In February 2026, France adopted the Law n°2026‑122 of 23 February 2026, which introduces a new statutory confidentiality regime for written legal consultations prepared by in‑house counsel. The mechanism is codified in Article 58‑1 of the Law of 31 December 1971 and was reviewed and validated by the Constitutional Council in its Decision n°2026‑900 DC of 18 February 2026. For foreign practitioners accustomed to the structures of Legal Professional Privilege in the United Kingdom or…
Switzerland has long enjoyed its strong reputation as a neutral and reliable forum/seat for the resolution of international disputes, particularly in the field of arbitration. However, unlike other jurisdictions, such as Germany, France, the UK or the Netherlands, Switzerland has not yet established specialized international commercial courts that deal with cross-border business disputes in ordinary court proceedings. This has changed with the revision of the Swiss Civil Procedure Code (CPC), which entered into force on…
In its decision of 18 February 2020, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court (SFSC) reiterated its position that Swiss procedural law requires a concrete substantiation of the facts underlying a party’s claim: a general reference to a detailed expert opinion was considered as insufficient substantiation (Case No. 4A_445/2019 (in German)). Below, we will provide a case summary and a short overview on the particularly rigid substantiation duty under the Swiss civil procedure rules. I. The Swiss substantiation…
In a recent judgment of May 8, 2019 (Case No. 13 U 210/17, BeckRS 2019, 12531) based on Regulation (EC) No. 1393/2007 on the service in the Member States of judicial and extrajudicial documents in civil or commercial matters (the “Regulation”), the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt (the “Court”) held that if a plaintiff opts for a translation of the statement of claim (although such translation is not required under the Regulation), plaintiff is responsible…