Germany Teams 2018 – Page 3 – GC Powerlist
GC Powerlist Logo

Germany Teams 2018

  • Industries

  • Powerlist

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Aareal

| Aareal

Financials

The transaction legal team of Aareal Bank comes highly recommended by nominators on the back of a highly qualified legal team of over a dozen international lawyers, its extremely well...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Acatus

| Acatus

Financials

Formed in just 2016, Acatus has already achieved what several companies take many years to accomplish, boasting a competent and knowledgeable in-house team that is fully involved with the needs...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
adidas

| adidas

Consumer products

2018 marked the end of an era for Adidas, as long-standing head of legal – and grandson of Puma founder Rudolf Dassler – Frank A. Dassler retired at the end...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Allianz

| Allianz

Financials

One of the Munich-headquartered financial services company Allianz’s most prominent outward-facing deals in the recent past was its announcement in June 2017 that the Turin Stadium, home of Juventus Football...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Amprion

| Amprion

Energy and utilities

Overseeing all legal aspects of operating the longest high-voltage electricity network in Germany, with over 11,000km of network stretching from Lower Saxony to the Alps, Amprion’s legal team is regarded...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Audi

| Audi

Consumer products

A major development for the Audi in-house legal team came in June 2018, with the creation of a new position within the department in response to developments in the company’s...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Aurelius

| Aurelius

Financials

The legal team of German financials group Aurelius has doubled in size over the last three years to its current strength of 12 individuals, and is now a consistently strong...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Axel Springer

| Axel Springer

Sports and media

Axel Springer has become Europe’s leading digital publisher, with numerous multimedia known brands such as Bild, Die Welt and Fakt. It currently employees over 15,000 people in more than 40...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
B. Braun Group

| B. Braun Group

Healthcare

Led by highly respected general counsel Volker Daum who is a major advocate of the use of legal technology, the B. Braun Group legal team is at the forefront of...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Banco Santander

| Banco Santander

Financials

Due to a full immersion into the business, Timo Spitzer’s legal team (Santander legal corporate and investment banking Germany, Austria and Switzerland) at Banco Santander in Frankfurt quickly established itself...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
BASF

| BASF

Materials and mining

Led by group general counsel Wolfgang Haas, who is directly supported in the department by senior vice presidents Matt Lepore and Stefan John, globally BASF’s in-house legal team consists of...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Bayer

| Bayer

Healthcare

Bayer maintains a vast and highly capable law patents and compliance (LPC) department with almost unparalleled resources. When taking into account compliance and insurance professionals as well as paralegals and...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Beiersdorf

| Beiersdorf

Consumer products

Personal care company, Beiersdorf, manufactures personal care products and pressure adhesives, and is the owner of a number of renowned household brands, including Nivea, Elastoplast and tesa tape. The legal...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
BMW

| BMW

Consumer products

Characteristically, given its status as one of the key pillars of Germany’s world-renowned automobile industry, BMW – and, by extension, its legal team – has had a busy past 12...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Boehringer Ingelheim

| Boehringer Ingelheim

Healthcare

Maintaining the safe operation of one of the world’s largest pharmaceutical companies requires its legal team to possess both breadth and depth of legal knowledge and specialist skills to succeed...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Bombardier Transportation

| Bombardier Transportation

Industrials and real estate

As well as emphasising the innovative nature of the Bombardier Transportation legal team in terms of legal technology – they have started ‘to challenge the status quo through the changes...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Bosch

| Bosch

Industrials and real estate

Dr Sebastian Biedenkopf reports that his Bosch legal team continues to prosper. Successfully dealing with a high volume of day-to-day workload, it nevertheless is efficient enough to execute some prominent...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Braskem

| Braskem

Energy and utilities

Brazil-headquartered petrochemical company Braskem has two industrial plants in Germany, which acts as the base of Braskem Europe. Highly respected Brazilian lawyer Cristiane Rego moved from São Paulo to Europe...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Calypso Technology

| Calypso Technology

Information technology

Calypso Technology’s acquisition by private equity firms Bridgepoint and Summit Partners in 2016 was perhaps the most prominent project undertaken by its lean and extremely effective legal department recently, though...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Commerzbank

| Commerzbank

Financials

Highly regarded for its transactional capability, which it has proven time and again over the course of a number of prominent M&A deals which have been at the heart of...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Continental

