High-end legal advice and advocacy with a pragmatic approach.

Services

We are your reliable and experienced partner in successfully resolving business disputes in litigation, arbitration and alternative dispute resolution proceedings.

Arbitration

We act as counsel and arbitrators in domestic and international commercial and investment arbitrations.

We advise clients in designing arbitration agreements, in agreeing on efficient dispute resolution mechanisms and the selection of arbitrators.

We also act as co-counsel or legal experts and support on issues of German law and with specialised advocacy and procedural skills.

Litigation

We act as counsel of record and advisor in all types of litigation proceedings before German and international courts. In litigation, we apply our combined experience from hundreds of proceedings and hearings before District Courts and Appellate Courts in all parts of Germany.

We have extensive experience in managing mass litigation proceedings with hundreds of parties or parallel cases.

Alternative Dispute Resolution

We support you in all types of alternative dispute resolution proceedings, including mediation, conciliation, adjudication and expert determination. We act as members of Dispute Adjudication Boards (DAB), legal experts and mediators.

Enforcement

We enforce or challenge foreign and domestic arbitral awards in the German courts. We also ensure successful enforcement with preliminary attachments of assets.

Foreign Investment and Public International Law

We advise companies and individuals regarding the protection of foreign direct investments against political risks, and we represent investors and States in investment arbitration proceedings.

We represent clients in Investor State Dispute Settlement (ISDS) proceedings against the foreign host state under bilateral investment treaties (BIT) or the Energy Charta Treaty (ECT) and the arbitration rules of the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID), UNCITRAL, the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC) and at the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA). In this specialized area, we are among the few practitioners with hands-on experience.

We also advise on the structuring of foreign investments to achieve maximum possible protection.

We advise and represent companies, governments and individuals also on other issues in the entire spectrum of public international law.

Sectors

In accordance with our focus on dispute resolution, we handle matters in all industry sectors and areas of law. In particular, our expertise extends to the following areas:

Post-M&A, Joint Venture, Shareholder, Private Equity, and Corporate Disputes

We advise companies, private equity and other investors, shareholders and individuals in a wide range of disputes in relation to mergers & acquisitions, joint ventures and corporate disputes.

Frequently arising issues in these disputes are purchase price adjustment or earn out claims, warranty and indemnity claims, shareholder disputes, management participation disputes, disputes about proper pre-contractual disclosures and information guarantees, culpa in contrahendo or tort claims.

In successfully handling these disputes, we draw from our experience in leading international law firms and handling of numerous such disputes as well as a solid business understanding.

We are also experienced in handling related insurance issues and claims, in particular in relation to W&I insurances.

Commercial Agreements, International Trade, Sales and Purchase

We advise companies in disputes relating to all aspects of commercial agreements and international trade, sales and purchases.

Frequently arising issues in these disputes relate to delay, delivery, warranties, or quality of goods issues.

Financial Institutions and Insurers

We have experience advising financial institutions, insurers, and companies in disputes in the finance and banking sector, including in insolvency proceedings and mass consumer litigations.

Dr Jan Erik Spangenberg, LL.B. frequently sits as arbitrator in arbitrations in the banking and finance sector and has acted as expert on these issues before foreign dispute resolution bodies.

Energy

We advise companies and customers in the energy sector in disputes relating to energy supply and trade, including in particular wind energy.

Construction and Machinery

We advise companies, contractors, sub-contractors, consortium and joint venture parties as well as investors in disputes relating to construction, infrastructure, machinery and engineering and public private partnership (PPP) projects.

We also draw from our experience as arbitrators in such disputes, including under FIDIC contracts.

Infrastructure and Transportation

We advise companies, contractors, sub-contractors, consortium and joint venture parties and customers in disputes relating to infrastructure and transportation, including in public transportation consortium disputes and in the automotive, train and airline industry.

Investment Law

We have experience advising companies and governments in relation to international investment law and in disputes concerning the protection of foreign direct investments.

Frequently arising issues and disputes concern expropriations and other infringements of foreign direct investments (FDI) in various industries and sectors, including energy, infrastructure, telecommunications, transportation, and financial institutions. Relevant protections, often unknown to investors, may be found in bilateral investment treaties (BITs) or multilateral treaties such as the Energy Charta Treaty (ECT). Disputes may be resolved before international tribunals and in arbitration such as the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) at the World Bank or under the rules and auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), UNCITRAL, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) or the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC)

We also advise on related investment and political risks insurance.

Dr Jan Erik Spangenberg, LL.B. has advised and represented governments and companies in investor state arbitrations before the International Centre for Settlement of Investment Disputes (ICSID) at the World Bank or under the rules and auspices of the Permanent Court of Arbitration (PCA), UNCITRAL, the International Chamber of Commerce (ICC) or the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce (SCC). He also sat as arbitrator in an arbitration with a State entity at the PCA.

Public International Law

We have experience advising companies and governments in relation to various issues of public international law, including foreign direct investment, sanctions and human rights.

Frequently arising issues and disputes concern the protection of foreign direct investments, including the structuring of investments to achieve the best possible protection, human rights, compliance with international, EU and US sanctions regimes, and disputes and arbitration proceedings under bilateral investment treaties (BITs) or the Energy Charta Treaty (ECT).

Dr Jan Erik Spangenberg, LL.B. has advised and represented governments and companies in investor state arbitrations and proceedings before United Nations bodies.

US Law

We advise clients in relation to United States law issues and proceedings, including in proceedings pursuant to 28 U.S. Code § 1782 to obtain discovery in the United States in aid of and for use in foreign litigations.

With Lana Marie Spangenberg, J.D., we have a fully qualified and licensed Attorney and Counselor-at-Law (USA), member of the State Bar of Texas and of the Bar of Hamburg (Mitglied der Hanseatischen Rechtsanwaltskammer Hamburg) to advise on US Law.