The Munich partner Prof. Dr. Thomas Klindt, an expert for product safety and liability law, has been named winner of the Innovative Lawyer Award by the Financial Times on 16.10.2008 in London. He received the Award for his work in the area of compliance. The FT Innovative Lawyer Award is one of the most prestigious Awards for lawyers world wide.

About the ten award winners the FT writes: „They demonstrate that traits more commonly seen in entrepreneurs – an appetite for ideas, eye for opportunity and a willingness to take action – can co-exist with a deep knowledge of the law and the concerns of clients. […] Thomas Klindt of Nörr Stiefenhofer Lutz [helped] to shift attitudes to compliance in Germany.

The laudatio reads:

Thomas Klindt, Partner, joined Nörr Stiefenhofer Lutz in 2005, where he heads the compliance practice group. He is honorary professor at the Universität Kassel.

Thomas Klindt was the lawyer behind Compliance Day, a conference for general counsel to meet, discuss and focus on compliance-related issues, its impact on the German legal market, and uniquely, on how lawyers can learn from their counterparts in the US and UK.

It has become the must attend event for compliance issues in a Germany shaken by the Siemens fraud probe. By the end of 2008, nearly 1,000 general counsel will have attended his Compliance Day conference. Addressing the rapidly expanded desire of lawyers to better address compliance, the days have provided both leadership and debate.

Klindt also identified the need for German lawyers to shake off their traditionally passive position and has taught the necessity of anticipating clients’ needs. He describes innovation as the need to find something for your client that he does not know he needs.

German clients attest to Prof. Klindt’s expertise in compliance and he is helping several of them to develop compliance frameworks in their organisations as well as to formulate their codes on business conduct. As co-publisher of the compliance periodical, Corporate Compliance, Prof. Klindt influences debate and the ongoing development of this legal discipline. He has published on the subject of compliance law and is also honorary professor for product and technology law at the Universität Kassel.