Noerr appoints seven new equity partners

Noerr has appointed seven advisors as new partners of the firm. The following advisors will be admitted to the partnership as equity partners from 1 January 2022: Katrin Andrä, Jennifer Bryant, Benjamin Jahn, Torsten Kraul, Alexander Schilling, Simone Schönen and Laurenz Tholen.

Three more lawyers will be working as senior counsel (salaried partners) in the future: Morris Besch, Ben Kempe and Robert Korndörfer.

Besides this, the firm appointed eleven more lawyers as associated partners and five lawyers as counsel.

“Our new partners have made a significant contribution to consolidating our position as a leading independent law firm in Europe and increasing our market share over the past few years,” said Torsten Fett, co-managing partner. “Besides this, the appointment of men and women from different practice areas underscores our approach of offering all our top talents career perspectives and pursuing sustainable growth,” highlighted Alexander Ritvay, who heads the firm alongside Fett.

The new equity partners

Katrin Andrä (36, lawyer in Berlin) advises primarily on M&A transactions, joint ventures, reorganisations and general corporate law. She has long-standing expertise in advising companies in the regulated industries, e.g. energy, infrastructure and public sector enterprises.

Jennifer Bryant (37, lawyer in Dusseldorf) specialises in national and international litigation and arbitration. She advises and represents clients mainly in complex civil, commercial and corporate disputes before state courts and arbitral tribunals. She also advises her clients with respect to international legal actions, especially US litigation, in particular regarding discovery proceedings in the USA. Jennifer is admitted to practice in Germany and the USA (California).

Benjamin Jahn (36, lawyer in Munich) has worked in Noerr’s Employment & Pensions practice since 2013. From April 2016 to June 2017 he was also responsible for the employment law department of an international medium-sized company as in-house counsel. Benjamin advises on the employment law aspects of M&A and private equity transactions and also specialises in company pensions.

Torsten Kraul (44, lawyer in Berlin), co-head of our Digital Business practice group, advises transactions in the fields of digital business, IT, outsourcing, Internet and e-commerce and media. His work in particular focuses on the implementation of innovative digital business models and the application of new technologies such as cloud computing, the Internet of things, artificial intelligence, platforms, apps, blockchain and big data. Drawing on his knowledge of commercial matters in the industries, he frequently represents clients in M&A transactions in the technology, IT and media sectors.

Alexander Schilling (40, lawyer in Frankfurt) advises on national and international finance transactions. Alexander has significant experience in advising both borrowers/sponsors and banks on syndicated credit agreements, acquisition financing and Schuldschein loans. He also benefits from his expertise in advising on factoring and asset-backed securities programmes, bonds, registered notes and venture debt finance.

Simone Schönen (40, lawyer in Hamburg) practises in the area of restructuring and insolvency law. Her work focuses on advising lenders, companies and investors on complex financial restructuring projects, often involving multi-layered financing structures and in cross-border situations. Her advice extends to restructuring projects both outside and during insolvency and includes bond restructuring.

Laurenz Tholen (37, lawyer in Berlin) specialises in complex private equity and M&A transactions, as well as restructuring projects. He regularly advises national and international financial investors and strategists on cross-border transactions, especially in the fields of technology, industry, retail, internet and entertainment.

The new senior counsel

Morris Besch (43, lawyer in Dresden) has many years of experience in the field of arbitration law and litigation. Morris represents German and international clients in national and international arbitration proceedings (including under the rules of DIS, ICC and SCC and in ad-hoc arbitration proceedings) and before state courts. He specialises in complex civil, commercial and corporate law disputes, for example in connection with long-term supply agreements, contract and price adjustments and contractual penalty provisions.

Ben Kempe (39, lawyer in Berlin and specialist lawyer for insolvency law) advises on international insolvency proceedings and conducts insolvency litigation for insolvency administrators, business enterprises and credit institutions. Ben represents his clients before state courts and arbitral tribunals in international corporate, banking and financial disputes. His main practice areas include attachment orders and interim injunctions. Ben also has extensive practical experience of dealing with complex enforcement cases and regularly assists in large-scale compulsory auctions.

Robert Korndörfer (39, lawyer in Munich) specialises in complex international M&A transactions. Robert regularly assists clients from regulated industries such as financial institutions and energy utilities during mergers and acquisitions and clients from the private equity sector on their investments and divestments.

The new associated partners

Daniel Dommermuth (Employment, Munich), Henrik Dornscheidt (Real Estate Investment Group, Dusseldorf), Lisa Haseloff (Financial Regulatory, Dusseldorf), Gerrit Henze (Corporate/Mergers & Acquisitions, Dusseldorf), Isabel Jakobs (Compliance & Internal Investigations, Munich), Felix Konold (Corporate & Financial Litigation, Munich), Peter Scheuch (Tax, Dresden), Anne-Kristin Schiller (Capital Markets, New York), Philip M. Schmoll (Capital Markets, Frankfurt), Eszter Sieber-Fazakas (Automotive & New Mobility, Budapest), Dominique Stütz (Capital Markets, Frankfurt)

The new counsel

Anja Böhme (Tax, Dresden), Anja König (Advisory, Munich), Philipp Pönitz (Class & Mass Action Defense, Dresden), Florian Schmitt (Digital Business, Munich), Yifan Zhu (Corporate/Mergers & Acquisitions, Frankfurt)