| Continental

Consumer products

Continental is a leading German automotive manufacturing company with specialism in tyres, brake systems, interior electronics and automotive safety. It has been in the business since the 19th century and...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Daimler

| Daimler

Consumer products

Daimler’s legal and regulatory compliance team has been extremely active of late, developing a number of comprehensive internal compliance structures over the past few years. In 2016, as associate general...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
DEGES

| DEGES

Transport and infrastructure

With a total project volume of complex infrastructure projects under management of approximately €24.5bn, state-owned firm DEGES goes about its business in an interdisciplinary manner, meaning that – as team...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Deutsche Bahn

| Deutsche Bahn

Transport and infrastructure

Representing Deutsche Bahn (DB), one of the leading global mobility and logistic companies, is a legal department with 150 lawyers working from Germany and 100 lawyers stationed in foreign offices...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Deutsche Bank

| Deutsche Bank

Financials

One of the largest in-house legal teams globally, with many hundreds of individuals working in the department (approximately 300 in the German legal team alone) and highly developed internal processes,...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Deutsche Börse

| Deutsche Börse

Financials

Well-known throughout German legal circles for its excellent in-house capability which is able to deal with the lion’s share of legal challenges without recourse to external assistance, Deutsche Börse’s legal...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Deutsche Post

| Deutsche Post

Transport and infrastructure

Deutsche Post is the world’s largest postal service and international service company, it has 510,000 employees and delivers 61 million letters each day in Germany. Due in part to its...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Deutsche Telekom

| Deutsche Telekom

Telecommunication services

Led by general counsel Dr Claudia Junker who has led the company’s legal function since 2010, Deutsche Telekom can count on a highly skilled, motivated and knowledgeable legal team to...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
E.ON

| E.ON

Energy and utilities

Reportage of E.ON in the business press has been dominated by its large, highly complex and €43bn valued acquisition of innogy, as part of a voluntary public takeover offer agreed...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Edeka

| Edeka

Consumer products

The Edeka Group is the largest German supermarket corporation, consisting of several cooperatives of independent supermarkets under the umbrella Edeka Zentrale, and has its headquarters in Hamburg. Leading the provision...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Evonik Industries

| Evonik Industries

Materials and mining

Renowned for being the largest specialty chemicals company globally, Evonik Industries’ legal team has to deal with correspondingly large projects as a matter of course. Perhaps the most prominent of...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
EY

| EY

Commercial and professional services

Sven Hähnel leads the integrated cross-border Germany, Switzerland and Austria in-house legal team of EY, which has achieved notable successes of late. Externally, among a number of project-based achievements, Hähnel...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Fresenius Medical Care

| Fresenius Medical Care

Healthcare

A world leader in renal dialysis machines, Fresenius Medical Care (FMC) is known as one of the fastest-growing companies in Germany, posting €17.7bn in revenue in 2017. The company successfully...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
FUJIFILM Europe

| FUJIFILM Europe

Consumer products

FUJIFILM’s EMEA headquarters is based in Düsseldorf and contains a highly effective multi-discipline legal team led by general counsel and chief compliance officer Oboama Addy. The team is well-known within...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
GEA Group

| GEA Group

Industrials and real estate

Global equipment and process technology provider for the food industry and a wide range of industries, GEA Group operates with 18,000 employees worldwide as of December 31, 2017. Generating around...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Generali Deutschland

| Generali Deutschland

Financials

The legal team of Germany’s second-largest insurance company, Generali Deutschland, saw movement among its senior personnel in recent months as October 2017 saw Dr Heike Ottemann-Toyza made general counsel, bringing...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Hapag-Lloyd

| Hapag-Lloyd

Transport and infrastructure

A highly-regarded legal function operating in the demanding maritime sector (principally container shipping, but the company is also involved in cruises via a subsidiary), the Hapag-Lloyd in-house legal team has...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
HARIBO Group

| HARIBO Group

Food, beverages and tobacco

One of the best-loved and most popular confectionary brands in Europe, HARIBO operates factories across the continent and announced in 2017 the opening of its first factory in the US....

