GvW nominated as Law Firm of the Year

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; For the first time, the firm is represented with four new entries in a total of 29 best lists - as a Top 50 law firm, in five regional location chapters and in 23 practice areas. "Collaboration between individual teams and offices is now one of the hallmarks of the firm, which is at its core a medium-sized firm"; the firm is "one step ahead of competitors in terms of law firm culture and nationwide collaboration"; "Future-oriented internal set-up"; "GvW is exemplary in terms of its internal structure when it comes to ESG"; "Several clients confirm their satisfaction even after many years of working together"; Individual GvW lawyers are regularly praised for their "high level of professional competence", quality standards and the "practicality of the legal advice".

Administrative and Constitutional Law: "The integration of the public law team with other practice groups of the firm is particularly evident in constitutional law: for issues of fundamental importance, the lawyers either provide the necessary public law expertise or consult colleagues from other practice areas for specific questions"

China Desk: "Strong foothold in China-related mandates"; "Much experience with China"; "Strong China desk"

Construction Law: Recommended (4 star rating) Strengths: Close, cross-location cooperation between teams in real estate, construction and public law"; "Good development"; "The construction practice has once again succeeded in advancing the internationalisation of its business"; "Respected construction practice"; "Efforts to gain a stronger foothold in plant construction have gained further tailwind"; "GvW also plays a role in forward-looking issues in the sector such as multi-party contracts"; "Active comprehensively in real estate and construction law"; "Distinct litigation practice"; "Great experience in the hotel sector"

Corporate Law: Recommended (2 star rating); "The development of the corporate practice in recent years has been towards specialisation with sector focuses"; "Long-standing client relationships"; "Overall, the practice is increasingly transaction-driven, and the addition of a respected notary's office in Frankfurt has led to a stronger profile for the practice"; Strengths: Advice to SMEs with an international focus; "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"; "Own office in Shanghai: close links with tax practice"

Distribution Systems Law: Recommended (2-star rating); "The distribution law practice enjoys an excellent reputation, particularly for its advice on commercial agency and authorised dealer law"; "For years, renowned insurers have relied on GvW in disputes concerning claims for information or commission from insurance agents"; "Long-standing contacts with caravan manufacturers"; focus: Commercial agent, authorised dealer and insurance distribution law as well as direct sales, international arbitration proceedings

Employment Law: Recommended (4 star rating); "The employment law 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 linkage pays off especially in the context of digital transformation and employee mobility"; where the interfaces with IT and data protection are central; "Comprehensive employment law work, including restructuring and collective bargaining law"; "In Frankfurt, focus on banks"; "Specialisation in data protection and company pension schemes"; "Specialisation in data protection and company pension schemes". In Frankfurt, the focus is on banks"; "Specialisation in data protection and company pension schemes"

Energy Law: Recommended (3 star rating); "Achieved a coup last year with the addition of a large and experienced team from Advant Beiten"; "The newcomers are now proving to be very well integrated and have brought with them numerous client relationships as well as in-depth regulatory knowledge"; "Provides comprehensive work for network operators in particular"; "Extensive knowledge of energy trading markets"; "The firm's expertise at the interface with IT & telecoms law sets"

Environmental and Planning Law: Recommended (3-star rating); "Stands for advice on extensive infrastructure projects in the areas of road, air and rail"; Strengths: "Close, cross-location cooperation between the teams in real estate, construction and public law"

Food Law: GvW, however, recommended as one of only a few law firms; "The Hamburg-based team remains true to its approach as industry advisors in the food sector"; "Well-known clients"; "Disputes of all kinds and distribution law issues are in the foreground"; "The work is complemented by IP law expertise in Frankfurt"

