Profile: Heinz J Willemsen

Management Labour and Employment

Biography: Management Labour and Employment

Heinz Josef Willemsen is based in the Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer's Düsseldorf office. His expertise includes all aspects of employment and labour law, particularly in connection with the reorganisation, merger and transfer of business units.

Heinz Josef has advised companies on separation from board members and managerial staff and he serves as legal adviser to big and medium-sized German and international companies, and as a representative in negotiations and litigations between management or work's councils and unions.

Heinz Josef was born in Kranenburg, Germany, in 1953. He completed his legal education at the University of Cologne from which he holds the degree of Doctor of Laws (Dr iur). Heinz Josef was a research assistant at the Institute for Labour and Commercial Law in Cologne. Since 1986 he has been a member and since 1999 the chairman of the Committee for Employment Law of the German Lawyers Federation (Deutscher Anwaltverein). As a lecturer at the University of Bochum for many years, he holds the title of a Honorarprofessor and gives speeches both at national and international conferences on employment law issues.

Heinz Josef is the author and co-author of numerous books and articles both on employment and commercial law, mostly concentrating on reorganisation and legal transformation of companies, the Acquired Rights Directive (in Germany, section 613 of the Civil Code), social plan and pension issues. He is also - together with his partners K S Hohenstatt, U Schweibert and C H Seibt - co-editor of a treatise on employment aspects in connection with mergers and acquisitions as well as the restructuring of companies Umstrukturierung und Übertragung von Unternehmen, 3rd edition, Willemsen/Hohenstatt/Schweibert/Seibt (Beck Verlag, München 2008) .

Heinz Josef joined the firm in 1983.