Recommendations/Strengths: Employment law; foreign trade law; state aid law; data law; energy industry law; ESG; corporate law; real estate and construction law; information technology; investment control; trademark law; M&A; patent law; planning and environmental law; press and media law; private equity and venture capital; project development and plant engineering; restructuring and reorganisation; tax law; telecommunications; public procurement law; transport; insurance law; distribution systems; administrative and constitutional law; competition law; customs law

Practice strengths: foreign trade law

Law firm: Top 50 law firm (2-star rating, category 6); "Close cooperation between teams and offices is now one of the hallmarks of this full-service law firm, which is essentially oriented towards medium-sized companies"; "The firm continues its steady expansion course"; "A large proportion of the clients, mainly medium-sized companies, have been relying on GvW lawyers for many years and very satisfied"; “Positive feedback is given for the legal expertise, but also for the practical suitability of the legal advice and for the personal contact”; “The law firm has applied its insights from the diesel proceedings to other business areas and is now using know-how and tools for other clients in similar cases”; “Independent law firm with established (non-exclusive) international relationships"

Administrative and Constitutional Law: Recommended (1 star rating)

Corporate Law: Recommended (2 star rating); “Many years of experience with a deep understanding of the needs of medium-sized companies characterise the corporate practice"; “Broad regional presence"; “Experience also includes advising on cross-border mergers and in transformation law"; Strengths: advising medium-sized companies with an international focus. German-Chinese legal relations

Distribution Systems Law: Recommended (2 star rating); "Important focus is traditionally on litigation advice in commercial agency and authorised dealer law"; "Companies in the telecommunications industry, in particular large shop operators in disputes against system"; "GvW also regularly acts in cross-border disputes in international arbitration proceedings"; "In addition, the Munich team focuses on advising on franchise and direct sales, while a Stuttgart partner advises well-known clients from the automotive and logistics industry on transport and logistics contracts"; Focus: commercial agents, authorised dealers and insurance distribution law as well as direct sales, international arbitration proceedings

Employment Law: Recommended (1 star rating); "The employment lawyers at GvW are often able to impress their mostly medium-sized clients by working well with other practice groups in the firm"; "Experienced in employee data protection and in the use of external personnel"

Energy Law: Recommended (3 star rating) in energy law, recommended (2 star rating) for transactions/financing; "The energy practice, with several highly experienced partners, is known for providing extensive regulatory advice, particularly to network operators"; "GvW is an increasingly sought-after address on the part of industry"; "Interfaces with environmental, planning and construction law are formative"

Environmental and Planning Law: Recommended (4 star rating); "The public law practice of the medium-sized law firm continues to pursue a very diverse approach under the new leadership of younger lawyers"; "Large-scale infrastructure projects for road, air, rail and power lines are a particular focus"; "As a recognised specialist planning law firm, the team enjoys a good reputation and is thus frequently hired as a project manager"; "Advice on public-sector construction projects provides a second mainstay for the public law practice"; Core areas: public construction and planning law. Environmental law, esp. emissions protection, licensing and nature conservation law, water law. Constitutional and administrative law. Interface esp. with infrastructure projects in the transport sector. Broad-based advice in constitutional law, much litigation. Administrative law, incl. municipal and chamber law. ESG; Strengths: infrastructure projects, esp. in road construction and the airport sector

ESG: Recommended (1 star rating); "GvW is intensifying the bundling of its broad range of expertise into a more unified ESG offering"; "Partial focus in classic sector advice"; "excellent position to meet the enormous demand for advice on LkSG, EUDR, CBAM, etc. from numerous corporations and large medium-sized companies"; "Holistic advice on ESG compliance issues"

Foreign Trade and Customs Law: Recommended as No. 1 in this area (5-star rating); "No. 1 in this area"; "With its broad expertise in foreign trade law, the practice has been among the market leaders for years"; "International corporations and medium-sized companies alike rely on the team, which, under the new management of the renowned Hamburg partners Niestedt and Schwendinger, is successively expanding its advisory services to meet new requirements in the cross-border movement of goods"; Strengths: Fully integrated practice with a large team advising on all areas of customs and foreign trade law, including regulatory requirements in the international movement of goods

Insolvency law and restructuring/reorganization: Recommended (1 star rating); "The strengths of the insolvency and restructuring practice include cross-practice advice, for example with real estate lawyers, and expertise in the hotel and automotive sectors"; "GvW also has a wealth of experience in the area of directors‘ and officers’ liability and contestation"; "D&O insurers turn to the team to defend board members and managing directors against liability claims by an insolvency administrator"; Core areas: insolvency law advice to companies and creditors, specialisation in defending against liability and contestation claims, as well as insolvency administration in the Berlin and Munich regions"