Foreign Trade and Customs Law: Recommended as No. 1 in this area (5-star rating); "No. 1 in this area"; "With its comprehensive know-how in all areas of foreign trade law, GvW has been one of the market leaders for years"; "With its holistic approach, the practice has been increasingly convincing international groups for some years now, in addition to its traditionally strong client base of German SMEs"; "The practice is increasingly succeeding in implementing its concentrated foreign trade law expertise in comprehensive compliance mandates"; "In doing so, it takes up new topics such as the LkSG, on which it already advises various industrial groups. In doing so, it takes up new issues such as the LkSG, on which it already advises various industrial groups. To this end, GvW uses the intensive networking of different specialist groups by bundling advice on human rights, social and environmental standards in international supply chains in a multidisciplinary team of experts from foreign trade, criminal and antitrust law as well as compliance; "The firm is also making progress in advising logistics companies"; "In the course of the tightened Russia sanctions, the team also benefited from the know-how of a Russia expert"

Insolvency law and restructuring/reorganization: Recommended (1 star rating); "The team has successfully broadened its presence in insolvency law mandates, both in terms of the tasks and the sectors"; "The Munich team is active in many liability and avoidance law proceedings on the D&O side or for defendant board members or managing directors"; "Specialisation in defence of liability and avoidance claims"

Information technology: Contracts and processes: Recommended (3-star rating); "The IT practice is established as an expert in IT contract law"; "It is increasingly able to qualify for large IT projects"; "GvW has gained a special reputation with public sector clients in recent years"; "The fact that von Walter, a partner with well-known clients, joined GvW last year gave the practice a boost"; "Data protection expertise"; Focus: Mainly system implementations, software licensing and development agreements; also data protection; public sector IT procurement, outsourcing; clients on both the provider and user side

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

Patents: Recommended (1 star rating); "The addition of Sebastian Heim in summer 2021 has given the German full-service firm's well-positioned patent litigation practice another big boost and increased its visibility"; "Patent practice now also has a large team for the important Munich patent chambers; considerable size"; "The focus of the entire team's work is on patent litigation for medium-sized companies that are heavily involved in the technology sector"; Strengths: "Patent litigation for medium-sized companies"

Press and Statements Law: Recommended (1 star rating); "Hamburg practice is the point of contact for affected associations and companies"; "Clients who are affected, for example, by publications by investigative journalists or activists regularly turn to GvW"; "Special focus on companies from agriculture and food production, which are frequently affected by critical reporting"

Project Development: Recommended (3-star rating); Strengths: "Close, cross-location cooperation between the teams in real estate, construction and public law"; "Good development"; "Efforts to gain a stronger foothold in plant construction have gained further tailwind"; "GvW also plays a role in forward-looking issues in the industry such as multi-party contracts"

Public Procurement Law: Recommended (3-star rating); "The progress of the public procurement practice in internal networking is becoming more and more visible"; "Involved in several major projects in IT procurement"; "GvW is developing interfaces in a sustainable manner"; "Experienced in subsidy and funding law"; "Great experience in IT and health"; Strengths: "Good cooperation between the practice groups"

Real Estate Law: Strengths: "Close, cross-location cooperation between the teams in real estate, construction and public law"; "Active comprehensively in real estate and construction law"; "Good development"

State Aid Law: "The practice advises on a wide range of issues relating to state aid and subsidies"; "The transport, airport, energy and urban development sectors are playing an increasing role"; "Intensified cooperation at the interfaces"; "Experienced practice in state aid and subsidies law"

Tax Law: (from JUVE Handbuch Steuer): 1 star rating in the areas of: Group Tax - tax structuring and project advice, Transaction Tax - tax contract drafting and structuring advice; "Is one of the renowned addresses"; "Unit works closely with other practice groups of the firm", "A large proportion of clients do not come from the corporate practice but directly from the tax practice"

Telecommunications: Recommended (3-star rating); "The firm's core telecoms practice has repeatedly attracted attention with top clients"; "Having grown through additions in IT law and data protection, core clients now also trust the team in contract and competition law issues and civil litigation"; "Experience in frequency regulation of satellites"; focus: TC regulation, frequencies, TC monitoring. Also TC-related services, especially M2M communication; experience with public authorities

