ABOUT
(Link to CV at bottom of website)
Who’s Who Legal (WWL) selected Alesch Staehelin as a leading practitioner in Data Law as he "possesses 'a brilliant mind' and has 'substantial experience with all types of data-related contracts'". Legal 500 recognized him in its Data Privacy & Protection, TMT and IP sections as "advising on matters pertaining to software as a service, cloud computing and artificial intelligence products and cybersecurity mandates relating to contractual and data privacy issues", as "experienced in litigation and arbitration proceedings" and as a "tech-related data & IP specialist" who "has extensive IT industry experience and expertise (in particular also regarding new technologies) and is able to explain complex topics in a simple way". Alesch is also recommended in The Best Lawyers in Switzerland for Technology Law.
Alesch specializes in Data, IT/IP & Media. Drafting & reviewing all types of IT contracts, negotiating & closing complex, time-sensitive (cross-border) tech deals, rendering legal advice regarding data protection and all content industry related matters, cybersecurity, digital transformation, entertainment, social media, copyright, trademarks, designs, patents, unfair competition, e-commerce, etc., mediating troubled projects, and conducting legal proceedings (litigation & arbitration). Clients from various regulated industries appreciate Alesch’s deep understanding of their specific conditions, while SMEs & startups love his full-fledged legal services approach.
A Swiss entrepreneur with an international perspective. Like many of his clients, Alesch is a true entrepreneur. A few months after he had founded his own law firm Digital Lawyer & Counsel (DLC)® in 2021, Legal 500 praised it as follows: "The new entry on the market already attracts top notch clients from various industries, such as multinational players from the IT, automotive, aeronautic and industrial manufacturing sectors. Staehelin himself has a background as in-house counsel for a large international IT company and assists with a wide range of regulatory, compliance, contractual and dispute resolution matters in TMT and media law." Alesch cares for your business as it were his, i.e., he makes your business his business. Having lived in New York City & Los Angeles, his perspective is distinctively international. Before becoming an attorney, Alesch worked as an international journalist (for the "Neue Zürcher Zeitung", among others), which permits him to distill complex issues down to the essentials.
IBM – more than a decade of tech industry & in-house experience. After many years of intensive traditional IT contracting (outsourcing, cloud, etc.) and rendering general legal advice as a senior in-house counsel in various international leadership positions, Alesch became IBM's Lead Counsel Research Division Europe and acquired very unique expertise in all legal aspects of AI, IoT, eHealth/smart health/MedTech, LegalTech, FinTech, blockchain, NFTs, VR/AR/MR, metaverse, big data, predictive maintenance, quantum computing and other emerging, cutting-edge technologies, which has made him a highly recognized tech lawyer in Europe and overseas.
Digital Lawyer & Counsel (DLC)®. Alesch is a sought-after (keynote) speaker, moderator and panelist: International & national speaking engagements have taken him to Washington DC, Boston, Chicago, Rio de Janeiro, London, Paris, Brussels, Frankfurt, Milan, Vienna, Lisbon, Hamburg, Zurich, Bonn, Karlsruhe, Basel, Bern, Lausanne, Guildford, etc. Alesch teaches IT & data law at the Europa Institut Zurich, technology, know-how & patent licensing at the University of Zurich, eHealth law at the Università della Svizzera italiana (Lugano) and music law at the Kalaidos University of Applied Sciences (Zurich). He is the author of 30+ legal publications (several of them are in their 2nd or 3rd edition). Alesch's professional memberships include ITechLaw (responsible AI committee), GRUR (special committee on data rights), swissICT (legal commission), the Swiss Federal Arbitration Commission for the Exploitation of Copyrights and Related Rights (ESchK), the International League of Competition Law (ILCL) and the editorial office of the “Zeitschrift für Immaterialgüter-, Informations- und Wettbewerbsrecht (sic!)”.
Early days. 8 years associate at leading Swiss law firms (TMT & IP), UCLA School of Law (LL.M., Entertainment Law), City University of New York, University of Zurich (Dr. iur., Intellectual Property Law).
Admitted as an Attorney at Law (Rechtsanwalt) to the Zurich bar and all Swiss courts, registered with the Attorneys' Registry of the Canton of Zurich.