At the Partners’ Meeting on 24 and 25 November 2023, GSK Stockmann appointed four new Equity Partners, three Local Partners and two Counsel from within its own ranks with effect from 1 January 2024. These promotions reflect the firm’s unwavering commitment to its strategy of supporting the professional development of its young lawyers and deploying their talents to build up its strategic advisory fields.

The new Equity Partners are: Manuel Fernandez, Frederic Jürgens, Valerio Scollo and Nadine Wachendorf.

The following lawyers were promoted to Local Partner: Katharina Odermatt, Karen Papenfuß and Alexander Spreitzer.

The following lawyers have been appointed as Counsel: Florian Kossmann and Pascal Thaler.

Two of the new partners, Manuel Fernandez and Valerio Scollo, are from the firm’s Luxembourg office. This underlines the firm’s ambitions to further internationalise its business, particularly in the Financial Services and Capital Markets sectors. The firm’s increasingly international outlook is also reflected in the promotion of Katharina Odermatt, who has built up a solid client base among foreign investors in the Real Estate Investments & Asset Management and Real Estate Projects sectors.

The appointments also take into account GSK Stockmann’s growing litigation practice: with Manuel Fernandez in Luxembourg and Karen Papenfuß and Alexander Spreitzer in Germany, the firm is expanding its Dispute Resolution team, which is playing an increasingly important role providing support in national and international legal disputes in all areas of law.

With his expertise not only in M&A transactions and corporate law, but also in insolvency, creditor and restructuring advice, Florian Kossmann will bring additional support as Counsel to GSK Stockmann’s growing restructuring practice centred around the teams led by Raoul Kreide and Andreas Dimmling.

As a partner, Nadine Wachendorf will also be contributing to the further expansion of the firm’s restructuring advice in the real estate sector with advice on real estate asset management, in particular tenancy law advice for complex development projects and projects in crisis. The promotions of Frederic Jürgens to partner and Pascal Thaler to Counsel will raise the profile of the firm’s Real Estate Projects and Public sectors in Frankfurt and the Rhine-Neckar region.

Lawyer profiles (in alphabetical order):

Dr Manuel Fernandez completed his Master of Laws and Ph.D. at the University of Paris II Panthéon-Assas, where he also worked as a research assistant from 2001 to 2006. He graduated from the University of Paris XII with a degree in private law and a certificate in English law. Manuel Fernandez has been admitted to practise law in France since 2010 and in Luxembourg since 2012. After working in the fields of corporate, banking and capital markets law at various firms in Luxembourg, Paris and Singapore, he joined GSK Stockmann as a lawyer in 2016. Since 2022, he has been a lecturer for the course on the “Legal Environment of Business” at the Luxembourg School of Business.

Frederic Jürgens studied law at the University of Cologne. He was admitted to practise law in Germany in 2009 and became a bar-certified specialist in building and architectural law in 2014. He joined GSK Stockmann as a Local Partner in 2022. He specialises in private building and architectural law, project development, legal advice during construction projects and advice on construction disruptions. Frederic Jürgens has authored Beck Verlag commentaries on general terms and conditions and on the Buildings Energy Act, and is a contributor to the journal “IBR Immobilien- und Baurecht” and a speaker at IBR seminars.

Florian Kossmann studied law at the Freie Universität (FU) Berlin. After completing his legal traineeship at the Berlin Higher Regional Court, he first joined GSK Stockmann as a lawyer in 2012 before becoming a judge in the State of Berlin from 2018 to 2021. Florian Kossmann returned to GSK Stockmann as a lawyer at the end of 2021. He specialises in advising on M&A transactions, corporate law and shareholder disputes as well as providing insolvency, creditor and restructuring advice.

Dr Katharina Odermatt studied law at the University of Warwick (UK) and the University of Giessen, where she also obtained her doctorate in 2014. In 2021, she completed a master’s degree in real estate law from the University of Münster. She was admitted to practise law in Germany in 2016 and joined GSK Stockmann in 2022. Since the beginning of her legal career, she has provided comprehensive advice on the entire life cycle of real estate investments, in particular on transactions and ongoing asset management. In addition to traditional asset classes (office/retail/residential), she has particular expertise in the industrial and logistics/brownfield sectors. Her clients include national and international investors such as asset management companies and family offices.

Karen Papenfuß was admitted to practise law in Germany in 2015 and joined GSK Stockmann’s Hamburg office in 2018. She specialises in dispute resolution and advises clients in complex national and international litigation and arbitration proceedings as well as alternative methods of dispute resolution. Her advice is focused primarily on commercial and corporate law, post-M&A disputes and defending against or enforcing liability claims for compliance violations. Before working as a lawyer, Karen Papenfuß studied at the University of Applied Sciences for Administration and Services, where she graduated with a degree in tax administration (Dipl.-Finanzwirtin).

Valerio Scollo, LL.M. (NYU), LL.M. (NUS) studied law at the University of Trento and the Erasmus University Rotterdam. He was admitted to practise law in Italy in 2013, in Luxembourg in 2014 and in New York in 2017. He has been with GSK Stockmann since 2016. He specialises in international capital markets law and securities regulation, structured finance, international banking law, insurance and regulatory law. Valerio Scollo is a member of the Italian Chamber of Commerce in Luxembourg (CCIL), the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA) and the International Bar Association (IBA).

Alexander Spreitzer studied law at the University of Regensburg and also holds a postgraduate degree (LL.M.) from the Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand. He was admitted to practise law in Germany in 2005 and has been working as a lawyer at GSK Stockmann since 2011. His main areas of practice include real estate law, in particular private building and architect law, the assertion of and defence against construction law claims as well as litigation and alternative dispute resolution.

Pascal Thaler was admitted to practise law in Germany in 2017 after studying law at the Goethe University Frankfurt. He joined GSK Stockmann as a lawyer in 2018. His main areas of practice include advising clients on major projects for infrastructure developers, in particular on planning approval under railway law, and on environmental law.

Dr Nadine Wachendorf studied law at Saarland University and the Goethe University Frankfurt, where she also completed her doctorate in corporate law with regard to insolvency. She has been advising clients on real estate law at GSK Stockmann since 2010. Her clients include project developers, national and international property investors and family offices. She specialises in real estate asset management, in particular advising on tenancy law for complex development projects and drafting and negotiating high-volume lease agreements. Nadine Wachendorf also co-authored the chapter on rent for a handbook on German real estate law (C.H.Beck).