Europe

Ben Holland of K&L Gates specialises in assisting clients with international oil and gas claims, including those before arbitral institutions and the Commercial Court. He frequently acts on investment and competition disputes, as well as cases concerning price reviews. "He's a real energy guy focused in the gas space."
 

K&L Gates LLP's corporate practice is closely tied to the firm's transactional work, and mandates frequently have aspects of group law. Clients include upper medium-sized companies, executive and supervisory boards of listed companies as well as international companies. Thomas Lappe at the Berlin office has strong expertise in carve-out transactions and heads the team.

K&L Gates LLP advises upper medium-sized companies as well as international manufacturing and technology companies on domestic and cross-border transactions. The team regularly seeks advice from the firm's international network on cross-border issues and also offers transactional advice with regard to corporate and financial law as well as insolvency law in the course of distressed M&A scenarios. Thomas Lappe has strong expertise in carve-outs and heads the practice from the Berlin office

K&L Gates LLP regularly acts for both family offices as well as institutional investors seeking advice on real estate matters pertaining to project developments as well as asset acquisitions and sales in the asset categories logistics, retail, housing and care. Georg Foerstner comprehensively assists with project developments, commercial tenancy law as well as real estate disputes and Felix Greuner has broad experience in real estate transactions and financings.

K&L Gates LLP supports media industry clients with a broadly skilled TMT team in Berlin. The service offering includes a combination of media and IT law: here, copyright lawyer Friederike Gräfin von Brühl and practice head Martin von Albrecht are particularly well versed. The majority of its advice portfolio includes comprehensive advice to broadcasting companies, collecting societies and online platforms on issues pertaining to the TV, film and music sectors. Additionally, the group represents clients in proceedings related to blank media compensation and dubbing compensation, even before the Federal Supreme Court.

The German procurement team is part of K&L Gates LLP's firm-wide practice group Government Contracts and Procurement Policy and advises both public contracting authorities and franchisors as well as contractors on the whole array of procurement issues. Procurement advice on infrastructure projects and PPPs is an important mainstay for the practice. The pharma and healthcare sectors as well as the rail and public transport sectors, where the group assists with future-oriented tenders related to alternative energy supply in the transport sector, are other focal points. Annette Mutschler-Siebert heads the group and is supported by counsel Marion Baumann.

Key figures at K&L Gates LLP's team include Rainer Schmitt, who specialises in the tax structuring and implementation of cross-border investments, reorganisations and financings, and Karsten Seidel, who advises entrepreneurs and high-net-worth individuals on wealth and succession planning.

Handling fund work for many of the best-known alternative investment fund (AIF) managers, sponsors, and investors, K&L Gates' Milan asset management and investment funds team is headed by the 'very dedicated' Giovanni Meschia. Representative work includes structuring and setting up investment funds across a range of areas, such as private equity, venture capital, private debt and loan origination, unlikely to pay and non-performing loans, as well as real estate and social housing.

K&L Gates covers the whole spectrum of real estate advice, including the related areas of public law, town planning, funds and finance. The practice is sought after by clients throughout the retail, hospitality, office and logistics sectors. The key practitioner in this area is practice head Francesco Sanna.

K&L Gates’ 'supportive' team is experienced in insolvency and pre-insolvency situations, including pre-bankruptcy and debt restructuring agreements, and out-of-court debt restructuring plans. Paolo Rusconi specialises in debt restructuring deals and distressed M&A. Fabrizio Dotti's practice includes debt restructurings and insolvencies.

K&L Gates' energy, infrastructure and resources team is particularly strong in commodity transactions and infrastructure projects in the gas/LNG and power sectors. The group is led by Paolo Zamberletti, who is recommended for transactional and commercial matters, as well as disputes. In 2020, litigator Andrea Campana, who often handles IP, costs and bankruptcy disputes for energy clients, made partner.

K&L Gates' employment department is adept at drafting employment contracts, codes of conduct and employers' policies, as well as assisting with incentive plans for employees and managers, and managing disputes. The main contact is Roberto Podda, whose clients include multinational companies and large Italian industrial groups, heads the practice. The firm generates work from clients in industries such as IT, tourism and logistics

K&L Gates' team typically works on acquisition, leveraged and asset finance, corporate lending, credit funds, debt restructuring, and distressed investing. It also assists with real estate finance, refinancing and syndicated lending. Fabrizio Dotti and Paolo Rusconi are experienced advisers.

Regularly acting for large Italian and international banks on complex transactions, K&L Gates' department leader, Fabrizio Dotti, focuses on acquisition, LBO and real estate finance, along with debt restructuring and debt and loan portfolio trades. Experienced partner Paolo Rusconi is a debt restructuring transactions expert.

K&L Gates' team has specific expertise in corporate tax, VAT, withholding taxes, transfer taxes and financial transaction taxation. 'Go-to Italian tax lawyer' Vittorio Salvadori di Wiesenhoff additionally covers domestic and cross-border corporate reorganisations, M&A, private equity and real estate deals.

