Recommendations/Strengths: Employment Law; State Aid Law; Energy Law, Corporate Law; Real Estate/Construction Law; Insolvency/Restructuring; Information Technology; Food Law; M&A; Press and Statements Law; Projects/Plant Construction; Tax Law; Telecommunications Law; Environmental and Planning Law; Public Procurement Law; Transport; Distribution Law;
Special strengths: Foreign Trade

Firm: Top 50 law firm (2 star rating, category 6); "Today, cooperation between the individual teams and offices is one of the hallmarks of the firm, which is essentially medium-sized. It has worked on this consistently in recent years; "GvW has taken its foot off the brake. While the previous years were characterised by moderate growth in personnel, in 2021 it took the big leap"; "What at first glance looks like growth at any price has a second hand - like much of what the medium-sized law firm has achieved in the past twelve years under the direction of Dr Robert Theissen and Christof Kleinmann. Robert Theissen and Christof Kleinmann"; "The approach of forming sector-oriented teams is also promising at GvW"; "GvW has long been an example of how strategic considerations on business development and personnel planning also pay off for medium-sized law firms"; "Digitisation, remuneration system, firm-wide cooperation, commerciality - topics that are only now landing on the to-do list at many competitors have already been ticked off at GvW"; "Head start on the topic of digitisation"; "The commitment to part-time partnership is a step in the right direction in order to respond flexibly to the need for a balance between work and family life, in addition to promoting up-and-coming talent".

Client comments: Clients from several disciplines are very positive about the GvW lawyers. They praise the "good legal knowledge" and the "pragmatic advisory approach". In addition, several clients emphasise their satisfaction even after many years of working with the lawyers.

Employment Law: Recommended (1 star rating); "The employment practice is broadly positioned in line with the needs of its predominantly medium-sized clientele"; "In addition, GvW clients benefit from the well-established cross-practice cooperation, which is characteristic of the firm as a whole. This is all the more important as, for example, in connection with new forms of work, there are often links to IT or data protection"; "The Frankfurt team has traditionally had a strong foothold in the banking sector and has been able to win over a number of new international financial institutions"; "Comprehensive employment law work, including restructuring and collective bargaining law"; "Specialisation in data protection"; "The practice is also committed to the topic of legal tech and has recently developed several applications for initial legal assessment"

Foreign Trade and Customs Law: Recommended (5 star rating); No. 1 in this field; "The practice, which has been positioned at the top of the market for years, is characterised by great competence in the entire breadth of foreign trade law"; "This recently convinced renowned clients once again, who chose the renowned practice in tenders for mandates"; "The team led by Hamburg partner Harings is known for quickly identifying new developments and implementing them in its advisory practice for its clients"; "Comprehensive export control and customs compliance advice, which GvW has significantly expanded in recent years"; "The steady expansion of the foreign trade practice is also reflected in staff development"; Listed in the Investment Control ranking; Strengths: Fully integrated practice advising on all areas of customs and foreign trade law

Construction- and Real Estate Law: Recommended (4 star rating) in construction law; Recommended (3 star rating) in project development & plant construction;1 star rating in real estate business law; Strengths: Close, cross-location cooperation between teams in real estate, construction and public law; "Active comprehensively in real estate and construction law"; "International business has picked up more strongly than in previous years"; "This is the result of strategic efforts in previous years to position itself more strongly in plant construction"; "The firm also regularly succeeds in deepening relationships with existing clients"; "In Düsseldorf, there is an increasingly clear focus on advising municipalities, which the team advises on various urban development projects"; "In the transaction business, GvW recently stood out due to its involvement in the change of operator of 13 IHG hotels"; "Distinct litigation practice"; "Great experience in the hotel sector"

State Aid Law: The practice advises on a wide range of state aid and subsidy law issues"; "The transport, airports, energy and urban development sectors increasingly play a role"; "Experience with research and development aid"; "Good practice in state aid law"

Energy Law: Recommended (1 star rating); "With the addition of Dr Maximilian Elspas, the development of an energy transaction practice has been given a boost"; "The energy law practice of the medium-sized firm has taken a big step forward in terms of team strength and degree of specialisation"; "With the addition of a team from Beiten Burkhardt, the unit has significantly expanded its expertise in grid regulation"; "The 7 new additions bring further expertise in offshore grid connections and in energy trading. The practice's small team focused on future issues in the energy sector, particularly in connection with digitalisation and energy sales"; "The practice is also known for its successful interface with environmental and planning law, for which Dr Wienhues has so far stood out"

