Company and partnership law
German company law covers the fields of private-law-governed special purpose associations and contractual cooperative relationships. The legislation provides for a number of differing legal forms in which companies may be organized and which may be used as a basis for purposes of establishing a company by signing and concluding a company agreement to that effect.
The laws which are governing for partnerships are specified in the German Commercial Code. It contains provisions covering so-called „Offene Handelsgesellschaften“ (i.e. general partnerships) and „Kommanditgesell-schaften“ (i.e. limited partnerships). As far as „Gesellschaft mit beschränkter Haftung“ (i.e. limited liability companies under German law) and „Aktien-gesellschaft“ (i.e. joint stock companies) are concerned these are subject to special legislation which is embodied in the German Law governing Limited Liability Companies and German Company Law.
Our law office accompanies companies of whatever legal form from the point of their establishment all the way to potential liquidation or insolvency. One of the issues which has to be attributed increasing significance is the liability aspect – that is to say not only a company’s liability, but also the liability of those organs which are acting on behalf of the company (Geschäftsführer, i.e. managing directors, executive or management board, supervisory board) and the partners’ or shareholders’ liability.
Our lawyers who are certified specialists in Commercial and Company law are permanently concerned and faced with points of law as they come up in a context with shareholders’ meetings of limited liability companies and general meetings of joint stock companies. In this context it is to be noted that some of the lawyers of our offices are also active as representatives of „Deutsche Schutzvereinigung für Wertpapierbesitz e.V. (DSW)“ (German Association for the Protection of Securities) and that it is in this capacity of theirs that they regularly attend the general meetings of joint stock companies which are officially quoted on the stock exchange.