I will provide you with efficient, comprehensive legal support that is both prudent and pragmatic:
Contract drafting and legal guidance on day-to-day business operations
Settlement negotiations, mediation and conflict management
Litigation and enforcement of judgments
My practice is focused on all issues related to the Swiss Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Act (SchKG). In debt restructuring proceedings I can serve as either a debtor’s or creditor’s representative and as an administrator or liquidator.
SERVICES
I can help you in all matters related to commercial law in all its diversity, such as:
Contract law
Contract drafting, contract management and conflict resolution
Employment and company law
For example representation in proceedings related to employment and company law, or support when preparing for and holding board of directors’ and shareholders’ meetings
Debt collection and bankruptcy law
Including recovery, restructuring and participation in debt restructuring procedures as administrator, liquidator and debtor’s or creditor’s representative
Building and public procurement law
Contract drafting, monitoring building projects or carrying out building-related procedures
Litigation
Evaluation of the prospects for success, and representation in court and other official proceedings
I am also available to assist with criminal matters, and in various areas related to the Civil Code (such as inheritance law) and public law.
ABOUT ME
Since 2015 I have worked as a lawyer, initially for a major corporate law firm in Zurich and then in private practice, starting in 2021.
I am registered with the attorneys' registry of the Canton of Zurich and admitted to all Swiss courts. I am member of the Zurich Bar Association ZAV and of the Swiss Bar Association SAV.
Since 2015 I have also regularly appeared in academic publications as editor, author or
co-author.
While working, I also successfully completed an Executive MBA in General Management at the University of St. Gallen during 2019 and 2020.
Following my law studies at the Universities of Zurich and Geneva, I began working for the Zurich District Court in 2009 and was admitted to the Zurich Bar in 2012.
I was a law clerk at the Zurich Bankruptcy and Debt Restructuring Court from 2010 to 2012, and then at the Zurich Commercial Court from 2012 to 2015.
I have also been a Substitute Judge at the Dielsdorf District Court since 2014 (previously serving in that capacity at the Zurich District Court in 2013 and 2015). I participate in panels hearing cases there, and also conduct many different types of proceedings as a single judge in the areas of general civil and criminal law, debt collection and bankruptcy law, and employment and tenancy law.
![Portraifoto Zeno Schönmann](assets/img/zeno-schoenmann.webp?h=721b57857377d40007a0d2cb58a0bc20)
FEES
I generally bill by the hour, with the hourly rate based on the complexity of the case, the amount at issue and the degree of responsibility involved.
Other compensation models can also be agreed upon, such as a flat fee or – if allowed by law – a contingency fee based on the amount awarded in the case. SMEs and associations may also find the attractively-priced external legal services I offer to be beneficial.
If you can’t afford a trial, you can ask for free legal aid. Another option is third-party funding of legal proceedings.
I would be happy to meet with you for an initial consultation – free of charge and without obligation – to advise you on the various options for compensation and financing.
PUBLICATIONS
Schönmann Zeno
Kommentar zu Art. 160-167a und Art. 177-180, in: Gehri Myriam A./Jent-Sørensen Ingrid/Sarbach Martin (Hrsg.), Schweizerische Zivilprozessordnung[Swiss Code of Civil Procedure], 3. Auflage, Zürich 2023
Hunkeler Daniel / Wohl Georg / Schönmann Zeno
Kommentar zu Art. 725-725c OR [Commentary on Articles 725-725c], in: Nobel Peter / Müller Christoph (Hrsg.), Berner Kommentar – Das Aktienrecht [The Stock Corporation Law] – Kommentar der ersten Stunde, Bern 2023
Schönmann Zeno
Legal Tech für kleine bis mittelgrosse Anwaltskanzleien [Legal tech for small and medium-sized law firms], in: Beiträge zu aktuellen Themen an der Schnittstelle zwischen Recht und Betriebswirtschaft VI 2021
Hunkeler Daniel / Wohl Georg / Schönmann Zeno
Nachlassstundung: Keine Beschwerdelegitimation für Gläubiger bei Unternehmensverkäufen [The debt-restructuring moratorium: no right of appeal for creditors in company sales], in: Jusletter 2021
Hunkeler Daniel / Schönmann Zeno
Coronavirus: Massnahmen gegen Konkurse werden nicht verlängert [Coronavirus: anti-bankruptcy measures will not be extended], in: Jusletter 2020
Hunkeler Daniel / Wohl Georg / Schönmann Zeno
COVID-19-Verordnung Insolvenzrecht - Massnahmen des Bundes gegen Massenkonkurse [COVID-19 Regulation insolvency law – Federal measures against mass bankruptcies], in: Jung Peter/Krauskopf Frédéric/Cramer Conradin (Hrsg.), Theorie und Praxis des Unternehmensrechts, Festschrift zu Ehren von Lukas Handschin, Zürich/Basel/Genf 2020
Brunner Alexander / Reutter Mark A. / Schönmann Zeno / Talbot Philip
Kollokations- und Widerspruchsklagen nach SchKG, Eine Einführung und Übersicht für die Praxis [Actions against the schedule of claims and against execution under the Swiss Debt Collection and Bankruptcy Act, an introduction and overview for practitioners], Bern 2019
Hunkeler Daniel / Schönmann Zeno
Grundriss des Prepacks [Basics of pre-packs], in: Sanierung und Insolvenz von Unternehmen IX, Neue Entwicklungen 2019
Boesch Kurt / Duss Jacobi Vanessa / Hunkeler Daniel / Marro Pierre-Yves / Meier-Dieterle Felix C. / Renggli Helen / Schönmann Zeno
Klagen und Rechtsbehelfe im Schuldbetreibungs- und Konkursrecht [Actions and legal remedies under Swiss debt collection and bankruptcy law], Basel 2018
Hunkeler Daniel / Schönmann Zeno
Die Rechtsöffnung im Konkurs und im gerichtlichen Nachlassverfahren [The dismissal of objection in bankruptcy and in court proceedings on debt restructuring], in: Schweizerische Zeitschrift für Zivilprozess- und Zwangsvollstreckungsrecht (ZZZ) 2016