+49 (0)711 60187-290
ulshoefer@oppenlaender.de
Legal 500 has ranked Dr. Matthias Ulshöfer as a “Leading Partner in Public Procurement Law” for 2026. This places him among the “true market leaders, with long-established reputations in their sector, lead roles in multiple recent significant matters, and exceptional, widespread recognition and endorsement from peers in the market and clients alike.“
Legal 500 Germany 2026
Matthias Ulshöfer has advised clients in public procurement law and competition law for more than twenty years, with a particular focus on healthcare public procurement. He studied physics at the University of Stuttgart and law at the University of Tübingen and obtained his doctorate under Professor Dr Wernhard Möschel with a thesis on merger control in German, European and US law. He is a member of the German Association for the Study of Antitrust Law (Studienvereinigung Kartellrecht), where he served for several years as regional representative for Stuttgart, a certified specialist lawyer for public procurement law (Fachanwalt für Vergaberecht), a member of the German Arbitration Institute (DIS), a regular contributor to the specialist journal “VergabeRecht” and an examiner in the Second State Examination. He is the author of numerous publications and commentaries on competition law and public procurement law and regularly speaks at conferences and seminars, in particular on healthcare tenders, drug rebate contracts, open‑house procurement procedures, infrastructure procurement, joint ventures, self‑cleaning, exclusion risks in public tenders and current developments in competition law.
Languages: German, English, French, Italian
Matthias Ulshöfer represents his clients in competition law and public procurement law before all German courts up to the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof – BGH), before public procurement tribunals, the Federal Cartel Office (Bundeskartellamt), the European Commission and the Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU). He has for many years been recognised in leading directories as a leading lawyer, including as a “frequently recommended lawyer” in competition and public procurement law (JUVE), as a “Leading Name” / “Leading Individual” in “Public Procurement” and “Vergaberecht” by Legal 500 and Legal 500 EMEA (Europe, Middle East and Africa), and as a “Top Lawyer” (Wirtschaftswoche) and “Best Lawyer” in, among other areas, “Public Private Partnership” and “Competition” (Handelsblatt). In addition, he has repeatedly been named “Lawyer of the Year – Public Procurement” by Global Law Experts (GLE), received the “Lexology Client Choice Award 2025” in the category “Government Contracts” and is recognised by Lexology as a “Global Elite Thought Leader 2025” as well as “(highly) recommended” in the categories “Competition”, “Public Procurement” and “Government Contracts”.
In competition law, Matthias Ulshöfer has obtained several landmark decisions before the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf (OLG Düsseldorf) and the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) on the permissibility of joint ventures, on restrictions of competition and on exclusive arrangements in distribution agreements. He represents companies in merger control proceedings before the Federal Cartel Office and the European Commission, in foreign direct investment control proceedings and in proceedings under the Foreign Subsidies Regulation (FSR). He assists his clients in defending against or pursuing competition damages claims, in self‑cleaning measures following antitrust infringements and bid‑rigging, and in avoiding and removing entries in the Federal Cartel Office’s competition register.
In public procurement law, Matthias Ulshöfer represents domestic and international bidders from all sectors as well as public contracting authorities in review proceedings, frequently in relation to technically complex or innovative contracts, infrastructure projects, broadband expansion and FTTH, transport projects and tenders under the Procurement Regulation on Defence and Security (VSVgV). He advises on competition and foreign trade law interfaces that are relevant in markets shaped by public tenders: national and EU merger control, investment control, third‑country subsidy control (FSR), market access for third‑country suppliers in light of the CJEU decisions in “Kolin” and “Qingdao Sifang”, as well as anti‑dumping and anti‑subsidy proceedings before the European Commission.
On the contracting authority side, his clients include research institutions, public enterprises, ministries, districts, cities and municipalities, whom he advises and represents in the legally compliant design and implementation of EU‑wide and national procurement procedures and in defending against procurement complaints and review applications.
A particular focus of Matthias Ulshöfer’s practice is healthcare public procurement. For many years he has been closely involved in tenders for drug rebate contracts under Section 130a of the German Social Code Book V (SGB V) and in EU‑wide tenders for the procurement of medicinal products, cytostatics, biosimilars, radiological contrast media, medical devices and hospital information systems. He has helped to shape healthcare public procurement law through landmark cases before the federal public procurement tribunals, the higher regional courts and the CJEU, including on multi‑partner models, open‑house procedures and multi‑ingredient lots. Most recently, he successfully defended international generic manufacturers against damages claims in the multi‑million euro range arising from statutory health insurance (GKV) rebate contracts under Section 130a SGB V.
Specialist Lawyer for procurement law since
Doctorate
Admitted as lawyer since
Research assistant at the chair for Civil Law, Commercial Law and Corporate Law, Prof. Dr. Klunzinger
Studies in Stuttgart and Tübingen
