Nicolas Capt
Presentation
Nicolas Capt enjoys an international reputation for his expertise in the law of media, reputation and modern technology law, including a cutting edge knowledge in all areas relating to Artificial Intelligence. He also offers considerable experience in Crisis Management.
Nicolas Capt provides his services to public institutions, companies and individuals who are particularly vulnerable (for example company directors, celebrities, high ranking politicians).
Founding partner of the firm, he advises his clients regarding all issues relating to and connected with technology, reputation and media law, whether on an advisory basis or acting on their behalf in all forms of dispute. He also offers a full strategic and legal planning service for the implementation of complex digital projects on a national level.
A longstanding member of the Paris Bar as a practicing Barrister (is on the list of community lawyers), Nicolas Capt has developed a first class professional network throughout the territory of France.
He regularly gives talks, both in Switzerland and worldwide, at conferences on his field of expertise, and often appears in the leading media and publishes articles on a regular basis.
Nicolas teaches media studies at the Centre de Formation au Journalisme et aux Médias (CFJM) and regularly participates in continuous education courses at a university level.
He is a member of numerous professional organisations, including the Geneva Bar Association, the CEDIDAC, the Swiss Press Club and the Swiss Association of Specialised Journalists (AJS).
Experience
Having obtained his law degree at Lausanne university in 2003, Nicolas Capt completed his legal education with a Masters at law in Legal Issues, Crime and Security of Information Technologies, which he passed in the autumn of 2004 with honours (summa cum laude.)
He also successfully completed a General course on Intellectual Property and an Advanced course in Electronic Commerce and Intellectual Property at the World Intellectual Property Organisation Academy (WIPO).
Nicolas Capt then acted as a scientific advisor with the Independent Complaints Authority for Radio and Television (AIEP/UBI), in Berne.
After having worked for a period of four years as an associate with two well established commercial law firms, first with Ming Halperin Burger Inaudi, then with Bonnant Warluzel & Associés, in 2012 he founded the firm Capt & Wyss together with Me Nicolas Wyss, where he remained up until 2018.
Together with Professor Bertil Cottier and Denis Masmejan, in 2014 he published the first French language Commentary on Federal law Governing Radio and Television (Editions Staempfli, Suisse) of which he is also one of the co-authors.
Awards and organisations
In 2016, by the German magazine Bilanz voted Nicolas as one of the 100 people (digital shapers) working in the digital field in Switzerland and in 2016, Nicolas was included in the annual list of the “100 leading people of French speaking Switzerland”.
Since 2017, Nicolas Capt initiated and co-organised the Artificial Intelligence Geneva Summit (AIGS), an annual international event which takes place in Geneva which offers a holistic vision of the numerous issues raised by Artificial Intelligence (www.aigs.ch).
Nicolas Capt took part in the International Human Rights Competition for Lawyers in Caen, 2008, where he defended a case involving Kenneth Foster, who had been given the death penalty. The jury, which was presided over by Mrs Françoise Tulkens, vice President of the European Court of Human Right (ECHR), awarded him second prize.
A keen advocate, Nicolas Capt introduced and organised in Switzerland, for the Young Bar Association of the Canton of Vaud when he was a committee member, the first two Swiss versions (2007 and 2008) of the famous Paris Conférence Berrier. He has also participated in, and won, several national and international moot competitions, and in 2018 and 2019 acted in a surrealist play, “The robot who loved me”, together with the former president of the Genevan Bar Marc Bonnant.
In 2020, he created together with the patron and friend of the arts Caroline Freymond and the sculptor Vincent Du Bois, a circle of philosophical and artistic events (Les Rencontres Spectaculaires), in the context of which he published a first book entitled “For or against death” (Editions Slatkine, Switzerland), which he wrote together with, in particular, Frédéric Beigbeder, Philippe Tesson, Gianni Motti, Cléo Collomb, not forgetting Plonk & Replonk.
He is one of the co-authors of a book at the convergence of IT, law and philosophy entitled CODE_IA, under the direction of Xavier Comtesse (Georg, Switzerland Editions), published in 2021.
