity levels in different leadership roles, I can help to manage all legal aspects leveraging efficiency, predictability (budget design and control) and cost effectiveness with tailored and focused advice.

The aim is to quickly fully understand your business and develop fruitful long-term working relationships with your business representatives and in-house functions as well as with your outside stakeholders within your structures and procedures. This includes building virtual connections in cross-border settings.

Thus, you can make sure that your business does not loose options due to legal issues that are addressed too late and develop creative solutions for the most complex issues.

Management of day-to-day legal and compliance including leadership and management matters
  • Business focused, tailormade, flexible corporate counsel services, i.e. defining legal strategy as well as handling and organizing of day-to-day legal matters and/or overflow work. Moreover, services include legal team leadership (legal and support staff sourcing) and organization/project management duties and responsibilities. These services are defined on a regular or sporadic as needed basis with or without pre-arranged time commitment. They are offered at a fraction of the cost of hiring a full-time, (general) legal counsel or at lower rates of relying exclusively on ad hoc traditional law firm advisory services (negotiated hourly, weekly or monthly rates).
  • Support the company (compliance) functions in developing and adhering to internal policies.
  • Support the relevant company functions such as the board and the company secretary in governance questions, building a culture based on the company values.
  • Legal support in ongoing regular government and authorities oversight affairs matters/reporting.
  • Implementation of processes and programs to control value and effectiveness of legal support services.
Proactive identification of new legal risks
  • Responsiveness to ever changing environments requires proactive legal, compliance and risk management or company secretary leadership support identifying issues and evolving legal, regulatory and legislative trends and hence helping avoid and anticipate problems before they arise and to organize appropriate legal support for highly specialized work as early as necessary to secure all options and having better choices.
  • Evaluation of appropriate RegTech solutions helping automating and streamlining processes.
  • Early guidance on the potential legal implications and risks of financial and business strategic and operating plans and decisions.
I really appreciate it and do not take it for granted that you have invested so much time for this matter and that you furthermore even drafted with me the basic features and content of the internal and external related communication. I was always absolutely convinced of your professional expertise. Your social competence does not lag behind your professional expertise.
Outside Counsel at Huntsman I had to terminate the mandate with due to capacity reasons, which situation was similar to terminating an employment relationship

Illustrative reference transactions, competencies and achievements include:

