Eversheds Sutherland’s new Of-Counsel: Déborah Carlson Burkart
On April 1st 2025, Déborah Carlson Burkart (pictured) joined Eversheds Sutherland as the firm’s new Of-Counsel in Bern, moving from Wernli Rechtsanwälte.
Burkart’s legal experience spans the areas of corporate law, corporate governance, legal risk management and compliance, with a particular focus on companies in transformation.
Legal career
Déborah Carlson-Burkart started her legal career in 1997 as a trainee at Bar & Karrer. From 2000 to 2015, she headed the legal departments of various listed multinational companies in the financial, technology and engineering sector. That timeframe included experiences at transportation equipment manufacturer Alstom as head of legal and member of the management board, business intelligence firm MicroStrategy as international legal director, and investment bank Rothschild as head of legal for the company’s trust group, managing director, and member of the management board.
Since January 2015, Carlson-Burkart has been working as an independent lawyer. That same year, she joined Wernli Rechtsanwälte in Bern as a partner, a role that continued until March 2025.
Academic career and service
Amongst Carlson-Burkart’s academic achievements, a Master of Law (LL.M.) from Duke University School of Law (USA) in 2000 and a law degree (lic. iur./Master) from the Un iversity of Zurich, which she completed in 1996. She’s a member of the Swiss Bar since February 2000.
Carlson-Burkart is a guest lecturer in the EMBA program of the University of St. Gallen (HSG) in the area of corporate governance and compliance since August 2021. Moreover, in November 2021, she assumed the role of guest lecturer and faculty chair in risk and compliance at the Swiss Board School/St. Gallen (HSG), in the VR-CAS program.
