Patricia Guerra, LL.M.
Patricia Guerra, LL.M.

Patricia Guerra, LL.M.

Partner, Zurich

Schiffbaustrasse 2 | P.O. Box | CH-8031 Zurich | Switzerland
Schiffbaustrasse 2 | P.O. Box | CH-8031 Zurich | Switzerland
T +41 58 552 04 60
patricia.guerra@mll-legal.com

Profile

Patricia Guerra is head of the private clients team in Zurich and head of the Latin-America desk of the firm. She has extensive experience in advising UHNW and HNW individuals and families in all personal matters and matters concerning family assets as well as in philanthropic endeavours. Patricia Guerra continuously deals with complex cross border issues and regularly takes on the legal leadership necessary to coordinate teams across various jurisdictions. She is fluent in English, Spanish, German and French and has command of Portuguese and Italian. Patricia is board member of several Swiss charitable foundations and of a Swiss Private Bank. She is furthermore the Honorary Consul of Ecuador in Zürich.

Rankings & Awards

Legal 500 EMEA Recommended Lawyer 2025Legal 500 EMEA Leading Partner 2025Private Client Global Elite peer nominated 2025Chambers and Partners HNW 2024Legal 500 EMEA Leading Individual 2024Legal 500 EMEA Recommended Lawyers 2024Private Client Global Elite peer nominated 2024Best Lawyers Patricia Guerra 2024Legal 500 EMEA Leading Individual 2023Legal 500 EMEA Recommended Lawyers 2023Leaders League Ranked Firm 2023Best Lawyers Recognized in 2023Chambers and Partners HNW 2022Legal 500 EMEA Leading Individual 2022Legal 500 EMEA Recommended Lawyers 2022Best Lawyers Recognized in 2022Legal 500 EMEA Leading Individual 2021Legal 500 EMEA Recommended Lawyers 2021Who's Who Legal Thought Leader Switzerland 2021 Best Lawyers Recognized in 2021 Private Client Ones To Watch 2020-21Chambers and Partners HNW 2020Legal 500 EMEA Recommended Lawyer 2020Legal 500 EMEA Leading Individual 2020Legal 500 EMEA Recommended Lawyer 2019
  • “Patricia Guerra is a class act from top to bottom. 100% focused on her clients’ best interests even if that can mean delivering tough messages. She gets to the nub of the issue swiftly and with clarity and vision. Clients value her guidance and expertise at the very highest levels, nothing is too complex” – Legal 500 EMEA, Private Client, 2025
  • “Patricia is very client oriented and very effective. She has a strong sense of what the client needs and how to put together an advisory team” – Chambers and Partners, HNW, 2024
  • “Patricia sees the broader picture and is very good at balancing competing demands, managing clients and keeping it in their best interests” – Chambers and Partners, HNW, 2024
  • “Patricia Guerra is absolutely fabulous. She has impeccable judgement and a vast amount of legal knowledge. She goes above and beyond for her clients. I could not recommend her more highly” – Legal 500 EMEA, Private Client, 2024
  • “Patricia is an excellent practitioner with empathy, determination and wit who strives to provide high-quality work in a user-friendly manner” – Chambers and Partners, HNW, 2023
  • “Patricia cares for her clients like no other, always considering their needs and interests. She fights her client’s corner” – Chambers and Partners, HNW, 2023
  • “Patricia Guerra’s extremely high standards and drive are remarkable. Her extensive experience and her multilingual and multicultural skills – a very important soft factor – are highly appreciated by clients. Her interest and in person engagement in philanthropy (both with large and small institutions) is a further important element in the private client practice” – Legal 500 EMEA, Private Client, 2023
  • “Patricia Guerra delivers exceptional client care and guidance. She takes a fully holistic approach to her client’s needs, working with all their advisers seamlessly and naturally. She is a great team player, always focusing on the end goal while maintaining an eye for detail. She understands family dynamics in all their complexities and tailors her approach accordingly” – Legal 500 EMEA, Private Client, 2023
  • “She is purely solutions-driven” – Chambers and Partners, HNW, 2022
  • “She has a unique ability to understand complex cross-border situations” – Chambers and Partners, HNW, 2022
  • “Her client care is second to none; she is caring, thoughtful and supportive, but also a firm hand when needed” – Chambers and Partners, HNW, 2022
  • “Patricia Guerra is immaculate in her dealings with clients. She is empathetic, charming and kind whilst also giving hard advice and a firm steer where needed. She is always a pleasure to work with and a great team player, collating the best advisors for her clients across the spectrum” – Legal 500 EMEA, Private Client, 2022
  • “Her grasp of clients’ needs and understanding of complex situations is outstanding” – Legal 500 EMEA, Private Client, 2022
  • Patricia Guerra is “an excellent and diligent lawyer who is extremely proactive and cuts right to the point” – Who’s Who Legal, National Leader Private Client, 2022
  • Patricia Guerra is “an outstanding lawyer”, revered as “a very capable and pragmatic lawyer” with “a very strong knowledge” of private client practice – Who’s Who Legal, Global Leader Private Client, 2022
  • Patricia Guerra is “in the top five list of Swiss practitioners” praise sources who regard her as “an impossible opponent” and “a real asset” who “works hard for her client” – Who’s Who Legal, Thought Leaders Switzerland Private Client, 2021
  • Patricia Guerra is an “excellent” private client lawyer, and “one of the best in Switzerland”. She has ample experience with ultra-high-net-worth clients, including on philanthropic issues – Who’s Who Legal, Thought Leaders Private Client, 2021
  • “She has so much experience, she understands the unique demands of a high net worth client with family in all different parts of the world. She is able to set out the broad picture for the client and she can coordinate the international advice. She is able to present the complex information from a number of jurisdictions and put it together in a clear and concise way for the client. This is all second nature to her” – Chambers and Partners, HNW, 2021
  • “Patricia is a very good lawyer. She is very technically talented, she is very good with clients and she understands the issues of an international client” – Chambers and Partners, HNW, 2021

Deals & Cases

  • Advised international family in connection with family governance issues and restructured family assets using a Dutch trust foundation
  • Relocated South American UHNWI to Switzerland and restructured the family assets using Canadian International trusts
  • Advised UHNWI in connection with complex shareholders agreements, assets in Liechtenstein trusts and estate planning
  • Advised clients in connection with transfer of Swiss real estate to common law trusts
  • Advised parents in connection with protection of special needs children

Education & Admission

  • Admitted to the bar in New York (1992)
  • University of Michigan Law School, LL.M. (1990–1991)
  • Admitted to the bar in Switzerland (1989)
  • University of Geneva, lic. iur. (1987)

Memberships and public offices

  • Honorary Consul of Equador in Zurich
  • International Bar Association (IBA)
  • American Bar Association (ABA)
  • Corps Consulaire de Zurich (CCS)
  • ProFonds

Languages

  • German
  • English
  • French
  • Spanish

Publications

News Portal

Firm News

“Patricia cares for her clients like no other, always considering their needs and interests. She fights her client’s corner”

Chambers and Partners, HNW, 2023