Schalast Law I Tax

Chairman/CEO: Prof. Dr Christoph Schalast

Number

of Attorneys: 80

Number

of Employees: +100

Languages:

English, French, German

Firm

Overview:

The law firm Schalast with offices in Frankfurt, Berlin, Hamburg, Duesseldorf and Stuttgart has been in existence for almost 30 years and was founded around a build-and-buy strategy in the telecommunications sector and the first NPL transactions in Germany. By now the lawfirm offers full service for its national and international clients. Schalast often accompanies its clients in change and reconstruction situations and special situations. The banking and finance practice group is the largest practice group of the firm and has the structuring of innovative products and FinTech as one of its core areas. The firm is also a member of Chambers Elite Law Firm Network Multilaw, which includes 10,000 lawyers and over 100 jurisdictions. Within this network, Prof. Dr. Andreas Walter is also Global Head of the practice group banking and finance. Through this close alliance Schalast assists many international clients in their market entry in Germany and many German clients in their expansion abroad.

Main Areas of Practice:

Banking & Fiance:

Schalast's Banking & Fiance practice group advises clients in the financial industry primarily in the areas of large-volume financing, regulatory law, restructurings and NPL transactions, dispute resolution and the structuring of innovative products, especially in connection with FinTech companies. The Schalast Fintech team continuously develops ideas together with its clients and constantly upgrades FinTech products with additional features to make even complicated financial products easily understandable and useable for clients' customers.

Contact:

Prof. Dr Andreas Walter (head of the practice group)

Email: [email protected]

Corporate & M&A:

Corporate transaction and company law issues have played a key role in the advisory practice of Schalast since its establishment. Such company development processes area complex and require special knowhow not just at a legal level, but also at an economic level. The members of the corporate & M&A practice group have many years of experience in the management of complex M&A processes and in some cases have their own experience in managing companies, which means they are familiar with specific requirements which arise within a company with respect to the planning and execution of transactions. Some of the members of this practice group have also worked for many years as advisors to the supervisory board of listed and unlisted companies and therefore have practical experience as members of such bodies. This experience and legal know-how has enable Schalast to advise both SMEs and large companies successfully for many years on M&A and private equity transactions, as well as corporations and partnerships nationally and internationally on all company law issues. Furthermore, Schalast is providing notary services. The Schalast notary's office is one of the largest in Frankfurt am Main. The notaries advise on all legal issues requiring notarisation, in particular on issues relating to company law, M&A-transactions, real estate law, non-performing loans and company succession.

Contact:

Gregor Wedell (head of the practice group)

Email: [email protected]

Dispute Resolution:

Schalast has many years of experience both in litigation and — also international — arbitration proceedings. The dispute resolution group advices German and foreign clients on the thorough investigation of complex commercial issues, including the successful assertion of their interests both in and out of court. The close links of the dispute resolution practice group with the firm's other practice groups, which are primarily driven by substantive law, leads to a high degree of competency both with respect to the litigation itself and the handling of the issues which are relevant in the specific case.

Contact:

Marius Welling (head of practice group)

Email: [email protected]

IP, IT & Media:

The activities of Schalast's IP, IT & Media practice group range from drafting special contractual arrangements, to representing media companies from the television and broadcasting sectors and the publishers of newspapers and magazines in copyright, press and personality rights issues. The group's services are naturally also aimed at artists, sportspersons, journalists and authors. One of its special fields of expertise is advising companies in the telecommunications and cable sector. Legal areas: Competition Law, Trademark Law, Broadcasting Law, Licensing Law, Copyright, Law, IT Law, Data Protection Law, Antitrust Law, Design Law, Media Law, Press Law, Publishing Law, Sports Law, Entertainment

Law, Internet Law, Intellectual Property (IP) Law.

Contact:

Florian Frisse (head of practice group)

Email: [email protected]

Labour Law:

Schalast predominantly sees advising on labour law issues not as court cases waiting to happen, but as preventative advice. Advice often starts whilst the company is being established and covers restructuring and even the transformation or acquisition of the company. Schalast offers comprehensive advice on individual labour law, which includes advice on employment contract structuring and protection against unfair dismissal, as well as the legal structuring and implementation of personnel measures. A special focus of Schalast's employment law group is the field of logistics, in particular aviation and other transport enterprises.

Contact:

Clemens Schalast (head of the practice group)

Email: [email protected]

Energy, Infrastructure & Telecommunication:

In the Energy, Infrastructure & Telecommunication practice group, Schalast support network industries and Network user. The firm provides advice about contractual, regulatory and disputed cases, in and out of court. The operation is characterized by a practice-oriented approach. Schalast rely on many years of in-house experience and uses legal tech tools where possible and help their clients implement them. In addition to telecommunications, energy is one of the firm'score areas. Energy transition requires stable and controllable networks and asustainable interaction of classical generation and renewable energies.Cross-sectoral approaches must unite electricity, gases or hydrogen and heat in a holistic energy concept to achieve more stringent climate targets. The interdisciplinary team of experienced lawyers in telecommunications, IT and energy law provides targeted and interest-oriented support with extensive

industry knowledge.