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
HeidelbergCement

| HeidelbergCement

Materials and mining

HeidelbergCement is one of the world’s largest building materials companies; with the takeover of Italian cement producer Italcementi, HeidelbergCement became the number one in aggregates production, number two in cement...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Henkel

| Henkel

Consumer products

The legal department of chemical and consumer goods company Henkel, is fully equipped to provide outstanding support and counsel to the business, boasting excellent knowledge in applicable laws and regulatory...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Hensoldt Group

| Hensoldt Group

Industrials and real estate

A global pioneer of technology and innovation in the area of defence and security electronics, Hensoldt is a market leader in civilian and military sensor solutions. As an organisation that...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

| Hewlett Packard Enterprise (HPE)

Information technology

In July 2015 Dennis Grabherr took charge of HPE’s North Europe legal team comprising of a total of over 20 lawyers spread out over ten jurisdictions. This team was essential...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
HSE24

| HSE24

Consumer products

HSE24 stands for Home Shopping Europe, and is a teleshopping broadcaster that was launched in 1995 under the name HOT (Home Order Television) as Germany’s first teleshopping channel, being renamed...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Huawei

| Huawei

Telecommunication services

Leading global provider of information and communications technology infrastructure and smart devices Huawei provides integrated solutions across four key domains – telecom networks, smart devices, IT and cloud services. The...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Hugo Boss

| Hugo Boss

Consumer products

Luxury German fashion house Hugo Boss was founded in 1924, and today has 900 group-owned retail stores worldwide, manufacturing clothes for men and women, as well as fragrances, cosmetics, watches...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
HypoVereinsbank (UniCredit Bank)

| HypoVereinsbank (UniCredit Bank)

Financials

Fifth largest of the German financial institutions according to its total assets and fourth largest bank in Germany according to its number of employees, HypoVereinsbank (HVB), also known as UniCredit,...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Hyundai Motor Europe

| Hyundai Motor Europe

Consumer products

Led by extremely well-regarded general legal counsel and chief compliance officer Hyun-Soo Kim, Hyundai Motor Europe’s eight-person legal team reported two major accomplishments among its successes over the past two...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
IKB Deutsche Industriebank

| IKB Deutsche Industriebank

Financials

Led by general counsel Ulrich Freitag and with three core teams and 18 individuals, the IKB Deutsche Industriebank legal team has been striving for ‘operational excellence, top-standard legal advice and...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
ING Germany Wholesale Banking Legal

| ING Germany Wholesale Banking Legal

Financials

Dennis Heidschmidt’s wholesale banking legal team for ING Germany consists of 18 lawyers and is a strong player in the German financial legal sector. Heidschmidt speaks incredibly highly of his...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
ING-DiBa

| ING-DiBa

Financials

The ING-DiBa legal team was described by nominating sources as ‘a target-oriented team capable of good cooperation and achieving very precise and accurate work’, highlighting the excellent reputation it enjoys...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
innogy

| innogy

Energy and utilities

The large and highly qualified legal and compliance team of energy company innogy currently consists of a total of 238 individuals globally (lawyers, paralegals and assistants) and is led by...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Inter Hannover

| Inter Hannover

Financials

Property and casualty insurance company, Inter Hannover is wholly owned by Hannover Re, within the business model there are two distribution channels to approach the insurance market -delegated authority and...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
JLL Germany

| JLL Germany

Financials

Team lead for German legal and compliance for Jones Lang LaSalle (JLL) Antonios Kotsis explains that the function has been emphasising flexible working methods of late, with team members empowered...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
KfW

| Kfw

Financials

A highly capable legal team regarded as one of the best in Germany by local legal press, KfW maintains a legal team of 85 organised across three departments. The department...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Klarna Group

| Klarna Group

Financials

Dr Miyu Lee, legal director of Klarna Group, waxes lyrical about the ‘exceptional field’ she and her team are working in, which she regards as ‘one of the most exciting...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Konica Minolta

| Konica Minolta

Information technology

In 2014 Konica Minolta merged the two legal departments of its European headquarters and its German sales organisation. The resulting department, under the leadership of manager of legal affairs Kai...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
KRÜGER Group

| Krüger Group

Food, beverages and tobacco

Established in 2015, the KRÜGER Group legal team has made an undoubtedly positive impact on the company’s fortunes since then, establishing itself successfully within the business. General counsel and head...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW)

| Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW)

Financials

A highly respected legal function operating in the unique German Landesbank sector of state-owned banks, Landesbank Baden-Württemberg (LBBW)’s legal team is led by head of legal Oliver Lier and has...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Lanxess

| Lanxess

Materials and mining

LANXESS made headlines in the business press around Europe in 2017 when it completed the largest acquisition in its history by taking over US-based Chemtura in a deal valued at...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Lemon Group Services

| Lemon Group Services

Commercial and professional services

As part of the American Omnicom Group, Lemon Group Services controls a vast shared services portfolio across Germany, and counts some of the country’s most valuable companies among its clients....

