Clifford Chance‘s white collar, regulatory & compliance practice places the traditional focus on the financial industry and advises companies and banks in need of criminal defence and representation. The team comprehensively advises on all relevant topics, including cross-border matters, and is well versed in cum-ex, cum-cum, the emissions scandal and Russia sanctions; the practice is also instructed on administrative offence proceedings and stock exchange sanction proceedings. The highly renowned Heiner Hugger heads the team and has longstanding expertise in criminal tax law as well as allegations of corruption, embezzlement and money laundering matters; David Pasewaldt also focuses on alleged corruption, violations of capital markets criminal law and tax evasion, while Julia Baedorff, who was appointed to partner in May 2023, is particularly well versed in public prosecution and internal investigations.

DLA Piper‘s white-collar crime practice is a popular address for companies in the industrial, financial services, technology, IT, medical, pharmaceuticals, energy and logistics sectors. The comprehensive advice encompasses traditional topics in commercial and criminal tax law and is complemented by expertise in defending against allegations of corruption, fraud, embezzlement, money laundering and trade secret violations. Other key topics include the assistance with criminal accounting, insolvency, customs and foreign trade matters. Christian Schoop specialises in environmental crimes and cyber attacks; Emanuel Ballo is particularly experienced in defending national and international companies in criminal proceedings, and counsel Jürgen Taschke has expertise in employment, tax and civil law as well as longstanding experience in cross-border investigations.

Feigen · Graf Rechtsanwälte recently strengthened its position in the financial sector by adding several large banks to its client roster; the team also advises companies in the automotive and construction sectors. A core strength is the support in cum-ex and Wirecard-related matters as well as in traditional topics such as alleged fraud, money laundering, criminal tax law and corruption. Thanks to the expertise in environmental crimes, matters pertaining to the emissions scandal are also covered. The founding partners Hanns Feigen and Walther Graf lead a diverse team with various specialisations: Bernd Groß assists with cum-ex, cum-cum and greenwashing issues, while Matthias Sartorius is well versed in embezzlement proceedings and money laundering and Moritz Lange regularly conducts investigations in connection with occupational safety. The capacities in large-scale investigations and proceedings were strengthened with the addition of Andreas Minkoff in September 2023; he joined the new Munich location and was previously at ROXIN Rechtsanwälte LLP.

Wessing & Partner comprehensively covers white-collar criminal law with a particular focus on representing companies, including various large players, which the team accompanies in complex and cross-border matters such as allegations of money laundering and fraud, criminal tax issues and Covid-related billing fraud as well as GDPR fine proceedings. This is complemented by specialist expertise outside of traditional white-collar crime: Heiko Ahlbrecht is well versed in EPPO proceedings and Matthias Dann is an expert in medical criminal law, while Eren Basar specialises in cyber crime, IT and criminal data protection law. Founding partner Jürgen Wessing is well versed in preventive advice and crisis management.

Hengeler Mueller‘s white-collar criminal law expertise is regularly requested by a loyal client base consisting of large and medium-sized companies in cross-border matters and proceedings. The team follows an interdisciplinary approach and is experienced in alleged market manipulation and insider trading, criminal tax offenses including cum-ex, financial sanctions, environmental crimes and occupational safety matters. The team is jointly led by Constantin Lauterwein, whose areas of focus include fraud, negligence, tax evasion and corruption, Wolfgang Spoerr, who is experienced in criminal and administrative proceedings as well as US DoJ proceedings, and Dirk Uwer, who focuses on criminal environmental, foreign trade and data protection law.

Herbert Smith Freehills LLP acts integrated into the international network and advises well known domestic and foreign clients on key areas of white-collar criminal law, including the representation in criminal and administrative proceedings. The team is experienced in allegations of corruption, embezzlement, fraud and cyber crime as well as insolvency crimes, trade secret violations and the market-dominating topics cum-ex and the emissions scandal. Dirk Seiler heads the team and has longstanding experience in both defending companies against criminal allegations and representing damaged parties. Counsel Enno Appel left the firm in November 2022 for an in-house position.