In-house legal services portfolio development Developed for Eversheds Switzerland the basic materials for a new business “in-house legal counsel service portfolio”, taking into account cost-effective solutions for SMEs and to be developed awareness of the importance of compliance for SMEs: Strategic consulting, legal [risk] management, compliance, records management, legal spend and matter management, outsourcing, e-learning, audits and assessments.
Legal leadership
  • Leadership (line and project) experience as a team leader with up to 8/15 (30 on staffing projects) direct reports and partner, as the founder and owner of a law firm as well as a member of the Extended Leadership Team of the Swiss site of a global U.S.-American specialty chemicals group (listed on the N.Y.S.E.).
  • Education of and organization of training event for Axiom team members from various foreign legal backgrounds on Swiss legal AML/client onboarding rules and regulations.
  • Team Lead of a highly diverse 30 person Axiom team on a confidential internal review project at a large multinational bank (18 months, staffing project):
    In addition to providing subject matter expertise in the area of financial regulation with excellent client feedback as well as with very positive feedback from lawyers from other service providers being part of the teams (see practice area “Compliance” as to the scope of review as well as practice area “Project and Crisis Management” as to the organizational aspects). The areas of my leadership responsibility included:
    • Organize the work of lawyers and paralegal from 20+ nationalities, various legal backgrounds and different levels of experience, working on various work streams within a multi-professional services firm set up responsible for applying sophisticated review protocols to a large volume of documents.
    • Assess and correct first level review results and provide feedback to reviewers.
    • Manage all personnel questions, leading team meetings and ensure smooth changes and seamless transitions between various work streams, manage on- and offboardings both in terms of team integration and technical aspects, appoint and supervise further leadership team members, staffing calculations and performance assessments, provider meetings with the client.
In parallel with the function as:
  • Team Lead of 15+ person mixed team from various services firms:
    • Supervising reviews ensuring balance of quality and productivity, answering questions regarding the application of review protocols and the assessment of documents relating to financial services (products) and the background of related regulation.
    • Developing reviewers and proposals for appointment for special tasks and quality review functions.
    • Update briefings relating to review aspects and collecting feedback regarding new issues.
    • Managing changes of team composition, integrating and training of new team members, preparing and managing reorganizations of review structures/concepts/processes, ensuring team spirit and a productive work environment throughout many change situations and considering tight deadlines.
  • Provided written Performance Review Reports for all 30+ Axiom team members as well as oral references for 5+ non-Axiom team members.
  • Advised various staff members on further development and education (further education in compliance matters and formal training as paralegal etc.).
As a team leader she was very appreciated by all of her colleagues. She was valued because she was leading by example and she was there to listen, ask questions and understood and thus supported all members of the team. When issues aroused she was looking for solutions right away.
Axiom Global reference letter
Legal management
  • Drafted for a major staffing project various management related forms:
    • Drafted comprehensive Performance Evaluation Form to be able to provide structured feedback for Axiom team members on staffing projects.
    • Drafted comprehensive Onboarding Checklist for major staffing project.
    • Drafted comprehensive Duties and Responsibilities Form for major staffing project involving the appointment of further leadership team in my function as team lead.
    • Drafted Review Performance Feedback Form in my function as review team lead for reviewers from various service providers to be able to provide feedback to Review Team Leads.
    • Drafted Staffing Calculations Form for major staffing project to ensure proactive control of team development.
  • Representation of a General Counsel of a listed industrial group in connection with the sale of a business unit for 6+ weeks (project organization and launch of an international auction).
  • Initiated and consequently sustained various institutionalized legal processes.
  • Rapid acceptance and recognition in the new chemical industry at Huntsman and within a multinational corporate group (joined Extended Swiss Site Leadership Team after only six months). Member of the Extended Site Leadership Team together with the Head of Sites and Manufacturing, Head of HR Switzerland, Head of Facility Management, the finance directors, sales managers and the Head of IT Switzerland (Huntsman Basel, 2007-2010):
    • Developed and managed the Swiss law area:
      • Coordinated all legal aspects at the Basel Site in close cooperation with compliance including the EHS officers within the group-wide multi-geographical matrix structure.
      • Established and developed a team of external Swiss lawyers for all relevant areas of law at optimal allocation of resources. Instructed, briefed and lead outside counsel and supervised implementation of advice.
      • Advised various site departments and business units as well as site management at all levels of management to prepare negotiations outside the ordinary course of business (interim solutions, restructurings, reengineering/restructuring of major service contracts for the supply of all material, in particular security- and energy-related services with a contractual volume of several CHF 100 million).
      • Evaluted solutions for complex infrastructure projects considering public law requirements relating to chemical production sites and the complex historical developments and cooperations with all other partners doing business in the relevant site areas in Basel as well as with the service providers.
      • Ensured the safe handling of inquiries and the preparaton of presentations of decision-relevant information customized to suit the recipients, i.e. the business and departmental lines in Switzerland as well as the group internal reporting of the Basel site to the U.S.-American headquarters, considering the listing on the N.Y.S.E.
      • Provided legal support to HR department in connection with issues outside the ordinary course of business (mass dismissal procedures, employee invention entitlements, employee participation schedules relating to businesses that have been taken over, special individual employment contracts etc. also in an international context).
    In parallel with the function:
    • Supported the business of both global segments “Advanced Materials” and “Textile Effects” head-quartered in Basel in the EMEA region:
      • Advised on, prepared and negotiated commercial contracts and documents of all kinds and subject to various applicable laws and jurisdictions in an international context (including large purchasing and supply agreements relating to chemical substances, quality assurance agreements, EU consortia, cooperation agreements, toll manufacturing agreements, major lease and services contracts, etc.).
      • Advised on specific REACH questions from a Swiss, i.e. non-EU perspective.
      • Coordinated and managed diverse national as well as international claims and litigation partially in collaboration with outside counsel.
      • Participated in corporate commercial compliance training.
Longtime Advisor of up to 10+ years as sole external legal counsel to the companies
  • 10 years of comprehensive, effective and cost-efficient monitoring and advice of three medium-sized companies without in-house legal department (outsourcing; de facto external sole general counsel)
    • Venture Capital company with a mostly U.S.-American investment portfolio:
      Foundation, IPO, various capital increases, corporate housekeeping, preparation and monitoring of general meetings of shareholders, contracts in connection with the investments.
    • Industrial company with capital-intensive, large industrial recycling facilities in Europe:
      First and then all other general meetings of shareholders after the listing, various capital increases, issue of a bond, corporate housekeeping, contracts of all kinds, environmental legal proceedings in connection with the enforcement of exports of Swiss heavy metal containing waste in the monopoly area “recycling of batteries” including political initiatives.
    • Reinsurance company with German shareholders:
      Foundation (incl. insurance licence), corporate transactions, various capital increases in the double-digit millions.
  • Advised on a long term basis (seven years) the board of directors and CEO of a Swiss listed department store group in connection with various corporate M&A transactions considering stock corporation law of listed companies, advised in various Stock Exchange Law related questions, managed two squeeze-out procedures according to transitional regulations.
Representation/Network Founder of two in-house counsel networks on leadership, corporate governance and legal (risk) management, compliance and corporate social responsibility (CSR) topics (founder, chairwoman, program, panel moderation etc.; approx. 350 associated colleagues) (for more information see “Events”).
I would like you taking on this environmental case and I am happy to wait until you have made yourself familiar with this new subject-matter and environmental law.
CEO and member of the Board of Directors of a listed middle-sized company after I recommended to consult another lawyer for a huge environmental case, a practice area outside of my expertise back then