Transport Sector: Recommended (2-star rating); "Deeply anchored in public commercial law and also with public law clients"; "The transport practice has recently been able to fully exploit its networking potential"; "On the side of the states of Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia, the team's state aid lawyers in particular negotiated the future of risky transport contracts in close coordination with in-house insolvency lawyers and restructurers". On the side of the states of Saxony-Anhalt, Saxony and Thuringia, the team's state aid lawyers negotiated the future of the transport contracts at risk in close cooperation with the in-house insolvency lawyers and restructurers"; "With Hösch, the practice has one of the most distinguished aviation planning lawyers in its ranks"; "A lot of experience with PPP, toll and tunnel projects and their financing (including state aid law)"

Venture Capital/Private Equity: Recommended (1-star rating); "The partners in the VC practice in Hamburg and Frankfurt have practices that are largely independent of each other"; "As in M&A, however, the client base is overall strongly technology-oriented and fairly evenly distributed between investors and founders"; "Walek and Sachslehner both have a lot of experience in the VC/PE field. In addition, there is a small mid-cap PE practice with long-standing clients such as Cornerstone".

Recommendations: Plant construction, labour law, foreign trade law, state aid law and subsidy law, construction law, data protection, energy, trade/distribution & logistics, real estate law, information technology and digitalisation, food law and consumer goods, media (entertainment), M&A, patent law, restructuring, telecommunications, environmental and planning law, public procurement law, insurance law and competition law.

Construction (including dispute resolution): "Good quality, knowledge of the industry, high level of competence, quick response"; "High level of human and professional competence, a feel for dealing with public bodies"; "Friendly, responsive, professional, knowledgeable"; "Availability, practical thinking, friendliness, economic thinking", "Cross-location expertise in construction support, claim management and litigation also the wealth of experience in dealing with seminal issues such as Building Information Modelling and Lean Management"

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

Data Protection: "Special expertise in topics at the interface with public law, public procurement law and healthcare"; "Uncomplicated communication, quick understanding of the client's needs"; "All of the firm's lawyers advise us competently, reliably and very quickly. We have fixed contact persons, each of whom calls in experts. For more complex problems, several experts work together as a team"; "The practice is to be praised in particular for combining the right balance between legal expertise and commercial thinking"; "The work is always characterised by profound legal knowledge (on the part of the companies as well as the authorities), which is very helpful"; "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 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. We are very satisfied, happy to return at any time"

Commercial, Distribution and Logistics: "An independent law firm which, despite its size, always offers a personal contact person"

Competition: "Special expertise in the digital field"; "Extremely high service level. Reliability at moderate prices"; "Great wealth of experience"

Employment: "I am always struck by the team's very good availability and quick response. Answers always come quickly and reliably"; "Super team, very friendly and polite, always good and quick communication"

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"

Environment and Planning: "GvW has in-depth expertise in planning approval law, but also has extensive experience in advising commercial and industrial enterprises and waste management on immission control law and general environmental law"; "When dealing with large infrastructure projects, the size of the firm is an invaluable advantage, as additional people can be brought in to the core team at any time in order to meet deadlines. Good coordination within the team, so that knowledge of the current state of affairs is guaranteed at all times, even with 6-8 team members. High adherence to deadlines. Very good accessibility of the processing persons and fast processing"; "Reliable, serious and highly qualified appearance as well as in professional exchange. Open and collegial cooperation. High level of experience"; "Outstanding team spirit, good mix of experienced colleagues and new staff"; "Perfect and, above all, up-to-date knowledge of public law (especially public building and planning law). Very good expertise in case law in the aforementioned legal field! Very competent and quick support in "emergencies" (interim legal protection etc.)"

