Criminal Law Attorneys and Criminal Defence

The earlier you protect your rights in a preliminary investigation, the better. Our work often begins with the first call from the police. We accompany you to suspect interviews, review the criminal file, and file the necessary applications to protect your rights in the preliminary investigation as effectively as possible. Objections on grounds of violations of rights, complaints against investigative measures, and representation of suspects in pre-trial detention are part of our work in this phase. We also critically review investigative measures and present your position at the earliest possible stage of the proceedings. The initial phase of a criminal case is often decisive for its outcome.

A summons from the police often causes considerable uncertainty at first. As a suspect, you have the right to refuse to make a statement and to bring in defence counsel. Before making any statements to the police or authorities, the facts should be reviewed from a legal perspective. Not every summons for questioning automatically means an indictment or even a conviction. Nevertheless, even the preliminary investigation can have significant effects on your career, family, and personal future. Our firm supports you early on with interviews, access to the file, and developing an appropriate defence strategy.

House searches and other invasive investigative measures are usually an exceptional burden for those affected. In this situation, calm and considered action is especially important. Our firm supports clients during and immediately after a house search or seizure. Swift action and safeguarding fundamental rights are particularly important here.

Once charges have been brought, we represent you at trial. As criminal defence lawyers, we prepare the hearing with you and define the defence strategy. We request access to the file, analyse the results of the proceedings to date, and file the necessary applications.

At trial, we protect your rights and keep a cool head when things often become heated. We speak on your behalf and advocate for you in our closing arguments. We regularly conduct trials before district courts and regional criminal courts, including before single judges at regional courts, lay assessor panels, and jury courts.

Not every judgment is fair. Not every judgment is correct. In any case, no judgment is set in stone; it can be reviewed through the appellate process. We examine criminal judgments and give you an assessment of how promising an appeal may be. We file appeals and nullity complaints and represent you in appellate proceedings by submitting statements and briefs, and also by representing you at the appeal hearing.

After the ordinary appellate process has been completed, we support you in retrial proceedings, applications to the European Court of Human Rights (ECtHR), and renewal applications.

We act for you when authorities investigate you. We defend you when substantial penalties must be warded off and allegations relating to complex facts must be refuted.

The right handling of administrative criminal proceedings often determines whether such situations can become existentially threatening or not. Careful preparation of briefs, precise legal analysis of how the facts are assessed in law, and intensive preparation in close consultation with you form the basis for successful representation in administrative criminal proceedings, as does representation before the provincial and federal administrative courts when the authority cannot be persuaded to relent beforehand.

We also accompany you in appellate proceedings before the highest courts of public law, the Administrative Court and the Constitutional Court.

At the intersection of business law, tax law, and criminal law, we guide you through the grey areas of the law. Our firm’s long-standing experience in insolvency administration and tax and financial criminal law is available to you, as is well-coordinated cooperation with your tax adviser. In-depth coordination with qualified experts and specialists is essential for tailored representation that meets your needs. We are criminal defence lawyers; we do not replace the involvement of your tax representatives.

We offer advice and representation in matters of corporate liability and in proceedings vis-à-vis the tax office and before the Federal Fiscal Court. We support you in complex business criminal cases and in corruption offences.

Those who become victims of a criminal offence often feel alone and overwhelmed. Beyond the emotional burden, many legal questions arise: What claims exist? How does a criminal proceeding work? And what options are there to claim damages? Victims have extensive rights in criminal proceedings. They can join the proceedings, access the file, and, under certain conditions, assert financial claims directly in the criminal process. Professional support is especially important in cases of violent offences, sexual offences, or serious personal conflicts.

Victims of criminal offences have a wide range of rights under the law. We are at your side and help you enforce these rights in the proceedings. Active representation of private parties and securing compensation as quickly and fully as possible are priorities, as is safeguarding your integrity and your rights as a victim.

Our firm supports victims of criminal offences in enforcing their rights. We accompany clients at interviews, represent them in court, and help assert claims for damages. The aim is to give those affected security and to pursue their interests consistently and tenaciously. Through our ongoing work in civil litigation, we can continue where criminal law ends. If you are referred to civil proceedings as a private party, that is often not the end but the beginning of successful enforcement of law, covering all claims for damages.

Allegations of bodily injury often arise more quickly than many people think. Disputes on a night out, family conflicts, or confrontations in traffic can lead to criminal consequences. Words can escalate, and words can become acts. Even a minor injury or an alleged assault can trigger criminal proceedings. For suspects, this often means enormous psychological strain. Unclear evidentiary situations are not uncommon, in which the investigating authorities must first be persuaded that they are investigating the wrong person.

In criminal law, an accurate reconstruction of events is decisive. Witness statements, videos, medical findings, and correct legal classification play a central role. If self-defence is claimed, this must first be proved. It is often one person’s word against another’s.

Our firm represents both suspects and victims of violent offences. We carefully review the evidence, prepare the facts with our clients already during the preliminary investigation, and represent their interests in court.

Our firm is regularly active in narcotics law, regardless of whether the offence involves quantities above or below the threshold amount. The Narcotics Act is based on the principle of therapy rather than punishment. For this reason, criminal defence offers numerous options in connection with health-related measures and diversion. We support our clients if they wish to take the path away from drug-related crime.

Legally sound advice and representation are also required for offences committed under the influence of alcohol or drugs. If a traffic accident was caused while intoxicated, any legal representation must also consider consequences under driving licence law as well as insurance and civil law. We support our clients in such situations and keep the overview for them.

Youthful mistakes should not become dead ends in a person’s life. The legislature has deliberately provided special protective provisions and procedural rights for juveniles and young adults. We ensure these are observed.

Young offenders are often unaware of how quickly they can become the main figure in criminal proceedings through peer pressure, the influence of the wrong circle of friends, prompts on social media, or ill-considered decisions. Then the aim is to find a way out of the situation again. Active involvement of parents and guardians, therapists, and others who can offer support in this situation has often proved effective. We guide our clients safely through unfamiliar situations such as suspect interviews, accompany them to discussions as part of juvenile assessments by family and youth court assistance, file diversion applications, and represent their legal interests at trial.

For young people, early legal support is especially important. Incorrect statements or ill-considered reactions can have long-term effects — for example on education or professional prospects.