Hourly
For matters whose length nobody can know in advance: contested estates, separations, negotiations between partners.
CHF 380 to 550 an hour in Lugano, EUR 220 to 380 in Madrid, depending on the lawyer.
Avvocati · Abogados · Lugano · Madrid
Two countries. One file.
Orvalle advises families and owners whose affairs sit between Switzerland and Spain: estates, property, separation, companies and disputes. Lawyers registered in Ticino and in Madrid work on the same file, in your language.
Concept by danielestebanfeo estudio. Orvalle and its lawyers are fictional.
Your matter
Start from what happened, not from a legal category.
Few people know whether their problem is succession law or private international law. They know what happened. Choose the closest situation and the page tells you who would lead it, what it usually costs and what to have ready.
Prefer to call? Both offices answer during working hours.+41 91 000 24 60+34 910 00 24 60
Lugano · Madrid
The border stays on the map, not in your file.
Each matter has one lead lawyer and one shared file. When Swiss and Spanish law both apply, the colleague in the other office joins the same file, and you receive one engagement letter, one estimate and one point of contact.
- One lead lawyer
- Named in your engagement letter, as the Spanish bar statute requires: you always know who directs the matter.
- One conflict register
- Lugano and Madrid check names against the same register before any engagement.
- Your time zone
Conflict check
Before you tell us anything, we check the names.
A lawyer may not act for you if the firm already acts for the other side. So the first step asks only for names: yours and those of the other people involved. Nothing about the facts. The answer comes within one working day.
Names are checked against the register of both offices and deleted after 30 days if no engagement follows.
ORV · CC · 2026-0417Checking both offices
Names to check
- Valeria Rossi KellerClient
- Matteo RossiBrother, co-heir
- Inmobiliaria Tamarit S.L.Buyer of the flat
No conflict found. The firm can act.
Only names are stored. The facts come later, under professional secrecy.
How we work
Five steps, each one in writing.
The rules in both countries ask lawyers to explain their fees and keep clients informed. These are the steps Orvalle follows, in the order you will see them.
Conflict check
Names only, checked in Lugano and Madrid. Reply within one working day.
Free of charge
First consultation
Sixty minutes in person or by video with the lawyer who would lead your matter. You leave with a first assessment and the next steps.
Fixed fee, paid when you book
Engagement letter and estimate
Scope, lead lawyer, fee basis and an estimate, in writing, before any work starts. In Spain this is the hoja de encargo with its presupuesto previo.
Signed online
One shared file
Documents go into an encrypted room, not into email attachments. Both offices see the same file, and so do you: what has been filed and what is still pending.
Encrypted document room
Reports you can plan around
A written update at each milestone and a statement of fees at agreed intervals or on request, as Swiss rules require (art. 12 i BGFA).
Statement of fees
Fees
How the fee is set, before the first hour.
Three bases, chosen for each matter and written into the engagement letter. The table shows where the rules of the two countries differ.
Fixed
For defined work: a will, a purchase, a shareholder agreement. The price is agreed before work starts.
Example: review of a Spanish purchase contract and the land registry, from EUR 1,500.
With a success component
Only where the law allows it, and always on top of a base fee. Swiss rules do not allow a fee that depends only on the outcome.
Spain: allowed since the Supreme Court judgment of 4 November 2008. Switzerland: a success bonus only on top of a fee that already covers the work.
| Rule | Switzerland | Spain |
|---|---|---|
| A fee based only on the result | SwitzerlandNot allowed (art. 12 e BGFA) | SpainAllowed (Supreme Court, 4 November 2008) |
| Information about fees | SwitzerlandThe basis of the fee is explained at the start, then periodically or on request (art. 12 i BGFA) | SpainCosts and how the fee is set, before the engagement (art. 6.2 d LO 5/2024); written estimate on request (art. 15) |
| If you lose in court | SwitzerlandCosts usually follow the outcome (art. 106 ZPO) | SpainThe lawyer must tell you what an order to pay costs could mean (art. 6.2 e LO 5/2024). The share for lawyers is usually capped at one third of the value of the claim (art. 394.3 LEC) |
| Professional secrecy | SwitzerlandArt. 13 BGFA; a breach is a criminal offence (art. 321 StGB) | SpainArt. 21 of the bar statute (EGAE); confidentiality of lawyer and client communications (art. 16 LO 5/2024) |
The figures on this page are fictional examples for the concept. Every matter receives its own written estimate.
Lawyers
Four lawyers, six languages.
Each profile shows where the lawyer is registered, the title they hold and the languages they work in. Nothing more: Spanish rules allow a specialisation to be mentioned only when a title, an approved course or practice supports it.
