News | IT

Thursday 11th January 2007

SJ Berwin LLP has announced that Dr. Stefan Krüger, currently a partner with Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer (Frankfurt Office), will be joining the Firm to focus on the development and growth of its  IP/ IT practice.  Stefan will join SJ Berwin on 15 January 2007 and will be based in the Frankfurt office. Manuela Finger and Manuel Biehler, two Associates who have been working with Stefan at Freshfields, will also be joining the Firm.

Stefan joins SJ Berwin LLP with a distinguished career. During his education he worked for law firms in Los Angeles, Washington, D.C. and Boston having qualified in 1995. He is a graduate of the Law School University of Münster, Germany, and in addition to his degree in law he has a degree in business administration. Prior to working at Freshfields, Stefan worked at Gaedertz (now known as Mayer, Brown, Rowe & Maw LLP).

Jonathan Blake, Senior Partner, commented, "The continuing growth of the IP and IT practice at SJ Berwin is a further element in the strategic growth of the firm’s European practice and we are very fortunate in having Stefan join the firm to help contribute to this growth. We are very happy to have Stefan with us."

Rüdiger Knopf,  German Member of the Strategy Committee, commented, “Stefan’s breadth of experience in the  IP area, particularly in the consumer products/retail sector and his related expertise in the IT-sector, covering complex IT projects and the new media sector, will boost our German expertise in this highly specialised area of law. We recognise this move as a further step towards achieving our strategic goals of having a fully integrated full service corporate and commercial practice within Germany.  Stefan will be responsible for the development of our IP/IT practice in Germany.  Stefan’s arrival will allow us to offer both a wider range of expertise and increased resources in this specialist area.  We very much look forward to working with him.”

• SJ Berwin is a full-service international legal practice with more than 550 lawyers across its offices in Berlin, Brussels, Frankfurt, London, Madrid, Milan, Munich, Paris and Turin.
  
  
• SJ Berwin was created and thrives as a leading-edge legal services business, focusing on the European and international market place. Our clients are sophisticated buyers of legal services, principally multi-national and entrepreneurial companies and financial institutions, whom we advise on a comprehensive range of services including Corporate Finance, Commercial, Real Estate, Finance, Reconstruction and Insolvency, Financial Services, Intellectual Property, Litigation, Employment & Pensions, EU & Competition & Tax.
  
  
• Our Intellectual Property team has played a key role in some of the most important cases reported in the last few years. We are regularly involved in many of the day-to-day concerns of the modern business – from patent enforcement, brand and name protection, trade mark infringement and passing off, through to design protection including copyright and registered design issues. The Intellectual Property Group covers all aspects of intellectual property work. The Group’s lead partners are recognised by legal directories as leading practitioners in the field and we believe in a proactive and assertive approach to rights protection and enforcement.  We have a diverse client base in the fields of pharmaceuticals and medical devices, luxury goods, merchandising and licensing, film and television, software and computing, hotel, leisure and sport.  The Group is involved in all aspects of drafting and negotiating commercial agreements to identify, exploit and protect intellectual property rights, working closely with the firm’s EU & Competition Department. We also advise and negotiate on specific areas of corporate transactions where intellectual property rights are concerned.
  
  
• Our IT work includes: facilities management, outsourcing, software development and licensing, system supply agreements, maintenance agreements, transitional services agreements, technology services and consultancy. We also cover ancillary areas such as data protection and issues of IT security including a substantial amount of work for banks and other financial institutions, particularly on the management of systems.  Lawyers at SJ Berwin have acquired the relevant experience and industry knowledge over several years to advise at all levels and on all aspects of electronic commerce. We advise in relation to website design and development, hosting, internet content provision, framing and linking agreements, co-location agreements and website terms and conditions. We also advise on conflict of laws and on email and internet access policy.
  
  
• Our approach has resulted in the firm winning a number of recent awards including: EVCA Law Firm of the Year for the 3rd consecutive year; Best Law Firm (Fund Formation) (Private EquityOnline and Private Equity International) 2006; No 1 in Legal Week’s Law Firm Satisfaction Survey 2005; UK Firm of the Year - Legal Week Awards 2005; Law Firm of the Year 2005 at the EVCA/Real Deals Private Equity Awards for the second consecutive year; Real Estate Team of the Year - Legal Business Awards 2005; Real Estate Team of the Year - The Lawyer Awards 2005; Senior Partner, Jonathan Blake was admitted to The BVCA Hall of Fame, the only adviser to have done so.
  
  
• More specifically, at the World Leaders European IP Awards 2005, Head of EU & Competition, Stephen Kon, was awarded Best Achievement in Copyright Practice.   The Firm was also shortlisted for TMT Team of the Year at the Legal Business Awards 2006.
  
  
• More information on SJ Berwin's services can be found at www.sjberwin.com