Coronavirus – Legal Guide for Germany

Dr. Stephan Behnes is a partner and member of Baker & McKenzie's German Tax Practice Group in Frankfurt. He advises corporate companies, banks and other financial institutions with regard to German and international tax law. Before joining the Firm in July 2015, he was a partner of a major international auditing and advisory firm and also worked in one of the leading international law firms in Frankfurt, Dusseldorf and Amsterdam.

Dr. Janet Butler is a counsel in Baker & McKenzie's Berlin office. Her main areas of practice include energy law, subsidy/state aid law and environmental & planning law. She also has significant experience advising on privatizations. She is a member of the Germany Public Law Practice Group as well as the European Energy, Mining & Infrastructure Practice Group. Dr. Butler advises companies and public entities in the fields of public law and governmental regulation, with a particular focus on the energy sector and renewable energy industry. She advises clients in the energy sector on regulatory, contractual, building and planning law issues, especially in the context of solar and wind park projects in Germany.

Alexander Ehrle is a member of the Firm's International Trade Practice in Baker McKenzie's Berlin office. Alexander studied law at the Universities of Heidelberg, Montpellier (France), Mainz, Munich and New York (NYU) specializing in Public International and European Law. He worked as advisor and member of a delegation of a developing country at the United Nations before qualifying for the German bar. He spent his clerkship with the Higher Regional Court in Berlin, the German Ministry of Foreign Affairs in Berlin and Tokyo as well as an international law firm in Frankfurt and Milan. He wrote his doctoral dissertation on the structural changes of public international law and their conceptualization in academic discourse basing his research on the governance of areas beyond national jurisdiction. Alexander is admitted to practice in Germany and New York.

Joachim was admitted to the German bar in August 2005 and joined the Trade and Commerce Practice Group of Baker McKenzie in Munich, Germany in March 2007. He was seconded to the legal department of Siemens AG in 2009 and to the legal department of Amazon in 2013 and 2016. In 2010, he worked at Baker McKenzie’s office in Frankfurt. He earned a Master in Law at the University of Cape Town, South Africa, with an emphasis on commercial law in 2006. Joachim studied law at the Ludwig-Maximilians-University in Munich, from where he graduated in 2003. He routinely publishes on distribution law issues. Furthermore, he is a co-author of the legal commentary Flohr/Wauschkuhn on all aspects of distribution law published by the leading German legal publishing house C. H. Beck.

Marc Gabriel chairs Baker & McKenzie’s European Public Procurement Group in the Berlin office, where he is a member of the Public Law Practice Group. He is author of numerous articles and publications on public procurement law issues and regularly speaks at conferences and seminars. Dr. Gabriel has been recognized for his work in public procurement law and recommended in the areas of healthcare and pharmaceuticals as well as defense and security by JUVE, Chambers and Legal 500 from 2009 onwards.

Christian Koops joined the Munich office of Baker McKenzie in 2015. He is a member of the Firm’s European and Global Labor Law practice groups. Christian advises domestic and multinational companies on employment law matters, including outsourcing and other transactions. He frequently speaks at in-house and external seminars, and conducts training on a wide range of employment matters. He also practiced in the Firm’s Berlin office.

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Andreas Jauch is a senior associate of Baker McKenzie’s Intellectual Property group in Frankfurt. In the past, he has also been part of the IP team in Washington, DC. After his law studies at the Johannes-Gutenberg University in Mainz, Andreas received an LL.M. degree in Intellectual Property Law at the University of Glasgow. Prior to joining the Firm, Andreas completed his legal clerkship at the District Court of Mainz. As part of the clerkship Andreas worked as a research assistant and a law clerk in the intellectual property practice groups of international and domestic law firms in Frankfurt and London.

Prof. Dr. Susanne Mertens is a member of the Public Law Practice Group in the Berlin office. She is renowned for her focus on public procurement law and, since 2009, has been recommended several times in JUVE Handbuch Wirtschaftskanzleien.

