UK-headquartered law firm Withers is to open a Zurich office in April, to add to its existing operation in Geneva, in response to demand from its international clients.

Heading up the new office will be partner and UK tax and trust specialist Judith Ingham, along with Jay Rubinstein, a US tax and trust specialist who is also a partner. Olga Boltenko, corporate partner and CEE specialist, will also relocate to Zurich; among other changes, Justine Markovitz, currently managing director of the Geneva office, has been appointed head of Swiss operations. The firm said it expects the office to grow quickly and it will be announcing a series of lateral hires in the coming months.

Once operational, the Zurich team will provide private and institutional clients with services including: cross-border personal and corporate tax planning; US tax compliance and regulatory advice; structuring and succession planning for international families; and fiduciary and trust advice.

The office will not be practising Swiss law, instead relying on relationships with local lawyers.

Withers opened its Geneva office in 2005; it said that that it is now representing an increasing number of clients from Russia, Eastern European and Israel, and that Zurich is the preferred financial centre for many of these. The new Zurich office brings Withers’ global network to eight, the others being in New York, New Haven and Greenwich (Connecticut), the British Virgin Islands, London, Hong Kong and Milan.