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Lufthansa Cargo

| Lufthansa Cargo

Transport and infrastructure

Excellent regulatory compliance in the necessarily extremely tightly-controlled air freight market is a must, especially for a high-profile company such as Lufthansa Cargo. It is thus at the forefront of...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Lufthansa Group

| Lufthansa Group

Transport and infrastructure

One of the most prestigious airlines globally, Lufthansa is not only one of the largest airline groups but also well-renowned as one of the best; it was ranked as the...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Lufthansa Technik

| Lufthansa Technik

Industrials and real estate

Undertaking a comprehensive restructure over the past 24 months aimed at refocusing the team’s efforts along regional lines as an extension of the overall company’s strategy, Lufthansa Technik’s legal team...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
MAHLE

| MAHLE

Consumer products

Jörg Kiefer, general counsel of MAHLE since 2008 – and employed by the company since 2001 – speaks extremely positively of his highly experienced and dedicated corporate legal department. ‘In...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
MANN + HUMMEL Group

| MANN + HUMMEL Group

Industrials and real estate

The MANN + HUMMEL Group legal team has been active in supporting the company’s activities of late, being a key component of a number of strategic projects that have proved...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group

| MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group

Consumer products

An impressive 35-person legal department, MediaMarktSaturn Retail Group legal team has been living up to its strong reputation by successfully completing an impressive number of projects over the past two...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Merck

| Merck

Healthcare

Providing legal support and governance management to Merck’s boards and a legal business partner to Merck Group functions (including finance, M&A, procurement and HR), the Merck group legal services department...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Merck Legal Healthcare

| Merck Legal Healthcare

Healthcare

Merck legal healthcare provides legal advice and support to the healthcare business sector at Merck, and comprises a particularly large proportion of Merck’s overall group legal operation at over 90...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
METRO

| METRO

Consumer products

German retail group METRO is a diversified retail and wholesale cash and carry group based in Düsseldorf, and is one of the largest retailers in the world measured by revenue....

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Native Instruments

| Native Instruments

Consumer products

Head of legal Maike Weber explains the music technology company Native Instruments legal team’s transformation to entirely digital working practices as perhaps its most important innovation of recent years. ‘We...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Open Xchange Group

| Open Xchange Group

Information technology

Constructed from scratch over the past two years, general counsel Maxim Letski reports that the Open Xchange legal department is now a ‘highly specialised and dynamic legal team covering all...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Otto Group

| Otto Group

Consumer products

Otto Group has undergone a comprehensive digital transformation over recent years, going from a catalogue company to an online-driven e-commerce, financial services and logistic services group now boasting annual turnover...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
PGIM Real Estate

| PGIM Real Estate

Industrials and real estate

Head of legal for Germany and Luxembourg Matthias Meckert reports that the PGIM Real Estate legal team, globally 25-strong and responsible for legal support of the company’s gross assets under...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
ProSiebenSat.1 Media

| ProSiebenSat.1 Media

Sports and media

Chief legal officer Alexander von Voss leads ProSiebenSat.1 Media’s highly-lauded legal team, which has been widely praised in recent years as one of the top performers within Germany. It has...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Puma

| Puma

Consumer products

Perhaps the most prominent corporate development in sportswear giant Puma’s recent history came in 2018 when French parent company Kering announced it would be spinning off the majority of its...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
REWE Group

| Rewe Group

Hotels

Successfully overseeing legal support for tens of thousands of supermarkets and hundreds of thousands of employees on behalf of one of Germany’s foremost supermarket chains has led to REWE Group’s...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
RWE

| RWE

Energy and utilities

An extremely busy year for German utilities company RWE’s in-house legal team has seen it lauded by multiple sources for its excellent performance on a number of extremely well-covered projects...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Sandoz

| Sandoz

Healthcare

‘Andreas Schillack, head of legal for Sandoz Europe’, a nominating source writes, ‘covers all aspects of pharma in-house legal counselling, leveraging upon his more than 20 years of experience in...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
SAP

| SAP

Information technology

Enterprise software giant SAP made headlines in 2018 with a marquee transaction that saw it take significant steps in bolstering its cloud-based services. In April, the company announced its successful...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Schwarz Gruppe