Noerr‘s white-collar crime and tax law capacities are underpinned by longstanding experience in internal investigations and extend to criminal, confiscation and (association) administrative proceedings, where the team assists with allegations of money laundering, trade secret violations and cybercrime. Christian Pelz (fraud, embezzlement, criminal accounting, capital markets and employment law; environmental crimes, criminal tax and customs law as well as criminal foreign trade law) and Volker Rosengarten (defence against and management of cyber attacks, trade secret violations and criminal tax law issues) lead the practice together. Alida Gölz (foreign trade law and money laundering) made partner in January 2023.

FS-PP Berlin Part mbB's expertise in white-collar criminal law encompasses advice on criminal law and compliance as well as representation on both the accused and the injured party side. The practice management acts in clearly defined areas of expertise: In addition to individual defense, Niklas Auffermann is well versed in defending against money laundering allegations and their prevention across all sectors; David Albrecht acts with a particular focus on white-collar criminal law and employment law crimes, while Sebastian Vogel is experienced in medical criminal law and Rainer Frank has experience in both main and appeal proceedings and also advises on compliance issues.

Gleiss Lutz's white-collar criminal law expertise complements the firm's established compliance practice and, in addition to advising and representing industrial companies, increasingly includes instructions by banks and financial institutions. The team covers traditional cum-ex and financial fraud matters as well as allegations of money laundering, environmental crime, criminal data protection, criminal foreign trade law and employment law crimes. Investigations expert Eike Bicker heads the practice, although the majority of the team's caseload is the responsibility of Christoph Skoupil, who was appointed to partner in January 2023 and has had considerable success in defending companies against criminal and administrative offence allegations.

Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH covers all traditional areas of corporate defence and also assists with the management of collaborative defences as well as the representation of banks and financial institutions in high-profile proceedings, including cum-ex. André Große Vorholt is particularly experienced in the areas of tax evasion, embezzlement, corruption and fraud and leads the team; which follows a cross-practice approach thus also covering relevant antitrust, energy and data protection law matters.

Led by Christian Rosinus and Mathias Grzesiek, Rosinus Partner offers large companies and start-ups criminal law advice at the interface with compliance, including risk analyses in the areas of money laundering and corruption, while also frequently acting at the interface with criminal and corporate law. The appointment of Janina Brandau to salary partner in January 2023 strengthened the capacities in criminal tax and sanctions law. This is complemented by forensic experience in supporting internal investigations.

Boutique Tsambikakis & Partner Rechtsanwälte acts from Berlin, Frankfurt, Stuttgart and Cologne, and combines expertise in commercial and criminal tax law, medical criminal law and industry expertise in the healthcare sector. Here, the practice is frequently instructed by hospitals and also advises international corporations, start-ups and medium-sized companies across various other sectors. Recent instructions included traditional white-collar criminal law matters such as alleged trade secret violations, accounting fraud, employment crimes and criminal accounting law, corruption and criminal antitrust law matters. The team is led by Michael Tsambikakis, who is renowned in the healthcare sector, and represents both injured parties as well as the accused side. Another core strength is the representation of players in the gaming industry in criminal proceedings. Karolina Kessler, who is experienced in medical and commercial criminal law, made equity partner in January 2023.

White & Case LLP is best known for representing financial sector clients in criminal and administrative offence proceedings and primarily accompanies cum-ex and AFC matters, but also has experience in criminal proceedings in connection with social media and messenger services. Practice head Daniel Zapf advises national and international companies on all aspects of commercial and criminal tax law and is supported by the Berlin-based duo TineSchauburg and retired partner of counsel Nils Clemm, who have longstanding expertise in cum-ex and cum-cum proceedings. Former practice head Karl-Jörg Xylander moved to CCI-LEGAL in February 2023 and Thomas Helck left the team in April 2023 to form his own law firm HELCK Legal.