Marquard Christen, LL.M., MAS

Partner

Picture of Marq Christen

Marquard Christen, LL.M., MAS

Partner

T +41 44 285 11 11
F +41 44 285 11 22
CMS von Erlach Poncet Ltd.
Dreikönigstrasse 7
P.O. Box
8022 Zurich
Switzerland
Languages German, English, French, Spanish, Dutch

Marquard Christen specializes in competition law (antitrust law) and public procurement law.

Marquard Christen advises Swiss and foreign companies regarding all aspects of Swiss and EU competition law and represents them in proceedings before competition authorities and courts. In public procurement law, Marquard supports both procuring entities and bidders in the tender process and in appeal proceedings. Additionally, he advises on compliance matters, Outsourcing projects, and contract law ─ particularly in the areas of sales, service, and distribution agreements. 

Marquard Christen joined CMS as a trainee attorney in 2001 and continued working for CMS as an associate after being admitted to the bar in 2003. From 2009 to 2010 he worked as a delegate of the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) before returning to CMS in 2011. Since 2015, he heads our firm's Public Procurement practice group. Marquard Christen is also an Investigator appointed by the Swiss Bankers Association with regard to the enforcement of the Swiss Code of Conduct on the Due Diligence of Banks (CDB) and a member of the Expert Committee on Digitalisation of the Swiss Bar Association.

Apart from commercial law, Marquard Christen is committed to the advancement of human rights and international humanitarian law. He is also active in the firm's pro bono engagements.

Marquard Christen is married and the father of two sons.

Rankings

Chambers and Partners

Legal 500

Who's Who Legal

more less

Marquard Christen "impresses with his strong legal knowledge, excellent analytical skills and practical advice based on clients' needs," according to interviewees. Clients also extol his "ability not only to assess facts from a legal perspective, but also to understand the economic context." He has particular expertise in the intersect between competition and public procurement law, with expertise in the area of bid rigging.

Chambers and Partners 2018 – Competition/Antitrust – Switzerland

Apart from team lead Patrick Sommer, the ‘business-minded’ Marquard Christen is the main adviser, who offers ‘superb, convincing advice’, ‘profound knowledge of antitrust law’ and has a ‘complex readiness of mind’.

Legal 500 EMEA, 2018, Competition – Switzerland

‘Outstanding and proactive’ firm CMS has significant expertise in real estate, employment, competition and litigation matters. Stefan Gerster, Marquard Christen, Christian Gersbach, Jodok Wicki and Philipp Dickenmann are the names to note.

Legal 500 EMEA, 2018, Leading Firms: German-Speaking Switzerland

Marquard Christen is "a very visible and strong practitioner" who has exceptional knowledge of investigations and compliance matters.

Who's Who Legal 2018, Switzerland – Competition

CMS attracts praise for its combination of ‘great service’ with ‘timely and practical advice’. The team has been representing Bayer in appeal proceedings against a decision by the Competition Commission regarding alleged vertical price fixing. Practice head Patrick Sommer and recently promoted partner Marquard Christen are recommended."

Legal 500 EMEA, 2017, Competition - Switzerland

Clients endorse Marquard Christen's services as “tailor made and focused on our needs”, describing his counsel as “of outstanding quality and based on a deep understanding of our business."

Who's Who Legal 2017, Competition - Switzerland

Clients greatly appreciate Marquard Christen for his "strong legal knowledge, excellent analytical skills and practical advice".

Who's Who Legal 2018, Competition

Marquard Christen "impresses with his strong legal knowledge, excellent analytical skills and practical advice based on clients' needs," according to interviewees. Clients also extol his "ability not only to assess facts from a legal perspective, but also to understand the economic context." He has particular expertise in the intersect between competition and public procurement law, with expertise in the area of bid rigging.

Chambers and Partners 2018 – Competition/Antitrust – Switzerland

Apart from team lead Patrick Sommer, the ‘business-minded’ Marquard Christen is the main adviser, who offers ‘superb, convincing advice’, ‘profound knowledge of antitrust law’ and has a ‘complex readiness of mind’.

