Osborne Clarke

The firm: Osborne Clarke is a future-focused international legal practice. It has over 1,300 talented lawyers and more than 300 expert partners working across 26 locations to help clients in a number of core industry sectors succeed in tomorrow’s world. Osborne Clarke’s international organisation allows it to support clients in many key markets and to provide advice that works in an international, a sector and a client context.

With a clear and commercial understanding of the local business environment and in-depth legal expertise in each jurisdiction, Osborne Clarke’s lawyers are listeners, innovators and problem solvers. A key focus for them is finding new ways to help clients maximise opportunities in the digital world as well as in an ever-evolving, ever-developing global society.

Osborne Clarke is a leading law firm in Germany, with offices in Berlin, Cologne, Hamburg and Munich. A team of more than 140 lawyers offers a full legal and tax service across all business issues, advising corporates, financial institutions and public authorities both on their day-to-day business and on specific projects. The German offices have in-depth expertise across all Osborne Clarke’s focus sectors.

Areas of practice
Banking and finance: Osborne Clarke provides a specialist service for banks, lenders, businesses and sponsors, advising across the range of finance options, from debt financing to equity fundraisings. The team has a market-leading reputation for payment and crowdfunding.

Commercial: the market-leading team advises clients on the contracts that underpin their business as well as day-to-day issues, from outsourcing to expanding sales networks. The team has a particular focus on distribution law.

Competition/antitrust: the team advises on the full range of competition and antitrust matters, including litigation before the ECJ and the German Supreme Court, compliance strategies and multi-jurisdictional merger filings. A specific focus is on cartel damage proceedings.

Corporate/M&A, including VC and PE: Osborne Clarke advises at every stage of company development across all corporate issues. The firm is constantly ranked among top 15 advisers for German midcap M&A and is a market-leader in venture capital.

Dispute resolution: Osborne Clarke’s disputes team resolves complex, high-value disputes across a wide range of jurisdictions. Services include early-stage strategic input, representing clients in court proceedings, international arbitration, mediations and regulatory investigations.

Employment: practical, day-to-day support covers the full range of employment issues from recruitment schemes to dismissal, risk management and reputational issues. The team has a specific strength managing large international projects, such as reorganisations.

Intellectual property: from new patents to licence negotiations to IP portfolio sales, Osborne Clarke has the experience to get valuable, commercial results. In IP disputes, the team can help prevent misuse of IPRs, or defend against allegations of infringement.

IT and data: the large team has vast expertise over the entire spectrum, advising household names and cutting-edge technology businesses. Services include data, outsourcing, e- and m-commerce, digital media and games, AdTech, cloud computing and software development.

Property: the team has broad experience in real estate projects and transactions as well as private and public construction law, regarding all asset classes. They have a strong reputation advising clients on their commercial tenancy issues, in particular with retail spaces and offices.

Tax: the team has a wealth of experience in advising on the full range of issues, including restructurings, corporate transactions, transfer pricing, VAT and investment funds. They advise many private clients and entrepreneurs on succession and wealth.