Hengeler Mueller is advising a German law firm before the European Court of Justice in a review of the country’s ban on third-party ownership of law firms.

The elite German firm is acting alongside Gussone Quecke Legal (GQL) for plaintiff Halmer Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft, a law firm that, since 2021, has had the majority of its shares assigned to an Austrian limited liability company not licensed to practice law in Germany or Austria.