Our pratctise areas

Witzel Erb Backu & Partner is one of Germany’s leading firms for family law and our lawyers act for clients the length and breadth of Germany. We will advise you and your family members on the full range of legal issues concerning family and relationships. Working with our colleagues in company and tax law, we can offer you comprehensive legal advice from a single source. We recognise that family conflict situations require high levels of empathy and consequently we always explore ways of resolving matters without resorting to the courts. Our primary objective is to reach an amicable solution to disputes.

If your case involves cross-border issues or foreign jurisdictions, you are in the best of hands with Witzel Erb Backu & Partner. We have a large international network of specialist colleagues and we assist in foreign cases not only by drafting expert opinions on German family law, but also through the preparation of international prenuptial/postnuptial agreements, divorce agreements, wills etc. We also have many years of experience in acting for clients in proceedings under the Hague Convention on Civil Aspects of International Child Abduction as well as in the recognition and enforcement of foreign judgments in Germany.

Our mediators resolve private disputes out of court and arrive at practicable solutions to the satisfaction of all parties to the dispute. If no win-win solution can be achieved, our lawyers explore solutions that are economically viable and let the parties save face. Mediation is advisable in many family or inheritance disputes because it enables people to maintain a relationship even after painful separations and can often spare the parties protracted and gruelling court proceedings.

We advise our clients on the registration of trademarks and designs, manage intellectual property portfolios and defend intellectual property rights. We draft NDAs, terms of use and licence agreements, and also advise on issues of industrial espionage and unauthorised use of commercial and company secrets. If a dispute arises, we represent you and your company both in and out of court.
In the field of competition law, we support our clients in combatting their competitors’ anti-competitive conduct and defend them in cases where competitors launch unwarranted attacks. We advise during the ramp-up to promotional measures and on the permissibility and potential risks of product development from the perspective of competition law.
In copyright law we advise both on issues of the prosecution of infringements and enforcement of rights and assist with the drafting of licence and usage agreements. We support our clients both as rights holders and users in the protection and exercise of intellectual property rights deriving from software, photo, literature, music, architecture and other forms of creative endeavour.

We support departing entrepreneurs and their successors and plan and guide the transfer process. If there is no suitable successor, we develop alternative solutions to secure the continued existence of your company, such as management buy-outs, participation models or solutions using foundations. We also cover aspects relating to family and inheritance law and develop tax-optimised solutions.

Witzel Erb Backu & Partner provides legal solutions for strategic company planning for corporations, banks and SMEs. Our experts handle issues such as company formations, restructurings, disputes with shareholders, amendments to the articles of association, capital measures or changes of directors. Similarly, our lawyers will develop individually tailored strategies in matters of competition and antitrust law.

Witzel Erb Backu & Partner supports companies, entrepreneurs, supervisory boards and directors across Germany. Outsourcing measures, restructurings, HR realignments and the flexible deployment of staff are just some of the issues we deal with every day. We apply ourselves to issues of employment law and negotiation scenarios with the utmost commercial awareness and practical know-how and support you in drafting employment contracts and working with employers, works and staff councils, trades unions, public authorities and temporary employment agencies. We also advise on redundancies, termination proceedings and all director- and board-related matters.

The ongoing digitalization and the resulting need to adapt business models for the exploitation of intellectual property remains a challenge for creators and copyright collectors and at the same time offers opportunities - up to date unimagined.

We advise rights holders as well as users on the contractual design of their legal relationships in this environment of steady technological change and show options through increasingly complex legal frameworks with a particular focus on overarching legal issues, e.g. in the areas of IT law, data protection, data industry and regulation. For many years, clients along the entire value creation chain of analog and digital works, including companies from media production and distribution, television and online media, as well as authors and copyright collecting societies, have relied on our expertise.

A particular focus of our work is the judicial enforcement of our clients' copyright claims as well as the defense of claims. Our copyright litigation team is well known in the market also for conducting landmark proceedings.

Witzel Erb Backu & Partner assists with the production, marketing and use of IT services and solves complex legal issues relating to software and technologies. Our lawyers plan and guide your projects, draw up draft contracts, support contractual negotiations and are consistently on hand for you throughout all project phases. We produce expert reports and will also advise when IT projects go wrong and provide representation in court. Our IT expertise also extends to the interfaces with copyright and media law, intellectual property law, data protection law and procurement law.