Information technology: Contracts and processes: Recommended (3 star rating), Data law: Recommended (2 star rating); "The IT and data law practice is constantly expanding its market position. Its reputation in IT contracts and complex outsourcing with notable software providers as clients is the basis for this"; "The advice is growing in new fields such as AI, data economy and cybersecurity"; "The practice is increasingly able to qualify with international clients", "GvW scores with legal tech solutions"; Core areas: primarily system implementations, software licence and development contracts; also data protection and international data transfer; public sector IT procurement, as well as outsourcing; clients on the provider and user side

Insurance law: Recommended (2 star rating); "GvW covers a wide range of topics around the core topic of D&O"; "Vergho has brought the team to the forefront; experienced in the growth area of cyber policies; offers direct links to the firm's IT and regulatory expertise"; "In addition to litigation, advice on contract drafting has also increased"; Strengths: D&O cases; Core areas: D&O liability in all its facets, often with insolvency implications. In addition, a broad practice in all areas of liability

M&A: Recommended (3-star rating); "The firm combines a strong focus on advising medium-sized companies with specialisations in specific sectors, particularly energy and healthcare"; "The team is catching the eye of larger, international network firms and companies"; "The firm's strong ties with China also remain a strong argument for German medium-sized clients"; Strengths: mid-sized transactions, often with an international dimension. Own office in Shanghai

Media and Expression Law: Recommended (1 star rating); "The team for Media and Expression Law regularly represents associations and companies affected by reporting, primarily in the agriculture and food production sectors, from its office in Hamburg"; "Often the focus is on defending against investigative reports or against actions by activists"; "The team's many years of experience are increasingly in demand in the healthcare sector as well’; Focus: press and freedom of expression law on the affected side, in particular food sector and agriculture

Patents: Recommended (1 star rating); "The patent practice of this German full-service firm is well positioned to advise SMEs before German courts"; "Connectivity plays an increasing role in the automotive and medical technology sectors, which are important for the practice" ; "GvW is ready to litigate cases before the new court and has experienced patent litigation teams in the UPC locations of Düsseldorf and Munich, as well as an office in Hamburg"; Strengths: patent disputes for SMEs, particularly in the automotive and medical devices sectors

Press and Statements Law: Recommended (1 star rating); "The broad-based practice is primarily convincing"; "Partners who work in unfair competition often also have a focus on related fields, such as copyright, IT or patents, and can use this to the advantage of their clients"; Strengths: good contacts with the food and IT sectors; Focus: Extensive activity in trademarks, incl. portfolio management. Also design law. In unfair competition, besides litigation (often at the interface with the German Healthcare Advertising Act (HWG)), advice in advance on, e.g., competitions and packaging design

Public Procurement Law: Recommended (3 star rating); "The public procurement practice around the renowned partners Meyer-Hofmann and Reichling focuses on advising clients"; "Strong interface with IT law"; "GvW is also a sought-after advisor for IT law on the bidder side"; Practice: Strong experience in IT and health, also real estate and construction, infrastructure. Experienced state aid practice; Strengths: good cooperation between practice groups

Real Estate and Construction Law: Recommended (4 star rating) in construction law, recommended (3 star rating) in project development and plant construction; Strengths: close, cross-location cooperation between the teams in real estate, construction and public law; clients of the construction law practice benefit from the firm's holistic approach to advice"; “Established in classic construction projects and in project development business”; “Thanks to the credible combination of the individual fields of advice, GvW is now increasingly on the list of advisers for renowned clients”; Core areas: In construction law: project support for both contractors and clients. Litigation practice; increasingly plant construction, infrastructure projects. Project developments, incl. forward deals; in real estate law: extensive experience in the hotel sector

State Aid Law: "The practice advises on a wide range of state aid and funding issues"; "As in public procurement law, it is often used by the public sector to structure and implement projects, including tenders and European state aid law"; "The work also focuses on airports or research organisations such as the Center for Applied Aviation Research"

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; "GvW's corporate tax advice often goes hand in hand with structuring issues - especially before and after transactions"; "When it comes to restructuring, the firm's legal advice is often on board. The in-house IT, IP, real estate or customs experts also work with the tax team on a regular basis"; "The team regularly assists foreign companies with their activities in Germany on current tax issues"; Practice: Tax restructuring advice, cross-border tax structuring, transactions, compliance advice

Telecommunications: Recommended (3 star rating); "In the TC sector, Nacimiento's practice has grown into an established force with its extensive sector specialisation"; "The practice has become an important address"; "Nacimiento is becoming increasingly successful at networking its clients throughout the firm"; Areas of expertise: telecoms regulation, frequencies, numbering, telecoms surveillance, customer protection. Also telecoms-related services, esp. M2M communication; extensive experience in core regulatory BNetzA proceedings; advice also at the interface with IT and data protection and competition law