Foreign Trade: Tier 1 law firm; "very practice-oriented and conscientious"; "high level of expertise, good networking with authorities and departments"; "GvW is a front-runner in the field of foreign trade law"; "An outstanding feature of GvW is the actual strength and depth of the practice, both in terms of the number and quality of members and the broad range of clients"; "GvW convinces with expertise in all subject areas of foreign trade law. In addition to compliance advice, the sanctions work of Lothar Harings' team is a key growth driver for the practice group. Customs law, export control and supply chain due diligence law are further core competences which are also regularly requested by blue chip companies due to the international network"; "The team has shown itself to be extremely client-oriented. It was possible to complement in-house competences at an excellent level when addressing several areas of law"; "Very experienced team with great expertise. Very good knowledge of commercial and customs law. Excellent brand and name in Germany and the rest of Europe. The firm has a good team with skills in all relevant trade and customs matters"

IT: "All of the firm's lawyers advise us competently, reliably and very quickly"; "Comprehensive expertise coupled with a sense of proportion and pragmatism"; "The practice is to be particularly commended for combining the right balance between legal expertise and commercial thinking"; "They are enormously digital - and agile"; "The firm's contacts are always extremely competent and responsive"; "We are very satisfied. They get the contract done in every situation and also successfully manage projects"

Insurance/dispute resolution: "Experienced in handling mandates at the interface with insolvency law"

Law on Food and Animal Feed: "Central focus of the firm"

Media (Entertainment): "GvW is particularly known for its work at the interface between media and copyright law. In addition, the addition of Axel von Walter (previously at ADVANT Beiten) in July 2021 has enabled the firm to expand its expertise in the games sector as well as its data protection law interface"

Patent: "A manageable, well-coordinated, competent team with both legal and technical expertise at a very high level. The advice is practical and also suitable for small and medium-sized enterprises"; "Strong and very well organised patent practice under the leadership of Sebastian Heim"; "Very reliable in terms of content and deadlines. Availability is very high, also with regard to timely feedback. Very cooperative approach, the team listens to what the client brings in, strong in analysis"; "Available at all times, otherwise call back as soon as possible. Sound knowledge. We are very satisfied"

Plant construction:Tier 1 law firm; "Good quality, knowledge of the industry, high level of competence, quick response"; "High level of human and professional competence, a feel for dealing with public bodies"; "Friendly, responsive, professional, knowledgeable"; "Availability, practical thinking, friendliness, economic thinking", "Cross-location expertise in construction support, claim management and litigation also the wealth of experience in dealing with seminal issues such as Building Information Modelling and Lean Management"

Public Procurement: "Very well organised law firm, also in connection with cross-jurisdictional advice. Complex issues are dealt with in a goal-oriented manner and at short notice. Very good negotiating skills, availability at short notice and very good"; "Among other things, regularly advises hospitals in connection with funding programmes under the Hospital Future Act"

Real Estate: "Experience in advising on transactions involving logistics, retail, office and commercial real estate as well as project developments"; "GvW has an extraordinary, in-depth knowledge of the real estate sector, which, in combination with the very extensive practical experience, results in the best possible advice on the legal issues that arise"; "The practice group is characterised by its many years of experience and the fact that it is a well-coordinated team without any notable departures"; "The team has immense legal background knowledge and good expertise. The interaction is very friendly and you receive information on your issues promptly"; "The entire team is extremely well coordinated and active across disciplines. The right contacts are involved at an early stage so that no unnecessary hours are spent"

Restructuring: "A practice group that is very well orchestrated and coherent in personal and professional terms, but which also functions very well together as a team"; "Very practical, effectively focused and solution-oriented advice very close to the client, close and, above all, pleasant "without much fuss"

State Aid: "Broadly positioned and experienced in state aid law. Well connected with further EU law expertise and in particular also foreign trade law, so that matters with interdisciplinary aspects can be handled well from a single source"; "Very professional work in a wide range of matters, always available when needed"

Telecommunications: "Team expands advice on space and satellite 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, environmental law and insurance.