Contact:

Janka Schwaibold (head of the practice group)

Email: [email protected]

Tax Law:

Within the firm's practice tax has an assisting function on the one hand (primarily for transactions, i.e. in the context of banking & finance, company law, M&A and real estate); on the other hand, our tax praxis tackles genuine tax issues for you. This comprises specialist topics such as investment fund taxation, the various financial transaction taxes as well as forensic services before the German tax courts. Another emphasis is US-tax law (in particular QI-law).

Contact:

Dr. Oliver von Schweinitz (head of practice group)

Email: [email protected]

Notary Practice:

Providing notary services is a further focus of the law firm. Our notaries advise – as a company, entrepreneur or private individual – on all legal issues requiring notarisation. Although our notaries hold public office and are therefore obliged to maintain absolute neutrality towards the parties involved, because they also work as lawyers they see themselves as service providers to the parties involved who support them achievement of their objectives. Our notaries do not just read out the drafts prepared by our lawyers. We see it as an integral part of the services we offer that we solve your legal problems and if needed prepare the required draft contracts even in complex cases.

Contact:

Prof. Dr. Christoph Schalast

Email: [email protected]

Real Estate:

Schalast advises clients on all real estate law issues. Besides advising on acquisition and sale in relation to transactions, the key competencies of our real estate specialists in particular include the tax structuring of real estate transactions, advice with respect to project developments and ongoing asset management advice.

Contact:

Markus Ruhmann (head of practice group)

Email: [email protected]

Healthcare & Life Sciences:

Advertising in the healthcare sector, especially for drugs, medical devices, dietary supplements, or cosmetics, is subject to a wide range of regulatory and legal requirements, such as the Unfair Competition Act, the Therapeutic Products Advertising Act, the Health Claims Regulation, and compliance codes, to ensure that new products are introduced to the market in a safe and effective manner. The Green Claims Directive proposed by the EU Commission would increase scrutiny on the verifiability of environmental product claims, leading to stricter regulations for food labeling and communication. Therefore, we work with our clients to analyze and enhance labeling and marketing concepts, defend them in the event of injunction claims, and formulate legal strategies to combat competitors. Additionally, we have years of experience serving as legal counsel for medical and laboratory practices, medical care centers, and their liability insurers, as well as hospitals and hospital owners.

Contact:

Katja Hoos (head of this practice group)

Email: [email protected]

Audit & Advisory:

The Audit & Advisory practice group (Schalast Auerbach AG WPG) supplements legal consulting from Schalast with practical consulting on regulatory, organizational, and accounting-related questions, as well as auditing of annual and interim financial statements and special audits. We are able to provide our clients with comprehensive and pragmatic expertise, thanks to our many years of experience in the financial sector, both as auditors and as consultants at national and international institutions.

Contact:

Dirk Auerbach (head of practice group)

Email: [email protected]

Antitrust & Foreign Trade Law Practice Group:

Antitrust law

Antitrust law advice requires a great deal of (practical) experience and a good feel for the theory of harm, as antitrust law is increasingly being used as an instrument in areas outside competition law, such as the enforcement of data protection or employment law. The Meta case and the increasing antitrust dimension of wage-fixing agreements or no-poaching agreements can be cited here as examples. It is helpful to know both sides of the coin: That of the company and that of the external consultant. And this is exactly what you will find with us: extensive in-house experience from internationally active companies paired with the necessary hands-on mentality as an external consultant. This is how we like to be measured. It is important for companies to recognize and correctly assess the limits of antitrust conduct. Misjudgements can result in substantial fines and claims for damages, lead to the invalidity of concluded contracts or bring merger projects to a halt.

Foreign trade law

Foreign trade law is generally difficult for companies to grasp. The legal provisions are numerous and complex and often not clearly understood. In addition, violations are usually subject to fines. It is therefore very important for companies to be well positioned in terms of foreign trade law, not only in international trade but also in European trade. What licensing obligations apply to my company? Which sanctions lists do I need to check? Do I need an export control officer? What import and export bans are there? In addition, there is the establishment and maintenance of a foreign trade compliance system, the creation of process manuals and internal guidelines and much more. We know these difficulties well. That's why we can provide you with practical and solution-oriented advice. We support you in complying with the provisions of the Foreign Trade and Payments Act or European regulations, such as the “Dual-Use Regulation”, when setting up or expanding an existing CMS. You benefit in particular from our experience in dealing with the Federal Office of Economics and Export Control (BAFA) and other authorities. We not only understand the legal requirements, but also your company and your products and services. This is the only way we can find an optimal solution for you together.

Contact:

Dr. Lars Maritzen, LL.B. MLE (head of practice group)

Email: [email protected]