Werner Jahnel

LALIVE

Zurich www.lalive.law

wjahnel@lalive.law Tel: +41 58 105 2100

Biography

Werner Jahnel specialises in private wealth. He advises private clients, family offices, foundations and trust companies on complex international estate planning and inheritance law matters, succession planning, divorce and family issues. He practised international arbitration for two decades and currently acts as counsel and arbitrator in commercial and private client related disputes. He is certified by the Swiss Bar Association as a specialist in inheritance law and is the vice president of the Swiss Association for Arbitration in Inheritance Matters.

How do your memberships at various arbitral centres compliment your practice?

I have been practising international arbitration as counsel and arbitrator for more than two decades and I regularly sit as arbitrator in private client related arbitration proceedings – a role I very much enjoy. The memberships are key in keeping up my contacts in the world of arbitration and they join up the dots between the arbitration and private client community – two totally different animals. I have always believed that arbitration in international estate and trust matters is an invaluable alternative to state court litigation. My practice and experience enable me to draw on both my arbitrator and private client experience work to bring the two worlds closer together. That is important, since cooperation is a key factor in ensuring estate and trust arbitration are truly successful.

What inspired you to pursue private client law?

I’ve always had a strong interest and focus on international affairs, particularly in private international law issues. My initial idea was to become a diplomat, but when I started my career as an arbitration lawyer two decades ago, I soon realised that my future was in private practice. Although my passion evolved more and more to private client work, I still retain a strong interest in international matters, which explains the cross-border, multijurisdictional focus of my practice.

How has private client practice evolved since you first started practising?

There are two main changes. On the one hand, the world has become smaller and yet at the same time our work has become more international and complex. In today’s practice it is not enough to focus on your own jurisdiction, because your clients don’t. On the other hand, we are dealing with a new generation of clients who have more self-confidence at a younger age. They are extremely demanding, well trained and informed. They tend to challenge their counsel more often than their parents’ generation, given that access to information has become easier (although the kind of information provided on the internet is very often not complete, nor appropriate to be applied to the complex cases we are dealing with). The challenge is to convince your clients that boilerplate advice is not suitable for their particular needs.

To what extent is the step towards virtual working affecting your ability to establish personal links with clients?

Although I very much enjoy the personal contact with my clients, a significant number of them have always been – and continue to be – based abroad. For that reason, personal meetings have, in my case, not always been a given. Consequently, I don’t feel the change towards virtual working as drastically as others do. However, I do try to organise virtual video meetings rather than phone calls. That allows me to establish a closer contact with clients. Given that this was not customary before the pandemic, this particular trend has had a positive impact on my relationship with my clients abroad.

What challenges accompany clients relocating to another country in the post-covid-19 environment? What additional steps are needed to obtain approval from authorities at destination?

As a disputes firm, we do not consult on issues in that area. However, in our practice we do experience the negative impact of mismanaged relocations. In particular in estate-related cases, where the necessary and unambiguous cut from the country of origin while the necessary steps at the country of destination have not yet been finalised, creates issues on last domicile and complicates the jurisdictional aspects of estate litigation.

How does your fluency in four languages enhance the offering you bring to clients?

In general, I notice that my clients appreciate the fact that I have travelled the world and can easily adapt to different cultures (including different religious backgrounds) without any prejudgment. The language skills mean there are no barriers to communication, creating a level of trust that is invaluable.

What is the key to achieving success in family-related dispute resolution?

You must try and understand the dynamics of a family and take the decisions with those dynamics in mind, without sticking to what you would necessarily consider as being best or appropriate for your own family. Most importantly, you must have an interest in people and their emotions; be prepared to listen to their stories without judging; and see them through the process with a good dose of emotional intelligence – in and out of usual office hours. As I have often said, you can only do this job if you are passionate about what you are doing; do not do private client work if you are more attracted by machines than people.

What is your greatest achievement to date?

I am very proud to have successfully built up and established, together with my fellow partners, the Zurich office of LALIVE – within a decade. Today we are recognised both locally and internationally as a key player in all fields of dispute resolution, including private wealth disputes.

WWL says: Werner Jahnel is “a fantastic practitioner” with “a strong practice in international cross-border trust disputes and litigation”.