Berlin/Frankfurt—Global law firm Dentons has elected German Managing Partner Andreas Ziegenhagen as a new member of the European management. His appointment took place in connection with the election of the entire European board, which in addition to Andreas includes Evan Lazar (Chairman), Oleg Batyuk, John Flanigan, Arkadiusz Krasnodebski as well as Dariusz Oleszczuk, former CEO Dentons Europe, and, ex officio, his newly elected successor Tomasz Dabrowski. All members are elected for a period of two years starting from January 1, 2014.

The election also entails changes for the German Management. Andreas will maintain his position as Managing Partner Germany, but he will receive additional support from experienced colleague: Dr. Stephan Busch, Head of Tax Germany, who is now Managing Partner of the Berlin office.

Andreas is delighted about his appointment: “Over the past years, Dr. Hermann Meller has represented us very well as a board member—the German partnership is very grateful for his efforts. Thanks to the exciting development of the Dentons combination, I am looking forward to my new responsibilities. Additionally, the outcome of the election shows the acceptance of our German strategy—on both the national and European level.”

Stephan adds that this change also entails the challenge to strengthen the German locations in a strategic way and is “glad to be a part of the development in the Berlin office."  Daniel agrees: “Although we already are one of the largest law firms worldwide, we still want to move forward in Germany—we are convinced that this will be possible thanks to the experienced lawyers by our side.”

The development of Dentons in Germany over the past years underlines these statements. Since its market entry in 2006, the German practice increased from 30 lawyers and professionals to approximately 80 today, including eight partners in the Frankfurt office and 13 partners in the Berlin office. According to JUVE Handbook of German Commercial Law Firms 2013/2014, Dentons was able to gain market recognition in various area such as Corporate, M&A, Healthcare, Restructuring and Insolvency, Tax, Private Equity & Venture Capital, Rest Estate and Competition as well as Intellectual Property.

All signs point towards future growth: Since May of last year, Dentons has gained three new partners: Michal Graf (International Tax), Robert Bastian (Private Equity/M&A) and Dr. Ilka Mehdorn (Healthcare/Life Sciences). Dentons is thus set to develop from a Top 50 law firm to a Top 20 law firm in Germany over the course of the next years.

About Dentons

Redefining possibilities. Together, everywhere. For more information visit dentons.com