Achim Deisenroth understands that one of the major challenges for any legal department is to continuously adjust its work to a changing environment, especially in compliance and risk management. He...

Agnieszka Mögelin-Zinger is a legal counsel in E.ON’s M&A team in Düsseldorf but regularly draws on resources worldwide when working on projects. This international outlook is not surprising for an...

Since 2011, Alexander Bordolo has been successfully building and growing the German legal department of British conglomerate Johnson Matthey with one of his most recent initiatives being the implementation of...

Alexandra Genten heads STAWAG Stadtwerke Aachen’s legal department. The company provides services in the gas, district heating, water and electricity sectors. Genten is highly regarded for her ‘connected way of...

Andreas Neumann has been receiving praise from all sides for his ‘successful set-up of a worldwide, integrated team of lawyers’, which, according to observers, has mastered ‘incredibly complex and commercially...

Novartis, since 2012 the world’s largest pharmaceutical company, is subject to all issues arising out of the tender procedures for patented medicine rebate contracts, both in the area of generic...

Styrolution is a global supplier of styrene plastics and a BASF and INEOS joint venture with a turnover of €5.8bn and over 3,000 employees worldwide. Not surprising, Anke Frankenberger’s team...

Hatfield Philips International is a servicer of primarily European CMBS transactions with hundreds of securitised, mortgage-backed bonds amounting to a high two figure billion euro sum. Deputy General Counsel Europe,...

Real estate company Corpus Sireo employs 560 staff in Germany and Luxembourg and administers retail and residential properties with a total value of €16.5bn. As Managing Director (HR and Legal...

Björn Ley heads an international team of lawyers and has successfully achieved a ‘deeper understanding and implementation of our business partner concept’, which in concrete terms means that legal is...

Bradley Chait is the sole legal financial advisor for all of OSRAM’s subsidiaries, a position the company has created when preparing its de-merger from Siemens in 2012. Chait advises the...

Carsten Hennicke’s employer is among Germany’s largest providers of equity-linked insurance policies with an administered capital of €5.1bn. Hennicke ‘has steered the company in times of difficult markets and scarce...

As head of employment law, Christian Vetter is situated at the intersection of employment, social and corporate law on the one side, and the various global and German Dow entities...

Christina Sontheim boasts ‘particular legal, communicative and organisational skills’ and observers agree that she has been instrumental in her pro-active guidance of Tommy Hilfiger Group’s expansion not only in Germany,...

Adidas is the world’s second biggest sports equipment manufacturer, a market position that brings a variety of challenges for Christof Wolpert. He leads a team of attorneys, US patent lawyers,...

One of the first and most crucial changes Clemens Heusch implemented when taking over as head of european litigation was the ‘team’s decentralisation so that team members are located right...

Up until 2010, Corinne Bourrat had been head of legal at renewable energy project developer juwi, when she moved into her current role as Corporate Compliance Officer. Her work focuses...

Daniel de Bruycker’s role at McDonald’s Deutschland is multifaceted: he heads two areas within the German legal department, franchise law including contract and environment law, as well as IP/IT matters...

Dennis Heidschmidt has developed all processes, standards and recruitment in the areas of acquisition and project finance for Dutch ING Bank. Heidschmidt has in particular improved the way how large...

Dirk Gasse is director of legal at Globalfoundries, a US semi-conductor manufacturer which until 2009 had been part of US chip manufacturer Advanced Micro Devices (AMD) and is now owned...

Consumer goods producer Beiersdorf, a German household name, founded in 1882, boasts well-known trade marks such as Nivea and Tesa. Eberhard von Klinggräff looks back on 14 years at this...

For over 20 years Ekkehart Orth has been legal counsel to DekaBank Deutsche Girozentrale, Sparkassen-Finanzgruppe’s security division. The bank has 4,000 employees and administers funds amounting to €172bn. Orth is...

Eric Romba is legal counsel at bsi which is an association representing the interests of companies that administer assets and whose business is directly related to the German capital investment...

Erik Staebe is a highly regarded, ‘extremely intelligent lawyer’ who is ‘focused and business-oriented’. Since 2007, Staebe has led the regulatory department at Deutsche Bahn and is also in charge...

