Biography: Business Crime Defence

Peter Burckhardt is a partner in Schellenberg Wittmer's dispute resolution group in Zurich, specialising in complex commercial disputes, business crime matters and legal assistance.

Peter Burckhardt is regularly retained as counsel before international arbitral tribunals and state courts in complex commercial disputes. He has acted as an expert on Swiss procedural and substantive law issues in foreign courts and regularly publishes within his field of expertise. In addition, Peter Burckhardt has practised as defence counsel for high-profile individuals in a broad range of business crime investigations (such as fraud, money laundering, bribery, etc) both on a cantonal and federal level and frequently assists clients in international legal or administrative assistance cases in criminal, regulatory and civil matters, as well as victims of crime in tracing and freezing exercises.

After graduating from Bern University in 1995, Peter Burckhardt was admitted to the Bar in Switzerland in the same year and received an LLM degree from the University of Edinburgh in 1999. Before joining Schellenberg Wittmer in 1999, he has served in various functions in the judiciary of the Canton of Bern, inter alia, as deputy judge and criminal investigating magistrate of the XII District (from 1996 to 1998).

Schellenberg Wittmer is one of the leading business law firms in Switzerland. Over 130 lawyers in Zurich and Geneva advise domestic and international clients on all aspects of business law. The firm's areas of expertise include: banking and finance, competition and antitrust, dispute resolution and international arbitration, intellectual property/information technology, mergers and acquisitions, private equity and venture capital, private clients, trusts and estates, foundations, real estate and construction, restructuring and insolvency, taxation, white-collar crime and compliance.