Advestra spreads its wings

Dominic Carman

Now in its sixth year of operation, the fastest-growing Swiss law firm with Gen Z appeal recently added disputes and employment to its client offering.

While lawyer recruitment remains in a consistent holding pattern at most Swiss law firms as they quietly consider how AI may trim future graduate numbers, Advestra continues to grow. Having spun off from Bär & Karrer and officially launched in January 2021, the firm was originally comprised of 20 lawyers, spearheaded by Thomas Reutter, together with partners Rashid Bahar, Daniel Raun, Roland Truffer, Annette Weber, Markus Muehlemann, Laurent Riedweg and Peter Riedweg.

Priding itself as “a team with no room for egos”, the initial focus was on Corporate/M&A, Capital Markets, Finance, Financial Services, and Tax. The firm has since tripled in size to include new practice areas: Dispute Resolution, Restructuring, Insolvency, and Employment. Most recently, this has been facilitated by two key hires last October: disputes partner Lukas Rusch, who joined from Pestalozzi, and counsel Sharon Spring, who was Head of Employment Law and Senior Legal Counsel Litigation and Investigations at Zurich Insurance.

“Advestra already had a strong team, an established client base, and an excellent market reputation,” says Rusch. “This made building the disputes practice significantly more straightforward than starting from scratch. Initially, there were three priorities: ensuring continuity for our clients, building the disputes team, and putting the right structure in place, including the necessary technology and know-how.”