| Schwarz Gruppe

Consumer products

Privately family-owned German retail group Schwarz Gruppe owns and operates the Lidl and Kaufland brands, and it is the fourth largest retailer in the world by revenue. The legal department...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Siemens

| Siemens

Industrials and real estate

With an overall headcount of approximately 1,500 individuals, Siemens’ legal firepower is comparable to a significant dedicated law firm. Jörg Häring, general counsel for Europe and Africa and general counsel...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Software AG

| Software AG

Information technology

An extremely well-respected, competent and closely-knit team with a strong internal culture and excellent leadership, Software AG’s legal team has been at the centre of some prominent successful moves by...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Ströer

| Ströer

Sports and media

An extremely active period in terms of acquisitions has marked the Ströer legal team’s work in recent years, and the department has built up an impressive portfolio in this regard...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Sybac Solar Group

| Sybac Solar Group

Energy and utilities

Led by Konstantin Sassen, an extremely experienced general counsel with many years of experience, Sybac Solar Group’s in-house legal team is well-endowed with legal talent. Sassen mentions Laura Tyson, Tay...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Tchibo

| Tchibo

Consumer products

A German chain of coffee retailers, Tchibo has over 1,000 shops and is one of Germany’s largest retail chain. Tchibo’s coffee is sold in supermarkets in the US, Canada, the...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Telefónica Global Services

| Telefónica Global Services

Telecommunication services

Internally, the Telefónica Global Services legal team’s work has been ‘all about digitalisation’ recently, according to general counsel in Germany Florian Engel: ‘We are streamlining contractual works and processes by...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
The Linde Group

| The Linde Group

Materials and mining

Led by head of group legal and compliance Dr Christoph Hammerl and approximately 120-strong, the in-house legal function at The Linde Group is on one of the most impressive legal...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Thüga

| Thüga

Energy and utilities

Headed by Gabrielle Aplenz, the Thüga in-house legal team recently achieved approval for the company to proceed on a major business coup, announcing its capture of a 24.8% stake in...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
thyssenkrupp

| thyseenkrupp

Industrials and real estate

The 210-strong thyssenkrupp legal function has been a powerful force for innovation within the company, as group general counsel Arne Wittig explains: ‘During the past two years, thyssenkrupp’s legal department...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
TUI Group

| TUI Group

Hotels

TUI Group is an Anglo-German travel and tourism company which owns travel agencies, hotels, airlines, cruise ships and retail stores. Exceeding its financial goals recently, it was on track to...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
uber

| Uber

Transport and infrastructure

The rapid expansion and success of Uber has seen it become an integral part of the transport landscape of many European cities, but historically Germany has been a market where...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
UBS Asset Management

| UBS Asset Management

Financials

Markus Ratz, head of legal transactions EMEA for UBS Asset Management has been taking an innovative approach to its use of external counsel: ‘We decided to set up an exclusive...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Unilever

| Unilever

Consumer products

Risk management and integrity is a key part of the legal management at British-Dutch transnational consumer goods company Unilever, making up a large part of a company that pushes a...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Uniper

| Uniper

Energy and utilities

Dr Patrick Wolff, general counsel and chief compliance officer for Uniper’s large, 112-strong legal and compliance function, lists three main project successes for the team over the past two years:...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
United Internet

| United Internet

Information technology

United Internet operates a number of well-known internet services brands, including email services GMX and Mail.com and web hosting company 1&1. In May 2017 United Internet and German telecommunication service...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
VDM Metals Holding

| VDM Metals Holding

Materials and mining

An extremely lively past 24 months has borne significant transactional fruit for the VDM Metals Holding legal team, with general counsel Matthias Möhle listing the most impressive of these. ‘As...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Volkswagen

| Volkswagen

Consumer products

Vying with Toyota for the title of largest car manufacturer in the world, Volkswagen is consistently committed to innovation and is in the midst of a major shift in philosophy...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
WERTGARANTIE Group

| WERTGARANTIE Group

Financials

WERTGARANTIE Group is a fast, straightforward and customer oriented insurance organisation domiciled in Germany: Since 1963, WERTGARANTIE has demonstrated how to be a successful insurer for consumer electronics, household appliances,...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Zalando

| Zalando

Consumer products

Zalando has carved out a highly successful, multibillion-Euro revenue segment in the highly competitive e-commerce sector, thanks to a highly motivated, forward-thinking and capable team of employees; its legal function...