Partner · Lugano
Avv. Chiara Valsecchi
Estates and family matters between Switzerland, Italy and Spain.
Registered in Ticino, cantonal register of lawyers
Specialist lawyer SAV in inheritance law
Languages: Italian, German, French, English, Spanish
Partner · Madrid
Ignacio Arrieta Solís
Property, companies and commercial disputes in Spain, for clients who live abroad.
Ilustre Colegio de la Abogacía de Madrid, no. 00000
Master's degree in company law
Languages: Spanish, English, Italian, French
Partner · Lugano
Dr. Lena Brunner
Companies, shareholder disputes and arbitration seated in Switzerland.
Registered in Ticino, cantonal register of lawyers
Doctor of law (Dr. iur.)
Languages: German, Italian, English, French
Associate · Madrid
Lucía Chen Ortega
Spanish estates, property and residence for Chinese-speaking families.
Ilustre Colegio de la Abogacía de Madrid, no. 00000
Master's degree in private international law
Languages: Spanish, Chinese, English
Names, registrations and numbers are fictional. On a real site each line links to the public register.
The assistant
It answers at 22:14. It is not a lawyer.
The assistant answers practical questions in six languages at any hour: fees, offices, languages, how to book. It never comments on a case. When someone writes about a death, a deadline or the other side, it asks for names first and passes the matter to a person.
- It says in its first message that it is an AI and not a lawyer, as the EU AI Act requires (art. 50).
- It asks for names before facts, so the conflict check always comes first.
- It hands over to a person when it cannot help, with a summary the office can act on.
Orvalle assistantExample conversation, in Chinese
您好。我父亲住在卢加诺，上个月去世了。他在瓦伦西亚还有一套房子。我该怎么办？
Hello. My father lived in Lugano and died last month. He also had a flat in Valencia. What should I do?
请节哀。我是Orvalle的人工智能助理，不是律师，不能就您的情况提供法律意见。陈律师讲中文，负责西班牙的继承事务。在您讲述案情之前，请先告诉我其他继承人的姓名，以便进行利益冲突核查。
I am sorry for your loss. I am Orvalle's AI assistant, not a lawyer, and I cannot give legal advice on your situation. Lucía Chen speaks Chinese and handles estates in Spain. Before you describe the case, please tell me the names of the other heirs so the firm can run a conflict check.
继承人是我和我妹妹王丽。
The heirs are my sister Wang Li and me.
Passed to the Madrid officeMatter: estate, Switzerland and SpainLanguage: ChineseNames to check: 2Reply by the next working day
Document room
Your documents do not travel by email.
Wills, death certificates and land registry extracts go into an encrypted room shared by both offices. The engagement letter is signed in the same place.
Rossi estate, documentsORV-2026-0417
Link valid for 7 days- Testamento_2019.pdf2.4 MB
- Certificato_di_morte.pdf0.6 MB
- Nota_simple_Valencia.pdf1.1 MB
Drop files here or choose them
Encrypted in transit and at rest, hosted in Switzerland.
ORV-2026-0417 · f. 1/4
Engagement letter
- Client
- Valeria Rossi Keller
- Lead lawyer
- Avv. Chiara Valsecchi
- Scope
- Estate of Giorgio Rossi, Ticino and Valencia
- Fee basis
- Hourly, CHF 450. Estimate CHF 12,000 to 25,000
Signed electronically
Signed
0417
- Links expire
- Every upload link closes after seven days. A new one takes one click.
- Both offices, one file
- Lugano and Madrid see the same documents. Nothing is forwarded by email.
- Signed where it is kept
- The engagement letter is signed online and stays in the room with the rest of the file.
A deadline is running
A court document, a summons or a time limit: call the duty line or tell the assistant. A lawyer calls back the same working day.
+41 91 000 24 69
Guides
Written by the lawyers, dated and signed.
Short guides to the questions clients ask before the first consultation. Each one names its author and the date the law was last checked.
Offices
Two offices, one time zone.
Both offices keep Central European Time. The status below follows each office's hours and public holidays.
Lugano
Via dei Faggi 4
6900 Lugano
Switzerland
Monday to Friday, 08:30 to 18:30
Telephone+41 91 000 24 60
Emaillugano@orvalle.example
Madrid
Calle del Tejo 8
28010 Madrid
Spain
Monday to Friday, 09:00 to 19:00
Telephone+34 910 00 24 60
Emailmadrid@orvalle.example
First step
Start with the names. The rest can wait.
The conflict check takes two minutes and costs nothing. If the firm can act, you book the first consultation with the lawyer who would lead your matter.