Dr. Carsten Oelrichs

JUVE 2020: “An absolutely knowledgeable food lawyer” (competitor)

+49 40 22664-129

Assistance: Jennifer Steinhoff

oelrichs@zenk.com

Profile

Dr. Carsten Oelrichs is partner with ZENK.

For several years running, he has been named by JUVE as one of Germany’s leading lawyers in the food law field.

Within the ranking “Germany’s Best Lawyers”, surveyed annually by the U.S. publisher Best Lawyers and the German cooperation partner Handelsblatt, Dr. Oelrichs has also been repeatedly listed among Germany’s best business lawyers for years. In 2024, he was recognized as “Lawyer of the Year 2024” in Food Law.

Skills

Food Law,
Competition & Industrial Property Rights,
Food Deal Team

About

Born in Helgoland in 1966, Dr. Carsten Oelrichs trained as an industrial business administrator before going on to study law at the University of Hamburg, where he also worked as a research assistant at the Chair of Commercial, Shipping and Business Law. He received his doctorate in 1998, with a thesis on “Creditor Participation and Voting Bans in New Insolvency Proceedings”.

Dr. Oelrichs has been a lawyer at ZENK since 1998.
Dr. Oelrichs is chairman of the legal committee of the Food Association Germany (Lebensmittelverband Deutschland e. V.), the main organization for the German food industry, and a member of the Board of Trustees. He is co-author of the Munich Commentary [Münchener Kommentar] on the Law Against Unfair Competition (UWG) and the Guide to Food Labelling [Praxishandbuch Lebensmittelkennzeichnung].

Dr. Oelrichs is partner with HFS Hanseatic Food Science.

Herr Dr. Oelrichs ist Partner der HFS Hanseatic Food Science.

Dr. Carsten Oelrichs Zenk Rechtsanwälte2

Languages

German, English

Awards

Recognized by Best Lawyers 2027 / Handelsblatt Ranking 2026 “Germany’s Best Lawyers” in the sections Health Law, Food Law and Advertising Law

“Leading Partner 2025”, Legal 500 Germany Ranking 2025

“absolutely knowledgeable food lawyer” (competitor), JUVE 2024/2025

“professionally and personally convincing” (client), JUVE 2023/2024

“The team … based in Hamburg, is one of the undisputed market leaders in food law. It is therefore the only one that has developed such an exposed market position from a broadly based law firm. The 3 partners serve a remarkably broad spectrum of companies, and it is almost impossible to pinpoint individual products. Even competitors recognize that “strong clients” are advised. This broad experience also contributes to the team regularly acquiring new clients, including from abroad. The range of advice is completed by an established trademark and competition law practice and experience with industry-specific crises.”, JUVE 2020/2021