Philippe Pulfer is co-head of the firm’s Private Client practice. He is widely recognised as one of Switzerland’s leading private client lawyers and, for more than 20 years, has been constantly top-ranked by all major professional directories. He is, according to Chambers HNW, ‘the go-to person in Switzerland’ in his area of practice and has been described by Legal 500 as 'one of the most knowledgeable trust and private client practitioners in Switzerland'. He has been included in the ALM Private Client Global Elite since the ranking’s inaugural edition in 2012 (under the Legal Week banner) and every year since its relaunch in 2017.

Philippe Pulfer specialises in wealth structuring and estate planning with an international focus and acts in complex, mostly multi-jurisdictional, succession and trust disputes. He advises charities and charity donors in all areas of philanthropy, with a particular focus on the arts and the support to cultural institutions, and serves as a board member of several charitable foundations. He has also significant experience in private banking disputes, in particular mismanagement of funds, fraud cases and international judicial assistance.

Philippe Pulfer is a member of the Geneva Bar Association, Swiss Bar Association, International Bar Association (IBA), Society of Trust and Estate Practitioners (STEP) and The International Academy of Estate and Trust Law (TIAETL), as well as an International Fellow of the American College of Estate and Trust Counsel (ACTEC). He is a long-serving committee member of STEP Geneva and sat for two terms on the STEP Worldwide Council. He is a frequent speaker at international conferences and the author of publications on Swiss succession law, the practice of trusts in Switzerland, charities and art law.

Philippe Pulfer graduated from the University of Geneva in 1992 and was admitted to the Bar in 1995.

Philippe Pulfer speaks French and English. He is registered with the Geneva Bar and admitted to practice in all Switzerland.

Private Client 2023: Chapter Switzerland

Position paper on the proposed draft bill for the introduction of a Swiss trust

Death and Taxes Are Absolute Certainties – But Litigation Doesn’t Need to Be

R.I.P. Swiss Trust?

Private Client 2022: Chapter Switzerland

Structures in Crisis

About elephants and other animals - Contrasting different entity types and how they drive litigation strategy

Private Client 2021: Chapter Switzerland

Private Wealth 2020 - Chapter Switzerland

Private Client 2020: Chapter Switzerland

Consigli per collezionisti in materia di pianificazione

Guida legate comparativa internazionale su: clienti privati 2019 - Capitolo Svizzera

Incompetenza internazionale

Elenchi pubblici secondo la quarta direttiva UE sul riciclaggio di denaro – una violazione eccessiva dei diritti della persona?

Ein klareres Bild

Ehegüterrecht, Einbringung von Vermögenswerten in Trusts

Sorgt Den Haag für Harmonie?

Der schlechte Klient: Wie man ihn identifiziert, wie man ihn vermeidet und inwiefern der Rechtsberater verantwortlich ist, wenn er ihn annimmt

Extreme der Nachlassplanung

Protektoren: Allzwecklösung oder vorprogrammierte Katastrophe

Zivil- und strafrechtliche Verantwortlichkeit von Rechtsberatern

Ein Überblick über das Schweizer Stiftungswesen

Ausforschungsbeweise: Perspektiven aus aller Welt

Vorsitzender

Ehegüterrecht

Auswirkungen der EU-Erbrechtsverordnung auf die Schweiz

Nachlass- und Nachfolgeplanung in Europa – Schweiz

Private Client – Switzerland chapter

Private Client – Switzerland chapter

Treuhänder: Welchen Risiken und welcher Verantwortung sehen sie sich heute gegenüber? Rechte und Rechtsmittel für Treugeber und Begünstigte gegenüber dem Treuhänder: Risiken und Empfehlungen

Das neue Schweizer Pauschalbesteuerungsreglement: Eine natürliche Entwicklung

Private Client – Switzerland chapter

Globale technische Updates, Schweiz

Eigenheimkauf in der Schweiz: Die Folgen des Ehegüterrechts

Erosions- und Angriffsverhütung

Das Bankgeheimnis: Vom Aussterben bedroht?

Überblick über die Rechtsprechung, Schweiz

Die Entwicklung des Bankgeheimnisses Weltweite Zukunftsplanung – Beratertipps zu internationalen Klienten

Die neuesten Planungsmethoden für internationale Privatklienten, Trusts sowie Steuer-, Versicherungs-, Nachfolge- und andere Fragen; das internationale Testament aus Schweizer Sicht

Aufenthaltserlaubnis und Immobilienerwerb

Trusts sowie Steuer-, Vermögens- und Geschäftsplanung für Künstler und Sportler: Wie man Trusts nutzt

Getty Cultural (review of the Swiss Federal Act on the International Transfer of Cultural Property)

EU-Schweizer Abkommen zur Besteuerung von Spareinkünften – Erklärung der Regeln

Riconoscimenti