Deadlines
The research schedule and guidelines for Legal 500 Deutschland 2026 edition are now below.
Referee form deadline: 23 May 2025
Editorial submission deadline: 6 June 2025*
*NEW: Please note that submissions and referee forms must be submitted in English only.
The template documents you will need to send submissions are here:
Referee form* NB: This template is in .xslx format. Do not resave it in any other format as it may not be compatible with our system.
Editorial submission template*. NB: This template is in .docx format. Do not resave it in any other format as it may not be compatible with our system. If you wish to request a template in English, please get in touch.
*NEW: Please note that submissions and referee forms must be submitted in English only.
To send your submissions to us, please visit submissions.legal500.com and follow the onscreen prompts to send us new documents.
Login details have been sent to all firms – if you have not received your login or have problems accessing submissions.legal500.com, please get in touch via our FAQ page using the ‘Using the Portal’ tab.
Please ensure you send your submissions in by the deadlines. The timetable for the research will be adhered to rigorously.
Research schedule info
Firm interviews conducted: 16 June – 29 August 2025
Publication: February 2026
FAQs and supporting info
Researchers
To learn more about the team behind our research, please visit Meet The Legal 500 Team.
Practice areas
Cities and practice areas we are researching for the Deutschland 2026 edition include:
*NEW: Please note that submissions and referee forms must be submitted in English only.
Antitrust
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- Antitrust
Antitrust litigation
- Antitrust
Banking and finance
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- Financial services: regulatory
- Fintech
- Investment funds
- Lending and borrowing
- Project finance
- Real estate finance
Capital markets
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- Debt capital markets
High-Yield - Equity capital markets
- Structured finance and securitisation
Derivatives NEW
- Debt capital markets
Compliance
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- Compliance
- Internal Investigations
Corporate and M&A
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- Corporate
Corporate and shareholder disputes - M&A: large deals (€500m+)
- M&A: mid-sized deals (€100m-€500m)
- M&A: smaller deals (sub-€100m)
- Corporate
Dispute resolution
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- Arbitration (including international arbitration)
- Commercial litigation
- Financial services: litigation
- Product liability
Employment
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- Employment
Food law and consumer goods
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- Food law and consumer goods
Industry Focus
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- Artificial Intelligence (AI)
- Energy
Regulatory
Transactions - Healthcare and Life Sciences
Drug advertising law
Regulatory
Transactions
Medical law - Telecoms
Regulatory
Transactions
Information technology
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- Data law
- Information technology and digitalisation
IT transactions and outsourcing
Insurance
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- Advice to insurers
- Insurance litigation
Intellectual Property
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- Patent litigation: Solicitors
Transactions - Patent litigation: Patent lawyers
- Patent prosecution
- Trade marks
Design law
Trade mark administration and strategic advice - Unfair competition
- Patent litigation: Solicitors
Media
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- Entertainment
Copyright disputes
Gaming
Digital content - Press and publishing
- Entertainment
Private clients and non-profits
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- Private clients and non-profits
Private equity
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- PE transactions: large deals (€500m+)
- PE transactions: mid-sized deals (€100m-€500m)
Fund formation - Venture capital
Public sector
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- Commercial administrative law
- Planning and environment
Product-related advice
Waste management - Public procurement
- State aid
Real estate and construction
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- Construction (including construction litigation)
Plant construction - Project development
- Real estate
- Construction (including construction litigation)
Restructuring and insolvency
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- Insolvency
- Restructuring
Tax
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- Tax
Criminal tax law
- Tax
Trade and distribution
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- Foreign trade law
Investment control
Sanctions - Trade, distribution and logistics
Supply chain compliance
- Foreign trade law
Transport
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- Advice to the transport sector
- Maritime and shipping
Ship financing
White-collar crime
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- Advice to companies
- Advice to individuals
City Focus: Commercial law We invite local firms as well as major national and international law firms with offices in the respective cities to submit overviews of their practices, highlighting areas of specialism. Within this section, we place special emphasis on regional clients and instructions.
- Berlin
- Cologne
- Düsseldorf
- Frankfurt
- Hamburg
- Munich
- Stuttgart