The partners, who are directly involved in each case, work closely with an experienced team to guarantee a high-quality, personalised service.
Hayat & Meier
Place du Bourg-de-Four 24
Case postale 3203
1211 Geneva 3
Nicola Meier, founding partner of Hayat & Meier, has been a member of the Geneva Bar since 2004.
Nicola Meier is an aesthete of the courtroom known for harmoniously merging precision, humanity, insight, and intellect. As a defense attorney, he consistently rises to the challenge of ensuring that every defendant is afforded full respect for their rights—especially the right to a fair trial.
His primary areas of expertise include criminal law, white-collar criminal law, and international mutual legal assistance in criminal matters. He also has extensive experience in civil, banking, and commercial litigation.
Nicola Meier brings strategic perspective to several boards of directors, where his legal insight is highly valued.
Recognized for his tenacity, Nicola Meier defends his clients with perseverance, striving for resolution in every case—no matter how bold or complex.
He is a member of the Geneva Bar Association (ODA) and the Swiss Bar Association (FSA) and serves on the Geneva Bar’s Criminal Law Commission.
2007 – Present: Founding Partner, Hayat & Meier
2002 – 2007: Associate, Perréard, de Boccard, Kohler, Ador & Associés Law Firm
« Nicola Meier, l’opiniâtre », Le Temps
« Me Nicola Meier : « Cette décision reconnaît que cette violation s’est bien produite », Léman Bleu
« Ecoutes illégales : la méthode du Parquet est contestée », 20minutes
« Procès hors norme sur les dérives de deux promoteurs genevois », La Tribune de Genève
« Acquittement définitif pour un vigile qui avait vidé son chargeur dans les rues de Genève », Le Temps
« Au procès du faux arbitrage, la défense plaide l’acquittement », La Tribune de Genève
« Réduction de peine en raison des conditions de détention: l’interview de Nicola Meier, avocat pénaliste au barreau de Genève », La Matinale, RTS Radio Télévision Suisse
« Sentence confirmée pour le braqueur du Mont-sur-Lausanne », 24Heures
« La défense dénonce des interprétations et « déductions » , Tribune de Genève
« 7 ans et 30 mois pour les deux prévenus » , Léman Bleu
« Un braqueur condamné à 9 ans de prison à Genève », RTS Radio Télévision Suisse
« Bras de fer judiciaire après la mort troublante d’une jeune autiste », Le Temps
« Nicola Meier avocat pénaliste genevois, Noah Rod hockeyeur et Christian Stucki, CEO du GSHC », Radio Lac
« Père et fils devant la justice », L’Illustré
« Comment un diamantaire a déjoué une escroquerie aux faux billets », La Tribune de Genève
« Me Meier: « La décision du tribunal est désespérante » », 20 Minutes
« Récusation des juges de Fabrice A., le procès devra repartir de zéro », RTS Radio Télévision Suisse
« Au tribunal, les plexiglas font débat », Léman Bleu
« Des pénalistes proposent que les détenus aient droit aux natels », Le Matin
« Une gardienne porte plainte pour viol : affaire classée », La Tribune de Genève
« Les patrons d’un cabaret se retournent contre l’Etat », Tribune de Genève
« Nabilla a fait tomber un réseau », Le Matin
Yaël Hayat, founding partner of Hayat & Meier, has been a member of the Geneva Bar since 1999.
Her practice is devoted entirely to legal defense.
Renowned for her involvement in high-profile, often sensitive or unpopular criminal cases, she has embraced the words of Albert Naud: “To defend them all.”
She is also recognized for her unwavering advocacy against life imprisonment, the inhumanity of prison conditions, and all forms of erosion of the presumption of innocence.
Since 2014, Yaël Hayat has presided over the Michel Nançoz Oratory Competition organized by the Geneva Bar Association.
She is a member of both the Geneva Bar Association (ODA) and the Swiss Bar Association (FSA), as well as a member of the Geneva Bar’s Criminal Law Commission and the Innocence Project Switzerland Committee.
2007 – Present: Founding Partner, Hayat & Meier
2002 – 2007: Founding Partner, Hayat & Bertossa
1999 – 2002: Associate, Halperin, Ming, Burger & Inaudi
1997: Winner of the Maurice Garçon Oratory Competition (1st Prize, Paris) and Laureate of the Michel Nançoz Oratory Competition (3rd Prize)
« Yaël Hayat, l’incontournable », Le Temps
« Cent personnalités qui font la Suisse romande », L’Hebdo
« Me Yaël Hayat: «C’est toujours une promesse, une révélation» », Léman Bleu
« Yaël Hayat, avocate », Drôle d’époque, RTS Radio Télévision Suisse
« L’invitée de La Matinale – Yaël Hayat, avocate genevoise », RTS Radio Télévision Suisse
« Yaël Hayat et Marc Bonnant, le choc shakespearien de deux ténors du barreau », Le Temps
« Entretien avec Yaël Hayat, avocate », Couleurs d’été, RTS Radio Télévision Suisse
« Quand « Acquittator » tonnait au Tribunal de Nyon », 24Heures
« Gérard Depardieu est victime d’un mouvement qui sème la terreur », NTD France
« Yaël Hayat, la bête noire des féministes », Tribune de Genève
« Yaël Hayat : « Je ne me reconnais pas dans ce féminisme qui balance ses porcins » », L’Illustré
Violence sexuelle : “seul un oui est un oui”?, Infrarouge, RTS Radio Télévision Suisse
« Me Yaël Hayat, au service des sans voix », Générations Magazine
« Yaël Hayat : « Pierre Maudet a l’étoffe d’un héros, j’espère qu’il se relèvera » », La Matinale
« Yaël Hayat : « J’ai toujours envie de défendre Meursault, le héros de «L’Etranger» », Le Temps
« Avocats du diable / “Das” réparation / Goliath au centre-ville », Mise au point, RTS Radio Télévision Suisse
« Entretien avec l’avocate Yaël Hayat qui est connue pour soutenir les causes les plus impopulaires », 19h30, RTS Radio Télévision Suisse
« Prisons romandes surpeuplées et inhumaines ? », Infrarouge, RTS Radio Télévision Suisse
Simine Sheybani is a partner at Hayat & Meier and has been a member of the Geneva Bar since 2018.
