Nicole Sutter

She advises Swiss and international clients on domestic and cross-border employment matters, including incentive compensation plans, employment agreements and personnel regulations, individual and collective dismissals, restructurings and the employment and pension aspects of M&A transactions. She also represents clients in employment disputes before conciliation authorities, labour courts and higher courts.

Nicole Sutter advises and represents clients across a broad range of industries, including banking, insurance and financial services, technology and IT, life sciences and healthcare, commodities, construction and engineering, and transport.

Her experience includes:

• Representing an asset manager in a complex employment litigation brought by a former senior employee concerning bonus, overtime and working-time claims, as well as abusive dismissal.
• Representing an international financial institution in a proceeding concerning alleged gender-based discrimination in pay, career progression and termination under the Swiss Gender Equality Act.
• Advising Swiss entities of a global life sciences group on employment matters, including employment agreements, personnel regulations and terminations, as well as restructurings and collective dismissals.
• Advising Swiss and international employers on the design and implementation of incentive compensation plans, including bonus schemes, employee share and option plans, and retention arrangements.
• Advising buyers and sellers on the employment and pension aspects of domestic and cross-border M&A transactions, including due diligence and the transfer of employees.
• Advising international companies on Swiss immigration law, including intra-group transfers of managers and specialists from non-EU/EFTA countries and postings of workers to Switzerland.

Nicole Sutter graduated from the University of Zurich with a Master of Law in 2020. She subsequently worked as a Junior Associate at Pestalozzi and as a Court Trainee and Law Clerk at the District Court of Meilen. She was admitted to the Swiss Bar in 2023 and rejoined Pestalozzi as an Associate the same year.