Switzerland’s legal market faces similar reversals to the world at large: regulatory shifts, geopolitical flux and technological advancements are keeping partners on their toes. ‘The legal market is always developing in parallel to the general economic situation,’ comments Bär & Karrer’s Susanne Schreiber, who co-heads the firm’s tax team. In Q1 2023, Switzerland’s annual inflation rate rose to a high of 3.4% in February, 0.6% up on December 2022. In Q2, things started to look up with rates decreasing to 2.6% in April. Since then, rates have been on a steady decline, remaining at 1.7% for both September and October 2023.
Interest rates, too, have stabilised. Since July 2023, the Swiss National Bank has kept its policy rate at 1.8%, providing a sense of stability to the Swiss economy. Practice areas such as litigation and tax were extremely busy in 2023 while areas like M&A and capital markets saw a decrease in deal volume compared to previous years. Banking and finance and real estate and construction remained stable throughout the year. Continue reading “Euro Elite 2024: Switzerland – Endurance race”