GC Powerlist logo as placeholder
Zeotap

| Zeotap

Information technology

Zeotap provides high-quality data at scale from exclusive sources such as telecom operators, and makes it available to the digital advertising ecosystem. Founded in Berlin in September 2014, it today...

German in-house counsel have had an eventful past two years. New challenges – with GDPR compliance perhaps being the most ubiquitous of these – have met with old to mean an ever-changing and demanding business environment to operate in. This has not, however, prevented German in-house counsel from supporting some of the largest transactions of recent years and continuing the reputation for in-house innovation and overall excellence that has characterised them for many years.

None of this would be possible without tireless dedication, encyclopaedic legal knowledge and excellent internal processes that the in-house legal teams within the GC Powerlist: Germany Teams 2018 display. Some of the best in-house teams globally are contained within these pages, who discuss the creative solutions they have come up with to enable their companies’ business objectives and the methods they have used to achieve the excellent internal cohesion and team identity required to operate at such a high level.

In the inaugural edition of the GC Powerlist: Germany Teams 2018 we are pleased to highlight some of the country’s leading in-house legal teams. To compile this list, we canvassed opinions from both law firm partners and in-house counsel in the jurisdiction. We identified the most impressive teams who have utilised their legal knowledge strategically alongside business insight to make a positive impact towards their organisation’s success.

Beiten Burkhardt

Beiten Burkhardt logo

As Europe’s largest economy and pioneer in terms of economic development, Germany provides domicile for many world class corporate groups and medium-sized hidden champions. In order to maintain the competitiveness of this veritable and diverse business landscape in Germany and to provide development opportunities for these undertakings, the economic and legal environment must be continuously further developed and amended.

The year 2018, too, was characterised by ongoing changes: Turbulences within Europe but also outside the European Union have impacted the German economy. BREXIT negotiations have not yet delivered any results that would defuse the uncertainty with respect to unforeseeable developments. Even if the introduction of significant trade restrictions between the European Union and the United States could be prevented so far, the existing commercial disputes between the United States and China still have a noticeable impact on German companies as these are deeply branched at the international level. Moreover, the political situation in Germany and many other EU countries marked by instability in troubled times, where political parties score with protectionist motives, intensifies commercial uncertainties.

Nevertheless, Germany is strengthened by a stable domestic demand, reflected in a positive economic forecast of between 1.7 and 1.9%. This is primarily due to the constant consumer enthusiasm which is motivated by a low unemployment rate and wage increases. This boosts the development of German companies which moreover also benefit from the fact that Germany still remains an attractive location for foreign investors. It is striking that investments from EU countries, Russia, the US and China have particularly increased in recent years. To implement these transactions faultless and unobjectionable in legal terms, the companies need well-trained and innovative legal departments and skilled experts that are familiar and well-versed in the different national jurisdictions. For the purpose of imparting such specific knowledge, commercial law firms such as BEITEN BURKHARDT successfully establish special competence centres for China, Russia or the United States.

Yet not only the persistently high internationalisation of German companies poses time and again new challenges to legal departments but also the German or rather the European legislator creates new framework conditions. So in the past months, for instance, German companies had to react to facts such as that the statutory minimum wage now applies without exception, the employee’s right to information was introduced, the prerequisites for the introduction of the model declaratory action [Musterfeststellungsklage] were set forth or, very specifically, the EU travel law has been adapted. The most important amendment of a law in 2018 was, however, the entry into force of the European General Data Protection Regulation. Dreaded by many, it has apparently lost its terror and so far it has not triggered the feared “wave of cease-and-desist letters”. Of course, many companies had to expand their data privacy efforts and adapt their existing processes. BEITEN BURKHARDT had also prepared many of its clients and made them ‘fit’ in the run-up; in particular our IP/IT/Media experts eloquently delivered numerous lectures in the Federal Republic.

The necessary economic and legal further development must be pushed and assisted by both commercial law firms and in-house lawyer teams to positively influence the company’s economic success. Legal practitioners should continually strive to expand their knowledge, communicate together and make the need for amendments clear and evident. We at BEITEN BURKHARDT support you with our differentiated industrial sector approach which ensures that the respective industry experts constantly expand and deepen their specific knowledge and are, thus, prepared to answer current and also urgent questions. In addition, we maintain an office in Brussels in close proximity to European legal practice which has an impact on German companies. The earlier we learn about decisions and inform our clients on the related consequences, the sooner German companies will be able to respond to new developments. This way legal departments can quickly and in good time make their own colleagues sensitive and aware to modified framework conditions and provide training for correct behaviour.

