Find Lawyers in Germany for Restructuring and Insolvency Law
Practice Area Overview
Insolvency proceedings are initiated on request when a debtor can no longer use his assets to satisfy creditors at all or at least not on a timely basis. Creditors can be private individuals as well as corporations. The purpose of insolvency proceedings is to come up with the best way to satisfy creditors. In the process, the insolvency code specifically preserves the value of a business by requiring the development of a restructuring plan known as an insolvency plan.
Germany’s new insolvency law (ESUG), established in 2012 reinforces the idea of insolvency proceedings as a lawful restructuring process. It aims at facilitating the restructuring process of a business by giving creditors more say in the choice of insolvency administrators, by clearing the path to self-administration as well as by expanding and streamlining insolvency plan procedures.
For example, if a business facing default or excessive debt files for insolvency prior to reaching the point of insolvency, then that business is entitled under the insolvency code to use the insolvency proceedings as part of its restructuring process. That means, once its motion for bankruptcy has been granted by a court, the debtor is given a self-administration period of up to three months without any enforcement measures under the supervision of a provisional trustee appointed as part of protective proceedings in which the debtor may produce a restructuring plan to be subsequently applied as an insolvency plan.
As a result of the renewed focus on preserving businesses, the new law has further led to increased qualifications and demands for insolvency administrators and for law firms specializing in insolvency administration. In this context, it doesn’t matter whether an administrator is hired as insolvency administrator as part of regular insolvency proceedings or as a trustee as part of a business’s self-administrative restructuring process.
When it comes to preserving and restructuring a business, it’s imperative to perform an analysis of its current assets, financial position and earnings performance. At the same time, the idea is to break down any complex business models into their individual core elements. This analysis provides the foundation for developing a tailor-made restructuring concept. Such a concept incorporates all restructuring options in line with existing insolvency laws, along with ways to eliminate the causes of insolvency as well as reasonable prospects of successfully maintaining a business, while always keeping in mind the best interests of creditors.
In addition to law and business expertise, administrators charged with the short-term implementation of restructuring measures need strong social skills and assertiveness. After all, it takes an administrator who is accepted and respected by all sides to gain both the trust of all parties involved and the support necessary for implementing an insolvency plan that works in putting a business back on its feet.
The ultimate backbone of any administrator is a law firm with its own highly scalable infrastructure of combined law and business expertise. That’s because transparent and efficient work processes and a thorough understanding of project management are all vital to the successful outcome of any proceedings.
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Born in 1972, Law School University of Munich (first state examination 1998). Additional studies of business administration at the University Hagen. Doctorate in 2006, certified specialist lawyer for labour law since 2006, certified specialist lawyer for Corporate and Commercial Law since 2021.
Dr Thorsten Bieg advises national and international companies, creditors, investors and suppliers/customers in situations of crises. He specialises in the areas of insolvency law and restructuring, legal, financial and accounting reorganisation, trusteeships, corporate law, mergers & acquisitions and advice in times of crisis.
Frank Büchler is a lawyer and partner at Friedrich Graf von Westphalen & Partner in Freiburg. He specialises in restructuring and insolvency law. He is a member of the Expert Committee on Banking and Capital Markets Law of the Freiburg Bar Association, the Working Group on Banking and Capital Markets Law in the DAV and the Bankrechtlichen Vereinigung - Wissenschaftliche Gesellschaft für Bankrecht e. V. He speaks German, English and French.
Jörg Döhrer advises and represents companies throughout Germany – chiefly from the automotive, mechanical engineering, power supply, IT and foods sectors – in all issues relating to employment law. His clients include management boards, managing directors and executives. His work is focused on providing consultancy services on issues relating to operational and corporate co-determination as well as planning, assisting with and implementing employment law-related restruct...
Gordon Geiser is a partner with GT Restructuring. His clients include investors as well as companies in distressed situations and their respective management. Gordon Geiser regularly acts as restructuring advisor to his clients to develop and implement restructuring concepts by means of both debtor-in-possession proceedings and regular insolvency proceedings. He also gets appointed as insolvency administrator. When acting for his clients, Gordon Geiser takes on positions in the management of ...
Dr. Matthias Horbach is head of Skadden’s German M&A practice, advising on complex cross-border mergers and acquisitions, inbound and outbound investments, corporate finance, and various other corporate transactions. Mr. Horbach’s M&A work includes advising a broad range of clients, including industrial companies, private equity investment firms and investment banks, on acquisitions, dispositions, cross-border mergers, joint ventures and public takeover transactions. In th...
Christiane Huismans, born in 1966 in Telgte (Westphalia), studied law in Münster following her banking apprenticeship in Bremen and has been working as a lawyer since 1996. Since 2017, she has been offering support in conflict situations as a mediator. Christiane Huismans is a partner at ZENK.* Due to her many years of experience as a lawyer in insolvency administrator law firms, on the side of intensive support of the credit industry as well as in large international law firms, Christia...
Dr. Stephan Hutter focuses on international capital markets transactions, cross-border corporate matters and M&A transactions as well as corporate governance and compliance matters. Dr. Hutter has a particularly broad range of experience in initial public offerings, capital increases and high-yield debt financings involving international securities offerings of German, Austrian and Swiss companies, including dual listings and private placements of shares and debt securities in the United ...
Heinrich Meyer is partner at BEITEN BURKHARDT's Frankfurt office and co-head of the practice group Banking/Finance & Capital Markets. He is also responsible for the legal areas restructuring, corporate rescue and insolvency. His area of activity comprises, in addition to consulting on debt capital financing, mainly advice on (pre-)insolvency law aspects of corporate rescues, enforcement or defence of claims in insolvency cases as well as liability claims against corporate bodies. He also ...
Frank R. Primozic is Partner at BEITEN BURKHARDT's Frankfurt office and member of the practice group Banking/Finance & Capital Markets. Additionally he is working in the competence area of Restructuring, Recapitalization and Insolvency. He is specialised in insolvency-related issues and renders advice on collateralised financings, the relating securities and their realisation within and outside of opened insolvency proceedings. In these areas Frank Primozic provides legal advice and repre...
Stefan Proske is a partner of HEUKING KÜHN LÜER WOJTEK since 2012. Before he worked for various law firms in the areas of insolvency administration and pre-insolvency consultation. Today Stefan Proske provides comprehensive legal advice and representation on all legal aspects of crisis/reorganization/insolvency. Besides representation of creditors he regularly advices companies in reorganization, their directors and investors in distressed situations. Stefan Proske regularly publish...
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