CMS

CMS' sizeable and thematically broad employment practice covers the whole array of individual and collective employment law. Domestic and foreign corporations, DAX companies and governing bodies can rely on teams from a total of eight German locations that frequently act in cross-border matters; as does Gerlind Wisskirchen, who specialises in advising international corporations. Key themes include restructuring and associated business transfers, staff reductions as well as reconciliation of interests and social plan negotiations, while collective bargaining law, corporate co-determination, outsourcing, transformations and advising executives also form part of its core offering. The group acts with a sectoral focus on the automotive, energy, technology, real estate and life sciences industries and is jointly led by restructuring expert Daniel Ludwig and Amelie Schäfer, who is experienced in compliance and the use of external personnel. The latter recently took over co-practice group management from Martina Hidalgo (restructuring and transaction support), who will remain with the team. Alexander Bissels is a key contact for external personnel deployment issues, which saw an uptick in instructions in the recent past; he is part of the core team alongside Björn Gaul (restructuring, outsourcing and more flexible personnel deployment), counsel Saskia Pitzer (restructuring, contracts, termination disputes) and senior associate Kai Roters (company agreements, reconciliation of interests and social plans). In January 2023, Benedikt Forschner (design and implementation of sustainable compensation systems) made partner, while Eckhard Schmid (board and managing director consulting; compensation systems) retired in the summer of 2023.