Partner| AttorneyDR. JÖRG WULFKEN
Dr. Jörg Wulfken is one of the notorious German banking and finance lawyers with many years of professional experience in banks, various large law firms, and notably one of the Big Four accounting firms. He excels in financings of various types including structured financings, financial institutions M&A transactions, and regulatory law. He additionally holds a plethora of experience in bank resolution. Besides banks and financial service providers, his clients include private equity companies, family offices, companies in the real economy, and the public sector. Jörg Wulfken possesses several years of consulting experience in investment banking as well as pertinent management experience. More than that, he retains expertise in the special markets of so-called soccer financing along with “social and impact finance”.
Contact
T
+49 (0)69 4005013-24

F
+49 (0)69 4005013-99
Jörg Wulfken studied law in Hamburg from 1980 to 1987 and received his doctorate from the University of Constance in 1989 with a thesis on the global debt crisis. After working for Westdeutsche Landesbank in Düsseldorf, Clifford Chance in London and Frankfurt, and Bankgesellschaft Berlin, he served as a partner at the renowned law firm Mayer Brown in Frankfurt for 14 years, including more than 7 years as German Managing Partner and in the global management functions Management Board, Partnership Board, and Asian Board. From 2015 to 2020, he joined PwC Wirtschaftsprüfungsgesellschaft GmbH as a partner, where he was responsible for the Financial Services Legal practice in Germany and globally. He, among other things, developed a practice advising on soccer finance and in the area of "Social and Impact Finance" there.
Jörg Wulfken was a lecturer at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management for many years and has authored numerous publications, including co-editing the book "Performing and Non-Performing Loan Transactions Across the World - a Practical Guide", which was published by Euromoney in its 2nd edition in 2014. He, furthermore, is a member of the Supervisory Board of Deutsche Beteiligungs AG and the Georgian Micro Finance Institute JSC Georgian Credit, as well as a member of the Board of Directors of the Wulfken Foundation, which he established.

Languages: German, English, French

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Partner ❘ Attorney ❘ LL.M.DR. JOHANNES BRUSKI LL.M.
Dr. Johannes Bruski is a partner in the law firm Bruski Smeets & Lange.  He has extensive know-how and many years of experience in advising on numerous large-volume transactions in the areas of M&A, joint ventures, private equity, and venture capital. He has also led litigation and arbitration proceedings in this context. In complex, mostly cross-border projects, national and international clients regularly rely on his advice. He also advises clients on all aspects of corporate finance and financial regulatory issues.

Contact
T
+49 (0)69 4005013-29

F
+49 (0)69 4005013-99
johannes.bruski@bruskismeetslange.com
Dr. Johannes Bruski studied law at the University of Bonn and received his doctorate there in 1990. In 1989, he obtained a Master of Laws degree from McGill University in Canada. He was admitted to the Frankfurt bar in 1992. From 1997 to 1998, he was a partner at Bruckhaus Westrick Stegemann (now Freshfields). From 1999 to 2016, he was a partner at Allen & Overy. In addition to his leading role in expanding the German offices, he played a significant role in establishing Allen & Overy's cooperation office in Saudi Arabia since 2009. In Saudi Arabia, he acted for international investors, for some of the largest Saudi companies, for the Saudi Central Bank, and various ministries. He joined Bruski Smeets & Lange as a partner in May 2018. 

He is the author of serveral professional publications and has held teaching positions at the Universities of Jena and Hamburg. In 1989, he was awarded the "Quebec Securities Commission Award for Research in Securities".

Languages: German, English, Italian, French 

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Partner| AttorneyDR. PETER SMEETS
Dr. Peter Smeets is a founding partner of the law firm Bruski Smeets & Lange. Clients value his substantial and seasoned expertise in asset finance, structured finance, M&A as well as private equity and venture capital. Alongside that, he also qualified as a managing director of a credit institution by the German Federal Financial Supervisory Authority (BaFin) and works on a mandate-related basis for financial services providers in the area of compliance and regulation at management level.
Smeets studied law at the University of Frankfurt am Main and received his doctorate from the University of Konstanz. After completing his studies, he began his career in 1995 at the renowned law firm Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer. In early 2001, he founded his own law firm, Smeets Haas Wolff, which merged with the major international law firm Paul Hastings in 2008. From 2008 to 2015, Peter Smeets was head of Paul Hastings' Frankfurt office and a member of the firm's global management committee. In 2017, he co-founded Tortell Smeets & Lange with Enrique Tortell and Edouard Lange.

