Kai Erik Ackermann

Global law firm Clifford Chance has appointed four German lawyers as counsel/senior counsel from the start of its new fiscal year on 1 May 2024. The firm has a challenging process in place for appointing people to these roles. Since the 2021/2022 fiscal year, Clifford Chance has streamlined its appointments procedure across Europe, making the roles and career milestones more attractive and high-profile. In the Continental Europe region, a total of four new senior counsel and 19 new counsel were appointed this year. The new senior counsel and counsel in Germany are: Senior counsel Hannes Deusch (Global Financial Markets, Frankfurt), Counsel Anne Filzmoser (Corporate, Düsseldorf), Paul Kohlhaas (Corporate, Frankfurt), Dr. Diana Schoch (Global Financial Markets, Frankfurt), Stefan Sax, Steve Jacoby. Pictured: Hannes Deusch , Anne Filzmoser , Paul Kohlhaas , Diana Schoch Read the full article >> https://lnkd.in/ee4-rAC5 #Legalcommunitygermany #appointments

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Global law firm Clifford Chance is expanding its global Restructuring & Insolvency law practice with the hiring of two market leading and highly experienced partners in Germany: Patrick Schulz (pictured, left) and Andreas Steiger (pictured, right) will be joining the firm on 1 June 2024. The hire of two top tier restructuring partners will strengthen the Restructuring & Insolvency team in Germany, led by Managing Partner Stefan Sax, and further enhance Clifford Chance’s global capabilities in this area. Both partners join from American law firm Sidley Austin. “This is perfect timing”, added Philip Hertz, who leads the Global Restructuring & Insolvency Group of Clifford Chance. “Together with the two highly experienced and recognised partners Patrick Schulz and Andreas Steiger, we will further deepen the German bench as well as our international restructuring capabilities. This is an extremely exciting development both for us and for our clients.” The enhanced team will continue to build out their focus on cross-border creditor and company side work, including expanding our relationships with key financial sponsors. “These hires will further solidify our reputation as one of the leading firms for this type of work in the market”, comments Oliver Kronat, who leads the German Global Financial Markets practice at Clifford Chance. “In addition, we now have more opportunities in the cross-border private equity and financing outside the previous core activities of our restructuring practice.” Read the full article >> https://lnkd.in/e_x35SeW #Legalcommunityit #restructuring #insolvency

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The majority of the voting groups in the discussion and voting meeting on the restructuring of VARTA AG approved the restructuring plan in accordance with the German Corporate Stabilisation and Restructuring Act (StaRUG). A DLA Piper team led by partners Roland Maass and Florian Bruder advised VARTA AG on this significant milestone in the restructuring process. DLA Piper advises VARTA comprehensively on legal matters since the beginning of the restructuring and most recently supported the Company in concluding several key agreements with financing parties and investors, as well as a bridge financing. Read more here: https://lnkd.in/e7wQZ8MZ #Restructuring #Approval #Crossingnewhorizonstogether

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🚨🤖The Regional Court Traunstein (LG Traunstein) ruled that Article 22 #GDPR does not apply to calculating a credit score by a credit rating agency if a natural person in the loan approval process uses additional information. 🔹In this case, the controller is a private company that supports the lending industry in Germany by providing information on the creditworthiness of potential or existing customers. The controller maintains an extensive database and calculates a score value based on this data, which predicts the likelihood of a person fulfilling credit-related contracts. However, it only shares this information with its partners with a legitimate interest, such as in the case of a credit application. 🔹The plaintiff argued that the controller's scoring system negatively affected her ability to secure contracts, asserting that it violated Article 22(1) GDPR, which prohibits decisions based solely on automated processing that significantly affect individuals. She sought to compel the controller to increase her score to avoid further negative impacts and claimed damages for the alleged unlawful data processing. 🔹The court found that Article 22(1) GDPR applies only if a decision based solely on automated processing produces legal effects or similarly significant impacts on an individual. This would be the case if a contract rejection were solely based on the automated credit score. However, if a natural person uses additional information beyond the automated score to make a decision, Article 22 GDPR does not apply. 🔹The court referenced the European Court of Justice ruling in case C-634/21, which clarified that a decision is automated if it solely relies on automated processing without human intervention. In this context, the court noted that the controller's partners use the credit score as one of several factors in their decision-making process involving human judgment. 🔹The plaintiff could not provide evidence of any specific contract being rejected solely due to the credit score. In contrast, the controller demonstrated that the plaintiff recently concluded several credit-relevant contracts successfully. During the hearing, the plaintiff failed to identify any specific negative decisions influenced predominantly by the credit score. Furthermore, the court held that the plaintiff has the burden of proof to demonstrate the applicability of Article 22(1) GDPR. The court found that the plaintiff's claims were unsubstantiated and that the controller's data processing did not violate the GDPR. 🔹Additionally, the court found that the controller had fulfilled the plaintiff's right to access her data under Article 15 GDPR by providing a copy of the stored data. Regarding the plaintiff's request for detailed information on the scoring algorithm, the court ruled that this fell under the controller's right to protect trade secrets. #ai #privacy #profiling #algorithms #scoring #inhouse #compliance #law

