Company Law Disputes

We are frequently mandated in extensive shareholder disputes including actions for rescission, in complex directors’ and officers’ liability actions (in particular also with an antitrust background) as well as in post-M&A disputes. Furthermore, disputes under distribution law are also part of our corporate litigation practice.

In such complex disputes, our many years of experience enable us to maintain an overview and develop the appropriate strategy for our clients. A decisive factor for success in corporate litigation is that our team is also active in the permanent advice of corporate law and contract drafting as well as M&A. This extensive expertise pays off for our clients.

One focus of our litigation work is representing our clients in contentious shareholder conflicts, which are often played out on several “playing fields”. Typical examples include the enabling of structural measures, dismissal from board functions, changes in shareholding relationships, questions of profit determination and distribution or a compulsory termination of a shareholder position including disputes over the calculation of severance pay. We represent our clients at all stages of a shareholder conflict. In all these cases, it is important to deal with the conflict consistently and forcefully, but not to prevent a resolution of the situations which are economically disadvantageous for the parties involved and the company concerned. In doing so, we attach great importance to an overall strategy that is suitable for our client and targeted from the outset.

In addition, we have particular expertise in the area of directors’ and officers’ liability and in post-M&A disputes. In directors’ and officers’ liability actions, we have acted in various high-profile proceedings, such as fundamental proceedings on the liability of board members for cartel fines or in the context of a corporate acquisition. In post-M&A disputes, we have recently been active, for example, in defending claims for damages after aborted transaction processes and in enforcing or defending claims for breach of warranty. Our clients benefit in such disputes from the fact that our experts know “both sides”, namely the execution of complex corporate transactions and the litigation in disputes conducted about them.