Languages: German, English

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Partner| AttorneyEDOUARD LANGE
Edouard Lange is a partner at the law firm Bruski Smeets & Lange. Clients benefit from his many years of expertise in strategic issues in all areas of corporate finance, in the analysis and optimisation of existing financing solutions, and in the implementation of equity and debt financing of all kinds. His practice focuses particularly on clients in the area of structured finance, including structured real estate loans, export, and project finance, acquisition finance, and the securitisation of loans and trade receivables.
Edouard Lange studied law at the University of Frankfurt am Main and at the University of Paris X Nanterre. He started his career in 2003 at Smeets Haas Wolff and was a partner at Paul Hastings in Frankfurt from 2008 to 2017. He has been a partner at Bruski Smeets & Lange since autumn 2017.

Languages: German, English, French

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Counsel| AttorneyULRIKE SEDLAK
Ulrike Sedlak has accompanied and carried out numerous transactions and corporate law measures. She has many years of experience which enable her to identify the interests of her clients in the best possible way and to assert them in contractual negotiations. She does not get lost in the minutiae, but keeps an eye on the overarching interest of her clients and the economic objective of the overall project. Bruski Smeets & Lange's clients appreciate her foresight, efficiency, and results orientation.
Ulrike Sedlak's holistic advisory approach also covers pre-litigation advice as well as the conduct of contentious proceedings. The expertise gained through this, particularly in the determination of litigation strategies and risk management, results in synergy effects that further strengthen her non-contentious advice.
Ulrike Sedlak studied law at the Ludwig Maximilian University in Munich. During her legal clerkship at the Higher Regional Court of Frankfurt, she worked as a freelancer for various commercial law firms. After completing her second state examination, she began her career as a lawyer in the predecessor firm of Bruski Smeets & Lange in 2012. Ulrike Sedlak has been part of the Bruski Smeets & Lange team since the firm was founded.

In addition to her training in business law, Ulrike Sedlak has also completed further training in the field of intellectual property law. 

Languages: German, English

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Counsel | AttorneyDr. SARAH GBEKOR
Dr Sarah Gbekor combines a profound understanding of economic context with legal expertise. 
Her focus encompasses commercial and post-M&A disputes, disputes with a strong technical background as well as advising and representing private clients. As an experienced dispute resolution lawyer, she has extensive experience in first and second instance state court proceedings (incl. injunctions and enforcement) as well as arbitration proceedings under various procedural rules. 
Due to her broad and in-depth knowledge in commercial law matters and her regular exchange with technical experts, she is also an excellent sparring partner in transactions and in the implementation of holistic projects, especially in the field of sustainability. Hereby, Sarah contributes to identifying, protecting, and providing efficient solutions for the interests of Bruski Smeets & Lange's clients. 
Contact
T
+49 (0)69 4005013-14

F
+49 (0)69 4005013-99
sarah.gbekor@bruskismeetslange.com
Sarah studied law at the University of Heidelberg and the Universidad de Deusto in Bilbao, Spain, and received her doctoral degree at the University of Heidelberg (summa cum laude). After her legal traineeship at the Higher Regional Court of Karlsruhe, Sarah started her career at Allen & Overy Frankfurt in the field of international arbitration at the beginning of 2015. From mid-2016 until the beginning of 2023, she worked with Rittershaus at the Mannheim office in litigation, and commercial and corporate law. During this time, she was also secondee in the legal department of Heidelberger Druckmaschinen AG.

Dr Sarah Gbekor has completed extensive training in dispute resolution, including the "German & International Arbitration" program at the University of Frankfurt, and obtained the "Advanced Study and Training in Dispute Resolution and Mediation" certificate at HU Berlin.

Dr Sarah Gbekor joined Bruski Smeets & Lange in April 2023 and is responsible for the Dispute Resolution practice.

