The Legal 500

Within Banking and finance, CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is a first tier firm,

CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati’s ‘proactive, absolutely reliable and very professional’ team is ‘certainly good value for money’, and is particularly noted for its expertise in CEE project financing. Edith Hlawati heads the team that recently advised Erste Group on a Polish €70m project finance deal, and OMV Finance regarding a €1.5bn multi-currency financing agreement. Thomas Zivny is ‘strong analytically’.

Within Capital markets, CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is a first tier firm,

CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati has ‘broad experience in capital markets transactions as well as profound in-depth knowledge in all related legal areas’. The team is experienced advising both issuers and underwriters and saw an increase in corporate bond work in 2011. It advised Morgan Stanley and Raiffeisen Centrobank on one of the few equity issuances of the year, Verbund’s €1bn capital increase. The practice also advised OMV Alpine on a €90m bond placement. Edith Hlawati leads the team, which features the ‘pragmatic and knowledgeable’ partners Volker Glas and Peter Knobl.

Within Central and Eastern Europe, CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is a first tier firm,

The ‘truly outstanding’ CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati has six offices across the region and regularly acts on some of the biggest corporate deals in the market. ‘With its great experience it is excellent for large international transactions where it can perfectly co-ordinate big teams and align with different teams’, says one client. Benedikt Spiegelfeld heads the team, which recently advised Telekom Austria on its Central European restructuring programme, involving several spin-offs, mergers and other reorganisations. Albert Birkner is ‘impressive and proactive’, and Georg Konrad is ‘business-minded’.

Within Corporate and M&A, CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is a first tier firm,

CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is ‘truly outstanding: it is dedicated to its clients and the advice rendered is highly practical and useful, and so is the value for money’. The team recently advised OMV on a €1.3bn increase in its stake in Turkish oil products company Petrol Ofisi. It also represented Ferrexpo on its €150m acquisition of EDDSG. Thomas Trettnak is ‘one of the few corporate lawyers who is also strong in the new insolvency laws’; Albert Birkner has ‘extraordinary knowledge and experience in M&A’; Georg Konrad is ‘business-oriented and draws on his in-house expertise’; Clemens Hasenauer is ‘extremely proactive’; and Benedikt Spiegelfeld is ‘the person you want at the table when negotiations reach a dead end’.

Within Dispute resolution, CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is a first tier firm,

CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is strong in litigation and arbitration, particularly in advising insurance companies and state-owned entities. The practice recently advised Austrian insurer Uniqa in a complex multi-jurisidictional damages dispute with a global pharmaceuticals company. The team also represented Asfinag in various construction litigations. Managing partner Irene Welser and senior partner Benedikt Spiegelfeld are recommended for arbitration, as is Peter Vcelouch for litigation.

Within EU and competition , CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is a third tier firm,

CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati provides ‘good value for money and a high commitment to meeting deadlines’. The team continued to advise the Austrian privatisation agency ÖIAG in proceedings before the General Court in Luxembourg relating to state aid issues arising from Lufthansa’s takeover of Austrian Airlines. The practice also advised OMV on merger control proceedings relating to increasing its stake in a Turkish oil services company. Bernhard Kofler-Senoner is highly recommended.

Within Employment , CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is a third tier firm,

CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati has ‘a wider breadth of industry knowledge than many firms’, and a strong record in litigation and collective bargaining issues. In 2011, it advised Hewlett-Packard on data protection and outsourcing issues, as well as Asfinag and McDonald’s on ongoing employment matters. The ‘pragmatic’ Julian Feichtinger is ‘able to evaluate legal problems quickly’, and Barbara Klinger is also recommended.

Within IT and telecommunications, CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is a first tier firm,

CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati recently advised Commerzbank on a multi-jurisdictional IT outsourcing project. In 2011, the team was particularly busy advising on data protection and cloud computing matters, and represented companies in both the travel sector and pharmaceuticals industry on implementing whistleblowing hotlines. Telekom Austria and Hewlett-Packard are longstanding clients. Georg Konrad is the main contact, and Julian Feichtinger is recommended for IT litigation.

Within Insolvency and corporate recovery, CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is a second tier firm,

Benedikt Spiegelfeld and Irene Welser head the team at CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati, which recently advised Barclays Capital on the insolvency of Morgan Stanley Real Estate Funds and its Austrian subsidiaries. Other standout matters included advising Austrian National Bank in several matters including litigation relating to the bankrupt Riegerbank AG’s trustee. ‘Advice rendered is always appropriate and value for money is particularly good’, say clients.

Within Intellectual property and media, CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is a third tier firm,

CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati recently advised gaming company Novomatic Group on its acquisition of the IP company WEBAK Group. Irene Welser leads the team, which also acted for events company Mastaire in a copyright and unfair competition matter against Wiener Kongresszentrum Hofburg Betriebsges.

Within Legal market overview,

The redundancies that have hit Western European firms hard are much less evident in Austria, and many of the larger players are as ambitious as ever. CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati, Wolf Theiss and Schoenherr still dominate across the CEE, although the mid-tier Vienna firms also attract a share of these mandates.

Within Public procurement, CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is a second tier firm,

CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati has good experience advising contracting and public authorities on tendering processes. It recently advised Austrian motorways operator Asfinag on excluding a party from several tenders because of professional misconduct. Irene Welser and Michaela Siegwart are recommended.

Within Real estate and construction, CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is a second tier firm,

CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is ‘always responsive and its service is certainly good value for money’. Peter Vcelouch leads the team, which is particularly recommended for construction, and recently advised Zurich Group on the enforcement of damage claims relating to a CEE construction project. The group also advised Landesbank Berlin in the financing of a Vienna real estate project.

Within Tax, CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati is a second tier firm,

CHSH Cerha Hempel Spiegelfeld Hlawati focuses on tax instructions arising from M&A and restructuring, and in 2011 it advised Commerzbank Vienna on Austrian stamp duty provisions relating to its credit business. Johannes Prinz is the main contact.