Corporate Law: Recommended (2 star rating); Strengths: Advice to SMEs with an international focus; "The practice is characterised by the numerous, long-established contacts of the corporate partners"; "A large number of internationally active SMEs have relied on GvW for many years"; "The focus is on the food, technology and real estate sectors"; "A lot of ongoing advice, including general meetings and corporate disputes; Increasingly busy VC practice; Close links with tax practice"

Insolvency law and restructuring/reorganization: Recommended (1 star rating); "Diverse positioning of the practice"; "Cooperation between the insolvency lawyers and the GvW lawyers, who specialise in the hotel industry, brought in several large and international mandates"; "The Munich GvW team also remains in great demand for liability and avoidance proceedings on the D&O side or for defendant managers. The fact that no assembly line work is done here, despite the large number of cases, is evident from several litigation successes, e.g. in the Solarworld aftermath, and is praised by competitors"

Information technology: Contracts and processes: Recommended (3-star rating); "The IT practice is resolutely developing into an address for extensive IT projects"; "To this end, it brings many years of experience in classic IT contract and licensing law and is now visibly combining this with the relevant interfaces, in particular with data protection law"; "In particular, GvW has made a name for itself in the market. GvW brought on board von Walter, a recognised data protection lawyer, in the summer of 2021 - a driving force that can give the practice a significant boost"; "Coupled with further additions at the interface with IP and, above all, the already good connection to the advisors in public law, this holds a lot of potential for future advice"; "The interface with public law is a core competence"; "Focal points: Mainly system implementations, software licensing and development agreements; also data protection; public sector IT procurement, outsourcing; clients on both the provider and user side"

Food Law: GvW is recommended by only a few law firms; "The team, which is based in Hamburg, defines itself as industry advisors and thus, in addition to classic food law expertise, also has many years of experience with the operational issues of the industry"; "Always in demand for questions of (international) distribution - including animal transport -, press law and disputes"; "The work is complemented by IP law expertise in Frankfurt"

M&A: Recommended (3-star rating); "The M&A practice focuses on advising on small and medium-sized deals"; "The basis is formed by the long-established connections to medium-sized companies, investment companies and family offices"; "Traditionally, a number of lawyers have a lot of experience with cross-border transactions; Rajani and Hiort, for example, have recently developed an increasing market presence in this field"; "The Frankfurt venture capital practice was also busy due to market conditions"; "The aviation practice has succeeded in building up a sector specialisation"; Strengths: Medium-sized transactions, often with an international element; Own office in Shanghai; Focus: Small- and mid-cap M&A for medium-sized clients with a large cross-border share; Strong China practice; Also joint ventures (corporate); Close integration with tax practice

Press and Statements Law: Recommended (1 star rating); "Traditionally focused on providing advice to those affected"; "Particularly appreciated by companies from agriculture and the food industry for their in-depth know-how about this sector"; "Experience with the industries affected by investigative journalism"; "Companies from the health industry also repeatedly request copyright know-how. Thus, the work at the interface between press and (software) copyright continues to develop successfully"

Tax Law: (from JUVE Handbook Tax): JUVE equally praises the "dynamism" in the firm's tax team. The team around the "often recommended" Dr. Frank Tschesche repeatedly appears in the best lists in the areas of corporate tax and transaction tax. Clients request the transaction practice independently of the firm and particularly appreciate the "well-rehearsed cross-practice cooperation" with other areas in the firm.