Florian Harms’ move from law firm Gide Loyrette Nouel into Emerson’s European legal department in 2012 was at the same time a move from a very European outlook into a...

Beate Uhse is a listed company in the erotic and adult entertainment sector that operates in 15 European countries in the retail, online retail and online entertainment sectors with a...

Frank Gartmann is not part of the energy provider’s legal department as such but is in charge of the coverage of E.ON Risk Consulting’s global liability risks. In this role...

Three years ago, Frank Müller had the task of setting up the legal department of real estate company IVG Institutional Funds from scratch, a challenge he has overcome by focusing...

Skandia Lebensversicherung offers insurance products linked to funds, has over 360,000 customers and administers a total amount of €12.4bn, while the Swedish company operates through its subsidiaries in over 20...

Prior to Gabriele Beckmann joining Weener Plastic Packaging, a legal department had been non-existent and it was her task to build it from scratch and develop it into the well-oiled...

Georg Nolte works for a company that is regularly in the spotlight and frequently subject to (or indeed active part of) legislative developments which are of significant relevance to the...

At Hochtief Solutions, the European business of the globally operating German construction company founded in 1873, Georg von Bronk has managed to ‘transform the legal department into a modern, service-oriented...

Gerhard Brand has been head of legal & compliance at PERI since 2012 and the ‘very good lawyer and great analytical mind’ has within a short time succeeded in setting...

Gerlinde Krieger is group legal counsel at Scandlines, a German-Danish shipping company that carries 20 million passengers and 4 million cars annually. Krieger’s team is based in Germany and Denmark,...

Gordon Weber ‘operates extremely successfully and at the same time in a prudent and thoughtful manner’, remark observers. This approach might be one of the reasons why he managed to...

Guido Baumgartner is described as ‘uncompromising’ when it comes to defending the model of selective sales and distribution of products, a character trait that benefits him in his role as...

Automotive supplier Meritor has 18,000 employees in 103 locations in 24 countries, making for a broad range of tasks for Hans-Michael Stracke. The market is impressed with the ‘remarkable calmness...

Helge Köhlbrandt is highly regarded for his ‘absolutely outstanding management of the currently largest antitrust proceeding in Germany’, a great achievement and not an easy task given the enormous media...

At UBS Investmentbank, Holger Hirschberg is in charge of the bank’s corporate finance business, particularly providing legal advice in IPOs, capital increases, mergers and take overs. His role continuously exposes...

Holger Pittroff is serving as legal counsel to Porsche and sets himself apart thanks to his high degree of ‘flexibility and solution-orientation’, say admirers. These seem crucial character traits in...

Ina Berg-Winters had to face one of her biggest challenges upon her arrival at NORMA: setting up a legal department from scratch. ‘Prior to me joining, all legal matters that...

dpa Deutsche Presse-Agentur is the largest German press agency with a presence in 100 countries around the world. Jan Mahler’s department has initially been part of the personnel and HR...

Mondelēz is (after Nestlé and PepsiCo) the world’s third biggest food producer with 110,000 employees all over the world, clients in over 155 countries and a $35bn turnover. A legal...

Aesculap, founded in 1867, is a branch of the B. Braun corporation and manufactures medical devices and medical technology with a focus on surgery. Jens von Lackum’s team comprises attorneys...

Joachim Kaffanke is able to handle ‘extremely complex transactions under immense time pressure’. His employer KION is (after Toyota) the world’s second biggest manufacturer of forklifts and storage technology and...

At Starbucks, Joana Johannsen adopts a clear approach: she recognises that there are topics that require outside counsel, but she has clearly identified these matters and has ‘overall drastically reduced...

Joerg Dreyhsig is vice president for patents for medical instruments company Fresenius Medical Care, which has a turnover of $14bn and has 86,000 employees. Dreyhsig focuses on the areas of...

Jörg Englisch is head of legal at the German Football Association (Deutscher Fußball-Bund), the governing body of football in Germany and a registered association with 6.8m members. Particular career highlights...

Jörg Mucke has led Sal. Oppenheim’s legal department since 2010, a particular career highlight and major task at a long established bank, founded in 1789 as private bank (and since...

As head of legal of German Soccer League DFL (Deutsche Fußball Liga) Jürgen Paepke is rated as ‘certainly one of the key figures in German sports law’, but is also...