Languages: German, English

 

Publications:
  • Schaden, Kausalität und Kausalitätsbeweis beim Schadensersatzanspruch des Anlegers wegen Verletzung der ad hoc-Publizitätspflicht, Nomos, Baden-Baden 2019
  • Renaissance des modifiziert zweistufigen Überschuldungsbegriffs, in: NZI 2012, 4-9
  • Internationale Finanzmarktkrise und Bankabschlüsse: Herausforderungen für die Finanzierung des Mittelstandes, in: Ebke/Möhlenkamp/Welling (Hrsg.), Internationale Finanzmarktkrise, Bankabschlüsse und Mittelstand, 2011, S. 111–128 (zusammen mit Leonard Kirscht)

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AttorneyDR. FELIX M. MICHL
Within the scope of his civil law practice, Felix Michl has a special focus on art law. Here he advises clients on issues of commercial law, company law, and inheritance law, but also on questions of intellectual property. In all the above-mentioned areas, he also represents his client's interests in court. From 2017 to 2018, he held a teaching position as a professor at the SRH University of Applied Sciences for two years and led the bachelor's programme in business law there. Another focal point of his advice is the area of banking and finance.
Felix Michl studied law and European art history at the University of Heidelberg. His legal traineeship took him to Tokyo, among other places. He also completed his doctorate on legal issues in contemporary photographic art at the University of Heidelberg. He is a member of the German-Japanese Lawyers Association (DJJV), the Institute for Art and Law (IFKUR), and the German Society for Photography (DGPh). In the latter, he is a board member of the section "Art, Market and Law". Since 2017, he has been working as a freelancer at Bruski Smeets & Lange.

Languages: German, English

 

Publications:
  • Die limitierte Auflage, Rechtsfragen zeitgenössischer Fotokunst, 2016 (Diss.)
  • Wenn es immer und überall „klick“ machen kann. Die Allgegenwärtigkeit von Smartphonefotografie als Herausforderung für das Recht, in: Knaller, Susanne/Pichler, Doris (Hrsg.), Recht im medialen Feld, PhiN- Beiheft 12/2017, S. 46-58
  • „Limitierte Auflagen in der zeitgenössischen Fotokunst – Überlegungen zu ihrer Rechtsnatur und Verbindlichkeit“, in: Weller/Kemle (Hrsg.) „Kultur im Recht – Recht als Kultur“, 2016, S. 145-156
  • „Verjährungsprobleme im Kunstfälschungsprozess“, Bulletin Kunst&Recht, 2016/1, S. 43
  • BGH: Urheberrechtliche Zulässigkeit des so genannten „Framing“ – Die Realität II (Urteilsanmerkung), LMK 2016, 376535
  • „‚Streetphotography‘ – Crowdfunding Klage scheitert vor Kammergericht“, Kunstrechtsspiegel 02/2015, S. 15
  • Interview: „Auflagen-Wunder Fotografie: Die Fotografie ist DAS Medium unserer Zeit“, seen.by Magazin, 25.03.2015
  • Kurzinterview: „Welche Sicherheit die Auflagenlimitierung dem Sammler bietet“, Informationsdienst KUNST, Nr. 572 (19.02.2015), S. 5-7
  • „Fotokunst: Teuer bezahlte Versprechen verpflichten“, Handelsblatt (online), 12.02.2015
  • „Neuprints im Großformat – Rechtsstreit Jonathan Sobel vs. William Eggleston“, Photonews 6/2013, S. 4
  • „Die Limitierung der Auflage“, Art Value 10 (2012), S. 62 ff.

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Associate | AttorneyYANNICK THOMA

The legal practice of Yannick Thoma focuses on M&A, commercial and corporate Law, banking and finance.

Kontakt
Telefon
+49 (0)69 4005013-14

Telefax
+49 (0)69 4005013-99
yannick.thoma@bruskismeetslange.com

After his study of law at the University of Bayreuth and the Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg with a specialization in intellectual property law, Yannick Thoma completed his legal clerkship at the Higher Regional Court Karlsruhe with stations in the corporate and banking/finance departments of two leading German law firms in Frankfurt am Main. Afterwards he worked as a research assistant with focus on Corporate Law/M&A in a leading law firm in Frankfurt am Main.

Since July 2024, he is working as an Associate for the law firm of Bruski Smeets & Lange.

 

Languages: German, English

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