Selected note
AI can widen legal review
AI can help a legal team examine more material and test more questions. Its value depends on traceable sources, measured performance and a lawyer prepared to stand behind the result.
Read the noteIndependent lawyer in Zurich and Basel. Jonas Hertner
Disputes. Governance.
Law & AI.
For boards, owners and legal teams. For families, foundations and individuals.
Notes
Law & AI
Notes on law, artificial intelligence and the decisions that connect them.
Work
Advice, review & representation.
Legal work before conflict
Advice to boards, owners and legal teams before a decision becomes difficult to reverse. The work clarifies what the law permits or requires, where a dispute could arise, what to document and who has authority to decide. For recurring questions, it establishes a process the organisation can use again.
AI for legal work and governance
Define the task and sources before choosing or building an AI system. Establish who may decide, what must be checked, how exceptions are handled and what must be recorded. The organisation retains its knowledge, controls the process and can explain its decisions. Legal agents inside the organisation sets out the operating model. More at Rule & Reason.
Disputes and investigations
Advice and representation in Swiss and cross-border civil and criminal matters, including shareholder disputes, financial disputes and corporate criminal liability. The work covers investigations, negotiation, mediation and proceedings before Swiss courts and authorities.
Independent review of major disputes
An independent assessment for boards, owners and family offices facing a major dispute: what the case turns on, what the evidence supports, the possible recovery or liability, and the cost of each option. The review informs the decision to proceed, fund or settle.
Families, foundations and individuals
Advice on ownership, governance, business and asset transactions, and succession; representation in shareholder and financial disputes and investigations. The work takes account of the people, relationships and interests behind the legal structure.
Constitutional law and fundamental rights
Advice and representation in Swiss proceedings involving state action and protected rights, including questions arising from the environment and emerging technology, with counsel abroad where needed.
Method
Purpose before process.
Four questions guide the work. They help resolve the immediate issue and shape any process the organisation will need to use again.
| Step | Question |
|---|---|
| Purpose | What must be achieved, decided or protected? |
| Evidence | What is known, uncertain or disputed? |
| Law | What does the law permit, require or restrict? What is at risk? |
| Course | What is the simplest sound response: legal advice or action, a change in practice, a tool or no intervention? |
Independent legal judgment
A reasoned answer
The advice explains what the evidence supports, where assumptions remain, how the law applies and how the available options compare. The lawyer remains responsible for that advice.
Organisational capability
A reliable method
The organisation can return to the sources, apply the same checks and understand why earlier decisions were made. Tools perform defined tasks; people retain authority and responsibility.
Profile
Experience & perspective.
Jonas Hertner is an independent Swiss lawyer. For more than a decade, he has worked on Swiss and cross-border matters. He advises directly, provides independent review and works alongside existing counsel. Rule & Reason brings together legal advice, AI implementation and organisational knowledge.
- Public benefit practice
- Alongside the independent practice, head lawyer at Regenerative Law.
- Private practice
- Helped establish the Swiss office of Quinn Emanuel Urquhart & Sullivan.
- Earlier work
- Non-profit organisations, the Directorate of International Law of the Swiss Federal Department of Foreign Affairs, and the Court of Appeal of Basel-Stadt.
- Education
- Law degrees from the Universities of Lucerne and Geneva (with distinction).
- Public work
- Built OpenCaseLaw and wrote The Good Board.
- Languages
- English, German and French.
Public work
Work in the open.
These projects and notes make legal sources, practical guidance and working methods available for others to use and examine.
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OpenCaseLaw
An open, machine-readable corpus of Swiss court decisions and legislation, built for source-linked research.
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The Good Board
A practical guide to Swiss corporate governance, organised around the decisions boards face. Jonas Hertner also helps board members develop and use AI tools tailored to their research and decision-making.
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Legal agents inside the organisation
A framework for keeping legal knowledge inside the organisation, giving AI agents defined tasks and retaining human responsibility for decisions.
Supporting note: Legal work that stays useful. How sources, checks and decision records can serve the next matter.
Contact
team@jonashertner.com
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