Only 18 months after its launch, sigma legal is proud to be ranked amongst the Top 20 best Swiss law firms in five of our focus categories : # Contract # Technology and Telecom # Media # Competition # Intellectual Property.

The peer ranking survey issued by Bilanz & Le Temps ranked over 600 law firms, based on votes of more than 2000 lawyers and law practitioners. Thanks to all our clients, partners, friends and colleagues for their trust and support !

More information here

Adrien & Vincent speaker at the

LEGAL UPDATE AND WORKSHOPS FOR GENEVA BASED NGOs

Geneva Welcome Center event (CAGI)

April 17, 2018

Vincent and Adrien will have the pleasure to be speaking at the event organized by the Geneva Welcome Center, which aims at providing a legal update to Geneva based NGOs. This will be an opportunity for international NGO representatives to hear from and engage with lawyers on key legal topics faced by Geneva based international NGOs.

This free event takes the form of a public conference followed by two rounds of parallel workshops. Each workshop will be run by a lawyer.

More information and registration available here.

DATA PROTECTION FOR TECH VENTURES AND (BIG) DATA RESEARCH PROJECTS

On January 31st 2017, sigma legal was invited by the Department of Informatics of the University of Fribourg to address questions and concerns of Tech ventures and (Big) Data Research Projects in the new EU Data Protection environment (GDPR). Our presentation focused in particular on :

1. GDPR and impact for Tech Ventures: Changes to be taken into account? Impact for Tech ventures (startups, scientific projects)?
2. Specificities of Research Projects: Collection and use of data for research purposes. Where is the right balance between the interests of data subjects, the freedom to innovate and the needs for tech ventures to be able to collect and use such data?
3. Consent and Contracts: How contracts need to reflect that the new framework has been taken into account.

sigma legal's presentation is available here.

Vincent coauthored a short guide for philanthropists, non-profit organizations and social entrepreneurs in Switzerland, which can be downloaded freely here.  

This guide intends to provide an overview of the Swiss legal framework, to help social entrepreneurs and philanthropists to select the most appropriate legal structure for their venture. It covers the legal vehicles used by both non-profit (charitable) organizations and or socially driven businesses, and it explores new ways of doing business, as the boundaries of non-profits and for-profit businesses tend to disappear.

Join us on 28 November 2017 for an interactive workshop for social entrepreneurs and NGOs. This will be an opportunity for NGOs and social enterprises to discuss directly with specialized lawyers about common legal issues faced in the non-profit sector, such as Governance, Tax, Regulatory Compliance, Corporate Structuring, IP, Data Protection and Employment.

Sigma Legal is very pleased to organize this event with the Thompson Reuters Foundation and FRORIEP Legal AG.

Register now to secure your place!

Upcoming Framework Governing the Protection of Personal Data in High-Tech Research Projects

Recent revision of data protection laws aim at adapting such laws in accordance with the technological evolution that took place over the past 20 years. Taking into account the GDPR, the current and revised draft of the Swiss data protection act and more specific rules such as the provisions governing research activities in Switzerland, Adrien & Vincent addressed in a presentation given at HES SO on 2 October 2017, the application of Data Protection to high tech research projects.

They adressed the following questions (i) which data gathered in high-tech projects qualify as personal data (data gathered on social networks, data stemming from crowdsensing and geolocation tools, etc.), (ii) collection and use of data by controllers in specific environments such as a hospital or a research lab (including for instance in relation to machine learning), (iii) the type of consent that may have to be obtained from data subjects, and (iv) the right balance between the interests of data subjects and the freedom of scientists to innovate.

Adrien and Vincent's presentation is available here.

Between Consignors and Buyers:
Conflicts of Interest of Auction Houses

Joëlle Becker has participated as a speaker in the Kunst & Recht 2107 / Art & Law 2017 Seminar organized by the University of Basel, in the context of Art Basel.

In her presentation, Joëlle has analyzed the duties ensuing from the contractual relationships entered into by auction houses under Swiss law. In doing so, she has focused on the cases of conflicts of interest, which auction houses may have to handle, as well as the possible solutions at their and their clients' disposal.

Joëlle’s presentation is available here.

Symposium des fondations suisses 2017 Actualités en droit des fondations

Vincent Pfammatter a participé en tant qu'orateur au Symposium des fondations suisses 2017 organisé par SwissFoundations à la Maison de la paix à Genève, le 7 juin 2017.

Vincent a présenté trois actualités juridique distinctes, soit (i) l'impact du rapport du GAFI du mois de décembre 2016 pour les fondations suisses, (ii) la possibilité qu'offre à présent l'article 86a CC au fondateur de modifier le but de sa fondation, et (iii) deux arrêts du Tribunal fédéral (thésaurisation) et du Tribunal administratif fédéral (gouvernance).

La présentation de Vincent est disponible ici .

IoT - For Better or Worse

Internet is developing tremendously through the Internet of Thing (IoT), which refers to the networked interconnection of everyday objects and devices. Today, more than 15 billion objects are connected to the Internet and it is expected that they will reach 80 billion by 2020. This evolution offers immense potential for new business opportunities. But it also raises a lot of questions and concerns about privacy threats and data protection. Together with Gilles Meynet, we shared some thoughts in a recent an article which is accessible here (in French).

IoT Security

On April 4th, 2017, sigma legal hosted a conference from the association Swiss Cybersecurity. Enlightening speeches and discussions about connected devices, their security weaknesses and the consequences this may have on privacy.