The situation seems to be quite complicated for Swiss lawyers. So, we have written this article to try to provide some clarity. We have also sought some clarification from the SRA, which has fed into our understanding, as explained below.
Currently (2025) the situation appears to be that to be considered a qualified lawyer and to be able to practice law in Switzerland one merely needs to graduate with both a bachelors and a masters of law from a Swiss university. That will be sufficient, for example, for acting as inhouse legal counsel in a company. If one wants to represent clients in court, work for the prosecution service or as a notary public, there is an additional exam - attorney exam or bar exam “Anwaltsprüfung”. To qualify for this, you are required to complete 12 months of an internship working in a law firm and/or the courts (this and/or requirement varies between the cantons). You are then eligible to sit first a written exam, and when that is successful an oral exam. Upon successful completion the lawyers then carry the additional title: Avocat, Advokat, Rechtsanwalt, Anwalt, Fürsprecher, Fürsprech or Avvocato (all are the same thing and level of qualification - just differing names depending upon the canton).
Applying for an exemption from the SQE2
The UK government has entered into an agreement with Switzerland for the recognition of professional qualifications. This came into force in the UK on 1st January 2025. As a result, Swiss Avocats, Advokats, Rechtsanwalts, Anwalts, Fürsprechers, Fürsprechs and Avvocatos have 4 possible routes to qualify as a solicitor of England & Wales (instead of the normal 2: sit the exams or get exemption from one of them). [The 2 options which are available to qualified lawyers from most other jurisdictions are the first 2 listed below.]
1. Sit and pass both the SQE1 & the SQE2 exams.
2. Sit one and get an exemption from the other. Exemption from the SQE1 exam is likely only to be obtained if, by chance, you sat and passed the LPC (the old route to qualification). You now wish to switch qualification route end effectively trade in your LPC pass for and SQE1 exemption. Exemption from the SQE2 exam – you may apply only if you are qualified as an Avocat, Advokat, Rechtsanwalt, Anwalt, Fürsprecher, Fürsprech or Avvocato. That will have required you to do 12 months’ internship working in a law firm. You would then have to prove another 12 months of post qualification legal work experience through a Reference Letter(s) signed by the person who directly supervised your work. This is the same as for qualified lawyers from other jurisdictions. (Confusingly, the SRA has called this the ‘Aptitude Test’ route.) There are specific requirements of what needs to go into the Reference Letter. Here is a link to a page on our website where we go into this in detail and where we also set out a service we offer to assist with this: https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/sqe2-exemption-for-foreign-lawyers-review-advice/
3. Adaptation period route - if you do not have 24 months' legal work experience and want to do three years' supervised practice instead. This route is an additional one only available to Swiss qualified lawyers. In order to qualify through this route you must register with the SRA as a registered Swiss lawyer and undertake three years' supervised practice in the law of England and Wales. More info here: https://www.sra.org.uk/become-solicitor/admission/pathways-qualification/swiss-lawyers/adaptation-period-route/
4. Registered European lawyer (REL) route - this route is an additional one, only available to Swiss qualified lawyers. This option is only available to existing RELS who were already registered on or before 31 December 2024 (or those who apply by this date and go on to become registered). More info here: https://www.sra.org.uk/become-solicitor/admission/pathways-qualification/swiss-lawyers/rels/
QWE Confirmation
Only relevant if you are not a qualified Avocat, Advokat, Rechtsanwalt, Anwalt, Fürsprecher, Fürsprech or Avvocato - you will have to have at least 24 months of QWE (Qualifying Work Experience) confirmed or signed-off to the SRA by an SRA-regulated solicitor (or COLP). You may use an external solicitor to do this – for example where your firm does not have an SRA-regulated solicitor in it. This is a service we provide. We have assisted several Swiss lawyers. Here is a link to our External Solicitor QWE Confirmation Service: https://hunningsconsultancy.co.uk/external-qwe-certification-service-2/ or fill in the form below. (Qualified Swiss Avocats, Advokats, Rechtsanwalts, Anwalts, Fürsprechers, Fürsprechs and Avvocatos are automatically exempt from the QWE Requirement.)
Inhouse lawyers and a change in Swiss Law
A recent change in Swiss law (which came into effect on 1st January 2025) means that you need the head of legal to be an Avocat, Advokat, Rechtsanwalt, Anwalt, Fürsprecher, Fürsprech or Avvocato. This is because it introduced 'Legal Privilege' for companies for the first time. This covers advice given by inhouse counsel to their business – relevant in litigation. It only applies for companies where the head of the legal department is an advocate (Rechtsanwalt etc). The company gets ‘Legal Privilege’ because of the qualification level of the head of the legal department. Therefore, companies will want to ensure that their Head of Legal is an advocate (Rechtsanwalt etc). Otherwise, these companies could be disadvantaged in civil litigation abroad. So, people who were on the cusp of progressing to General Counsel or Head of Legal, now find themselves blocked unless they qualify as an advocat (Rechtsanwalt etc). The route to full qualification as an advocate (Rechtsanwalt etc) through the Swiss exams is very difficult. However, a solicitor of England & Wales is recognised by Swiss authorities as an advocate (Rechtsanwalt etc). For this reason, Swiss lawyers are seeking to qualify as solicitors through the SQE route.
This is not straightforward. We have tried to explain things here, but feel free to contact us for a zoom to talk through your circumstances!
