Company law

Company law plays a vital role for businesses operated by entrepreneurs of a company. A company is an entity which has systemised series of transactions involving an amalgam of various level of stakeholders.

Before a company is incorporated or set-up, it is essential to outline the regulations, suitable legal forms and legalities of company law to ensure the entity is smooth functioning. After a company is incorporated or set-up, it is important to design the identity of a company in an individual way to assure it fits the specific business model, needs of the market and shareholders.

It is crucial for a company to adapt the cycle of changing requirements and circumstances in our current competitive business world in order to evolve. Disputes faced within a company are the subject of corporate law advice, which also includes representing an entity´s interest in or out of court. Our legal team offers services within the area of corporate law, ranging from handling issues involving founders, start-ups and established SMEs - all around and from a single source.

Choosing the right legal form

Depending on the constellation of the founders, financial resources of the future company and the "liability burden" of the business activity, the right legal form must be `cherry-picked` out of a variety of options. We provide professional support for company founders in word and deed by selecting the right legal form out of common forms of companies and partnerships.

• Sole proprietorship, registered trader (e.K.)
• Civil law partnership (GbR)
• Partnership company (PartG mbB, PartGmbB, Part mbB or PartmbB)
• Limited partnership (KG and GmbH & Co. KG)
• General partnership (OHG)
• Limited liability company (GmbH)
• Public limited company (AG)
• Cooperative (e.G.)

When it comes to the right legal form, however, it is regularly not only a question of corporate law: employment law, industrial property protection, contract law and the areas of IT and data protection can also have an influence. In such cases, our clients benefit from our expertise in corporate law, including cross-divisional advice keeping an eye on the bigger picture to finds the right corporate law solution for each and every individual cases.

Shaping of society

Upon choosing the right legal form, we accompany our clients throughout the formation process until the company is ready to operate on the market. We efficiently handle the preparation of documents for the formation of a company reflecting the interests of its shareholders, e.g. the Articles of Association. Our services also includes preparation of employment contract for the managing director(s).

In addition to drafting the contractual basis of a company, we support our clients in the context of other measures which influences the structure of a company or the staffing of certain functions. To be more specific, we provide competent assistance for matters related to appointment and dismissal of executive bodies or members of executive bodies, including restructuring a company throughout the course of its life cycle.

For example, we provide support in the form of advice and representation in connection with

• Rights and obligations of shareholders, managing directors, executive board and supervisory board
• Contract drafting (e.g. managing director, board of directors, etc.)
• Appointment, dismissal and termination of members of governing bodies
• Preparation of articles of association, amendments to Articles of Association incl. entries in the commercial register
• Shareholder liability, directors' and officers' liability
• Capital increases
• Admission of new shareholders
• Conversion, division, merger
• Sale of shares, sale of company

Our team will be at your side to unravel a crisis if there are signs of over-indebtedness or insolvency of your company. Needless to say, we represent ourselves as a reliable contact when it comes matters involving liquidation of companies and their deletion from the commercial register.

Shareholders, executive bodies, etc.

Legal advice in corporate law is not only limited to advising companies. It is not uncommon for individual shareholders, groups of shareholders or organisation of a company are in need of support in the area of corporate law. This may concern the entry or the (un)voluntary exit from a company, but also legal disputes encountered between a company and its shareholders or a company and its organisation in matters comprising competencies and, accordingly, the effectiveness of certain measures.

Legal disputes

Not every shareholder disputes can be resolved out of court with an amicable settlement between the company and its shareholders or between the shareholders themselves.

If this is the case for you, our fully integrated team of laywers can enforce your rights and claims in court - at our locations and throughout Germany.