Our Values

Insider trading is trading of a public company’s stocks or other securities and investment instruments by individuals with access to privileged or at least non-public information. This is considered as an unfair advantage towards other investors who do not have access to such information.

Firm strictly refuses and discourages any kind of insider trading. Aside from the sanctions mentioned below insider trading can also be considered as a breach of confidentiality and, more generally, as a breach of the mutual trust in attorney-client relations that can have other consequences.

Depending on the individual jurisdiction individuals involved in insider trading face high penalties, imprisonment and/or disbarment. Damages may be also claimed against such persons.

We never assist our clients to carry out insider trading. If you find out that a client or any other person involved intends to carry out insider trading you are required to proceed in the same way as if it was a bribery (please see section 7 on Anti-bribery and Corruption).

Note that in some jurisdictions Firm personnel may be required to report insider trading that has been committed in the past or intended by a third person to the police or a similar authority. The attorney-client privilege may or may not prevent the application of such a rule to the lawyers and their employees. If this is the case, we highly recommend to proceed in the same way as if it was a bribery (please see section 7 on Anti-bribery and Corruption).

Our goal is to deliver what we promised to the clients duly and on time. We should always provide a certain added value on top of mere answers. Our clients are interested in solutions and ideas, not legal textbooks. Therefore, we must also understand how the client’s business works. We pursue excellence through continuous learning as well as teamwork. Conferring with colleagues is natural and beneficial for us as well as the client. We challenge assumptions and pursue the facts in order to understand the true nature of the case. We are always well prepared in advance to duly fulfill our tasks. We do care. If we lack information or instruction, we ask for it. We remind clients, if necessary. We propose solutions even if the client is passive or does not explicitly ask for it.

We develop fair and healthy relations with our clients, suppliers, peers, and employees. We do not deliberately mislead or deceive them by misrepresentations, overstatements, partial truths or selective omissions in order to gain a certain advantage. Nevertheless, in case of dispute or in court it is our role to protect our client’s interests and to provide only such statements and to submit only such evidence that supports our client’s case. We must therefore strictly differentiate between when we act on our own behalf and when we present the case on behalf of our client. We pay fair remuneration to our suppliers and employees and we expect the same from our clients. We invoice our fees in a fair and transparent manner and we are always prepared to duly justify the calculations.

We treat all people with equal respect and dignity regardless of their age, sex, culture, race, nationality, religion or sexual orientation. We demonstrate our respect for human dignity, autonomy, and privacy. When hiring new team members we treat all candidates similarly, unhampered by artificial barriers or prejudices, except when particular distinctions are necessary and justified. We respect all fundamental rights of our team members including the freedom of speech and other political rights. We do however expect that everybody will present his or her opinions in a way that there will be no doubt whether or not such opinions represent an official stance of Firm.

We behave like a responsible corporate citizen. Among others, we do care about human rights, handicapped individuals, environmental issues and peace among nations. We speak up when it is necessary.