Telecommunications: Recommended (2-star rating); "Well-positioned telecoms practice"; "With Nacimiento's distinctive reputation, the practice is firmly established in the market"; "Comprehensive advice on the transition to the new telecoms law has recently characterised the work"; "Particularly active on the side of car manufacturers and much experience with connected car issues"; Focus: TC regulation, frequencies, TC monitoring. Also telecommunications-related services, especially M2M communication; experience with public authorities

Environmental and Planning Law: Recommended (3-star rating); "The firm is regularly involved in large-volume infrastructure projects for road, air, rail and increasingly also power lines in environmental and planning law"; "Increasingly, clients from the energy sector are also relying on Einheit"; "Advice on construction projects continues to take up a lot of space. Here, Dr. Wienhues is particularly visible in cooperation with a lawyer specialising in public construction law"; "The unit is consistently deepening its focus"

Public Procurement Law: Recommended (3-star rating); "The public procurement team is known in the market for its many years of intensive experience in IT awards"; "The public sector is therefore regularly called in for these, but also for construction awards"; "Strong interface staffing in the practice"; "In addition, GvW scores with a good reputation in the hospital sector, which is once again underlined by the winning of 2 new university hospitals"; Strengths: Good cooperation between practice groups

Transport Sector: Recommended (2-star rating); "The practice's market-renowned expertise in advising on infrastructure projects in the transport sector under construction and planning law was recently prominently underlined by the successful defence of the Fehmarnbelt plan approval decision before the BVerwG"; "Great interdisciplinary expertise" praised by clients; "Knowledge of the public sector and its organisational needs means that the firm regularly handles infrastructure projects in other areas as well"; "The firm's expertise in aviation has been proven for several years. GvW competes with market leaders in airport planning law"

Distribution SystemsLaw: Recommended (2-star rating); "The practice provides comprehensive advice on all issues of distribution law, but traditionally focuses on commercial agency and authorised dealer law as well as insurance distribution"; "Deep litigation know-how in commercial agency law"; "In cross-border disputes, the firm is increasingly acting in international arbitration proceedings"; "GvW is positioning itself in logistics issues - a field of advice that is growing in importance"; "Focus: Commercial agency, authorised dealer and insurance distribution law as well as direct sales, international arbitration"

Recommendations: Employment, international trade, state aid, construction, data protection, trade, distribution and logistics, real estate, information technology, consumer goods and food law, restructuring, telecoms, planning and environment, public procurement and insurance.

Employment: "GvW offers comprehensive employment law advice including compliance, data protection and company pension schemes"; "The expertise in accompanying collective bargaining negotiations and restructuring - including related dismissal protection proceedings - as well as representation in conciliation bodies stands out as a special competence"; "GvW gets to the point, i.e. relevant issues are clearly elaborated and highlighted"; "GvW's special unique selling point is its ability to formulate even complex legal issues in clear and comprehensible language in a concise manner". GvW gets to the heart of the matter, i.e. relevant issues are clearly elaborated and highlighted"; "A particular unique selling point is the ability to formulate even complex legal issues concisely in clear and understandable language"; "GvW also looks beyond the legal assessment to the practical implications and real options for action"

Foreign Trade: Tier 1 law firm; "Top dog in foreign trade law"; "Impressed by the comprehensive breadth of advice, which includes issues around compliance, sanctions and technology transfer as well as representation in legal disputes"; "Compliance, also related to the new Supply Chain Act, is a growth driver"; "Large number of experienced commercial lawyers in the team"; "Very specialised and up-to-date knowledge, both in national and international foreign trade law";  "Good presentation of even complicated legal issues in understandable language"; "Do everything to be successful for their clients"; "Good network in Europe"; "The firm not only has comprehensive expertise in foreign trade law, trade and distribution law, but also knowledge of the background, the status of legal policy discussions, networks and excellent relations with the administration and other public bodies"; "The service is always prompt, comprehensive and competent"

State Aid: "The team impresses with its quick familiarisation and high level of understanding of the sector-specific aspects"; "Represents clients in highly complex contentious proceedings"; "Permanent availability, even at short notice, is ensured"

Construction: "Always highly motivated and reliable advisors"; "Working with the team is fun, even in complicated cases and contract drafting"; "The team is well networked and also seems to appreciate each other"; "There seems to be a high proportion of women in the team"; "Practice showed good expertise in construction law including dispute resolution, mediation skills between parties always with focus on the contractor"; "Solution-oriented, straightforward, honest in dealing with the client are qualities that distinguish the firm from others"; "Understanding what the client needs and not law for law's sake. At the same time, excellent expertise"; "Competent and friendly team"; "Can explain more difficult legal problems clearly for non-lawyers and is very pragmatic"

