Firm Profile > GRAF ISOLA > Vienna, Austria
GRAF ISOLA Offices
STADIONGASSE 2
1010 WIEN
Austria
GRAF ISOLA > The Legal 500 Rankings
Insolvency and corporate recovery Tier 1
Graf & Pitkowitz stands out for its insolvency administrator capabilities with team heads Alexander Isola and Stefan Weileder receiving regular appointments. In other work, the team provides assistance to creditors and investors with restructuring and refinancing issues as well as with the purchase of distressed M&A.
Practice head(s):
Alexander Isola; Stefan Weileder
Testimonials
‘Our experience with GPP is that their response is swift and accurate.’
‘People we have worked with are spot-on and think outside the box.’
‘Compared to competitors, the firm’s insolvency department is characterised by both extensive practical experience and academic expertise.’
‘Alexander Isola has been one of the leading insolvency experts in Austria for years.’
‘Stefan Weileder is a great young professional and has already made a name for himself throughout Austria in the field of insolvency law. It is a pleasure to work with him.’
Key clients
Herbitschek Gesellschaft GmbH and Herbitschek Projekt GmbH
Borckenstein GmbH (acting as insolvency administrator)
Charles Vögele (Austria) GmbH
Creditors of Anglo Austrian AAB AG (former: MEINL BANK)
MAG Group
holzstark GmbH (acting as insolvency administrator)
CTP Chemisch Thermische Prozesstechnik GmbH (acting as insolvency administrator)
J. Bergler GmbH (acting as insolvency administrator)
G. Völkl GmbH (acting as insolvency administrator)
coman handling gmbh (acting as insolvency administrator)
MTC Gaich GmbH (acting as insolvency administrator)
Private client Tier 2
Private foundation law, wealth management and succession planning are the pillars of the private client practice at Graf & Pitkowitz. The team advises on domestic and cross-border matters alike and regularly creates or restructures trusts under Austrian private foundation law. Department head Armenak Utudjian sits on the board of numerous foundations in addition to handling probate, succession planning and real estate work. At associate level, Stefanie Swatek has considerable knowledge of private foundations, investment and real estate.
Practice head(s):
Armenak Utudjian
Other key lawyers:
Stefanie Swatek
Testimonials
‘Dr. Armenak Utudjian has exceptional experience in the area of corporate governance and family governance of family-owned companies.’
‘We trust Armenak Utudjian 100% and are more than happy with the way he handles legal as well as family issues. He is very considerate and wise. He is very responsive and fast in dealing with whatever we ask him to deal with.’
Key clients
Andra Privatstiftung
Bene Privatstiftung
Motycka Privatstiftung
Talent Privatstiftung
4 M Privatstiftung
Intellectual property Tier 3
In addition to a strong focus on litigation and patent disputes in particular, Graf & Pitkowitz covers a diverse array of IP work. Department co-head Claudia Csáky is highly involved in trade mark, patent, copyright and unfair competition issues. Fellow co-head and founding partner Ferdinand Graf is also a skilled litigator and has recently expanded his practice to advise on data protection.
Practice head(s):
Claudia Csáky; Ferdinand Graf
Key clients
Braro Management & Consulting S.r.l.
KTM Fahrrad GmbH
Daniel Wellington
therapie-info PSISYS GmbH
McArthur Glen
VELUX Österreich GmbH
Ogilvy & Mather GmbH
Young & Rubicam Vienna
kraftWerk Agentur für neue Kommunikation GmbH
AM Baugeräte und Handels GmbH
Ferring Pharmaceutical
Data privacy and data protection Tier 4
Graf & Pitkowitz is particularly involved at the intersection of data protection and other areas of law such as competition, corporate and IP law. The 'highly competent' Marija Križanac, who is also active in data protection litigation, jointly heads the team with Ferdinand Graf. The latter predominantly covers data issues overlapping with M&A and IT.
Practice head(s):
Marija Križanac; Ferdinand Graf
Testimonials
‘Perfect combination of legal expertise in data privacy related matters and excellent hands-on-mentality and feeling for the practical needs of an in-house counsel.’
‘Graf & Pitkowitz is an excellent law firm; the great thing about this practice group in particular is that you do not get just isolated data protection advice, but advice from a holistic perspective, because the team, e.g. Marija Križanac, is so knowledgeable in many other areas of the law as well and has a good understanding of the business world. You always have a direct line to the practice head when you need something.’
‘Marija Križanac has an excellent understanding of business processes and the resulting legal issues/questions. The response time is always very fast with clear legal advice which is a great help to come to a quick but competent solution.’
