The Legal 500 Germany 2021

The Legal 500 Germany provides a comprehensive overview of around 400 commercial law firms and 2,700 attorneys in 23 practice areas in Germany.

POELLATH is represented by a total of 30 professionals – five of them are listed as “leading” and one as a “rising star”.

POELLATH also received a top-tier ranking for its advice on fund structuring, private clients and non-profit organizations.

Andreas Richter is a “leader” and “an accomplished advisor in local and cross-border succession planning”. The fact that his colleague Stephan Viskorf is also a tax advisor provides the firm with additional expertise, which is “regularly integrated into legal advice”. In the area of foundations and non-profit organizations, Katharina Gollan is considered a “key contact”, while Martin Liebernickel advises on prenuptial agreements and wills. Another core lawyer is Munich-based Maximilian Haag.

POELLATH also scores in the area of investment funds and fund structuring, with Andreas Rodin and Amos Veith as “leading” structuring specialists. The firm has “excellent market penetration and market overview, [is] practice-oriented and very solution-oriented” and is known for its “outstanding understanding of service” in the market.

The entire firm, and Andreas Rodin in particular, have “outstanding know-how in fund structuring”. Thanks to his “wealth of experience”, Mr. Rodin is able to provide “quick and pragmatic feedback on specific issues, even without extensive research”. In addition, the firm covers many other areas very well, especially regulation and regulatory law.

Other core lawyers are Sebastian Käpplinger, Uwe Bärenz and Philip Schwarz van Berk, who is considered “experienced [and] confident even in critical negotiation situations”.

The firm owes its “particularly strong reputation in fund structuring and management advisory mandates” to its two “leading” partners, Amos Veith and Benedikt Hohaus, who is a “recognized figure in management participation programs and in assisting management teams”. The private equity practice boasts relevant expertise in transactions, as well as “at the interfaces of regulation, tax law and restructuring”. References attest to the entire team’s “very high level of client-centricity”, in addition to “extensive expertise in the field of private equity and, accordingly, very target-oriented advice”, as well as a high level of “flexibility and experience, even in dealing with younger startups”. The “friendly communication” and “good contact” also find favor. “Key contacts” are transaction specialists Andrea von Drygalski and Tim Kaufhold, who “is regularly mandated by private equity investors”, as well as Tobias Jäger and Philipp von Braunschweig. The team is led by Eva Nase and Jens Hörmann, who are also responsible for M&A.

These advisors are considered “experienced M&A lawyers who can map the entire value chain of a transaction (due diligence, investment documentation, tax structuring, financing documentation)”. They are also “experts in rounding off matters in-house”, such as fund structuring, capital market law, real estate transfer tax, etc.). Philipp von Braunschweig receives particularly high praise: “professionally flawless, commercially outstanding (lawyers often tend to subordinate the commercial goal to professional/legal perfection, you then have a nice contract but no deal; on the other hand, [Mr. von Braunschweig] acts with optimal judgment in negotiations”. In addition to national and international transactions, the firm also advises on distressed M&A, as well as pre- and post-M&A disputes, and is “particularly well-suited” to corporate law advice for family-owned corporate groups.

Eva Nase also heads up this area and she is likewise highly praised for her advice: “I enjoyed working with Ms. Nase because she always delivered competently and on time with a strong sense of the practical corporate governance requirements of companies with a connection to private equity”. She is “strongly solution-oriented” and “personally worked a great deal on the task at hand, which clearly informed the quality of communications”. The entire team “demonstrates great expertise combined with economic understanding and provides comprehensive corporate law advice to a client base ranging from small, mid-sized family businesses to large, publicly listed companies. Thus, the team’s expertise ranges from preparing and conducting general meetings and shareholders’ meetings to all forms of corporate litigation, D&O liability and public takeovers.”

In addition to corporate law and the private equity practice, the firm’s venture capital advice is also held in high regard. “The team supporting Christian Tönies and Sebastian Gerlinger is one of the top addresses in the VC field, especially for transactions with greater complexity”, works “in very solution-oriented way, efficiently, precisely and, above all, also pragmatically” and is characterized by “very high client-centricity”, “high-level expertise in the field of venture capital and, accordingly, very goal-oriented advice”. The “leading” advisor, Christian Tönies, has many years of experience and “outstanding expertise” and is thus a “reliable partner for ambitious startups”. Young talent also joins the ranks of listed professionals: counsel Sebastian Gerlinger is considered a “rising star”. He “impresses with outstanding expertise” and his “lightning-quick communication”. The team led by Christian Tönies and Michael Inhester, who are both “accomplished specialists”, has “particularly extensive knowledge in the areas of e-commerce, fintech, biotech, medtech and telecommunications”.

Outstanding professional competence and market knowledge is also attested to the real estate team with “leading” partner Stefan Lebek. He is “excellent”, an “outstanding lawyer” with many years of experience, “very strong in negotiations, always prepared [and] very committed”. Mr. Lebek “always provides perfect support”, is an “extremely competent and reliable partner who meets our expectations for professional legal advice in every respect”. Overall, there is close cooperation among the four real estate partners, Matthias Durst, Stefan Lebek, Marcel Guenoub and Timo Winkelmann. Clients also “frequently and with pleasure [work] together with associated partner Kim Delphine Geißler and counsels Daniel Elbel and Sebastian Pasch and senior associate Puya Rezai Hariri. All of the aforementioned attorneys are characterized by their high level of professional expertise, great flexibility and distinct motivation. We particularly appreciate the negotiating skills of Mr. Durst and Mr. Lebek”. The entire team works “in a very service-oriented manner, reaction and processing times are brief, and the professional competence and market knowledge are outstanding”. The “very homogeneous” team, especially around Mr. Durst, but also around the other partners, is “well-positioned, approachable and reachable around the clock”, offers long-standing and excellent “top quality” in all real estate law matters, so that one “always [feels] well looked after”.

Hardy Fischer, a “central figure” of the tax practice in transactional and structural advice, advises on the tax aspects of real estate transactions. Andreas Rodin is also one of the “core lawyers” of the tax team. Other advisory areas include structuring advice on tax-optimized private equity structures and structuring of various funds, as well as structuring planning and management of asset portfolios for high net worth individuals. In particular, Munich partner Michael Best specializes in the aforementioned areas.