Jürgen Schneider works for a biotech company with over 30 subsidiaries in more than 20 countries and in a market environment that is clearly marked by its competitiveness. Peers are...

Semperit operates in the medicine and industrial sectors, and develops and distributes specialist products made of synthetics and rubber. The group employs over 10,000 staff of which over 7,000 are...

Bayerische Landesbank has had an eventful recent past. The initial plan developed by the Bavarian State Government had been to privatise the bank, however, this plan was abandoned as the...

Euler Hermes is a credit insurance company headquartered in Paris and a global industry leader with over 6,000 employees in more than 50 countries; Euler Hermes Deutschland is Germany’s leading...

Merz Pharma is a pharmaceutical company with subsidiaries in England, France, Italy, Switzerland, Austria, Spain, the US, Mexico, Russia and Asia and a turnover of €980m. Degenhardt not only heads...

Klaus Brandenburg receives praise for his performance as head of legal at Sandoz, a position he occupied until the end of 2013. In this role, he systematically strengthened the position...

Klaus Cannivé’s inclusion is ‘highly deserved’ say peers, based not only on achievements in his current role which he only took up in January 2014, but on his three years...

Axel Springer publishes, among others, newspapers Bild and Die Welt and has subsidiaries in France, Spain, Switzerland and Russia. The company is increasingly directing its attention to digital business and...

Manfred Döss is widely regarded as ‘extremely experienced and determined’, maybe not surprising given his in-house career. Before joining Porsche, Döss gained extensive experience in his role as general counsel...

Marcel Ritter’s role at Telefónica Germany, a telecoms company with over 25 million customers, has been marked by several significant challenges over the past few years which at the same...

Maria Fransson’s employer is based in Sweden but the main focus of her work over the past ten years has been the German market, particularly the German courts. A particular...

Market observers rate Marion Welp as ‘outstanding in-house counsel’, who is ‘highly respected for her excellent business acumen, legal advice and organisation skills’ as well as for her way of...

Markus Kaum impresses as head of legal at Munich RE, particularly his ‘strength to innovate and his courage to leave the beaten path for the benefit of his company’. Observers...

In his legal department, Markus Ratz focuses not only on its legal function but also on every team member’s role as ‘business enabler’ whenever possible. Working in a legal department...

Martin Fischer has positioned the legal department of chemical industry company Celanese more closely to commercial and strategic matters. This approach resulted from his observation that ‘the task of in-house...

Shoe retailer Deichmann has over 33,000 employees and a turnover of €4.5bn. The long established company, founded in 1913, has converted its legal status into a SE in 2010, an...

Martin Wagener ‘effortlessly combines business acumen and legal skills’ which enables him to successfully master the complex task that is heading the global legal department of car manufacturer AUDI. He...

In a company with a €3bn turnover and over 5,000 employees, it is Matthias Kettschau’s particular goal, to ‘get a deep understanding of the company’s operations’ and for the legal...

Michael Bütter is regarded as ‘the star among German corporate counsel’, who has ‘successfully driven forward some of the most complex and high-volume projects in the German legal market’, based...

Michael Fritz has been working for Deutsche Bahn for 14 years and has built a ‘punchy legal department that can easily hold a candle to any employment law boutique’, say...

At SGL Carbon, a carbon products manufacturer, the day to day legal business is carried out in-house, even though the company has 40 plants in Europe, North America and Asia...

Michael Prüßner is rated as a ‘clearly exceptional lawyer’ who has amassed ‘expert knowledge in a wide range of specialist fields but who never loses sight of the big picture’....

Michael Rummer heads the legal and insurance department at EnBW, a listed energy provider and after E.ON and RWE Germany’s third biggest with 20,000 employees and a turnover of over...

Michael Zeck’s team is in charge of all legal matters pertaining to SES’ German subsidiaries. SES is a global satellite operator with a fleet of 56 satellites. Being part of...

As Legal Counsel to one of Germany’s largest insurance groups, which operates as a part of the global Zurich Insurance Group, Niklas Boslak has met a variety of challenges. Insurance...

Nils Lavista-Wiesch has instigated significant and wide-reaching changes in his role at Callax Telecom, a telecoms company that presents itself as a cheaper alternative to existing providers. From what he...