‘Marija Križanac is a highly competent lawyer; her work is brilliant – with her you get one-stop-shop advice because she is so knowledgeable not only in the area of data protection law but also other related legal areas. Marija always gives highly practical, quick and on point advice. It’s absolutely great to work with her. I highly recommend her!’
‘Marija Križanac demonstrated an outstanding hands-on-mentality and really understands the business interest and the needs of an in-house counsel.’
Key clients
LUKOIL International GmbH, LUKOIL Holding GmbH
VELUX A/S; VELUX Österreich GmbH
Irving H. Picard (Trustee for the substantively consolidated SIPA liquidation of Bernard L. Madoff Investment Securities LLC & Bernard Madoff)
Employment Tier 4
In addition to standalone matters, especially in pension law and related litigation, the employment group at Graf & Pitkowitz also assists the firm's restructuring and M&A departments. The practice lead has been with Jakob Widner, an employment contracts specialist, for more than two decades. Axel Guttmann is also of note.
Practice head(s):
Jakob Widner
Other key lawyers:
Axel Guttmann
Testimonials
‘Individual and practicable solutions for each problem. Excellent background of the engaged partner to help and assist for the solutions in connection with our employment (law) problems and company restructurings (in connection with our workforce).’
‘Excellent experience with many matters in employment (and connected) law.’
Key clients
OKI Europe Ltd.
Erdöl Lagergesellschaft mbH (ELG – Austrian Central Oil Stockholding Entity)
Chamber of Commerce
Arnold Immobilien
LUKOIL
Austrian Samaritan Federation
Banking and finance Tier 5
Graf & Pitkowitz's client portfolio includes banks, corporates, investors and private clients, who retain the team to assist with various finance transactions, most notably corporate, infrastructure and project finance, alongside regulatory matters, including money laundering and compliance, and banking litigation. Otto Wächter heads the practice and covers the full spectrum of banking and finance work.
Practice head(s):
Otto Wächter
Testimonials
‘The full-package service combined with high professionalism, timely manner and orientation on the needs of the client.’
Commercial, corporate and M&A Tier 6
Graf & Pitkowitz has a core focus on work at the intersection of corporate, M&A and restructuring. High-end disputes and cross-border matters are often led by Ferdinand Graf, with Andreas Edlinger particularly active in transactions as well as spin-offs and corporate governance. Alexander Isola covers matters that overlap with insolvency such as distressed M&A.
Practice head(s):
Ferdinand Graf; Andreas Edlinger; Alexander Isola
Testimonials
‘The full-package service combined with high professionalism, timely manner and orientation on the needs of the client.’
‘Dr. Ferdinand Graf is a great professional, always getting to the client’s point.’
Key clients
LUKOIL Group
VKR Group/Arcon Sunmark A/S
Peter Lisec Privatstiftung
Bartenstein Holding GmbH/G.L. Pharma GmbH
Erdöl-Lagergesellschaft m.b.H.
torresbarylli Werbeagentur GmbH
Arcon-Sunmark
Esterházy Privatstiftung
Svoboda Entwicklungs GmbH & Co KG
CTP Invest, spol. s r.o.
HB Vermarktung GmbH
GRAF ISOLA > Firm Profile
The firm: GRAF ISOLA was founded in 1994 and is one of the leading independent Austrian commercial law firms with offices in Vienna and Graz. The full-service firm advises in all fields of Austrian and European business law with a client base from all sectors of industry – both domestic and foreign – as well as public authorities.
GRAF ISOLA has 25 qualified lawyers including six partners – most are recognised experts in their field and have years of international experience. The firm is internationally known for its hard work approach and efficient and creative way of handling complex cases in a solution-oriented manner. GRAF ISOLA has an extensive network with international leading law firms across the globe – with whom the firm regularly co-operates based on a best friends philosophy.
Areas of practice
Banking and finance: the firm provides advice on the full range of banking law and on all types of financing, in particular acquisition and project financing. The firm has built a strong banking litigation practice involving banking, regulatory, and capital markets disputes -it has advised and represented in some of the largest cases/litigations in the aftermath of the financial crisis.
Corporate/M&A: the firm’s specialists advise on all matters of corporate law – often on complex corporate transactions such as restructurings, spin-offs, mergers and transformations – both in Austria and cross-border. Recent work highlights include advising a prominent Russian conglomerate on cross-border restructurings and capital measures and advising one of the largest Austrian publicly listed corporations on the spin-off and subsequent merger of subsidiaries.
