LAW FIRM
ZENK Rechtsanwälte Partnerschaft mbB is an independent, full service commercial law firm with approx. 50 lawyers, a notary office, a mediation practice and a tax consulting service at its offices in Hamburg and Berlin. It advises on national and international projects in all core areas of commercial law. Our clients include medium-sized German companies, international corporations and public institutions at federal, state and local levels.
Hamburg
ZENK was founded in Hamburg at the beginning of the 1970s. At present, approximately 30 lawyers and a tax consultant advise clients at the Hamburg office on Neuer Wall.
Berlin
During the reunification of Germany in 1991, the Berlin branch was opened in the government district to establish a presence in the newly emerging political and cultural metropolis.
At present, the Berlin office at Reinhardtstraße has approximately 20 lawyers. It also has its own notary office led by three notaries.
AWARDS
ZENK lawyers have been listed and awarded as leading advisors in the German legal market for years in numerous renowned rankings in the various fields of law. These rankings are based on surveys of leading media among legal colleagues (peer-to-peer reviews) and other market participants such as clients.
Best Lawyers / Handelsblatt
Exclusively for the German Handelsblatt and based on an extensive peer-to-peer survey, US publisher Best Lawyers identifies every year the leading advisors in the German legal market. The lawyers are nominated by colleagues and market participants and then evaluated in an anonymous survey. The ranking is also published exclusively in the Handelsblatt as “Germany’s Best Lawyers”.
ZENK is pleased about the recognition of the following heads as “Germany’s Best Lawyers 2024”:
In Employment Law, Dr. Markus Kelber and Dr. Rolf Zeißig were again honored.
In Construction Law, Alexander Baden was honored for the seventeenth year in a row, and Dr. Peer Feldhahn, Anja Teiwes, and Florian Werner, Dipl.-Ing. (FH) were honored again.
In Energy Law, Dr. Ralf Hüting was honored again. In Mergers and Acquisitions (M&A), Jan Dietze received an award. Christiane Huismans was honored for the first time in Insolvency Law & Restructuring.
In Intellectual Property Law, Dr. Christian Freudenberg, Prof. Dr. Stefanie Hartwig and Dr. Lisa Feuerhake were repeatedly honored.
In Real Estate Law, Alexander Baden, Dr. Oliver Nowoczyn, Dr. Henrik Nacke, Victoria-Luise Vollstedt, LL. M. and Birgitta Weihrich were honored.
In Public Commercial Law, Dr. Kostja von Keitz was honored again and Dr. Martin Düwel, Claudia Gehricke and Dr. Wolfgang Hopp were honored for the first time.
In Environmental Law, Dr. Wolfgang Hopp, Dr. Ralf Hüting, Dr. Kostja von Keitz and Dr. Martin Düwel were honored.
For the sixteenth consecutive year Dr. Carsten Oelrichs was honored in Advertising Law as well as for Food Law and Health Law.
Sonja Schulz, LL. M. was honored for Food Law and Prof. Dr. Stefanie Hartwig received an award in Advertising Law.
JUVE Legal Directory
JUVE “Handbuch Wirtschaftskanzleien” is a reference work of the German legal market. The publication is based on extensive research carried out by an independent editorial team among law firms, corporate managers, representatives of public authorities and employees of the judiciary and academia.
The 2023/2024 handbook makes special mention of: Dr. Carsten Oelrichs (‘professionally and personally convincing,’ client); Prof. Dr. Stefanie Hartwig (‘looks beyond the horizon,’ competitor, ‘very knowledgeable in trademark and copyright law,’ competitor); Alexander Baden (‘very competent and client-oriented,’ client; ‘very experienced, also pragmatic and straightforward,’ client); Dr. Henrik Nacke (‘level-headed and collegial negotiator,’ client); Dr. Christian Freudenberg (‘very cooperative despite tough dispute,’ competitor)
Legal 500 Guide for Germany
“The Legal 500 (Germany)” is a detailed qualitative review of law firms and lawyers in 48 specialist areas and is used as a reference by professionals and clients. Every year, the editorial staff interviews hundreds of lawyers and records around 14,000 client references.
In the 2024 survey, ZENK was listed in the rankings for the Hamburg metropolitan region and the Brandenburg/Berlin metropolitan region, for the Food Law and Environment Law Consultancy. Prof. Dr. Stefanie Hartwig was recognized as leading lawyer for food law advice.
FOCUS Magazine
Also for the eighth year in a row, the Construction Law Department at ZENK was listed as a recommended commercial law practice by the FOCUS editorial team in their special edition on “Germany’s Top Lawyers 2023”. The list is categorised into 24 specialist areas of law. The Germany-wide ranking is based on recommendations from peers and surveys of legal departments in companies.