In order to ensure that Germany’s legal industry actively promotes legal changes and the economic success of companies, it is necessary to establish an exchange at all levels and across all fields of law. Today’s legal, tax and business management issues arising from any entrepreneurial activity often require an impartial view and competent advice from a third party. Above all, however, the demand of in-house counsels to always have a competent legal expert at their side who does not differentiate fields of law, is legitimate and substantiated. And the law firms must also change their perspective and start “seeing things from a company’s angle” so that they can jointly develop solutions with in-house lawyers.

In the light of current global challenges, success in business now more than ever requires strong partners and full confidence in the innovative capacity of the entire legal industry. The GC Powerlist brilliantly features this innovative power and capacity and provides law-related company projects with an excellent stage. In-house teams of lawyers can discover new possibilities that may be applicable to own challenges, and exchange information on similar or same topics with other in-house lawyers. With its support BEITEN BURKHARDT seeks to promote the opportunities of information exchange and networking. We further sponsor projects which provide an adequate platform to discuss legal developments and respond to judicial issues. Together with you, BEITEN BURKHARDT can promote and further develop the legal industry in Germany and make it fit for the future. Therefore, I am particularly pleased to sponsor the GC Powerlist for the second time now and to get into interaction with you.

In the name of all lawyers, tax advisors and certified accountants of BEITEN BURKHARDT I would like to most warmly congratulate all lawyer teams, honoured with this year’s GC Powerlist award.

GC Summit Germany 2024

On March 21st, The Legal 500 returned to Frankfurt to host the GC Summit Germany 2024, which took place at the Hilton Frankfurt City Centre. We wish to thank our partners for this event–SquirePattonBoggs, Taylor Wessing, Seitz, and AlixPartners–for their help in organising the panels for this conference, which covered a variety of cutting edge and up to date topics.

Drawing on the broad experience of our highly accomplished speakers from both legal firms and in-house counsel, this event provided practical, hands-on advice. The first panel, Managing your company’s value chain – Risks and opportunities in a dynamic regulatory environment, was moderated by Volker Popp, director at AlixPartners. Its panel included Franziska Janorschke, global head of data privacy & AI compliance, Novartis; Martin Petrasch, chief counsel of compliance, Siemens; and Dr. Wolfgang Bartels, general counsel, Mercedes-Benz Group. It involved an extensive, technical discussion amongst the panellists and continued on into the Q&A.

The first panel was followed by ESG in M&A transactions, sponsored by Talor Wessing. Rebekka Krause, salary partner at Taylor Wessing, moderated a broad-ranging discussion between Maria Rostock, general counsel, Borromin, and Timo Spitzer, executive director & head of legal for Germany, Austria, Switzerland and Nordic Countries, Grupo Santander. The team at Taylor Wessing and in-house panellists provided an in-depth overview of why ESG has become more and more important in M&A transactions, as well as EU legislation and new laws coming into effect.

After a short lunch break, the event continued with Seitz’s panel, Recent Compliance matters in the employment relationship, which was moderated by Stephan Pötters, partner, Seitz; and included Kathrin Bürger, partner, Seitz; Mark Mickasch, chief compliance officer, FUNKE; Julia Arbery, partner, Stoneturn; and Özlem Yesilkaya, head of investigations (Asia Pacific & EMEA), global investigation department, Fresenius Medical Care AG.

The final panel for the event was titled Legal Finance, the Universe and all the Rest: A 360o View on Dispute Funding and Dispute Hedging. Jens Petry (Squire Patton Boggs), Stefan Kirsten (KRD Kirsten. Risk & Disputes) and Katharina Fröhlich (unilegion) explored the increasing popularity of litigation funding and insurance solutions among corporates, the impact of a claimant being funded or insured on a defendant’s strategy, and defendants’ legal and commercial options to restore the equilibrium.

Closing remarks were provided by Jens Fettig, head of legal and compliance Europe, Atos. After the event-proper, participants joined sponsors and panellists in the Hilton Frankfurt City Centre’s Hudson Yards Bar for in-depth conversation, drinks and canapes.

We at The Legal 500 want to express our sincere thanks to the sponsors of the event– SquirePattonBoggs, Taylor Wessing, Seitz, and AlixPartners. Without their support, GC Summit Germany 2024 would not have been possible.

We hope to see you at GC Summit Germany next year!