Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer news, updates and analysis | Page 27 of 43

In a bid strengthen its platform in Germany, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is closing its Cologne office, with the bulk of its staff transferring to the firm’s existing Düsseldorf outpost.

Some 18 partners and 50-60 associates currently based in Cologne will move to Düsseldorf to ‘create a larger and broader’ offering of more than 40 partners. Also joining that office is corporate partner Andreas Fabritius and worldwide corporate practice group head Rick van Aerssen who move from Freshfields’ Frankfurt office.

Cologne’s private equity team – corporate partners Ludwig Leyendecker and Kai Hasselbach and six associates – will be transferring to the firm’s existing Munich office in a bid to ‘build out Munich as one of the hubs of private equity’.

The new office will be called the Rhineland office and will be managed by IP litigation partner Matthias Koch, who was based in Cologne. The office will focus on transactional, investigation, regulatory and litigation capabilities.

The Rhineland office will also be the main hub for global investigations in Germany, and corporate partner Franz Aleth will lead global integrations and separations with an aim to work more closely with Freshfields’ US practice.

The transition will begin next year, with the firm planning to find a new location in Düsseldorf by 2018, allowing two-years for the initial transition phase. Cologne based associates and business services staff were informed of the transition yesterday (16 December).

In November Freshfields confirmed it was restructuring to create what it said would be the ‘perfect platform’ for a stronger presence in the Rhineland.

Freshfields incoming co-managing partner Stephan Eilers said: ‘This is much more than an office merger. We further strengthen our stellar teams in Germany’s financial and industrial centres. They will work as part of our wider German practice, giving clients what they demand – capabilities in the major economic regions of Germany and a seamless cross-German offering that will harness the skills of all our lawyers in the country regardless of where they are based.’

Eilers said the firm’s restructuring was not a performance driven initiative and that it has no plans to close or restructure any other offices in Germany and Austria. The firm has around 125 partners in both countries.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

For more on management changes and the challenges ahead for Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer, see The last champions – meet the leaders intent on sealing Freshfields’ place in the global elite (£)

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer is stripping back its worldwide support network in favour of its new Manchester back-office centre as it closes its global IT and helpdesk function in Germany.

The news comes as figures finally emerge from the firm around how many staff currently reside at the firm’s new support and legal outpost in Manchester. The new hub, called the Global Centre, houses between 70 and 75 staff members at its temporary Arndale Centre location, and is expected to grow rapidly to 300 employees by mid-2016 – more than a threefold headcount increase over the next seven months.

Plans are the Global Centre will offer international legal support to its offices worldwide, with the bulk of the German IT function closing, affecting 30 employees.

Stephan Eilers, incoming co-managing partner, said: ‘The firm has closed down parts of IT in Germany and has transferred work to Manchester. It’s not only an efficiency thing but a better way of working together. It’s about allocating things that can be better done in Manchester to Manchester.’

The firm plans to extend this function to other international offices, offering a 24/7 service, starting with Europe and Asia. ‘We are looking very closely at Manchester,’ said Asia managing partner Robert Ashworth. ‘The function is designed to ensure clients and lawyers in Asia get the benefit of services in a different time zone – a 24/7 capability. We are looking to maximise the full capacity in Manchester.’

The hub will accommodate legal services staff, as well as human resources, IT, marketing and business development, office management, document specialists and change management.

The firm will move to a permanent location at One New Bailey in Salford at the beginning of 2017, double the size of its current base after it leased out 80,000 sq ft of office space. Freshfields plans to roll out two more international hubs within the next five years with one in the US and one in Asia.

The launch has been a controversial move for Freshfields, having transferred or made redundant a number of back-office employees at its Fleet Street headquarters. While the redundancy consultation with individuals has closed, the firm has refused to confirm how many were laid off.

The closing down of the IT function in Germany follows the announcement that Freshfields will close either its Cologne or Düsseldorf office in a bid to consolidate its German operation. 

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk

For more on management changes and challenges at Freshfields, subscribers can read: ‘The last champions – meet the leaders intent on sealing Freshfields’ place in the global elite.’

 

In a rare move, Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer will combine its Cologne and Düsseldorf offices to create what it says will be the ‘perfect platform’ for a stronger presence in the Rhineland.

The decision to combine the offices, which are around 45km apart, comes as the firm looks to reconfigure its German operation to create more efficiency.

A spokesperson for the firm said the merger is ‘not driven by cost or a requirement to downsize’, but to create ‘greater efficiency’ and have ‘more lawyers in a single location to offer a stronger and more specialist platform.’ 

Freshfields is currently deciding whether staff will based in Düsseldorf or Cologne, and how much new office space is required. Either way, more space will be needed to accommodate the merger of the two similarly sized offices.

Each office currently has around 20 partners and 120 fee-earners. When combined, the new office will house a 240-strong team with around 40 partners.

Freshfields’ Germany and Austria managing partner Klaus-Stefan Hohenstatt said: ‘We are currently working on medium-term plans to merge our offices in Cologne and Düsseldorf into one office. This will provide us with the perfect platform to create even larger and stronger teams for our clients. The essential aim is to have a stronger presence in the Rhineland.’

The combination is expected to take place next year and will leave the firm with five offices in Germany including Berlin, Frankfurt, Hamburg and Munich, and 600 lawyers in total.

The move comes as White & Case prepares to shut its Munich office after almost ten years since opening, offering its 11-lawyer team the opportunity to relocate to its larger Frankfurt base.

The office closure will affect partners Markus Langen and Tobias Freiherr von Tucher, five local partners and four associates.

jaishree.kalia@legalease.co.uk