Handelsblatt/Best Lawyers Ranking 2026: Significant improvement for Taylor Wessing Germany

Four ‘Lawyers of the Year’, 39 ‘Ones to Watch’ accolades and around 180 ‘Top Lawyers’ nominations.

No fewer than four partners were named “Lawyers of the Year” in this year’s ranking by the Handelsblatt in collaboration with Best Lawyers: Dr Axel Godron (Wealth and Succession Planning) and Dr Martin Rothermel (Franchise Law) from Munich, and Dr Gregor Schmid (Intellectual Property) and Dr Paul Voigt (Data and Cyber Security Law) from Berlin. Last year, there were two ‘Lawyer of the Year’ appointments.

39 ‘Ones to Watch’ awards

In addition, lawyers received a total of 39 awards in the ‘Ones to Watch – Lawyers of the Future’ category. That is five more than in 2025 – another improvement on the previous year. This award is aimed at younger lawyers who, in the survey, stood out for their excellent specialist knowledge and a strong reputation among clients and within the legal profession.

Two Hamburg-based lawyers stand out in particular, each having been recognised in three areas of law:

Dr Carolin Roßkothen (Company Law, M&A and Private Equity) and Philip Kühn (Data and Cyber Security Law, IT Law, Intellectual Property Law). The following were recognised twice in the “Ones to Watch” category: Fritz-Ulli Pieper (data and cyber security law, IT law), Dr Theresa Sauerwein (corporate governance and compliance, criminal defence), Kerstin Bär (international arbitration, litigation), Josefin Eleonore Nagel (construction law, property law) and Dr Julia Freifrau von Imhoff (intellectual property law, litigation).

The following received an award in this category: Dr Christian Köhler (Banking and Capital Markets Law),

Dr Tim Eickmanns (Employment Law), Daniel Mursa (M&A), Dr Severin Safert (Employment Law), Ina Schmidtbauer-Rahe (Healthcare Law), Sarah Anderson (Property Law), Isabel Bäumer (Employment Law), Matthias Brenner (Data and Cyber Security Law), Lucas Corleis (Employment Law), Florian Lambracht (Litigation), Dr Lena Niehoff (Litigation), Joana Pamukova (Company Law), Nicola Reinholz-Hain (Property Law), Philipp Seimel (Company Law),

Jan-Patrick Vogel (Employment Law), Finja Clever (Intellectual Property Law), Philipp Hoegl (Venture Capital), Anne-Kathrin Hoppe (Company Law), Nikolaus Vaerst (Property Law), Dr Christian Ertel (Energy Law),

Dr Benedikt Groh (Employment Law), Dr Johanna Rösch (Company Law) and Julia Siedhoff (Insolvency Law).

More than 100 “Best Lawyers”

More than 100 lawyers at Taylor Wessing are listed among the “Best Lawyers – Germany’s Best Lawyers”, with some receiving recognition in up to five different practice areas. In total, the firm has received 179 nominations across 40 practice areas.

Taylor Wessing is particularly well represented in company law with 19 recommendations, followed by M&A with 16, intellectual property law with 15, and employment law with 12 recommended lawyers.

Other key areas include IT law with ten nominations and private equity, followed by insolvency and property law with nine each. The firm is also strongly represented in the areas of media law, project finance and development, and technology law, with six recommendations in each.

About the ranking