GvW Graf von Westphalen

Managing Partners: Dr Robert Theissen, Christof Kleinmann

Number of partners: 80

Number of lawyers: 230 (including partners)

Languages: Danish, English, French, German, Gujarati, Hebrew, Hindi, Italian, Japanese, Mandarin, Polish, Romanian, Russian, Spanish, Swedish, Tamil, Turkish, Ukrainian, Urdu

Firm Overview:  

GvW is a partnership of 230 lawyers. With national offices in Berlin, Düsseldorf, Frankfurt am Main, Hamburg, Munich, Stuttgart and international offices/representations in Brussels, Ho Chi Minh City, Istanbul and Shanghai, the firm is one of the largest independent law firms in Germany.

Main Areas of Practice:  

■ Administrative

■ Antitrust

■ Banking & Banking Supervisory

■ China

■ Commercial

■ Corporate

■ Distribution

■ Employment

■ Energy

■ ESG

■ Food

■ Foreign Trade & Customs

■ Healthcare

■ Hospitality – Hotels & Resorts

■ Infrastructure & Public Sector

■ Insolvency & Restructuring

■ Insurance

■ IP, IT & Media

■ Litigation & Arbitration

■ M&A

■ Public Procurement

■ Real Estate & Construction

■ State Aid & Subsidies

■ Telecommunications

■ Transport and Logistics

Litigation: 

16 partners, 20 fee earners

■ Long-standing representation of Volkswagen AG in the defense of direct diesel lawsuits

■ Long-standing representation of the state of North Rhine-Westphalia in the timber dispute with Klausner Sägewerke

■ Assumption of legal representation of SCHUFA Holding in mass litigation complex for consumer claims

■ Representation of freenet DLS GmbH in all legal disputes relating to contract or general terms and conditions law

Contact: Wolf Müller

Tel: +49 40 35922-262

Email: [email protected]

Corp/M&A:  

14 partners, 21 fee earners

■ Advising Enagás, S.A. on the acquisition of a stake in Hanseatic Energy Hub GmbH (HEH)

■ Advising the Fielmann Group on transactions in North America

■ Advising Hexad on the sale of the Mobility Services Platform business unit to CARIAD SE

■ Advising Metall Zug AG on a joint venture with Miele

■ Advising Sartorius AG on the Chinese legal aspects of the acquisition of Polyplus

Contact: Dr Markus Sachslehner

Tel: +49 69 707970 130

Email: [email protected]

Real Estate: 

9 partners, 9 fee earners

■ Advising DIC on several acquisitions of logistics properties

■ Advising Württembergische Lebensversicherung on the purchase of a hotel development

■ Credit Suisse Asset Management: Comprehensive ongoing advice on commercial tenancy law

■ Ongoing advice to Nuveen on real estate transactions in the logistics sector

■ Acquisition of the industrial site Stahlwerk Rasselstein from Thyssen Krupp and project development of the approx. 80 hectare site

Contact: Bettina Schmitt-Rady

Tel: +49 69 707970-116

Email: [email protected]

Construction: 

8 partners, 10 fee earners

■ University Hospital Dusseldorf: Strategic expansion of the advisory services to all construction law related areas of the hospital

■ Union Investment: Construction and planning law advice regarding various projects all over Germany

■ Construction advice regarding major projects for euromicron

Contact: Dr Thomas Senff

Tel: +49 211 56615-0

Email: [email protected]

Information Technology & IP, Data Protection: 

12 partners, 20 fee earners

■ SapientNitro: Providing ongoing full scope legal services

■ VDMA: Preparation of the guide ‘Data Protection in Industry 4.0’

■ Blue Mesa Health in development and distribution of apps for the prevention of diabetes

■ Asseco Solutions in the review of the standard software contracts and in all IT and data protection issues

Contact: Stephan Menzemer

Tel: +49 69 707970 186

Email: [email protected]

Foreign Trade & Customs:

6 partners, 10 fee earners

■ GEA Group: Comprehensive export control advice

■ Celanese: Advice on foreign trade law and customs

■ Cube Bikes: Advice on customs law issues and anti-dumping

■ Shell Deutschland: Ongoing customs law and energy tax law advice

■ Representation GE Healthcare in a customs law model proceeding

■ JT International: Representation before the Federal Ministry of Finance in model proceedings on the tax classification of tobacco products

Contact: Marian Niestedt

Tel: +49 40 35922 0

Email: [email protected]

Employment: 

8 partners, 12 fee earners

■ T-Systems: Employment law advice after business transfer

■ VAC: Restructuring and downsizing of approx. 350 employees

■ Advising Alnatura on legal disputes with the works’ council

■ Cockpit: Ongoing advice in proceedings and on collective bargaining law

■ DekaBank: Ongoing employment law advice and representation, inter alia in matters of works constitution and personnel representation law

■ Advising VION on factory closings, arbitration proceedings etc

Contact: Dr Philipp Wiesenecker

Tel: +49 69 707970-167

Email: [email protected]