Our lawyers provide support for your data-driven projects and verify that your company is working in a GDPR-compliant manner. Our practice includes the co-design and development of digital products and business models as well as the review of existing data protection concepts and rules, in particular for the energy, banking, insurance, automotive, software, chemical and media sectors. We are also well-versed in the protection of highly sensitive data, for example from the health sector.

Our expertise also extends to security requirements compliant with the NIS Directive, the German Act to Strengthen the Security of Federal Information Technology (BSIG), the German KRITIS regulations and banking and insurance supervision laws.

Witzel Erb Backu & Partner advises on all legal aspects of IT outsourcing projects and supports you in implementing the requirements of the digital world in a flexible and scalable manner. We advise service providers and fintechs/insurtechs as well as banks and insurance companies on the outsourcing of processes and functions. Our experts provide support for the implementation and monitoring of the regulatory requirements such as MARisk, EBA guidelines, BAIT/VAIT and all other framework conditions relevant to IT security law and regulatory law.

Our law firm advises and accompanies your company in all matters regarding Open Source Software Compliance. Almost every software development uses components that are provided free of charge under so called OSS licenses. Adherence to these licenses is a crucial part of the compliance measures in any company which develop or use software. Together with the company itself also the CEO is responsible for the compliant use of Open Source Software and the establishment of sufficient compliance policies. Besides our profound legal knowledge and our well-established experience in this area, we offer a great technical expertise enabling us to plan and implement the necessary compliance measures together with you. Our customers range from smaller and midsized companies up to global enterprises.

We also offer workshops regarding the Open Source Software compliance that are custom-fit for your company.

Criminal law is booming. Whereas public prosecutors, tax offices and customs authorities only used to investigate where it seemed proportionate, nowadays simple carelessness and minor transgressions can bring a citizen to the attention of the criminal authorities.

The specialists of Witzel Erb Backu & Partner have your back at every stage of a criminal case:
– Defence during the investigation, the main trial and at the appeal court
– Voluntary self-disclosure on tax matters
– Disputes with tax offices and other authorities

Criminal law has become a part of everyday commercial life. Criminal investigations are no longer the state’s last resort, but rather its default strategy for preventing companies from acting in impermissible or undesirable ways.
The experts from Witzel Erb Backu & Partner advise and represent your company, its directors and supervisory boards in all aspects of criminal law relating to fiscal and economic offences:

– Representation vis-à-vis public prosecutors, financial and regulatory authorities and in court
– Supplementary tax returns
– Guidance on raids and searches
– Averting company fines and recovery against company assets
– Advice on dealing with business partners, employees and the press
– Criminal charges on infringements caused by employees or third parties

Corporate compliance has developed rapidly over the last twenty years. Today it is unthinkable that any company – regardless of its size or range of products or services – would not have structures and organisational measures in place that avoid legal risks and exclude personal liability. Common critical points are taxes, workplace organisation and safety as well as the prevention of corruption, money laundering and data protection breaches.

The specialists from Witzel Erb Backu & Partner will work with you to devise practical compliance programs that are tailored to your company.

Our lawyers advise on the drafting of wills and contracts of inheritance, including and in particular in the international context, i.e. if clients live abroad or have assets overseas. We support departing entrepreneurs and their successors and structure and guide the transfer process. We also cover aspects relating to family and inheritance law and develop tax-optimised solutions.

We draft living wills and healthcare proxies and develop options for lifetime dispositions. Our team supports heirs and beneficiaries of compulsory portions in cases of contested wills and disputes among joint heirs, both in and out of court. Our many years of experience have taught us that personal and family disputes require high levels of empathy. For that reason we also always consider out-of-court resolution options and seek to achieve an amicable solution to disputes.

Witzel Erb Backu & Partner advises on all issues relating to the gaming industry, e-sport and gambling. Our lawyers support you for example on licensing, compliance issues, taxes or in the field of intellectual property. Our clients include providers in the gambling industry, casino companies, games manufacturers, suppliers and private-equity firms.

Witzel Erb Backu & Partner advises investors, real estate providers, landlords, property management companies and housing associations. As well as providing ongoing advice, our lawyers offer services including a review of purchase, rental and homeowners’ association agreements prior to investment decisions. We prepare division deeds, common house rules and usage agreements. We enforce contractual claims in and out of court and find optimum ways to managing real estate from the perspective tenancy law. Put yourselves in our experienced hands and benefit from our broad industry network.