Prof. Dr. Thomas Werlen Bio

Prof. Dr. Thomas Werlen is the Managing Partner of the Swiss office. His distinguished career includes partnerships at leading law firms in New York and London, as well as his pivotal role as the Group General Counsel and an Executive Committee Member at Novartis. His leadership in numerous high-profile civil and criminal cases in Switzerland underscores his position as one of the country’s leading attorneys. Thomas’s practice primarily focuses on white collar cases and corporate investigations as well as on complex litigation and arbitration, with a particular emphasis on multi-jurisdictional disputes. Thomas is a trusted attorney for clients facing high-stakes white-collar investigations. His extensive experience includes representing several investors in the supply-chain funds operated by Credit Suisse and Greensill, a Switzerland-based commodities trading group as co-counsel in the first ever case brought by the Swiss Office of the Attorney General before the Federal Criminal Court against a Swiss company for allegations of bribing foreign public officials and clients affected by the so-called Ruvercap scandal. Moreover, Thomas represented FIFA in criminal investigations in both the U.S. and Switzerland and the main shareholder of one of Switzerland’s leading digital banks, FlowBank, in connection with bankruptcy proceedings initiated by the Swiss Financial Market Supervisory Authority (FINMA). Furthermore, he represented several major Swiss banking and financial institutions in matters adverse to Swiss and U.S. authorities in connection with the US Swiss Tax Program and with the fall-out of the “Panama Papers”. Additionally, Thomas advises high-profile clients in connection with 1MDB, PDVSA and Lava Jato related criminal and regulatory investigations, including major financial institutions in Switzerland and a leading Swiss-based commodities trading company. In the field of dispute resolution, Thomas’s expertise covers a broad range of industries, such as finance, commodities, international sports, high-tech industries, and arts and entertainment. Recently, Thomas was retained to represent a large number of AT1 bondholders holding multiple billions of AT1 bonds in the Credit Suisse-UBS takeover (see here). Additionally, he advised the majority shareholder in a multibillion cross-border acquisition dispute, a Swiss private banking group in a series of complex financial and regulatory disputes in the U.S., Europe and Asia, a major telecom operator in Switzerland in a multi-billion Swiss francs takeover dispute and the majority shareholder of Sika AG. Thomas is highly regarded for his strategic legal advice to ultra-high-net-worth individuals and their businesses, assisting them with critical legal and business decisions. In the realm of international sports, Thomas is regarded as a go-to expert in Switzerland, with a strong track record in high-profile cases involving football, boxing, basketball, field hockey and motorsports. Switzerland’s leading business publications, including the Financial Times, Neue Zürcher Zeitung, Bilanz, and Handelszeitung, consistently recognize Thomas as one of the country’s top legal professionals. He has been described as “among Switzerland’s foremost litigators,” among “the select elite of Swiss business lawyers,” and “highly experienced in cases involving prosecution by both US and Swiss authorities.” The Handelszeitung has referred to him as “The Specialist for Conflicts.” Clients praise Thomas for his “ability in high-stakes negotiations” and describe him as a “stellar operator” and a “goal-oriented litigator,” who has “a rapid understanding of complex situations and an excellent network,” a lawyer who gives “fast and to-the-point advice” and is “very professional, with top-class” (Legal 500). Moreover, clients state, that Thomas is “very clever and always has a tactic or strategy” and, that he is “always very sound in his advice.” They also value Thomas for his “specialist knowledge, market knowledge and also strategic knowledge” (Chambers and Partners). Thomas is highly ranked in both Chambers Europe and Chambers Global, where sources applaud him for being “a very precise lawyer with perfect legal skills and who works very strategically.” Prior to joining Quinn Emanuel, Thomas served as Group General Counsel and Member of the Executive Committee of global pharmaceutical company Novartis, where he oversaw a global team of over 750 employees spread across 140 jurisdictions, managing all areas of litigation affecting a multinational company with a U.S. listing. His innovative leadership at Novartis earned him the Golden Peacock Global Award for Corporate Governance and recognition as a finalist for “In-House Lawyer of the Year” by The Lawyer. The Financial Times also hailed him as a “transformational in-house lawyer”. Prior to joining Novartis in 2006, Thomas was a Partner in the U.S. law group of Allen & Overy’s London office, focusing on U.S.-related derivatives, capital markets and M&A transactions for European-based clients. Prior to that, he was an Associate at Cravath, Swaine & Moore and Davis Polk & Wardwell in New York and London, respectively. During this period, Thomas’s practice covered a wide range of areas, including banking, debt and equity capital markets transactions (both SEC registered and 144A), public and private M&A transactions, structured finance, derivatives and regulatory capital-related issues. He was frequently recognized as one of the leading U.S. international capital markets practitioners by various leading industry publications. Thomas holds Lic. iur. and Dr. iur. degrees in law from the University of Zurich and a Master’s Degree (LL.M.) from Harvard Law School. He has been a member of the Zurich bar since 1991 and a member of the New York bar since 1997. In 2012, he was appointed as a Privatdozent (habilitated lecturer) for finance and capital markets law at the University of St. Gallen. On August 1, 2019, Thomas was appointed as a full Professor for finance and capital market law at the University of St. Gallen, where he lectures on corporate law and corporate governance. In addition, Thomas teaches finance and capital markets law in post graduate programs at the University of Zurich.