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Employers may not restrict voluntary wage increases across the board to employees with new contract templates. If no valid objective reasons for unequal treatment can be given, employees with old contracts are also entitled to the pay increase. This was clarified by the Federal Labor Court in a recent ruling (judgment of November 26, 2025...

I was born and grew up in Berlin. I often spent my youth on the tennis court or the ski slopes. After living and going to school in New Zealand’s Southern Island for a year, I returned to Berlin for my A-levels. Due to my interest in economics and politics, I kept toying with the...

When it comes to cross-border litigation, the parties often choose international arbitration courts to decide the case. Arbitration clauses are in many cases already provided for in the respective contracts. One of the reasons for this preference is that the language of the proceedings of an arbitration tribunal can be chosen by the parties –...

Under stock corporation law, the executive board is responsible for managing the company, while the supervisory board is tasked with oversight. The executive board is legally required to provide the supervisory board with regular and comprehensive information. Statutory provisions mandate periodic (typically quarterly) reporting by the management board to the supervisory board. Additionally, the supervisory...

In our new year’s edition of our international newsletter, in addition to our usual legal topics and innovations for the year 2026, we will for a change focus on the fine arts: Germany’s truly unique and exceptional opera scene. Germany’s internationally renowned opera tradition reaches as far back as the 17th century, when the first...

As usual, the new year comes with numerous legal changes. Some initiatives that were originally intended to take effect at the beginning of the year have not yet been enacted. If and how these legislative proposals will still be implemented is currently unclear. Below, we aim to provide a concise overview of the most important...

In the current JUVE ranking for real estate and construction law, FGvW is listed for the first time in the area of real estate law. This recognition is based on our real estate practice, which has been successfully established in the market for many years. Thanks to strong new joiners to almost all our offices,...

FGvW is advising Indian automotive supplier Motherson in exclusive negotiations on the acquisition of the entire wiring harness business of Nexans autoelectric GmbH in Germany with a total volume of 207 million euro (enterprise value). Samvardhana Motherson International Limited (SAMIL) has entered into an agreement through its subsidiaries to acquire the entire wiring harness business of...

FGvW has advised PICOM Holding GmbH on corporate and tax law matters in connection with its acquisition of a 24.9 percent stake in HSM Handball Sport Management und Marketing GmbH, the operating company of Handball Sport Verein Hamburg, a well-known professional handball club from Germany. PICOM Holding GmbH is an asset management company owned by...

FGvW provided comprehensive legal advice to the Dominikanerprovinz Teutonia e.V. on the drafting of a leasehold agreement for its former Heilig Kreuz (“Holy Cross”) monastery church at Lindenstraße 45 in Cologne. The contractual arrangement creates a future solution at the interface between religious spirituality and independent theater culture. The secularized monastery church was granted to the multi-award-winning...