Düsseldorf

Mayer Brown’s team in Germany—more than 70 lawyers practicing in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf—advises on national as well as international and cross-border issues, producing work recognized in directories such as Chambers and Legal 500 and consistently earning a “frequently recommended law firm” ranking from leading German legal publication JUVE.

In Germany, we counsel on legal issues related to, but not restricted to, the following areas:

Legal Areas & Services

• Antitrust & Competition
• Banking & Finance
• Capital Markets
• Compliance
• Corporate/M&A
• Employments & Benefits
• Financial Services Regulatory & Enforcement
• Intellectual Property & Copyright
• IT & Data Protection
• Litigation & Dispute Resolution
• Loans
• Notary Services
• Pensions
• Private Equity
• Real Estate
• Restructuring, Bankruptcy & Insolvency
• Tax
• Technology Transfer

Industries

• Automotive
• Chemicals
• Construction & Engineering
• Energy
• Financial Services
• Fintech
• Hotels & Leisure
• Life Sciences
• Logistics
• Retail
• Telecommunications, Media & Technology

Legal Areas & Services

Antitrust & Competition
We assist our clients in German and European merger control notifications and guide them through the labyrinth of global merger control. We advise on a wide range of commercial arrangements (distribution, online sales, R&D, licensing, joint production and marketing etc.), offer guidance on (alleged) abusive practices, and provide antitrust compliance, including risk assessment, internal investigations and audits, antitrust and dawn raid policies and training. We represent clients in cartel investigations and provide advise on State aid issues. Our team also advises companies in antitrust private damages action.

Banking & Finance
Our Banking & Finance practice provides legal advice on all matters concerning bank and financial law, with a special focus on cross-jurisdictional transactions. In particular, we counsel on loan and debt capital market transactions, including the structuring of new products. We consult on the regulatory changes in Europe, particularly the implementation of MiFID II/MiFIR and EMIR.

Capital Markets
We advise in all capital markets matters, especially in the areas of equity and debt capital markets, structured financing and derivatives. Our close cooperation with colleagues in international financial centers such as London, New York and Hong Kong, as well as the membership of our partners in professional committees and associations, ensures that we are familiar with—and help shape—the relevant market standards.

Compliance
Our team advises clients on establishing compliance management systems as well as on internal and external investigations regarding possible compliance violations, representing the interests of our clients in dealings with the authorities and in court. Furthermore, we analyze existing compliance systems and review risks in transactions.

Corporate/M&A
We advise corporations, financial institutions and investment banks, investors and domestic and foreign-listed companies on M&A transactions, public takeovers, joint ventures, restructuring, stock company law and corporate governance. Some of our M&A lawyers are double-qualified as tax consultants, so they are aware of the hidden tax-related pitfalls in complicated transactions. Because of the multi-jurisdictional education of our lawyers and our international network, we can advise in German law as well as on English and US law, offering innovative solutions for our clients’ cross-border needs.

Employments & Benefits
Our team advises and represents national and international companies throughout Germany on all legal issues regarding transaction-related employment law as well as on the organization and reorganization of personnel, personnel deployment and redundancies, compensation, benefits and occupational pensions, as well as cost management and personnel administration.

Financial Services Regulatory & Enforcement
We advise domestic and foreign banks as well as financial service providers and corporates on regulatory rules, ongoing regulatory issues and the structuring of business matters to comply with the rules.
Particular areas of focus are the German and European banking and investment supervisory law as well as the regulatory rules concerning the capital market and payment services.

Intellectual Property and Copyright
Our German IP team advises on intellectual property matters on a domestic, European and worldwide level. We represent clients in IP litigation cases and advise on legal questions about patents, know-how and trade secrets, trademarks, copyright and designs. We counsel on the competition law aspects of and represent clients in unfair competition disputes, draft and negotiate licenses and other technology transfer agreements.

IT and Data Protection
We advise on IT-related contracts in both national and international contexts, including agreements in the fields of e-commerce, cloud computing, Software as a Service, data center transfers, IT-outsourcing, IT projects and software development. We also advise on data protection aspects (e.g., data processing, data security, transfer of personal data abroad) and act as external data protection officers.

Litigation & Dispute Resolution
Our team advises and represent clients not only in court proceedings but also in national and international arbitration proceedings. Where it seems economically worthwhile, we work toward a pre-judicial dispute settlement to avoid litigation.

Loans
We advise on the full spectrum of banking transactions, which includes leveraged finance transactions, corporate loans, back-up facilities, real estate finance, cash pooling, intra-group finance transactions, margin loans, asset-backed lending, (non) performing loan transactions (NPLs), restructurings and trustee/agency advice.

Notary Services
Our three Frankfurt-based notaries provide all services of a civil law notary, in particular the recordings of deeds and certifications. Being dual qualified as lawyers and notaries, our notaries have a long-term practical experience in handling notarial matters with both domestic as well as foreign aspects.