Legal 500 EMEA, 2018, Competition – Switzerland

‘Outstanding and proactive’ firm CMS has significant expertise in real estate, employment, competition and litigation matters. Stefan Gerster, Marquard Christen, Christian Gersbach, Jodok Wicki and Philipp Dickenmann are the names to note.

Legal 500 EMEA, 2018, Leading Firms: German-Speaking Switzerland

Marquard Christen is "a very visible and strong practitioner" who has exceptional knowledge of investigations and compliance matters.

Who's Who Legal 2018, Switzerland – Competition

CMS attracts praise for its combination of ‘great service’ with ‘timely and practical advice’. The team has been representing Bayer in appeal proceedings against a decision by the Competition Commission regarding alleged vertical price fixing. Practice head Patrick Sommer and recently promoted partner Marquard Christen are recommended."

Legal 500 EMEA, 2017, Competition - Switzerland

Clients endorse Marquard Christen's services as “tailor made and focused on our needs”, describing his counsel as “of outstanding quality and based on a deep understanding of our business."

Who's Who Legal 2017, Competition - Switzerland

Clients greatly appreciate Marquard Christen for his "strong legal knowledge, excellent analytical skills and practical advice".

Who's Who Legal 2018, Competition

Relevant experience

  • Representation of the Koch Group of companies (architectural hardware) in proceedings before the Swiss Competition Commission, the Swiss Federal Administrative Court, and the Swiss Federal Court.
  • Representation of a construction company in proceedings before the Swiss Competition Commission and the Federal Administrative Court regarding alleged bid rigging.
  • Various additional administrative proceedings before the Swiss Competition Commission (representation of companies from various industry sectors including construction, pharma, payment solutions, telecommunication, travel, and retail).
  • Development and implementation of compliance programs (guidelines, e-learning tools, dawn raid policies, training).
  • Competition and commercial law advice on establishing of distribution systems.
  • Competition law and merger control assessment of complex horizontal cooperation projects (including technology transfer, specialisation agreements, and joint R&D).
  • Representation of several major Swiss companies in public procurement court proceedings.
  • Legal opinion on the applicability of public procurement law for a company in the energy sector (in general and to services procured from affiliated companies).
  • Advice on various non-litigious public procurement law issues for both procuring entities and bidders (in particular from the energy, life sciences, facility management and construction sectors) including the drafting of tender documents and questions related to the participation in public tender proceedings.
  • Advice to and representation of facility management services provider ISS Switzerland Ltd. in the drafting and negotiation of outsourcing agreements with various major Swiss companies comprising the banking, consumer products, consulting, flight and telecom industries.
more less

Education

  • 2011 – Master of Advanced Studies (MAS), Graduate Institute of International and Development Studies (IHEI) and University of Geneva
  • 2007 – Master of Law (LL.M.), University of New South Wales (Sydney, Australia)
  • 2003 – Bar Admission (Teilerlass)
  • 2000 – Law degree (lic. iur.), summa cum laude, Universitäten Fribourg und Leuven (Belgien)
more less

Memberships

  • Zurich Bar Association (ZAV)
  • Swiss Bar Association (SAV)
  • Schweizerische Vereinigung für öffentliches Beschaffungswesen
  • Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht
more less

