German Tax Partner, Stephan Eilers, joins Freshfield’s leadership team

 In Freshfields

Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer LLP has announced that Will Lawes has been elected senior partner and will be part of a new international leadership team that will include Ted Burke and Stephan Eilers.

The firm’s senior management responsibilities will be shared amongst the three of them with Ted Burke becoming managing partner and Stephan Eilers taking on the role of executive partner.

They will take up their new roles from January 2011 when the current joint senior partners, Konstantin Mettenheimer and Guy Morton, step down from their posts.

Will Lawes said: ‘I am not only delighted but immensely privileged to be taking on the senior partner role. With Ted and Stephan, we have a team that is very international in its outlook and has a broad mix of skills. On top of our management responsibilities, we will all spend a substantial amount of time maintaining close contact with our clients around the world to ensure we are the firm they turn to when it matters most.’

As managing partner, Ted Burke will not only continue to focus on the firm’s strategic priorities and have overall responsibility for the day to day management of the firm as he did as chief executive, but will also spend more time with clients, especially in the United States. Mr Burke commented: ‘I am looking forward to continuing to be part of our leadership team as we deal with a new set of challenges and opportunities.’

Stephan Eilers, a tax partner based in Cologne, will be focusing in particular on finance and operations in his new role. He will also continue with his client work.
Peter Jeffcote, currently managing partner, will become general counsel with overall responsibility for risk management and regulatory compliance.

Konstantin Mettenheimer and Guy Morton will remain with the firm, with Konstantin resuming his tax practice and Guy returning to the financial services practice.

Profiles

Will Lawes specialises in corporate governance and the full range of corporate matters, both in the UK and across borders. He has been the adviser of choice to a range of leading corporate entities, investment banks and financial institutions for many years, and recently finished a six year term as co-head of the firm’s worldwide financial institutions group.

Will was educated at Victoria University of Wellington, New Zealand and Gonville & Caius College, Cambridge. He joined the firm in 1986 and has been a partner since 1994. He is a visiting fellow at the Centre for Corporate Reputation, University of Oxford.

Ted Burke has served as Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer’s chief executive since 2006 and was previously managing partner for the firm’s US offices.

A partner in our global energy and infrastructure group, he has specialised in various areas within finance and corporate with a particular emphasis on the energy sector.
Ted joined the firm as a partner in 1998. He received his BA from the University of Vermont and his JD from the Georgetown University Law Center. He is a member of the Board of Visitors for the Georgetown University Law Center.

Stephan Eilers is based in the Cologne office and is the global practice group leader of the firm’s international tax group. He specialises in structuring and financing national and international M&A transactions, reorganisations, leveraged buyouts and private equity transactions.

He is a professor at the University of Cologne (Tax Law), a member of the Fachinstitut der Steuerberater (Institute of Tax Advisors in Germany) and a member of the tax committee of the DAV (German Bar Association).

Stephan joined the firm in 1992 and became a partner in 1994. He received his legal education at the universities of Bonn, Geneva and New York and speaks German, English and French.

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