Environment law

Aviation law

We have obtained particular expertise in aviation law from advising financial institutions and related companies on a wide range of issues, including financing and licensing aircraft, allocating slots, issuing operating licences, airport planning, permits for terminals, airport charges, ground-handling, airport development schemes and noise regulations for night flights at various airports.

We represent airlines and other companies in liability cases and we have worked on a significant number of major airport privatisations in Germany and other countries.

Energy law

We have particular expertise in energy management issues and represent a wide range of energy supply companies, including nuclear companies, in matters of supply contracts, disputes (in particular, arbitration) as well as antitrust law and public law.

In the public sector, we are focusing on regulations governing energy facilities and energy supply. We advise our clients in all stages of permit procedures, help them avert subsequent orders affecting operations, and provide services for closing-down power stations.

Chemicals and pharmaceuticals

We have considerable experience working for the chemicals and pharmaceuticals industries. Our specialists work closely with our corporate, finance and real estate practice groups to provide a seamless service for clients from the heavy and speciality chemicals side of the industry, agrochemicals manufacturers and numerous pharmaceuticals companies.

In particular, we have: acted on the acquisition and disposal of chemicals and pharmaceutical businesses worldwide; advised companies on site protection work such as prevention of nearby developments, potential environmental liabilities for spillages of chemicals and matters such as land-based and marine-based oil spills; and provided crisis management including negotiating with regulators on water treatment, advising on protestor actions, clean up of contaminated land and emissions to air.

Flotations

We advise sponsors of flotations or target companies on material liabilities for environmental issues arising from flotations. Our clients include multinational telecommunications companies, as well as large energy companies that need careful guidance through their flotations and beyond.

Large scale clean-up projects

Our practice is known for its effective handling of large-scale clean-up projects and, in Germany, for advising the government, various Lander and enterprises owned by the federal authorities on complex ecological problems related to contaminated land.

We advise our clients on numerous matters, including: their potential future liabilities and risk allocation for clean-up of contaminated sites and water treatment on acquisition or disposal of major industrial and energy establishments; clean-up of major industrial establishments prior to and post closure; and landfill and landfill tax liabilities.

Industrial development

Advising on industrial developments is one of the mainstays of our practice. We are widely recognised for our expertise in advising on inward investment to many industrial and developing countries for major industrial plants and developments.

Many major plant and infrastructure projects involve complex and inter-related planning and environment issues and our specialists work closely with internal and external transactional team members to provide a seamless service to our clients.

Mining law

We have gained considerable expertise on mining law matters from advising on a wide range of issues. We are currently handling large-scale projects in the mining sector, such as the rehabilitation of brown coal mines, flooding of open-cast mines and closure of mines.

Our specialists have advised mining companies on post-closure duties, handled licensing procedures under mining and water law, advised on liability for environmental damage caused by mining, such as water pollution, and advised on infilling of mines with waste materials.

Planning and land use

Planning is one of the core areas of our practice and we advise on many different types of major projects. Our clients include domestic and foreign investors, as well as public authorities and institutions responsible for large infrastructure projects.

In particular, our services have included advising and assisting investors and authorities during all stages of such projects, from the onset of the official planning approval proceedings to representation in formal discussions, and the 'defence' of decisions granted in favour of clients by the authorities before the courts.

Privatisation and financing

Our track record in advising on privatisations in the early years has given us the experience to offer specialist advice on the new spate of privatisations taking place now and in the past few years. We advise on the development of new privatisation models (including public finance initiatives), the structuring of privatisations and the progress of partially or fully privatised enterprises towards operation in the marketplace. Our clients include private investors, public enterprises and their holding companies.

Our practice has an excellent reputation for its regulatory work, which includes advising clients on complex privatisations of state-owned enterprises, such as public-sector credit institutions, public utility companies and airports. We advise many different clients across all sectors of the economy, for example private investors, financial institutions, enterprises that are being privatised and public institutional shareholders of those enterprises, on matters such as:

• water, wastewater, waste - privatisation of municipal, regional or national multi-utility enterprises in domestic and international markets;
• energy (electricity, gas, heat) - privatisation of municipal energy providers as well as regional or national energy suppliers;
• airports - privatisation of airports (eg Berlin-Brandenburg International, Hamburg, Hannover and Dusseldorf);
• transport - advice on private finance of roads, tunnels and bridges as well as a road tax on lorries;
• Landesbank privatisations: advice on restructuring and partial privatisation of the public Landesbanken; and
• hospitals - advice on transition into private law entities and all related corporate, employment and public law issues.

Environment, planning and other regulatory areas are central issues in negotiations, as are aspects of company, financial and public institutional law, economic activities of public authorities, charges, public dues and prices, and public property.

To achieve a seamless service our specialists co-operate closely with experts from other fields including our corporate, finance, competition and procurement lawyers throughout Europe.

Roads and railways

Our lawyers are specialists in this sector and have advised on acquiring freight train franchises in the UK and railway safety cases, as well as providing daily advice to clients, including LUL, on matters such as the Jubilee Line extension and its public/private partnership.

In relation to roads, we have advised on the design, building, financing and operation of the first major road project financed in the market, and the development of road works in association with land development. We have also assisted our clients with numerous highways matters and advised a number of statutory undertakers on their rights on digging up roads and highways as part of their infrastructure projects.

Waste management

Over the years, we have specialised in advising on a particularly wide range of waste related matters.

We have assisted our clients with issues such as: soil and solid waste pollution; the transportation, reprocessing and disposal of nuclear waste; operating waste incinerators, co-incineration plants and landfill sites; the transborder shipment of waste; drafting disposal agreements and schemes between government bodies and private corporations; the development of waste recovery and disposal schemes for waste management authorities; the interpretation of legislation (such as the definition of waste); the application of regulatory schemes; and liability for waste.

Water law

Our specialists provide advice on a wide range of matters, such as international water projects, legislation and regulation of water rights, the coal mining industry's liability for water contamination prior to and on cessation of mining, and drafting legislation.

We recently advised on the acquisition of a major water company, water concessions after a fire in Bulgaria and a criminal prosecution for alleged pollution of controlled waters by leakages from a landfill site.

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News

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Briefings

Neues Genehmigungsregime für Offshore-Windparks  View

EU-Staatsschuldenkrise  View

A double whammy for petrochemical firms: the impact of the 2013 emissions trading rules

Paul Bowden, partner responsible for the carbon economy team, sets out what companies can do now, and how to make sure they are ready for 2013. Watch

A summary of what the proposals for the third phase of the EU emissions trading scheme will mean for EU petrochemical companies. View

Awards

Regulatory team of the year - JUVE Awards (2009)

Dispute resolution law firm of the year - JUVE Awards (2008)

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