Dispute Resolution
We represent our clients in litigation, particularly in the fields of construction, energy and the environment – drawing on our experience, supported by AI and in a cost-effective manner.
Our focus is on disputes relating to construction, energy and environmental projects: we know the contracts inside out because we draft and negotiate them ourselves on a daily basis, and we are familiar with the technical and economic aspects involved.
Dispute Resolution & Litigation
Our team brings decades of experience from leading international law firms and high-stakes litigation – whilst operating within the structure of a specialised boutique firm: partners working directly on clients’ cases, lean teams, and bespoke legal tech and AI solutions.
The benchmark for our work is not the proceedings themselves, but the financial outcome for our clients. That is why we focus on dispute avoidance from the outset – and only pursue litigation where absolutely necessary, doing so consistently and cost-effectively.
Dispute avoidance and project-based claim management
The best dispute strategy begins before the dispute arises. We support projects throughout their implementation: through claim and anti-claim management, the ongoing documentation and safeguarding of claims, clearly structured procedures for supplementary works, hindrance and defects, and well-thought-out dispute resolution clauses in project and supply contracts.
Strategy before litigation: keeping costs and benefits in mind
If a dispute cannot be avoided, the starting point is not legal action, but strategy. We clarify the facts of the case, assess opportunities, risks and litigation costs, and work with our clients to develop the approach that makes the most economic sense – negotiation, interim relief or legal action before state courts or arbitral tribunals.
Before taking any significant step, we assess the balance between the effort involved and the achievable outcome; a viable settlement may be more economically advantageous than a case won on the merits. Our focus is on resolving disputes quickly, effectively and cost-efficiently.
Proceedings before the civil courts
We conduct litigation before the civil courts throughout Germany – ranging from independent evidence proceedings and interim relief to extensive shareholder or construction and plant engineering cases spanning multiple instances. Before the administrative courts, we represent project developers in disputes concerning planning permission and planning approvals, particularly in relation to appeals lodged by third parties and environmental organisations against wind, solar and battery storage projects.
Arbitration
We represent our clients in institutional and ad hoc arbitration proceedings, in German and English, with seats of arbitration both in Germany and abroad. We draft arbitration and multi-stage dispute resolution clauses for project and supply contracts and support proceedings from the initial risk assessment through to the recognition and enforcement of the arbitral award.
Typical disputes
Construction: Claims for supplementary work and additional remuneration, construction delays and obstruction, claims for defects and under warranty, disputes over final invoices, securities and guarantees, as well as terminations of construction, main contractor and plant construction contracts – in accordance with VOB/B, statutory construction contract law or international standards such as FIDIC.
Energy: Disputes arising from EPC, supply, construction and O&M contracts for wind, solar and battery storage projects; from PPAs and off-take agreements (including tolling and floor structures); concerning grid connection and remuneration; and from lease and other usage agreements; in addition, post-M&A disputes arising from project transactions, including conflicts among shareholders.
Environment: Proceedings concerning permits and ancillary provisions (air pollution control, building and planning law), and appeals by third parties and environmental organisations.
Track Record: Litigation
-
Construction
- Arbitration proceedings in Copenhagen: Representing a Danish company in a construction law dispute concerning a solar park
- Claims management and mediation: supporting the construction of a large gas storage facility in Germany
- Defence against claims for additional remuneration amounting to approximately €6 million on behalf of a main contractor who had laid a power line for a grid operator
- State court proceedings: Enforcing advance payment of costs for rectifying defects in a building complex in Glückstadt that had been constructed too low
- State court proceedings: Enforcing claims for damages on behalf of a property developer against a construction supervision architectural practice and its liability insurer following the termination of the main contractor’s construction contract and the contractor’s insolvency
- State court proceedings: Enforcement of warranty claims due to extensive defects in a newly constructed hospital building
- State court proceedings: Enforcement of claims for damages arising from damage to buildings belonging to the Protestant Church
- Enforcement of claims for damages in a large-scale construction dispute across several courts
-
Energy, environment and other disputes
AI-supported litigation
Litigation in construction and energy projects involves a large volume of documentation: project correspondence, site diaries, plans, expert reports and invoices. We utilise bespoke legal tech and AI to analyse large volumes of documents in a structured manner, organise facts and construction processes chronologically, systematise claims and amendments, and prepare pleadings efficiently – including in English-language proceedings and where documents are in foreign languages.
This provides our clients with more in-depth analyses, shorter response times and a better balance between the effort involved and the value in dispute.
Large law firm experience, boutique structure
Our lawyers have previously worked at major international law firms and for a large energy group, where they handled high-volume national and international proceedings – including arbitration and expert proceedings involving amounts in dispute running into the tens of millions. We are also familiar with contracts on this scale: amongst other things, we negotiate turbine supply, EPC and O&M contracts, as well as PPAs with values running into the hundreds of millions.
We combine this experience with a structure that is consistently geared towards efficiency: our partners work directly on client matters and our teams remain lean; we only scale up when the matter requires it.
