Corporate – Tax – Commercial – Criminal Law
The law firm
We are experts in commercial criminal law and criminal tax law with international dimensions.
We defend and advise companies, managers, corporate bodies, and private individuals in criminal law crises and for the prevention of such situations. Problem solving is our mission. Complex proceedings, counselling of corporate bodies, and the management of criminal law projects are part of our everyday work.
This is why our lawyers have not only the academic background, but also the ability to bring their knowledge to bear in their day-to-day work with investigation authorities and our clients. From our offices in Munich, Berlin, and Frankfurt, we counsel and defend clients in Germany and Europe. Our clients benefit from our lawyers’ nation-wide and international networks. We apply our many years of experience in our team of highly committed lawyers.
Fields of Law
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Commercial criminal law has long sanctioned more than just (subsidy) fraud and embezzlement. Decision-makers and companies are increasing being targeted by public prosecutors intensifying their fight against suspected white-collar crimes.
We have many years of experience in defending managers as well as national and international companies and corporations of all sizes. We support our clients in all stages of criminal and fine proceedings, from internal investigations or search raids to hearings before authorities, courts, or investigation committees, investigation proceedings, and main hearings to appeals.
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(Corporate) compliance means strictly conforming to the applicable laws and regulations in organisational processes. Companies’ and managers’ fundamental duty to make arrangements to prevent crimes being committed “from inside the organisation” has long been an established practice. However, the requirements are becoming ever more complex. And they increase by leaps and bounds when criminal offenses suggesting deficiencies in the in-house compliance systems are exposed in a company’s own (or a competitor’s) organisation. Internal investigations are indispensable in many of these situations.
We have longstanding experience in both preventive counselling of companies to avoid risks under criminal law (corporate compliance) and internal reviews and investigations of compliance cases.
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In medical criminal law, sanction risks for medical practitioners and companies have also increased considerably in the last few years. Apart from “classic” proceedings focusing on the accusation of medical malpractice (categorised as “bodily harm” under criminal law) or violations of medical confidentiality (categorised as “violation of private secrets” under criminal law), the number of investigations revolving around white-collar crimes in the medical sector, in particular, has been increasing further. Physicians, dentists, pharmacists, as well as hospitals, laboratories, and other service providers are increasingly confronted with accusations of accounting fraud, embezzlement, or corruption in the healthcare sector as well as punishable regulatory offences (e.g. under the German Medicinal Products Act [Arzneimittelgesetz, AMG]).
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Professionals such as lawyers, patent attorneys, tax consultants, physicians, dentists, and pharmacists are subject to the rules and regulations of their respective professions. Violations of these rules and regulations regularly lead to proceedings under professional law – minor infractions may be punished directly by the respective professional associations, while more severe violations are brought before the competent courts of professional conduct. Criminal proceedings against members of the professions are regularly followed by professional proceedings. In principle, the latter may then lead to exclusion from professional activity or revocation of the respective licence.
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Our approach to criminal law is international, European, and global.
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Appeals and constitutional complaints are the masterpiece of criminal law expertise. Only a handful of attorneys in Germany have the professional knowledge and experience required to lead an appeal to success. Professor Dr Christoph Knauer is Honorary Professor for Commercial Criminal Law and Criminal Appeals at Munich’s Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität and the editor of the landmark Munich Commentary on the German Code of Criminal Procedure, in which he comments on the regulations for appeals, and regularly works as defence counsel in appeal proceedings, especially before the German Federal Court of Justice. He is frequently already involved in an advisory capacity during ongoing main hearings with a view to “setting the course” for the appeal in the court of lower instance.