Publications

more less

Lectures list

  • 31 October 2018, CMS Breakfast Competition and Public Procurement Law, Zurich, "Die kartellrechtliche Beurteilung verschiedener Kooperationsformen bei der Teilnahme an staatlichen und privaten Auftragsvergaben"
  • 26 September 2017, Industrie- und Handelskammer Region Stuttgart, "Abwicklung von (öffentlichen) Aufträgen in der DACH-Region, Einblick in das Schweizer Vergaberecht"
  • 15 June 2017, Schweizerischer Anwaltsverband (SAV), Fachkongress SAV, 15. – 17. Juni 2017, Luzern, "Der Weg in die Selbständigkeit – Erfahrungsberichte aus verschiedenen Blickrichtungen"
  • 7 April 2017, International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA), Public Law Commission Seminar, Lausanne, "Setting the scene: the legal framework concerning public procurement" (co-speaker: Katarzyna Kuzma, Domanski Zakrewski Palinka, Poland)
  • 16 November 2016, CMS Competition Breakfast 2016, Zürich, "Antitrust Damages Claims in the EU and Switzerland – Legal Framework and Practical Questions" (zusammen mit Satyen Dhana, CMS London und Tim Reher, CMS Hamburg)
  • 20 October 2016, Schweizerischer Fachverband Fenster- und Fassadenbranche (FFF), Gossau SG, "Das Kartellrecht und Ihr Unternehmen – Kartellrechtsverstösse und ihre Auswirkungen"
  • 18 November 2015, Zweites CMS Commercial Breakfast 2015, Zürich, "AGB – Verloren im Kleingedruckten" (zusammen mit Reto Hunsperger)
  • 26 February 2015, CMS Commercial Breakfast 2015, Zürich, "'Liability' und 'Warranty' in Commercial Contracts unter Schweizer Recht – Lost in Translation" (zusammen mit Reto Hunsperger)
  • 11 December 2013, Verband Schweizerischer Elektro-Installationsfirmen (VSEI), Feierabend-Seminar, Zürich, "Das Kartellrecht und Ihr Unternehmen"
  • 2 May 2013, Generalversammlung des Verbandes Schweizerischer Schloss- und Beschlägefabrikanten (VSSB), Murten, "Das Kartellrecht und Ihr Unternehmen"
  • 15 November 2012, Arbeitgebertagung der Arbeitgebervereinigung des Zürcher Unterlandes (AZU), Zürich, "Tangiert das Kartellrecht Ihr Unternehmen?"
more less

Expertise

Competition & EU Public Procurement Commercial
24/03/2015
Re­sellers of door mount­ings fined for al­leged price...
#
Publication
12/02/2015
Fed­er­al Ad­min­is­trat­ive Court an­nuls Com­pet­i­tion Com­mis­sion...
#
Publication

Feed

Show only
21/12/2018
CMS ad­vises AEW En­er­gie AG on the ac­quis­i­tion of a...
#
Deal (News) Corporate / M&A
30/05/2017
De­cision of the Swiss Fed­er­al Su­preme Court in the Gaba / Gebro case...
On 21 April 2017, the Swiss Fed­er­al Su­preme Court pub­lished its de­cision in the case re­gard­ing the man­u­fac­tur­ing and dis­tri­bu­tion of El­mex products (teeth and mouth care products). A pub­lic de­lib­er­a­tion of the judge­ment had already taken place on 28 June 2016.
#
Law-Now
17/12/2018
Pub­lic pro­cure­ment guide
#
Publication Public Procurement
17/09/2018
Mer­ger con­trol re­view in Switzer­land
#
Publication Corporate / M&A
30/07/2018
CMS ad­vises the Koller fam­ily on the sale of the Hoeg­ger...
#
Deal (News) Corporate / M&A
13/02/2018
Our Swiss Com­pet­i­tion Team – Highly re­com­men­ded in...
#
News Competition & EU
May 2018
CMS Pub­lic Pro­cure­ment Tool­box of Rem­ed­ies
Tool­box of rem­ed­ies in pub­lic award pro­ced­ures avail­able...
#
Guide Public Procurement
09/05/2017
De­cision of the Swiss Fed­er­al Su­preme Court in the...
#
Newsletter Competition & EU
23/11/2016
Com­pet­i­tion Prac­tice
Switzer­land
#
Brochure Competition & EU
29.06.2016
2015 An­ti­trust Year in Re­view
#
Newsletter Competition & EU
24/03/2015
Re­sellers of door mount­ings fined for al­leged price...
#
Publication Competition & EU
17/02/2015
CMS von Er­lach Pon­cet ad­vises Gemalto on the ac­quis­i­tion...
#
Deal (News) Corporate / M&A
Load more articles