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The Supreme Court's ruling in UniCredit Bank GmbH v RusChemAlliance LLC marks an important moment in the enforcement of arbitration agreements. The ruling reinforces England's position as a pro-arbitration jurisdiction and providing essential guidance on the interpretation of arbitration agreements.  #Arbitration  #ArbitrationAgreements  #EnglishLaw  #AntiSuitInjunctions  #ForeignSeat #ConstructionDisputes  #ConstructionAgreement  #Disputes  #Litigation  #London  #Law  #SupremeCourt  #Ruling  #BarnesLaw

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⚖️🛠️ #Consent is not required under the #GDPR for sharing contact details of key project contacts with subcontractors. The Austrian Federal Administrative Court ruled on a #dataprivacy case involving a complaint filed by a woman who acted as the primary contact person for her parents during the #construction of their house. She claimed that her privacy rights were violated when her phone number was shared without her explicit consent by the general contractor with a subcontractor, who then called her and allegedly behaved aggressively. 📍Initially, the Austrian DPA ruled in favour of the woman, stating that her phone number had been shared without valid consent, violating her right to privacy. The authority argued that sharing her contact details did not meet the legal requirements under the #GDPR for lawful data processing, as no life-threatening situation justified it, and there was no clear evidence of her consent. 📍The general contractor appealed, claiming that the woman had verbally agreed to share her contact details to facilitate the coordination of the construction work. The contractor presented email correspondence that the woman had previously permitted sharing her contact information with subcontractors for similar purposes, arguing that this implied consent was sufficient. 📍The court found that the woman had acted as the primary contact person for her parents throughout the construction project and had taken over communication with the companies involved. Given this role, she generally agreed to share her contact information for coordinating project-related activities, including scheduling work with subcontractors. The court concluded that this prior general consent covered the specific incident in question, making the further sharing her phone number lawful under Article 6(1)(f) #GDPR, which allows data processing if it is necessary for legitimate interests. 📍The court emphasised that requiring specific consent for every single case in a construction project context would be impractical and overly burdensome. Additionally, it was noted that sharing her phone number served the legitimate purpose of addressing issues related to the project, and there was no evidence that the number was shared for any other reason. Therefore, the court overturned the initial ruling, determining that the contractor’s actions did not violate the woman’s right to #privacy.

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Latham & Watkins has advised LGT Private Debt and Oldenburgische Landesbank AG as lenders of the financing of its entry into a partnership with TT medic, a MedTech development and manufacturing partner for high-quality polymer components, by the impact house Trill Impact. The Latham team was led by Munich partner Thomas Weitkamp, with partner Christian Jahn, counsel Rainer Adlhart and associates Philipp Guggeis and Julia Bräuer. Advice was also provided on tax matters by Munich partner Ulf Kieker and on corporate matters by associate Dr. Corinna Freudenmacher. Read the full article >> https://lnkd.in/deRZ75M4 #Legalcommunitygermany #legaladvisor #partnership

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Restructuring Update 🚨 See attached some reflection by our German A&O Shearman restructuring team on the recent decision by the Higher Regional Court of Stuttgart on “shift of duties” and “need for shareholders' consent prior notifiying StaRUG proceedings” providing – though rendered as part of summary proceedings (einstweiliger Rechtsschutz) – long-needed guidance on these important question for the German restructuring landscape.    Feel free to reach out if you would like to get more insight on recent developments in German restructuring law. Franz Bernhard Herding, Josef Parzinger, Dr. Philipp Zehlicke #restructuring #StaRUG

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Only now Germany is slowly waking up to the scale of Chinese spionage. Already in 2013 a comprehensive insight in the huge Chinese industrial espionage system was published, but too few people took note. The publisher: “This new book is the first full account, inside or outside government, of China's efforts to acquire foreign technology. Based on primary sources and meticulously researched, the book lays bare China's efforts to prosper technologically through others' achievements. For decades, China has operated an elaborate system to spot foreign technologies, acquire them by all conceivable means, and convert them into weapons and competitive goods-without compensating the owners. The director of the US National Security Agency recently called it "the greatest transfer of wealth in history." Written by two of America's leading government analysts and an expert on Chinese cyber networks, this book describes these transfer processes comprehensively and in detail, providing the breadth and depth missing in other works. ...”

