Addleshaw Goddard expands offices in Munich and Frankfurt

Addleshaw Goddard expands offices in Munich and Frankfurt

Following up on moves into Dublin and Luxembourg, the UK firm's strategy is running ahead of schedule

Three years after launching in Hamburg to start its European expansion drive, Addleshaw Goddard has gained two new offices in Germany.

The UK firm has scooped up a number of partners from rival firms to launch its new offices in Munich and Frankfurt, including three from Advant Beiten, one from Skadden Arps Slate Meagher & Flom and one from Gowling WLG. Advant Beiten will also be providing counsel in Frankfurt for Addleshaws, the firm announced today.

In the same week that the firm announced the expansion, the firm announced that it would open an office in Luxembourg with a trio of corporate lawyers from Fieldfisher to help grow its fund finance practice. A merger with local firm Eugene F Collins earlier this year allowed it to extend its reach to the Dunlin as well, bringing over 100 legal professionals and 25 partners to its network.

As part of its European expansion strategy, it opened its first office in Hamburg in June 2019. It was previously based in Paris.

Addleshaws' head of operations in Germany, Michael Leue, said that the new opening in Hamburg had put the company "well ahead" of its growth targets.

Managing partner John Joyce added, "Our European expansion has exceeded expectations over the last two years. We look forward to delivering our commitment to providing comprehensive, EU-wide services to our clients."

As the firm's most important new hire, Markus Perkams will join the firm in Frankfurt after eight years as a legal counsel at Skadden. In addition to being dual-qualified in Germany and the UK, Perkams also represents clients in arbitrations and state courts.

Jörg Bielefel, Alexander Schmid, Timo Handel and André Suttorp are among the lawyers who will join Advant Beiten - formerly Beiten Burkhardt - as partners in Frankfurt and Munich, respectively, for a global investigations team led by André Suttorp will lead a corporate and international tax law team in Munich.

Bielefel & Schmid specialize in advising and defending clients with regard to all areas of criminal and commercial tax law. Together, Theodore Handel and Addleshaws will focus on investigating and auditing law enforcement and supervisory authorities, as well as detecting and prosecuting irregularities, which he notes is a new focus for his team.

Additionally, Manuela Finger joins the two new offices along with her team from Gowling. As a partner at Gowling for five years, Finger specializes in intellectual property, information technology, digital media and data protection issues. The expertise she brings to the table is advising on new product launches and providing legal counsel to companies wishing to expand into new markets in Germany and other European countries.

In addition to the addition of Jörg Etzkorn to Addleshaws in Munich, he will continue in his current role as general counsel and chief compliance officer at German insurance giant HUK-Coburg.

Hamburg is also home to several lawyers who are moving. Helge Heirich will join the Munich office along with his competition team, whereas Nadine Bourgeois, a banking and finance attorney and Janak Goßler, a commercial and distribution attorney, will move from Munich.

According to Global Legal Post's UK law firm results tracker, Addleshaws reported a 12percent growth in revenue to £321m and a 23percent uptick in profit per equity partner to £849,000 last July.

Fieldfisher is another UK firm that has opened a new office in Germany this year. It opened in Berlin last month in order to serve as the home base for its new tech-powered group litigation unit, Fieldfisher X, which leverages legaltech to target the booming German mass litigation market.

As of September 2021, Beiten was one of three leading European firms to form Advant, an exclusive alliance formed by a Swiss verein jointly with NCTM in Milan and Altana in Paris. With more than 600 professionals and 140 equity partners, the three companies had combined revenues of €216m in 2020. According to Avant's anticipated revenue, it would place just outside the top 10 law firms in Europe.