Simine Sheybani is a courtroom virtuoso who practices the art of defense as both a form of ascension and a discipline of combat—never once losing her breath.
Her practice focuses primarily on criminal law and white-collar criminal law. She regularly advises individuals and corporations on complex and sensitive matters.
She also has in-depth expertise in civil litigation, particularly in inheritance law.
Simine Sheybani holds both a bachelor’s and a master’s degree in law from the University of Geneva and enriched her academic training with a year of study at the University of Zurich.
In 2017, she was awarded third prize at the Michel Nançoz Oratory Competition organized by the Geneva Bar Association and won first prize at the Mario Stasi Competition held by the Paris Bar and the Conference of Bars of OHADA member states.
She is a member of the Geneva Bar Association (ODA) and the Swiss Bar Association (FSA) and serves on the Geneva Bar’s Continuing Legal Education Committee.
2025 – Present: Partner, Hayat & Meier
2021 – 2024: Associate, Hayat & Meier
Since 2021: Lecturer, University of Geneva (School of Advocacy)
2018 – 2021: Associate, Lalive SA
2016 – 2017: Trainee Lawyer, Canonica Valticos de Preux + Associés
Engagements
Board Member, Artists Rights, Lab of Arts Geneva
Board Member, La Parole est une voie
Board Member, Vélo Club Barreau
Board Member, Young Bar Association of the Geneva Bar (2017–2018)
La nouvelle teneur de l’art. 190 du Code pénal suisse entrée en vigueur le 1er juillet 2024 : « Non, c’est non », l’adoption de la solution du refus. Que faut-il en retenir ?, La Semaine Judiciaire, October 2024
The importance of granting legal standing to NGOs in corruption proceedings, co-authored with Sandrine Giroud, April 2022
Art-secured lending: maximizing liquidity opportunities for private art collectors, co-authored with Sandrine Giroud, publié dans International Law Office (ILO), Private Client & Offshore Services, April 2020
Sentenced to death or life-imprisonment in the US – Conference organized by the Human Rights Commission and the Criminal Law Commission of the Geneva Bar Association, March 2020 (Speaker)
Manel Meddeb is an associate at Hayat & Meier and has been a member of the Geneva Bar since 2024.
She advises and represents both individuals and companies in criminal, civil, and administrative proceedings. Her areas of expertise include general and white-collar criminal law, family law, and immigration law.
Manel Meddeb holds a bachelor’s degree in law and a master’s degree in civil and criminal law from the University of Geneva. She also holds a Certificate in Transnational Law from the same institution.
She is a member of the Geneva Bar Association (ODA) and the Swiss Bar Association (FSA).
2025 – Present: Associate, Hayat & Meier
2024: Associate, OA Legal
2023 – 2024: Trainee Lawyer, OA Legal
2021 – 2022: Trainee Lawyer, Child Protection Services, Geneva
Engagements
Board member, Geneva section of the Arab Lawyers Association
Board member, Young Bar Association of the Geneva Bar (2023–2024)
Board member, Permanence juridique des avocats (2021-2022)
Nastassia Oberson joined Hayat & Meier in May 2025 as an associate.
She is admitted to the bars of Geneva, Brussels, and Paris, and advises both private individuals and corporate clients in legal proceedings in Switzerland and abroad.
Her areas of expertise include general criminal law, enforcement law, and private international law. With several years of experience in Paris and Brussels, Nastassia Oberson brings a strategic, cross-border approach tailored to both Swiss and European legal frameworks.
She holds a bachelor’s degree in law, a master’s in civil and criminal law, and an advanced master’s in the law of armed conflict from the Université Libre de Bruxelles (U.L.B.).
She is a member of the Geneva Bar Association (ODA) and the Swiss Bar Association (FSA).
2025 – Present: Associate, Hayat & Meier
2024: Associate, Amoruso & Camoletti (Geneva)
2021 – 2023: Independent Attorney, Geneva
2016 – 2021: Associate, Elexlaw (Brussels)
Persia Bernard is a legal assistant at Hayat & Meier.
