Cutting through complexity.
Advisory and dispute resolution for insurers and reinsurers.
About us
BNS Attorneys at Law advises and represents domestic and international insurers in all matters involving liability law, insurance and reinsurance law. With many years of professional experience behind them, our lawyers are attuned to the needs and the challenges of the increasingly complex insurance business landscape. Not only leading Swiss insurers, but also US and London market insurers (companies and Lloyd’s) regularly seek our assistance.
Our clients rely on our expertise to navigate and solve complex liability and coverage issues. While our practice covers all lines of business, our particular focus is on financial and specialty lines insurances, including professional indemnity (PI) or errors and omissions (E&O) insurance, directors’ and officers’ liability (D&O), crime/fidelity, cyber and product liability insurance.
Our firm offers a wide array of advisory services from reviewing policy wordings and assessing commercial and (re)insurance contract issues to investigating and monitoring complex domestic and international claims on behalf of insurance carriers.
We also handle liability defence and insurance coverage disputes as Swiss counsel for domestic and international insurance carriers before all Swiss courts and authorities as well as in arbitration proceedings in Switzerland and abroad.
Expertise
Our professional offering in the area of liability law includes:
- General liability
- Professional liability, including medical and legal malpractice
- Product liability
- Commercial liability
- Directors’ and Officers’ liability (D&O)
- Motor and railroad liability
- State liability
Our services extend in particular to the following areas of insurance and reinsurance business:
- Professional and commercial liability
- Motor and personal liability
- Financial Lines and Specialty Lines: including directors’ and officers’ liability (D&O), fidelity and crime, professional liability including financial institutions’ professional indemnity (FIPI), employment practices liability (EPLI), cyber insurance, warranties and indemnities (W&I or M&A insurance), and event cancellation covers
- Property insurance
Coverage counselling, claims monitoring and loss adjustment:
- Liability and coverage assessments
- Insurance coverage defence
- Second and expert opinions
Insurance and reinsurance contracts:
- Review and revision of (re)insurance policy wordings
Dispute resolution:
- Litigation before all Swiss courts
- Party representation in arbitration proceedings
- Standing as arbitrators in arbitration proceedings
Our legal professionals provide a wide range of contract-related services to help clients avoid problems down the road, starting with assisting clients in challenging contract negotiations, drafting, reviewing and revising contracts and general terms and conditions, and if need be, enforcement of their contractual claims.
We represent insurers and reinsurers in contentious matters before all Swiss courts and authorities, drawing on many years of courtroom experience. Our practice is centred on liability defence and insurance coverage disputes, particularly complex, high-value and cross-border claims. We work closely with our clients to define the right strategy for each matter – whether early resolution or full-scale litigation – and support them at every stage from initial case assessment through to trial, appeal, and enforcement.
In parallel, our lawyers regularly act as party counsel in insurance and reinsurance arbitrations, giving our clients the benefit of deep market insight and courtroom experience to resolve even their most complex insurance and reinsurance disputes efficiently and decisively.
Team
James Anthony
Partner
Stefan Bauer
Partner
Jonathan Janku
Lawyer
Markus Hämmerli
Consultant
Dr. Hans Nigg
Consultant
André Graf
Consultant
Cornelia Hasler-Odlum
Office Manager
News
Failure to Litigate as a Breach of the Board of Directors’ Duty of Care
Decision of the Swiss Federal Supreme Court of March 18, 2025, 4A_506/2024
August 29, 2025
If the Business Judgment Rule is not applied, it is sufficient for a breach of the board of directors’ duty of care that a business decision appears objectively flawed. In the case at hand, the Federal Supreme Court considered the failure to litigate as a breach of duty of care.
Read more...No Retroactive Direct Claims: Swiss Federal Supreme Court Clarifies Temporal Scope of Art. 60 para. 1bis ICA
BGE 151 III 35 and the scope of Art. 103a ICA
26 May 2025
On January 27, 2025, the Swiss Federal Supreme Court delivered a significant ruling (case no. 4A_189/2024 published as BGE 151 III 35) clarifying the intertemporal applicability of the revised Insurance Contract Act (ICA), specifically addressing the newly introduced direct right of claim under Art. 60 para. 1bis ICA, enabling injured third parties to directly pursue liability insurers.
Read more...The Legal Nature of the Customer's Claim against the Bank for Criminal Misconduct of the Bank Employee – Potential Coverage Implications
Swiss Federal Supreme Court Decision of 13 September 2022, No. 4A_407/2021 (published as BGE 149 III 105)
Date: 25. September 2023
The critical legal issue in this decision was whether a customer who fell victim to the criminal misconduct of a bank employee had a claim against the bank for contractual performance or for damages based on the bank's legal liability.
New look – same values
Serving clients with passion and competence has been at the centre of our work for 15 years. We are proud to be able to count ourselves among the leading Swiss law firms for liability and insurance law. These accomplishments would not have been
Read more...City of Zurich not liable for tram accident caused by pedestrian distracted by his mobile phone
Swiss Federal Supreme Court Decision 4A_179/2021
On 20 February 2019, a pedestrian was seriously injured in a collision with a tram (streetcar). The pedestrian was standing at a tram stop with his back to the approaching tram and his eyes on his
Read more...