Legal Advice

Employment law

Within the field of employment law, we offer advice on individual and collective employment law - both on the side of employers and employees. True to our principles, we offer holistic advice in the areas of employment and social security law, as well as tax advice. This encompasses not only structuring, but also enforcing your claims in court and defending claims brought against you or your company.

Further information can be found under Services in Focus > Employment law.

Company law

We help companies and business people make decisions concerning the formation, incorporation, restructuring, cooperation between and dissolution of companies and translate these decisions into contracts. This naturally includes the development and implementation of the most favourable structure for your company and the drafting of appropriate company agreements and articles.

Our strength here lies in the close link between our commercial law and tax law expertise, since corporate decisions almost always bring with them fiscal consequences, and only the combined efforts of company law experts and tax advisors lead to optimal solutions.

Our activities include:

Drafting company agreements and articles of association for partnerships and corporations
Advising all forms of company on all company law issues
Drafting and negotiating joint ventures
Advising on the law of trusts and associations
Advising all forms of reorganisations (mergers, spin-offs, changes of form, etc.)
Assisting family-owned companies and representing them at shareholders' meetings
Advising corporate bodies (managing directors, management boards, supervisory boards and advisory boards) on company law issues relevant to avoiding liability
Representing companies and corporate bodies (managing directors, management boards, supervisory boards and advisory boards) in cases of liability
Drafting and realising employee participation
Assisting with acquisitions and company sales
Advice connected with company succession

Commercial agency and authorised dealer law

Our team will advise you on commercial agency and authorised dealer law - the two most important areas of distribution law in practice. We will assist you with planning and implementing distribution systems and with altering existing structures through to - often contentious - disputes in connection with contract termination, for example, within the scope of working out commercial agents' entitlements to compensation.

Our activities include:

Drafting and negotiating agency agreements
Drafting and negotiating authorised dealer agreements
Advice on the amendment of existing distribution systems
Clarification of disputes concerning the spatial or temporal scope of a contract (territorial protection)
Working out and enforcing rights to compensation claims for commercial agents pursuant to Section 89 b of the German Commercial Code

Real estate law

Our services cover all key and peripheral areas of real estate law. They include advising and assisting clients with real estate transactions, project developments, and in matters of commercial rental and lease law. We offer interdisciplinary legal and tax advice. Further information can be found under Services in Focus > Real estate.

Real estate transactions

We have long-standing expertise both in the advising of construction of shopping centres, retail establishments, other commercial operations and housing construction projects, as well as in their utilisation once the project development is complete. We conduct due diligence, draft and negotiate contracts, and advise on complex financing matters, as well as initiating the transaction. By collaborating with our experts in company and tax law, we ensure that even highly complex and labour-intensive transactions are conducted quickly and successfully, particularly in relation to optimisation potential for real estate transfer tax and VAT.

We optimise real estate transactions from a tax point of view for sellers and buyers by structuring them as asset deals or share deals. The fiscal structuring of such transactions forms one of our core competencies in the area of real estate law. Our long-standing experience of dealing with project developers and institutional investors is a great benefit in contractual negotiations. By working closely together with local notaries, we are also able to ensure that the purchase agreements are concluded and executed promptly, and that the strict formal requirements of land register law are observed.

Project development

We accompany our clients' project developments from the acquisition and planning stage through to construction of the building, and finally utilisation and sale. Our activities include drafting all agreements connected with the respective project, the financial structuring of the project, overseeing implementation, and conducting court and arbitration proceedings.

Commercial rental and lease law

Another focus of our activity is advising on the economic utilisation or management of real estate, particularly in the form of commercial lease agreements. We advise on all matters concerned with the use of property and the structuring and negotiation of commercial rental, lease and other agreements, taking into account the complex legal, fiscal and economic relations. Furthermore, we enforce claims and rights for landlords and tenants, or defend these. Special attention is directed towards commercial tenants' protection against competitors. We also advise our clients on estate agency law. We have a great deal of experience in dealing with judicial disputes concerned with rental and lease agreements.

Succession advice

In line with our partnership's principles, we offer interdisciplinary legal and tax advice in this area. Particularly in succession planning matters, the close connection between inheritance, company and tax law expertise is crucial for achieving results. Further information can be found under Services in Focus > Company succession.

Litigation and arbitration

When giving advice, we aim to avoid the need for costly and time-consuming court proceedings. A contentious dispute should not be avoided at any cost, however. In cases where it is reasonable from an economic point of view or required by law, we naturally uphold the interests of the companies and entrepreneurs we represent before courts of law and arbitration courts.

We also provide mediation services for our clients, where required.

We will, of course, also conduct the (European) payment order procedure or collect arrears on your behalf.

Mergers and acquisitions (M&A)

A further key area is advising medium-sized companies on mergers and acquisitions (M&A). Due to our long-standing experience, we are able to assist both entrepreneurs as they prepare for and conduct company sales, and potential purchasers with conducting due diligence assessments. Fiscal considerations often play a significant role in the restructuring and acquisition of companies, as a result of which close collaboration between an interprofessional team of tax advisors and legal practitioners is crucial for achieving optimal results. This kind of close collaboration is also an implicit feature of our M&A team, made up of auditors, tax advisors and legal practitioners, as they prepare for and conduct due diligences, since the area of acquisitions touches on all of our core competences: employment law, company law, contract law, tax law and business management support.

Our activities include:

Preparing for and conducting financial due diligences and fiscal and legal due diligence assessments
Devising (fiscally) optimal sale and acquisition structures
Drafting and negotiating (both asset and share deal) purchase agreements
(Contentious) enforcement of purchase price or guarantee claims