Transport Sector: Recommended (2 star rating); "GvW's work in the transport sector is characterised by the firm's strong position in providing specialist planning advice for infrastructure projects"; "Munich partner Hösch is one of the most experienced planning specialists, particularly in aviation"; "In Hamburg, Mr. Steiling is highly regarded for his experience in advising on road construction projects under public law and in state aid law"; "Drömann, on the other hand, focuses on working for several transport associations and public clients, regularly advising together with the firm's public procurement, contract and insolvency specialists"; Practice: infrastructure projects, public law (environmental and planning law, constitutional and administrative law), real estate and construction as well as public procurement law. Extensive experience with PPP, toll and tunnel projects and their financing (incl. state aid law); advice on aviation law as well as increasingly in railway law, regional rail transport at the interface with public procurement law

Venture Capital/Private Equity: Recommended (2 star rating) in VC, recommended (1 star rating) in PE; "The VC practice around Frankfurt partner Walek has positioned itself clearly on the investor side"; "Share of cross-border work increased again"; "The team is increasingly succeeding in advising not only portfolio companies but also the investors behind them"; Focus: venture capital primarily in Hamburg and Frankfurt. Mid-Cap-PE in Frankfurt

Recommendations: Plant construction, foreign trade and sanctions law, employment law, construction law, state aid law, data law, energy, trade, distribution and logistics, real estate law, information technology and digitization, insolvency, food law and consumer goods industry, M&A, patent law, restructuring, telecommunications, environmental and planning law, public procurement law, insurance law, competition law and economic administrative 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"

Law Firm of the Year for Real Estate and Construction Law

Law Firm of the Year for Customs and Excise

GvW Graf von Westphalen has won the Law Firm of the Year Award from the legal publisher JUVE Verlag in the Customs and Excise Tax category.
“There is hardly a stronger export control and international trade law practice than that of GvW” – that is the conclusion reached in the now published JUVE Handbook for Tax Law with regard to 13-strong team led by Dr Lothar Harings. GvW is praised for its comprehensive advisory offering when it comes to foreign trade law “in all relevant facets and with all relevant methods”.
In this current period of crisis, the firm is further recognised for the “quick and straightforward help” it provides to its clients as a one-stop shop for legal advisory services. With regard to the issue of sanctions against Russia, the practice was once again “significantly bolstered” by the addition of Tanja Galander. In its 5-star ranking, the publisher also recognised the “groundbreaking” advice provided by the team on Germany’s new Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains [Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz – LkSG].
“We are very pleased with this award”, stated Dr Lothar Harings. “This spurs us to further pursue our innovative approach and pro-active efforts to help shape the further development of the legal fields we work in.”
In the area of international trade law the lawyers of GvW advise large German and international corporations as well as medium-sized companies. In addition to questions of conventional customs and international trade law, the focus of interest for our clients is increasingly shifting towards ESG issues such as the LkSG, CBAM or the establishment of a circular economy.

“There is hardly a stronger export control and international trade law practice than that of GvW” – that is the conclusion reached in the now published JUVE Handbook for Tax Law with regard to 13-strong team led by Dr Lothar Harings. GvW is praised for its comprehensive advisory offering when it comes to foreign trade law “in all relevant facets and with all relevant methods”.

In this current period of crisis, the firm is further recognised for the “quick and straightforward help” it provides to its clients as a one-stop shop for legal advisory services. With regard to the issue of sanctions against Russia, the practice was once again “significantly bolstered” by the addition of Tanja Galander. In its 5-star ranking, the publisher also recognised the “groundbreaking” advice provided by the team on Germany’s new Act on Corporate Due Diligence Obligations in Supply Chains [Lieferkettensorgfaltspflichtengesetz – LkSG].

“We are very pleased with this award”, stated Dr Lothar Harings. “This spurs us to further pursue our innovative approach and pro-active efforts to help shape the further development of the legal fields we work in.”
In the area of international trade law the lawyers of GvW advise large German and international corporations as well as medium-sized companies. In addition to questions of conventional customs and international trade law, the focus of interest for our clients is increasingly shifting towards ESG issues such as the LkSG, CBAM or the establishment of a circular economy.

GvW is particularly recommended in the following areas: Labour law, foreign trade & export control (Top 2), banking law, compliance, data protection law (Top 3), energy law, corporate law, real estate & construction law, IT law (Top 2), litigation & ADR, M&A, public construction law, public law, product liability, insurance law (Top 4) and contract law

GvW received 181 recommendations in 40 practice areas in Handelsblatt/Best Lawyers 2026

FOCUS recommends us as a top commercial law firm this year again. Our lawyers are recommended in the areas of employment law, construction law, compliance, data protection law, energy law, corporate law, trade, real estate, IT, telecommunications, antitrust law, competition, litigation, M&A, environmental law, public procurement law, state aid law, insurance and commercial criminal law.