Senior Associate

Dr Lukas Brugger

Languages

German
French
English

Social media

Lukas Brugger advises in the areas of wealth and estate planning, national and international matrimonial property and inheritance law, trusts, philanthropy and art as well as foundation law.

Lukas Brugger joined CMS in 2024. He studied in Geneva and Zurich and wrote a dissertation on foundation law. Prior to joining CMS, Lukas Brugger was an associate in the Private Clients Team of Bär & Karrer and a university assistant at the Chair of Prof. Dr. Dominique Jakob as well as a research assistant at the Center for Foundation Law at the University of Zurich.

Lukas Brugger has been a lecturer in private law at the University of Zurich since 2022. He regularly publishes and lectures in the areas of foundation law and inheritance law.

Awards & Recognitions

01 –

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Responsiveness - Experience - Great technically but ability to focus on practicalities (Lukas Brugger in particular).

The Legal 500, Switzerland, Private client, 2025
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The team stands out for their knowledge in the field of cross-border estate planning and foundation law issues; with Lukas Brugger who joined the team recently, they gained an additional expert in the field of foundation law.

The Legal 500, Switzerland, Private client, 2025

Publications

Models for a Contemporary Swiss Family Foundation, AJP/PJA, May 2025
Strategic considerations for selecting arbitrators, the seat, institutional framework and specific clauses, in: Greg Falkof (ed.), The Guide to High Net Worth Clients and Arbitration – First Edition, April 2025 (together with Niklaus Zaugg and Marzia Schilleci)
Commentary on Art. 87 and Art. 335 (Foundation Law), Online Commentary, 20 December 2024 (jointly with Claude Humbel), in Nils Güggi/Lukas von Orelli (eds.)
Instructions contrary to the articles of association of Liechtenstein foundations in dealings with Swiss banks, Jusletter September 11, 2023 (together with Daniel Leu and Lukas Eichenberger)
Commentary on Art. 580 - 592 (Public Inventory) and Art. 593 - 597 (Official Liquidation), in: Basler Kommentar ZGB Geiser/Wolf (eds.), Basler Kommentar Zivilgesetzbuch II, 7th edition, 2023 (together with Daniel Leu)
Commentary on Art. 80 and Art. 84 ZGB (foundation law), in Güggi/von Orelli (ed.) OnlineKommentar
Laws of Non-Profit-Organisations in a nutshell, Dike Verlag, 2023 (together with Dominique Jakob and Claude Humbel)
Swiss Foundation Law - Tightrope act between freedom and regulation, Trusts & Trustees 5/2022 (together with Dominique Jakob)
NPOs and the fight against terrorism, npoR 4/2021, 182 ff. (together with Claude Humbel)
Risk of terrorist financing by non-profit organizations: The Anti-Money Laundering Act also leads to tightening of association law, NZZ of April 15, 2021 (together with Claude Humbel)
Financing of Terrorism through NPOs - Switzerland's Approach to Tackle an Elusive Threat, Bucerius Law School, Institute for Foundation and Non-Profit Law March 2021 (together with Claude Humbel)
The Executor in the International Estate - Country Report Switzerland, in: Hans Rainer Künzle (ed.), 3rd Swiss-German Executors' Day - Presentations of the Continuing Education Seminar of the Successio Association and the Working Group on Will Execution
The mixed foundation – Foundations in pursuit of seperate purposes in Switzerland an Austria, Schriften zum Stiftungsrecht (ed. Dominique Jakob), vol. 12, Zurich/St. Gallen, 2019 399 p. (awarded the Issekutz Prize of the University of Zurich 2020 and the Austrian Foundation Prize of Kathrein Privatbank 2019)
Association - Foundation - Trust, Developments 2018, njus.ch (together with Dominique Jakob, Michelle Kalt, Isabela Keuschnigg, Alexandra Ulmann)
Association - Foundation - Trust, Developments 2017, njus.ch (together with Dominique Jakob, Michèle Ritz, Nadine Spahni, Alisa Zehner)
Swiss cultural property protection in times of war and destruction - The acquisition of foreign cultural property by private individuals and the problem of immediately enforceable repatriation claims from a private law perspective, in: Damiano Canapa/Robin Landolt/Nicola Müller (eds.), Sein und Schein von Gesetzgebung - Erwartungen, Auswirkungen, Kritik, Zurich/St. Gallen 2018, 141 ff.
AEOI and foundations in Switzerland - who (really) needs to be reported? Clarified and unresolved questions regarding national due diligence provisions, PSR 2/2017, 73 et seq.
The “controlling persons” of the foundation under the AEOI - Interpretation of the definition of “controlling person” under the AEOI and application to the foundation, PSR 2/2017, 70 ff. (together with Caroline von Götz)
Measures to combat terrorist financing in the NPO sector - with special consideration of the fourth FATF country audit of Switzerland, AJP 6/2017, 739 ff. (together with Claude Humbel)
Association - Foundation - Trust, Developments 2016, njus.ch (together with Dominique Jakob, Simon Gubler, Claude Humbel, Caroline von Götz)
A Journey through the Universe of Foundations - Conference Report on the 4th Zurich Foundation Law Day on June 17 at the University of Zurich, in: Dominique Jakob (ed.) Universum Stiftung, Basel 2017, 107 ff. (together with Caroline von Götz)
Prevention of terrorist financing in the area of non-profit organizations: With special consideration of the FATF recommendations, in: Anna Coninx/Gian Ege/Julian Mausbach (eds.), Prävention und freiheitliche Rechtsordnung, Zurich/St. Gallen 2017, 245 ff. (together with Claude Humbel)
4th Swiss Foundation Law Day 2016 - Universum Foundation, follow-up report, Stiftung & Sponsoring 4/2016, 45 f.; npoR 5/2016, 235 f.; PSR 3/2016, 164 f. (together with Caroline von Götz)
Association - Foundation - Trust, Developments 2015, njus.ch (together with Dominique Jakob, Simon Gubler, Claude Humbel, Caroline von Götz)