Pensions
We are especially active in pension fund setup, litigation and financing, and we represent our clients during the entire pension fund life cycle. We regularly advise on contractual trust arrangements (CTAs), assist with the setup of a company- or group-related trust solutions and render insolvency remoteness opinions for CTA structures.

Private Equity
Our team advises investors, banks and PE-financed enterprises in all phases of an investment. Our multidisciplinary team, which includes lawyers from our corporate, restructuring, employment, tax and IP groups, assists clients from the early stages of investments to cross-border multibillion-dollar leveraged buyouts and exit strategies. Because most private equity transactions have international aspects, we work closely with our global team.

Real Estate
We advise on all aspects of in Real Estate and construction law. We represent investors in national and international transactions of all kinds (e.g., co-investments, project development, financing and asset management). Hotel investment is an area of particular focus for our team. Furthermore, our team includes an experienced real estate notary.

Restructuring, Bankruptcy & Insolvency
Our interdisciplinary Restructuring group counsels enterprises in crisis, as well as their creditors, shareholders and investors. We provide timely, pragmatic and innovative advice on the corporate, labor and financial areas of restructuring, rescue operations and insolvencies. No matter how complex the matter, we provide a team with the necessary knowledge in all related fields of law, such as M&A/corporate, tax, labor, bank and finance, IP and fair trade.

Tax
Our Tax team is committed to providing sophisticated yet highly practical solutions that facilitate our clients’ business activities, reduce costs and effectively address their individual tax challenges. Our German tax lawyers and certified tax consultants are part of our global group of tax professionals and advise on all material aspects of German and international tax law, including tax structuring and other transactional tax matters and tax controversies.

Technology Transfer
Worldwide, we are one of the leading sources for legal support on all kinds and scales of outsourcing projects. Besides advising on the classic outsourcing of information technology (IT) and business processes (BPO), our lawyers in Frankfurt and Düsseldorf advise clients on offshore projects, insourcing projects, contract renegotiations and with more general questions in areas such as procurement, e-commerce or licenses.


Industries

Automotive
With years of experience in the automotive industry, we are familiar with all aspects of legal matters relevant to this sector. Hence, we have a profound knowledge of the market standards, the regularly occurring legal issues and typical contractual arrangements. In addition to advising in connection with complex Transactions and Restructuring, we also handle all legal matters of daily business, both Tier 1 and Tier 2 supplier, and also OEMs.

Chemicals
As a highly regulated sector with a heterogeneous group of market participants, the chemical industry is confronted with numerous legal issues. We advise on a national as well as an international level on matters related to regulations such as REACH, antitrust issues, transactions and restructuring.

Construction & Engineering
Mayer Brown has one of the world's leading legal practices for construction projects of all kinds. These include, in particular, industrial investment projects (inter alia logistics), classic construction projects (offices, hotels, etc.) and infrastructure investments - often these are cross-border. We handle projects ranging from structuring and tendering to completion and - if necessary - dispute resolution. One focus of our activities in Germany is plant and infrastructure construction.

Energy
We regularly help answer with energy sector-specific questions, assist with transactions and advise on project developments in the energy sector. We advise in the fields of both conventional energy and renewable energy. Our German team is part of Mayer Brown´s global energy practice.

Financial Services
Our team advises banks, financial services, stock exchanges and other infrastructure providers, as well as unregulated enterprises. Our work includes advising on acquisition financing through capital market transactions to shareholder-related questions. Our lawyers are especially skilled in finding innovative solutions in to issues arising in today’s dynamic regulatory environment.

Fintech
We advise established financial institutions, as well as start-ups, on matters involving financial technologies. Using our knowledge of financial market supervision law, we counsel on legal issues ranging from those related to new business models to matters concerning data protection and IP. We regularly provide corporate consultation, in particular for joint ventures and investors.

Hotel & Leisure
Our team covers the entire life cycle of hotel and leisure projects. Our lawyers advise on real estate and corporate transactions; project planning, development and financing; and the arrangement and management of outsourcing contracts.

Life Sciences
In the dynamic and complex fields of biotech, pharmaceuticals and medical devices, we offer interdisciplinary and internationally integrated advice. Our services for life sciences clients range from contractual counseling to patent- and product liability-related questions to corporate matters.

Logistics
We advise leading logistic companies and businesses in logistic investments. We are familiar with a broad range of operative contracts related to outsourcing and logistic services, M&A transactions and investments in logistics.

Retail
We advise our clients on the entire life cycle and all legal issues affecting wholesale and retail commerce. This includes issues pertaining to brand, design and licensing, as well as rent, logistics, storage contracts and questions around restructuring and corporate and employment law.

Telecommunications, Media & Technology
Our integrated approach to advising TMT clients combines our knowledge of the industry with our legal experience in intellectual property, IT, antitrust and competition and regulatory matters, as well as our corporate transaction, restructuring and tax planning work.