Dr. Michaela Nebel is a partner in the Frankfurt office of Baker McKenzie since June 2011 and was admitted as an attorney to the German bar shortly after. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie she studied law at the University of Passau. She obtained her Doctor of Law degree on a topic related to privacy in the Web 2.0. From July until December 2014 she practiced at the San Francisco office of Baker McKenzie. She is a member of the International Association of Privacy Professionals (IAPP) and since May 2015 a Certified Information Privacy Professional/Europe (CIPP/E) and since May 2017 a Certified Information Privacy Professional/United States (CIPP/US). She is also the author of numerous articles on information technology law, in particular on data protection law and e-commerce law, and the co-author of an English language commentary on the EU General Data Protection Regulation. In 2017/2018, Michaela received several recommendations for data protection law in kanzleimonitor.de.

Dr. Frank Pflüger is a Partner in Baker McKenzie's Frankfurt office.

Dr. Thilo Räpple is a Partner in Baker McKenzie, Frankfurt office.

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Dr. Lisa B. Reiser is a senior associate in Baker McKenzie’s Frankfurt office. Dr. Reiser joined Baker McKenzie in Spring 2011, after having worked six months for the American Arbitration Association in New York, USA where she administered cases brought against the arbitration institution, contributed to a commentary on the AAA Rules and monitored arbitration hearings. For several years, she was a research assistant at the Chair of Private International Law and Comparative Law at the University of Mainz.

Dr. Anika Schürmann is a counsel in Baker McKenzie’s Düsseldorf office. She joined the Firm in 2013, and advises in antitrust and competition law, as well as in white collar crime and compliance investigations. She is admitted to the Dusseldorf bar and is a member of the German Association of Antitrust Lawyers as well as the Criminal Law Section of the German Bar Association. Prior to joining Baker McKenzie, Mrs. Schürmann was a member of Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s antitrust team (2007-2011), and practiced in a Düsseldorf law firm that specializes in white collar crime law (2012-2013).

Dr. Oliver Socher heads the Banking and Finance Practice in Germany. His practice covers banking and finance and distressed debt matters. Prior to joining the Firm in January 2006, he worked as an associate for a "Magic Circle" law firm in Frankfurt and London. He also worked as an associate for a Wall Street law firm in New York. Dr. Socher studied law at the Justus-Liebig-University in Giessen, where he also earned his doctor’s degree in law, and at Fordham School of Law in New York. He was admitted to the German bar in 2001.

Anahita Thoms ist Partner bei Baker & McKenzie Partnerschaft von Rechtsanwälten und Steuerberatern mbB

Dr. Katharina Weiner is a certified specialist lawyer for public procurement law and Counsel in the Public Sector & Regulatory department in Düsseldorf as well as a member of the Global Reorganizations Group. Before joining Baker McKenzie in 2008, she worked in the area of public procurement law at the European Commission in Brussels and completed the Government Contracts Program at George Washington University Law School in Washington DC. She has been named as a recommended lawyer for the area of public procurement law by Who's Who Legal several times since 2014 and as a Next Generation Lawyer for the area of public procurement law by Legal 500 in 2017.

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Sandra Wittinghofer — a member of the Banking and Finance Group — advises national and international banks, trustees and corporations on matters of banking and finance law, particularly on structured finance and relating banking regulatory matters. She studied law in Bayreuth and Paris (Assas) and is admitted as a German Rechtsanwalt and as Solicitor (England and Wales).

Dr. Christoph Wolf joined Baker McKenzie in 2011. He heads the German Capital Markets group. After having worked as attorney in private practice in Frankfurt from 1998 to 2000, Christoph joined Morgan Stanley Bank AG as legal counsel to the investment banking, capital markets and corporate finance divisions, and was Head of Legal for Germany and Austria until the summer of 2011. He is experienced in advising on capital markets, takeovers, and corporate law matters.