Recent experience for K&L Gates' Italy practice includes cross-border transactions that leverage the firm's European, US and Asian network. Milan managing partner Giampaolo Salsi advises on M&A, joint ventures and corporate transactions; Pasquale Marini is an M&A specialist; Paolo Zamberletti is an energy expert; and Arturo Meglio focuses on corporate matters.

K&L Gates advises on a wide range of corporate and commercial issues, with an emphasis on transactions in the TMT sector. Infrastructure, construction and financial services are other key areas of expertise. Amjad Hussain has a broad corporate, commercial and finance practice, and displays strong knowledge of the TMT and infrastructure sectors.

K&L Gates represents a number of international companies, particularly in the construction and engineering sectors. The practice handles international and domestic arbitration and litigation. Additional sectors of strength include oil and gas, and banking and finance. Matthew Walker, who is based in the Doha and London offices, heads the construction and dispute resolution practices.

K&L Gates has an active presence in the infrastructure and PPP space. The firm's client roster includes some of Qatar's leading utilities and construction companies, state-owned entities and the government. Amjad Hussain has a strong background in infrastructure and financing. Matthew Walker leads the team's dispute resolution work and has extensive construction law expertise. Counsel Pawel Piotrowski, who specialises in PPP, front-end construction and projects work, is also noted.

K&L Gates' Jonathan Sutcliffe handles a range of disputes, including arbitration proceedings ranging from construction to technology and commodities, as either arbitrator or counsel. Canadian-qualified Nazanin Aleyaseen handles a range of work, with some matters involving a crossover with internal investigations.

K&L Gates provides a full-service labour and employment practice in both contentious and non-contentious matters in the Middle East and North Africa region. The team regularly advise on compliance with the local employment regime, employment contracts, termination and redundancies. On the contentious side, the practice advises on matters from restrictive covenants and arbitrary dismissal, through to discrimination and unpaid dues. Practice head Nazanin Aleyaseen has significant experience handling cases before the DIFC courts.

K&L Gates GP handles a wide ambit of corporate mandates for Belgian and international clients operating in areas such as aviation, food, IT and pharmaceuticals. Its workload spans public and private M&A, capital markets, venture capital and private equity transactions, restructurings and joint ventures, among other matters. In addition, the firm demonstrates strong capabilities advising on complex commercial issues, such as those concerning outsourcing, distribution, manufacturing and licensing agreements. Patrice Corbiau and Jeroen Smets co-head the practice.

K&L Gates GP's international platform allows it to successfully negotiate merger clearances from the EC, US FTC and DOJ, and competition authorities worldwide. The Brussels team is also a strong performer in antitrust investigations and litigation; Philip Torbøl has two decades of experience robustly defending clients' interests in EC investigations into cartels, abuses of dominance and state aid, among other matters. Mélanie Bruneau, who is an expert in EU and French law, handles transactional and behavioural competition matters for clients in industries such as aviation, pharmaceuticals and industrial engineering, among various others. Francesco Carloni is a well-known name among clients in the luxury and fashion industry; he is representing Camera Nazionale della Moda Italiana and Fédération de la Haute Couture et de la Mode in the EC's ongoing review of the Vertical Block Exemption Regulation (VBER) and vertical guideline. His wide-ranging experience also spans multiple other sectors.

The K&L Gates team is always available and collaborative and focus on the real needs of the clients. The Partners are very well qualified lawyers, proactive and always focused on finding legal solution adapted to the clients’ needs.

A worldwide network of competition lawyers with deep knowledge in fashion law.

At K&L Gates GP, the international trade team predominantly handles sanctions matters and market access issues, with further WTO regulatory expertise across various jurisdictions. Headed by Brussels office founding partner Philip Torbøl, the group is routinely instructed by Amadeus IT Group, and recently advised on global distribution systems concerning both China and the UAE.

Claude Etienne Armingaud is, in my opinion, the partner who stands out for several reasons. Beyond the legal skills, he demonstrates a very good knowledge of technological subjects and privacy implications. In addition, he invests heavily in the development of privacy professionals, whether young lawyers, jurists or others.

The impressive knowledge of the field of personal data protection is undoubtedly the asset of the team of this law firm. Knowing all regulations and legislative updates regarding personal data allows for practical and in-depth advice. They are pragmatic and competent in any matter of personal data protection whatever the legal basis to be used: French legislation, European regulations, international texts. I highly recommend the K&L Gates for any digital society legal issue born.

With notable experience in the implementation of GDPR compliance and data protection, the team at K&L Gates LLP coordinates with the firm's wider European practice to act for multinational clients in the luxury goods, entertainment, and telecoms sectors. Practice head Claude-Etienne Armingaud frequently acts for fintech clients in contentious multi-jurisdictional matters regarding IP and IT data protection.

Ben Holland of K&L Gates comes recommended for his specialist expertise in gas pricing disputes, which forms part of his commercial arbitration practice. He is sought after by clients in the energy sector and has a particular focus on Europe. "He's a really good energy disputes specialist."