Commercial law

We see ourselves as partners in all matters of individual and collective labour law, whether in or out of court. One of our main concerns is advising and representing companies and insolvency administrators in connection with company acquisitions or sales and in company restructuring. These include negotiations with works councils and/or trade unions, in particular in relation to company agreements, reconciliations of interests and redundancy schemes. Another area of activity is in advising and representing managers, directors and other executives. We also have exceptional expertise at the interface to insolvency law.

We advise banks and savings institutions, companies and entrepreneurs on all aspects of banking and capital market law, for instance in debt-equity swaps or collateral pooling agreements. In order to deal with crisis-ridden debtors, we analyse potential credit risks, develop concepts to provide protection against liability and guide you through all the other necessary measures. Our work is interdisciplinary and we incorporate our experience from insolvency and crisis consulting in our concepts.

In addition, initiators of investments and the personally liable partners who back them can rely on our proven expertise in providing strategic and procedural support in complex and time-consuming legal disputes in the fields of investment law, especially for disputes under the Capital Markets Model Case Act (KapMuG). Addressing asset proceedings is therefore one of our key competencies.

The rules that a company and its institutions have to comply with while participating in commercial transactions are many and complex. This has not changed because of the efforts to create uniform statutory bases for trade at the European level. If a company violates these rules, this may often lead to hefty administrative fines and other economic damage, which, at the very least, may result in damage to its public image. In addition, criminal investigations against both the company itself, as well as against its acting executive bodies must always be expected.

We have a team of long-standing, experienced specialists to help you defend your business against claims arising from breaches of liability standards. In particular, they can rely on our core competence in commercial criminal law, and are so capable of developing interdisciplinary strategies for your defence in every relevant aspect of the matter - and this both during the vital extrajudicial establishment of the relevant facts, as well as when defending your interests during proceedings. We are equipped to conduct the (often extensive) analysis of data needed to determine the facts. In the past, we have already demonstrated our skills in some of the highest profile proceedings in German commercial law history and we continue to do so.

We advise our clients on issues of copyright, design patent and trademark law. The focus of our consulting lies in the contractual design of the granting of rights, as well as their transfer. Here, our clients also benefit from our expertise in insolvency law, which, not least, can place special requirements on the use and usability of intellectual property rights.

We combat the infringement of your copyright, design or trademark rights by third-parties on your behalf. We know that quick action is usually needed in such cases. We are in also a position to immediately initiate judicial steps on your behalf. We also advise you in developing strategies for the preventive protection of your rights.

Often, the infringement of your intellectual property rights goes hand-in-hand with breaches of competition law. Here, too (and of course also in all other matters in which a competitor uses unfair measures in order to gain a competitive advantage over you), you will have expert contact persons at your side both in and out of court who will defend and enforce your rights.

We provide comprehensive advice in all areas of capital law and corporate partnership law. Starting from the foundation phase, we will support you in drawing up articles of incorporation and shareholder agreements and in everyday questions that arise from all kinds of company law issues (so-called “corporate housekeeping”) such as the range of rights and obligations of the company’s institutions and bodies. In cases of reorganisation and crisis, you will benefit from our many years of diverse and rich experience, such as collaboration with insolvency administrators.

Our clients include a wide variety of companies. Alongside family-run medium-sized enterprises and companies listed on the stock exchange, they also include strategic and financial investors.

We support our clients in the B2B operations in all aspects of purchasing and sales, whether in drawing up general terms and conditions, drafting and negotiating complex delivery contracts or commercial agency contracts, as well as in judicially enforcing claims. In the process, we rely on the practical skills of our experienced lawyers in a variety of sectors in order to achieve the economically best possible result for our clients.

Our clients include national and international companies of all sizes in a wide range of trades, for example mechanical engineering, the automotive industry, and trading enterprises.

We support you in enforcing your rights both in and out of court, as well as in defending you against unjustified claims. With our proven expertise in managing complex conflicts, we are ready to conducting litigation based on the key facts, as well as to develop appropriate litigation strategies. Of course, we also advise you on the possibilities of appropriately avoiding disputes and on dispute resolution strategies.

In the field of transport and forwarding law, we advise on all matters relating to the carriage of goods on land, water and in the air. The laws relating to national and international land transport, air cargo, maritime trade, inland waterways, merchant shipping, railway freight, as well as logistics are just as much part of our range of services as the drawing up and examination of freight and logistics contracts are. Of course, we represent your interests, in court if necessary, for example, in the case of damage during transport. Our clients include forwarders, freight carriers, logistics companies and trading companies.

We advise and assist companies in corporate transactions (mergers and acquisitions) and reorganisations in all legal aspects their such as share-deals, asset deal, spin-offs, mergers and divisions. Our experienced team has gained decades of expertise in this field. For your transaction, we form a team tailored to your needs in which the specialists needed in each of the individual areas are integrated effectively as possible. In cross-border transactions, we work with experts from other jurisdictions and so offer advice from one source.

Our consulting experts have extensive experience from the interface to bankruptcy law, which we incorporate in our proposals in order to achieve the best possible results.

We advise and represent insurers, insurance brokers and policyholders in all matters relating to the conclusion of a contract, as well as disputes or breaches of insurance contracts. In the event of a claim, our insurance law specialists will represent your interests in or out of court.  

We focus on issues relating to D&O insurance, thanks to our comprehensive and highly specialised advice for executives and companies on compliance issues. However, our activities also extend to all other classes of insurance relating to economic loss liability, business interruption, homeowners, transport and freight forwarders’ liability, as well as life insurance, occupational disability insurance, private health insurance and medical expenses insurance.

The boards of directors and managers of large and medium-sized enterprises regularly take our advice in the complex and especially personally stressful situation of a claim due to a breach of the rules of corporate governance or corporate compliance. We have become active in this area for our clients , both in and out of court, in numerous well-publicised proceedings over recent years. Our clients not only benefit from our additional expertise in commercial criminal law and the many years of efficient cooperation of active lawyers.

Naturally enough, we also advise companies on all questions involving the breaches of duty of board members. We support in carrying out internal investigations in advance of a claim and thus provide you with the necessary foundation for making the careful decision on the mobilisation of an executive body. We will support you, not least with our expertise in commercial criminal law and D&O insurance, two key aspects that should be observed in cases of liability of executive bodies. If it is decided to follow the decision of a member of an executive body (or former member), we develop strategies to enforce your rights and represent you in their judicial enforcement.