Germany: Commerical Litigation
Commercial litigation is booming according to our sources. The industry is seeing high volumes of activity in corporate, company, pharmaceutical and banking disputes, perhaps unsurprisingly as the companies see litigation as a long-term strategy to maintain their positions in the market. Lawyers with strong expertise and experience are in high demand, 25 of whom we feature in this chapter.
Clifford Chance LLP earns three nominations. The firm has an established international team, including the head of German litigation and dispute resolution Uwe Hornung. He is “certainly one of best litigators” in Germany for his experience and expertise. In Frankfurt, Burkhard Schneider works on international business law, advising clients on dispute resolution during M&A deals. He is well regarded for his knowledge on disclosure and bank litigation. Fabian von Schlabrendorff has over 30 years of experience in business law, acting on litigations for clients in the funds, consumer goods, healthcare, natural resources and wealth management industries.
At Baker & McKenzie in Frankfurt, Guenter Pickrahn and Joerg Risse are two leading disputes lawyers who both received many nominations in the research. Pickrahn has extensive experience advising on international commercial agreements in IP and patent law, and Risse is knowledgeable on infrastructure projects and post-M&A matters. He has acted as counsel, arbitrator and mediator.
CMS Hasche Sigle boasts two lawyers. Dorothee Ruckteschler is an “experienced litigator” who has appeared before German state courts on M&A and contract related matters and Anton Maurer, an investments focussed litigator with a strong cross-border practice acting for US entities.
At Haver & Mailänder in Stuttgart, Klaus-Albrecht Gerstenmaier focuses on domestic and international procedural law and arbitration. Rolf Winkler is a specialist litigator on European antitrust law, joint ventures and technology transfer agreements.
At Noerr, Christian Thomas Stempfle is a dispute resolution expert with an emphasis on product and professional liability defence litigation. Similarly, Michael Molitoris works on product liability, product safety and insurance and reinsurance claims.
Stephan Wilske advises clients on cross-border litigation with a focus on project disputes, post-M&A disputes and joint ventures at Gleiss Lutz. Stefan Rützel is a leading litigator in complex banking, finance and M&A disputes. They both received numerous votes from international contributors to our research.
Peter Heckel at Hengeler Mueller is a “highly experienced” disputes lawyer. He is joined by Markus Meier who works in litigation relating to compliance, IP and banking. According to one of our sources he is “one of the best at the firm, I would fear him on the other side”.
In the Düsseldorf office of Hogan Lovells, Alexander Loos is a “very sharp litigator” and acts for leading German construction and natural resources companies. In Munich, Detlef Hass has an “outstanding” international practice advising foreign investors on litigation in Germany and with domestic entities.
At Oppenhoff & Partner, Georg Maier-Reimer has over 40 years experience as a company law litigator with an interest in private M&A, joint ventures and commercial disputes. He is “well known” as the head of the legislative committee for civil law in the German Lawyers Association. Klaus Günther is of counsel to the firm as a company law litigator and general corporate practitioner.
Dispute resolution specialist Rolf Trittmann practices out of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP’s Frankfurt office and is “well known”. As is Wolfgang Kühn of Heuking Kühn Lüer Wojtek: he is considered to be a “Champions’ League-quality disputes lawyer”.
At Martens Rechtsanwälte, Dirk-Reiner Martens is known for his work in the sports industry and Siegfried H Elsing at Orrick Hölters & Elsing litigates and arbitrates in corporate matters.
Schmitz and Partners, founding partner Bernd-Wilhelm Schmitz is a recognised complex litigation lawyer who mainly acts on D&O matters for securities, corporate and insurance entities, and Roderich Thümmel of Thümmel Schütze & Partner is “one of the best German lawyers around”.