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👩‍⚖️ 𝗡𝗘𝗪 𝗥𝗨𝗟𝗘𝗦 📚 The Austrian supreme court recently ruled on voting by shareholders of a LLC (𝘎𝘮𝘣𝘏) in breach of trust (𝟨 𝘖𝘣 𝟨𝟦/𝟤𝟦𝘴). 𝐈𝐦𝐩𝐨𝐫𝐭𝐚𝐧𝐭 𝐟𝐢𝐧𝐝𝐢𝐧𝐠𝐬 (𝐢𝐧 𝐚 𝐧𝐮𝐭𝐬𝐡𝐞𝐥𝐥): 💡 The assumption of an obligation to consent arising from the fiduciary duties towards the LLC (𝘎𝘮𝘣𝘏) is generally only ultima ratio. 💡 A shareholder is only obliged to approve resolutions if the resolution is absolutely necessary in the interests of the LLC (𝘎𝘮𝘣𝘏) and is reasonable for the dissenting shareholder. If you have any questions ➡️ DM me. 💌 #CorporateLaw #GrowthThroughKnowledge #NewRules #LawyerLife

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🇪🇺 Law firms are making moves in Luxembourg. Both Herbert Smith Freehills and Simpson Thacher & Bartlett LLP announced launches of new offices in the country this week - with teams heavily focused on private capital work. HSF has brought in three senior lawyers - two from A&O and one from Maples. Meanwhile, Simpson Thacher has hired three funds partners from rivals for its launch planned for the first quarter of 2025. The moves reflect Luxembourg's growing position as a gateway to Europe for private equity and venture capital funds, thanks to its advantageous tax regime and access to the EU market. Among European private capital funds that have started investing this year, 54% are domiciled in Luxembourg, according to data cited in the Financial Times. Big name private equity players with a presence in the country include CVC, Cinven and EQT.

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Eisenführ Speiser cooperates with Swiss law firm staedeli legal partners 🤝 As of 1 January 2025, Eisenführ Speiser is cooperating with the Swiss law firm staedeli legal partners. The owner of the law firm is attorney-at-law Matthias Städeli, who, after 20 years of successful work as a founding partner of the law firm Rentsch Partner AG, is simultaneously taking the step into self-employment and continuing his legal work in cooperation with national and international partners. Further information can be found on our website: https://lnkd.in/eKDdSExg #trademarklaw #designlaw #copyrightlaw #lawfirm

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Significant Update for Lease Agreements in Germany Traditionally, lease agreements having a fixed term of more than one year must be concluded in writing. If the written form requirement is not complied with, the lease is deemed to have been concluded for an indefinite term pursuant to Section 550 of the German Civil Code and may therefore be terminated early. The written form requirement for long-term lease agreements is now being replaced by the more flexible text form. On 26 September 2024, the German Parliament (Bundestag) passed the Fourth Bureaucracy Reduction Act (Viertes Bürokratieentlastungsgesetz) (BT-Drucksache 20/11306). The legislation inter alia stipulates that in future text form will be sufficient for long-term lease agreements. The Bundesrat (Federal Council) has approved the legislation on 18 October 2024. Upon its announcement in the Federal Law Gazette (Bundesgesetzblatt), it will enter into force on the first day of the quarter following the announcement, presumably on 1 January 2025. The legislation will have considerable practical and legal implications for lease agreements governed by German law. Click on the link below to read more about this Client Alert authored by @Daniel Bork und @Moritz Jander: https://lnkd.in/eRPNDUKy #BakerMcKenzie #RealEstate #CommercialLeasing #Mietverträge

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The latest edition of the Cleary German M&A Telegram discusses a European Bank consolidation, capital markets, the German government as seller and investor, and more. See it here: https://ow.ly/bU6w50TwxLN #MandA #Germany

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Hengeler Mueller advises Axel Springer with a team comprising partner Carsten Schapmann on new corporate structure. Hengeler Mueller advises Axel Springer SE on the transaction and the accompanying corporate law aspects. Learn more: https://lnkd.in/de_sQAty #HengelerMueller #MediaIndustry