Corporate & M&A: "Experienced in handling national and international share deals, asset deals, joint ventures and various transaction structures"

Data Protection: "Strong and independent data protection practice that impresses with interdisciplinary and international cooperation, among other things"; "The group is particularly successful at the interface with procurement law, healthcare and M&A"; "Extremely professional. Very prompt communication. Very good service at all levels"; "The practice is particularly to be commended for combining the right balance between legal expertise and commercial thinking"; "They are enormously digital"; "The work is always characterised by profound legal knowledge (on the part of both companies and authorities)"; "They are also perfectly versed in European and international data protection law. This makes it easy to also map international relationships pragmatically and effectively"; "The firm's contacts are always extremely competent and responsive"; "The team is sufficiently deep (from equity partners to associates) and uses resources appropriately selected and - also from the client's perspective - economically"; "They get the deal done in every situation"

Commercial, Distribution and Logistics: "Special expertise in the areas of commercial agent, broker, authorised dealer and franchise law"; "Dispute resolution is one of the team's core competences"; "Uncomplicated contact and exchange, extremely fast reactions when needed, perfect communication and coordination of target-oriented strategies"

Energy: "The firm combines a broad team set-up with cross-disciplinary industry expertise, including in construction law, digitalisation issues, environmental and planning law and insolvency law"; "Friendly, efficient, focused on the solution"; "Very fast, focused, deep industry knowledge, reasonable fees"

IT: "Digital transformation issues are at the heart of the advice"; "Very good cooperation, high client focus, very good competence, flexibility, reliability and commitment"; "The practice is to be particularly commended for combining the right balance between legal expertise and business thinking"; "They are enormously digital"; "The work is always of profound legal and industry knowledge"; "The firm's contacts are always extremely competent and responsive"; "The team is sufficiently deep (from equity partners to associates) and uses resources appropriately selected and - also from the client's point of view - economically"; "They get the deal done in every situation and also successfully manage projects"

Law on Food and Animal Feed: "Steadily growing client base that benefits from the firm's full-service approach"; "Highlighting the focus area of seeds, where the team has experience in contentious proceedings"; "Advising on food crises to deal with media is also a focus of the practice"

Real Estate: "GvW focuses on advising on special real estate, such as airports, hotels and data centres, but also advises on various other asset classes"; "Good, proactive accessibility, great expertise"; "Capture of complex legal facts even from fragmentary documentation and preparation even for the legal layman"; "Many years of deep trust in the expertise and professional standards of the firm and its partners"

Restructuring: "Advises on all insolvency, restructuring and corporate liability law issues. The advisory repertoire includes, inter alia, advice on self-administrations, management buy-outs in insolvency proceedings and refinancing as well as insolvency-related dispute resolution, including insolvency criminal proceedings, which is considered a particular strength"

Telecommunications: "Regulatory advice in the areas of digitalisation, Machine-2-Machine communication, Internet of Things and Industry 4.0"; "A particular strength is the long-standing experience in space and satellite law"; "Synergies with the areas of data protection, litigation, contract law and constitutional law"; "Fast reliable advice"

Environment and Planning: "The team applies in-depth knowledge of all aspects of plan approval, sometimes in complex infrastructure projects"; "Frequently active on the side of the authorities"; "Operational, experienced, highly resilient, constructive"; "Highly competent, reliable, fair"; "The team works together in a very well coordinated manner and is extremely constructive"

Public Procurement: "A technically very strong team that can deal with complex issues in full and communicate them simply"; "Expertise in the health sector, other main topics are awards in the IT as well as in the transport sector"; "The expertise in public private partnerships as well as the cross-location and cross-practice cooperation of the team should also be highlighted"

Insurance/dispute resolution: "Convincing in insurance litigation with a strong D&O practice, mandated by insurers and policyholders as defence, coverage and monitoring counsel"; "Particularly adept in professional liability at the interface with insurance and insolvency law"

GvW received 129 recommendations in 32 practice areas in Handelsblatt/Best Lawyers 2023

FOCUS recommends us as a top commercial law firm this year again. Our lawyers are particularly frequently recommended in the areas of labour law, construction law, corporate law, trade, mergers & acquisitions and environmental law.