Competition and antitrust: the firm has extensive expertise in (national and European) merger control, cartels and antitrust proceedings, dawn raids and internal audits, abuse of market dominance proceedings, structuring of distribution systems and co-operation agreements between companies.
Dispute resolution: GRAF ISOLA is a top-tier firm for all types of complex commercial litigation and arbitration – both domestic and international. The firm has extensive experience in arbitration proceedings under all leading institutional rules and has become increasingly well known for its work in high-profile cases in the areas of restitution of looted art, social media/data protection, telecommunication, white-collar crime and shareholder disputes.
Employment: advice on all areas of individual and collective employment law – both in terms of an ongoing consultation, as well as in the course of restructurings and business acquisitions (M&A-related).
Insolvency and restructuring: the firm has for decades and been a leading firm for insolvency and restructuring and has in recent years advised on almost every major insolvency/restructuring case in Austria. Key strength areas include in particular: advice on restructuring, insolvency, and reorganisation, insolvency administration, distressed M&A, insolvency challenge rights, capital maintenance law, insolvency dispute resolution and international insolvency law.
IP and IT: advice on all areas of intellectual property law and information technology spanning from the registration of trade marks, strategic advice on trade mark creation, and development and the protection of all sorts of intellectual property claims (including patent rights).
Projects/procurement and infrastructure: the firm is renowned for its advisory work on large-scale projects especially in the infrastructure and transport sector (PPP projects and project finance), leading expertise on preparation and structuring of procurements, conduct of procurement proceedings and on advising private bidders in their procurement participation (classic and sectorial area).
Real estate and construction: the firm provides comprehensive advice relating to real estate and property spanning real estate transactions in the form of asset and share deals, project development, real estate financing including collateral agreements, developer and condominium agreements, building rights agreements, rent/lease (commercial and housing), leasing, special licence agreements and Austrian property transaction law.
Estate planning/trust and estates: leading expertise on counselling individuals, enterprises and family-run businesses on asset structuring and succession planning.
Main Contacts
| Department | Name | Telephone | |
|---|---|---|---|
| Banking and finance | Otto Waechter | o.waechter@grafisola.at | (+43 1) 401 17-0 |
| Competition and antitrust | Ferdinand Graf | f.graf@grafisola.at | (+43 1) 401 17-0 |
| Data protection | Marija Krizanac | m.krizanac@grafisola.at | (+43 1) 401 17-0 |
| Compliance and white-collar crime | Alexander Isola | a.isola@grafisola.at | (+43 1) 401 17-0 |
| Compliance and white-collar crime | David Seidl | d.seidl@grafisola.at | (+43 1) 401 17-0 |
| Corporate/M&A | Ferdinand Graf | f.graf@grafisola.at | (+43 1) 401 17-0 |
| Dispute resolution | Jakob Widner | j.widner@grafisola.at | (+43 1) 401 17-0 |
| Employment | Jakob Widner | j.widner@grafisola.at | (+43 1) 401 17-0 |
| Estate planning/trust and estates | Armenak Utudjian | a.utudjian@grafisola.at | (+43 1) 401 17-0 |
| Insolvency and restructuring | Alexander Isola | a.isola@grafisola.at | (+43 1) 401 17-0 |
| Insolvency and restructuring | Stefan Weileder | s.weileder@grafisola.at | (+43 1) 401 17-0 |
| IP and IT | Claudia Csáky | c.csaky@grafisola.at | (+43 1) 401 17-0 |
| Projects/procurement and infrastructure | Marija Krizanac | m.krizanac@grafisola.at | (+43 1) 401 17-0 |
| Real estate and construction | Armenak Utudjian | a.utudjian@grafisola.at | (+43 1) 401 17-0 |
| Regulatory | Jakob Widner | j.widner@grafisola.at | (+43 1) 401 17-0 |
Lawyer Profiles
| Photo | Name | Position | Profile |
|---|---|---|---|
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Dr Ferdinand Graf | Ferdinand Graf heads the M&A, competition and cartel law practice groups. He… | View Profile |
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Dr Armenak Utudjian | Armenak Utudjian is recognized as an expert especially in the fields of… | View Profile |
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Dr Otto Waechter | The practice group lead by Otto Wächter concentrates on complex regulatory issues… | View Profile |
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Mag Stefan Weileder | Stefan Weileder is co-heading the insolvency and restructuring group together with Alexander… | View Profile |
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Mag Jakob Widner | Jakob Widner heads the firm’s Labour and Employment Law Practice and has… | View Profile |