The financial institution Deutsche Pfandbriefbank is a Hypo Real Estate Holding subsidiary, which is supposed to privatise the bank by 2015, according to a ruling by the EU Commission. Therefore,...

Hitachi Data Systems, founded in 1989, specialises in data storage solutions and operates as part of Japanese electronics and industrial machinery corporation Hitachi, employing over 6,000 staff globally and operating...

When describing Peter Macheiner, observers mostly use two adjectives: ‘determined’ and ‘committed’. He heads the legal department at synlab, a company that provides laboratory services in 25 jurisdictions in Europe...

Catlin Europe, a provider of commercial and industrial insurance and reinsurance solutions, only set up its legal department with Petra Scheida joining in 2008, while Catlin Europe operates as one...

Philipp Voet van Vormizeele is general counsel at Outokumpu, which is one of the world’s biggest stainless steel manufacturers. The legal department as such came only into existence in January...

Rainer Kuhn is highly regarded in the market for setting up from scratch a ‘very efficient and competent team with a clear structure and segregation of duties’. Ceramic goods manufacturer...

Ralf Hermann is general counsel at MAG IAS, a German mechanical engineering company and MAG Europe subsidiary with a turnover of €600m. When Hermann joined in 2011, the company was...

Wacker Chemie is a globally operating chemical company, founded in 1914, that maintains 22 production sites in Europe, the US and Asia, and distributes its products in over 100 countries....

Giesecke & Devrient is an international technology company which has grown from banknotes, securities and passport printers to a smart cards and security solutions specialist. The company was founded in...

Since 2012, Allianz, the world’s largest insurance company, have handled all employment law matters exclusively in-house, ‘unless a dispute is subject to appeal’ explains Schönwerth. The division of duties between...

d&b audiotechnik is a manufacturer of loudspeakers and amplifiers with subsidiaries in Europe, the US, Japan, China, Singapore and Korea. Robert Pomes, who has dual qualifications as lawyer and MBA,...

Holtzbrinck Publishing Group is among Germany’s largest media companies and it has been partly Sascha Theißen’s responsibility to transform ‘the legal department from a purely M&A practice into an IP/IT...

Under Simon Haug’s guidance the legal department’s responsibilities have been extended to the entire publishing group, including well known titles such as Frankfurter Allgemeine Zeitung, Frankfurter Allgemeine Sonntagszeitung, Frankfurter Rundschau...

Globally operating technology company Linde counts over 56,000 staff and focuses on its core businesses gas and plant construction. The legal department consists of over 100 employees, among them attorneys...

One of the particular challenges in Sonja Hilge’s role at Merck is the particular ‘mix of globally operating DAX30 company and Darmstadt-based family business’, a combination that ensures ‘exciting legal...

Stefan Schmidt works in the legal department of German Football Association DFB (Deutscher Fußball-Bund), an unusual employer which operates as an association representing its 6.8 million members. Within the legal...

Stefan Schulz ensures that the US pharmaceutical company’s legal department ‘is involved in strategic business processes early-on to actively structure them instead of reacting to them’. Not surprising, past career...

Tarec Alio is global litigation legal counsel for car manufacturer Daimler, responsible for US lawsuit defence, including international warranties, product liability and class action lawsuits, as well as the coordination...

Thomas Görgemanns is general counsel at Deutsche Annington Immobilien, with 210,000 properties in 600 locations Germany’s largest housing association, entirely owned by private equity investor Terra Firma Capital Partners. Görgemanns’...

Thomas Gottlöber has initiated significant change in the legal department of his employer, a group of media companies specialising in business and finance coverage. He has ‘streamlined the legal department,...

Even though Thomas Jamrath, senior legal counsel at Siemens, is not based in the Munich head office is he able to masterfully stir and direct things from Berlin. Observers note...

Till von Kutzschenbach is a corporate and insurance specialist, a significant role within a legal department that now comprehensively handles all D&O and E&O insurance matters after these had been...

Since 2010 Udo Müller has been in charge of the entire EMEA region and heads a team of 21 lawyers in nine locations, while the team size has almost tripled...

Volker Daum has been general counsel to B. Braun Group for five years and heads a team of 52 employees, most of which are based abroad, as well as an...