CMS’ wide-ranging corporate practice encompasses complex governance issues, group law, restructurings, joint ventures, cross-border corporate transformations, delistings, and spin-offs. Its diverse client base consists of private equity firms, government bodies, listed companies and multinational corporations across the industrial, automotive, energy, financial services, and manufacturing sectors. The team is under the leadership of Hilke Herchen, who specialises in corporate and group law, including corporate governance, joint ventures, and restructurings; Jacob Siebert, who handles investments, corporate structuring, governance, and regulatory compliance; and Kai Wallisch, an authority on global carve-outs, shareholder agreements, and structural corporate matters.
Legal 500 Editorial commentary

Accolades

Client satisfaction: Lawyer & team quality
Client satisfaction: Billing & efficiency

Testimonials

Collated independently by Legal 500 research team.

  • 'A full service firm with presence all over Germany, plus the extra benefit of easy access to affiliated firms in other DACH countries and the rest of Europe.' \n'Dirk Jannott stands out as a broadly experienced adviser with a practical, hands-on approach and an excellent understanding of the business aspects of M&A transactions.' \n'Very small core team, and we always have a competent contact aware of all details. Clear understanding of who to involve if needed for adjacent legal or tax questions.' \n'Marcel Hagemann and Dirk Jannott are excellent partners to work with.' \n'The team reacts very fast and competently. The availability of any partner or associate is a given at any time. The CMS team offers highly sophisticated support.' \n'Richard Mayer-Uellner is a very competent and highly specialised partner. His explanations are always comprehensive, well-elaborated, and helpful. Dirk Schmidbauer offers great support, is engaged and service-oriented.' \n'CMS did an excellent job of supporting us every step of the way. Each sub-project involved a multitude of individual legal matters, which CMS provided exceptionally close support for.' \n'CMS is distinguished by its breadth of services. We dealt with many different topics and legal areas, and CMS always had a competent in-house contact who made us feel like we were in good hands.'

Key clients

  • ALBA plc & Co. KG

  • Aug. Winkhaus SE & Co. KG

  • Deutsche Sparkassen Leasing AG & Co. KG

  • Encavis AG

  • GOLDBECK Solar GmbH

  • Heartland A/S

  • Holtzbrinck Publishing Group

  • State of Lower Saxony/Lower Saxony Ministry of Finance

  • Phillips 66

  • Panasonic Europe B.V.

  • Splendid Medien AG

  • Telefónica Deutschland Holding AG

Practice head

Hilke Herchen; Jacob Siebert; Kai Wallisch

Other key lawyers

Dirk Jannott; Marcel Hagemann; Richard Mayer-Uellner; Dirk Schmidbauer