Memberships & Roles

Zurich Bar Association (ZAV)
Swiss Bar Association (SAV)

Lectures list

11 November 2025 - CMS Talks – "Fondation : évolutions récentes et en jeux pratiques"
30 October 2025, UBS Succession Specialist Day on "Foundations – report from a practitioner's perspective " (together with David Hürlimann and Tobias Somary)
10 May 2025, General Assembly of the Society of Friends of Old Musical Instruments, presentation on "Legal and tax framework for the transfer of collections and workshops"
February 2025 – April 2025, Exercises in personal law (foundation law), Bachelor University of Zurich
30 January 2025, 7th Zurich Foundation Law Day, University of Zurich, Aula, "Nach der Annahme der Motion Burkart – Rechtliche Modelle für eine zeitgemässe Familienstiftung"
September – December 2024, Proseminar in Commercial and Economic Law: Non-Profit Organisations and Benefit Corporations in Corporate and Company Law, University of Zurich (jointly with Claude Humbel)
28 November 2024, Bank Vontobel – Club zur Geduld, presentation on "The remuneration of foundation board members"
5 November 2024, Schulthess Forum on Art & Law, Kunsthaus Zurich, "Estate Planning with Art – recommendations from a legal practitioner's perspective"
4 June 2024, Zurich Bar Association Estate Planning Chapter, Recent Legal Developments in Foundation Law and their Impact on Inheritance Practice, presentation on "Changes for Family Foundations"
March 2024 - April 2024, Exercises in personal law (foundation law), Bachelor University of Zurich
January 17, 2024, Family Philanthropy - Family Foundations with mixed purposes, Seminar Family Foundations - New Perspectives, Metropol Zurich
November 1, 2023, Panel Discussion: Estate Planning with Family Foundations from a Civil and Tax Law Perspective, The 20th Zurich Annual Conference on International Trust and Inheritance Law Practice (together with Hanna Brozzo and Sebastian Auer)
September - December 2023, Proseminar in Commercial and Business Law: Non-Profit Organizations and Benefit Corporations in Business and Corporate Law, University of Zurich (together with Claude Humbel)
March 2023 - April 2023, Exercises in personal law (foundation law), Bachelor University of Zurich
March 7, 2023, Federal Supervision of Foundations: Updates from the ESA and interfaces with the legal profession, Zurich Bar Association Inheritance Law Section (together with Nils Güggi, Head of the Federal Supervision of Foundations)
May 13, 2022, Challenges of non-profit law from a lawyer's perspective, keynote and panel discussion, Seminar in Foundation and Nonprofit Law, University of Zurich (together with Lukas von Orelli and Julia Jakob)
March 2022 - April 2022, Exercises in the Law of Persons (Foundation Law), Bachelor University of Zurich

Education

2021 – Admitted to the bar of the Canton of Zurich
2019 – University of Zurich: Doctorate (Dr. iur.) with a dissertation on mixed foundations in Switzerland and Austria (awarded with the Issekutz Prize of the University of Zurich 2020 and the Austrian Kathrein Private Bank Foundation Prize 2019)
2014 – University of Zurich: MLaw
2012 – Université de Genève: BLaw

sectors

Private Clients

Insights

Global Reach