Legal Opinion on matters of German Law
English-speaking German Attorneys and Lawyers in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Frankfurt
Our team of corporate lawyers (ten attorneys and five tax advisors) serves our clients in all corporate law matters. From our offices in Berlin, Hamburg, Munich and Frankfurt we advise in the areas of general German and international corporate law, venture capital, M&A and related tax matters. We advise domestic and foreign entrepreneurs and investors and companies as well as executives. All of our German advisors have gained work experience at large international law firms and/or as senior M&A inhouse counsel.
Besides regularly advising on M&A transactions our firm has a strong track record in corporate litigation and has successfully represented domestic and foreign clients in and out of court throughout high intensity shareholder disputes. Further, we have gained valuable experience in evaluating chances and risks of post-M&A disputes and have successfully fought for our client’s interests in post-M&A settings.
In transactional settings we also provide legal opinions to foreign clients who require legal certainty on matters governed by German law. In particular we provide legal opinions on matters of German corporate and real estate law.
The concept of legal opinions ist well-established in Germany. For instance, in the context of a cross-border transaction, a legal opinion may be used for the purpose of opining on whether certain transaction documentation is valid and enforceable in a particular jurisdiction and complies with the local law of that jurisdiction. Another item frequently dealt with in legal opinions is the questions whether or not an entity has been validly incorporated and continues in valid legal existence.
Legal opinions serve as a tool to provide parties involved in a cross-border transaction with reassurance that there is no legal obstacle for the intended deal. The addressee of a legal opinion is supposed to and actually relies on the accuracy of the legal opinion for the purposes of the envisaged transaction. In case the opinion proves inaccurate, the addressee may be entitled to bring an action against the law firm issuing the opinion.
Often, legal opinions must also be submitted to regulatory bodies such as the CSRC (China Securities Regulatory Commission) or the SEC (United States Securities and Exchange Commission). We are familiar with the international usage of legal opinions and provide this service in German and English.
Further, our attorneys are available to acts as German local counsel in multi-jurisdictional settings throughout negotiations and due diligence process.
We offer hourly billing but are also open to alternative fee arrangements, such as caps or flat fees, depending on the particularities of the deal.