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A finance team led by Munich partner Thomas Weitkamp advised Ares Management funds on the financing of Summitas Group in connection with its partnership with BVUK. Group. https://lw.link/Zv2aiM

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💣 BREAKING - Judgment in *Kneschke v LAION* on TDM, machine-readable opt-outs and temporary copies. The Hamburg Court dismissed the claim. The claim related to LAION's dataset of URLs and descriptions of >5 billion images (and used by some developers of GenAI). Kneschke, a photographer, brought a claim of copyright infringement over an image accessed by LAION via a photo agency website. The key findings (based on a machine translation) appear to be: 🔹 LAION's acts would be infringement but for an exception. (LAION downloaded the image from the internet, processed to determine if it matched its description and deleted it.) 🔹 The acts were outside the "temporary acts of reproduction" exception (s.44a of the German Copyright Act). LAION did not show that the reproduction was fleeting or that deletion was automatic. 🔹 LAION's acts fell within the text and data mining (TDM) exception for scientific research purposes (s.60d). This depended on the nature of the activity, not on how LAION was organised or financed. It was not relevant that companies used the LAION dataset for commercial purposes. Some of the LAION team were also employed by one such company, but it was not shown that this company exerted influence on LAION or had preferential access to the findings of the research (which would take the research outside s.60d). 🔹 Because s.60d applied, the Court did not need to make final decisions on whether the acts fell within the exception for commercial TDM (s.44b). But the judgment describes this as doubtful ("zweifelhaft"). - The Court held that LAION's acts fell within the literal definition of TDM, specifically "automated analysis ... for ... gathering ... correlations": LAION used software to check whether the image conformed to its description before including it in the dataset. - The Court cited arguments that TDM excludes mining of expressive content. It raised doubts that these arguments are convincing, held that TDM in the DSM Directive is not necessarily limited to technology then "on the radar" and noted that the AI Act treats TDM as applying to General Purpose AI. It also suggested that the ultimate use made of the dataset is not determinative: when the dataset was compiled it was not foreseeable that it would be used successfully to train artificial neural networks nor what content such AI would generate. - The Court considered prejudice to the interests of the rightholder (part of the 3-step test, A7 DSM and A5(4) InfoSoc) and suggested there was no prejudice from the dataset itself and that future uses of the dataset should not be relevant. 🔹 The Court made no final decisions over whether a restriction on the photo agency's website was a "reservation of use ... in a machine-readable format" under s.44b(3), but suggested reservations: - can be made by owners or their licensees; - need not specify TDM; - can apply to all the contents of a website; - can be natural language, given AI capabilities to understand this.

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Dr. Jörn Kowalewski, Dr. Ulrich Klockenbrink, Wolfram Prusko and Hendrik Hauke recently contributed the Germany: Restructuring & Insolvency Chapter to the Legal 500: Country Comparative Guides 2024. The piece provides a solid overview of the rules and practice of restructuring and insolvency in Germany.   Click here to view the full chapter: https://lnkd.in/dJUwNbvx   #restructuring #insolvency #thoughtleadership

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👀 UPC’s must-sees: UPC_CFI_67/2024, 6 August 2024, Manfred Sauer GmbH & Mr. Manfred Sauer v Qufora A/S 📝 Rule 7 (Rule 7 – Language of written pleadings and written evidence) & Article 51(Other Language Arrangements): Translation Tug-of-War 🥥 In a nutshell: ◾ The Applicants' request for a waiver of translation for certain exhibits is denied. ◾ Despite both parties and their representatives being native German speakers, the panel's lack of unanimous German proficiency necessitates English translations. ◾ The EPO's official languages regime is not applicable to the UPC's language requirements. 📸 The facts: ◾ Applicants argue for no translation based on the proceedings' language, parties' native language, and EPO's official language alignment. ◾ Respondent opposes, leading to a preliminary order hinting at the request's likely dismissal. ◾ Applicants persist, offering machine translations as an auxiliary measure. ⚖️ Solution: ◾ The court rules against the waiver, highlighting the panel's need for English translations due to one judge's lack of German proficiency. ◾ It refutes the relevance of EPO's official languages and the location of the Munich Local Division within Germany to the UPC's language protocols. ◾ The court finds the Applicants capable of providing translations, as evidenced by their submission of machine translations. #ifyoudontknownowyouknow #UPC #JUB #unifiedpatentcourt #juridictionunifieedubrevet

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