Frequently Asked Questions

DL Legal Advisory is my independent legal advisory practice — based in Switzerland, working internationally. I give companies, international organisations, start-ups and growing businesses the legal judgment of a seasoned General Counsel, without the cost of a permanent hire, drawing on 26 years of in-house experience.

The work spans five areas:

• Fractional General Counsel
• Governance and compliance
• Commercial contracts and procurement
• Strategic legal counsel
• Transition management

The difference is perspective. A law firm advises from the outside, matter by matter, and bills by the hour — its instinct is to protect the firm. I work from inside the business, the way a General Counsel does: I understand the commercial stakes before I reason in law, and I advise to help you decide — not to cover myself.

In practice, that means direct access to senior judgment with no intermediaries, advice measured against your business rather than billable-hour targets, and a counsel who is in the room when decisions are made.

Most flexible legal platforms place a resource: you reach a pool of lawyers, and the person can change from one matter to the next. DL Legal Advisory works the other way round. You work with the same senior counsel over time — someone who learns your business, its culture and its priorities, and anticipates the next question because he already has the context. That continuity is the difference between a legal function and a series of legal transactions.

A Fractional General Counsel is a seasoned in-house lawyer — usually a former General Counsel — who takes on the role of head of legal for a fraction of a full-time commitment. You get the seniority and continuity of a General Counsel, calibrated to your real workload: a few days a month, or a regular weekly presence.

It suits companies whose legal needs have become serious and demanding, but do not yet justify — or cannot yet fund — a full-time hire: SMEs and scale-ups, subsidiaries of international groups, and private-equity-backed businesses.

A fractional General Counsel engagement is ongoing and part-time — a regular allocation of time each week or month, for organisations that need a permanent senior legal presence but not a full-time one.

An interim General Counsel engagement is time-limited and usually more intensive — covering a departure, a transition, a defined project or a vacancy until it is filled.

The two often connect: an engagement that begins as interim cover frequently becomes a long-term fractional arrangement once the relationship is established.

I work in English and French — in advisory work, contract drafting, negotiation and legal documentation alike. Most of my mandates run in both. For matters that require another language, I coordinate trusted external advisers and local counsel.

I work with organisations that need senior legal judgment but do not — or do not yet — have a full in-house team:

• SMEs, start-ups and scale-ups structuring their growth
• Subsidiaries of international groups needing legal cover in Switzerland
• Private-equity-backed and portfolio companies
• Industrial, infrastructure and other regulated businesses
• International organisations and NGOs

Across 26 years of in-house practice, I have supported companies in demanding, heavily regulated sectors:

• Infrastructure and energy
• Precious metals and commodities
• Luxury, fashion and watchmaking
• Life sciences and medtech
• FMCG and distribution
• International organisations and NGOs

That range means I recognise patterns from one industry to the next, and bring commercial grounding — not just legal analysis.

Start-ups face a paradox: they need serious legal input exactly when they can least afford a full-time hire. That is the gap I fill.

Founders get direct access to senior experience, scaled to their stage — no rigid structure, no long-term lock-in. In practice, that covers:

• First commercial contracts and negotiations with customers and suppliers
• Governance and company formation
• Compliance frameworks proportionate to the growth stage
• Partnerships, joint ventures and M&A
• International expansion and cross-border questions
• Risk management and counsel on founding decisions

Yes — cross-border, multi-jurisdictional work is central to what I do. I have supported companies across EMEA (including the Gulf), Asia and the Americas, on:

• International commercial contracts and supplier negotiations
• Governance and compliance frameworks for cross-border operations
• Market-entry structuring and local set-up
• Coordination of external local counsel
• Risk management in complex, multi-stakeholder environments

I support clients in Switzerland and internationally — with hands-on experience across EMEA (including the Gulf states), Europe and the United Kingdom, Asia, the Americas and Africa, and in multi-jurisdictional settings. Work can be delivered remotely, on-site or hybrid, depending on the mandate.

Yes. Many clients work on a retainer or fractional basis, but a one-off engagement for a defined need is equally possible — reviewing or negotiating a contract, advising on a transaction, or giving a focused opinion on a specific question. There is no minimum commitment, and a single mandate often grows into a longer relationship.

Yes — employment law is a regular part of my work:

• Employment contracts, policies and handbooks
• Executive and senior-management remuneration
• Restructuring and management transitions
• Employment aspects of transactions and reorganisations
• Compliance with employment rules across jurisdictions

For specialised local employment advice outside Switzerland, I coordinate trusted external counsel.

Yes — in a managing role rather than as courtroom counsel. I handle dispute assessment and strategy, contractual analysis, legal-risk management, settlement discussions, and coordination of the external litigation counsel running the case.

DL Legal Advisory is a legal advisory practice and does not represent clients in court where that is reserved to admitted attorneys. Where court representation is needed, I select and manage the right external counsel for the jurisdiction concerned.

Trust and discretion are the foundation of the work. Across my career I have handled commercially sensitive and strategically significant matters for multinationals, international organisations and regulated businesses, with the confidentiality and rigour expected of a senior in-house function.

Where legal professional privilege is in play — litigation, regulatory matters, sensitive investigations — I work alongside admitted attorneys so that engagements are structured to preserve it.

You pay for the senior legal capability you actually use — without the salary, social charges, recruitment fees and fixed overhead of a permanent General Counsel. Engagements are scaled to real need, and the cost is predictable. The guide Outsourced General Counsel or recruitment? sets out how the two compare.

Flexibly, and matched to the mandate. Depending on what you need, that can be:

• An hourly or daily rate
• A monthly retainer
• A fixed project fee
• An interim-cover arrangement

Whatever the format, the basis is agreed up front — no billing surprises.

It starts with a short conversation — usually 30 to 45 minutes — to understand what you need and agree the right engagement model. I then propose a fee structure, and we can begin without a long procurement cycle or onboarding delay.

Email contact@dl-legal.ch or use the contact form.