Christian Brendel has been living and working in Viet Nam since 2005. He regularly advises and supports foreign diplomatic missions (the Embassy and the Consulate of the Federal Republic of Germany as well as the Embassy and the Consulate of the Swiss Confederation). Mr Brendel also works for the Delegation of the German Industry and Commerce in Viet Nam (AHK) and supports the Austrian Trade Delegation. As an active participant, he is also strongly involved in the German-Vietnamese Dialogue on the Rule of Law.

In addition to his legal and consulting activities, he was chosen by various clients to act in interim management positions (Illies & Co (GmbH & Co.) KG., Glatz Finepaper Co., Ltd., R&M Ship Technologies Viet Nam Co., Ltd. as well as Emsa Viet Nam Co., Ltd.).

Rainer Burkardt has been working and living in China since 1997. He is one of the few foreign lawyers with long-term on-site experience counseling and working in China. From 2008 to 2010, Mr. Burkardt was a member of the Board of Directors of the German Chamber of Commerce in Shanghai. In 2009 he was appointed as Trusted Attorney of the Consulate General of Austria in Shanghai.

He mainly supports clients from Germany, Austria and Switzerland in the fields of automotive, machine and plant engineering as well as the pharmaceutical, chemical and food industries, with their entry into the Chinese market and their subsequent business activities in China. Burkardt & Partner publishes the most extensive China investment guide written in the German language.

Lutz Kaiser specialises in commercial, corporate and tax law and has extensive experience in providing legal support in a wide range of corporate transactions, particularly in an international context. He drafts and negotiates cooperation, purchase, supply and licence agreements as well as cross-border investment structures for his clients. He often acts as a liaison between corporate directors and legal counsel on the one hand and teams of lawyers and accountants on the other. He also serves on supervisory and advisory boards of companies. Due to his professional experience of more than 30 years, he is familiar with the individual needs of clients.

The practice area of the Villanueva Gabionza & Dy law firm includes legal advice and representation for private and corporate clients on issues of contract drafting and conflict management in all areas of investment, civil, criminal, commercial, labour, environmental, tax and customs law. German-speaking clients will find a competent contact via the German Desk.

Michael A. Mueller had already lived in Japan starting at the age of 19 for almost three years. After having gained knowledge of the Japanese language, he studied law in Germany and then worked as interpreter for Japanese/German in Berlin for several years with numerous business-related stays in Japan. Starting in 2000, he practiced as a lawyer in Germany with a focus on German-Japanese legal relations. He moved together with his Japanese wife to Japan in 2006 and founded his own law firm. In January 2007 he was registered as Foreign Lawyer with the Japanese Ministry of Justice.

Mueller focusses on the entire bandwidth of legal questions regarding trade between Germany and Japan, the support of investment projects in both target countries as well as litigation.

Prior to coming to Korea to work for Kim, Shin & Yu as the first German-licensed lawyer in 1997, he held a variety of elected governmental positions in the German city of Überlingen am Bodensee from 1989 to 1998. During that time, he also completed a banker apprenticeship at the Bezirkssparkasse Überlingen am Bodensee and studied law at the University of Constance, and thereafter served as a Rechtsreferendar (a person receiving practical training in judicial or other legal work after having passed the first state examination).

He currently manages European clients for the Hwang Mok Park law firm and serves as an arbitrator at the Korean Commercial Arbitration Board. He is also managing director of Nowak & Partner Co., Ltd., an advisory firm which offers German-speaking businesses in Korea services such as recruitment, crisis management, project management, and the business side of mergers & acquisitions (www.nowak-partner.com). In several of its niche markets Nowak & Partner is the Korean market leader. Mr. Nowak also publishes a German language company guide on Korea (third edition) and other publications.

Dr. Respondek is a German lawyer, an American Attorney at Law, a Chartered Arbitrator (FCIArb) and has academic degrees from four countries.

Dr. Repondek regularly publishes articles in the following law journals: Aktuell China, Aktuell Thailand, American Review of International Arbitration, BddW, Bioforum Europe, Business Minds Singapore, Clyde & Co. Newsletter, Fruchthandel, Handbook for International Civil and Commercial Legal Matters, Journal of International Arbitration, Juriste International, JuS, RIW, SIArb Newsletter, Singapore Law Gazette, Transskript etc. He is also the author of the “Asia Arbitration Guide” covering 21 Asian countries, of a Singapore investment guide as well as a Thai investment guide.

Dr. Schendel has been practicing international business law for many years. In addition to his law degrees and legal practice, he is holding a Ph.D. and has taught, researched, and published in Asian Studies. Since 2012, he has been living in and working from India.

His professional focus includes all legal issues that are relevant for business relations between Central Europe and India, such as for contracts, investments, the formation of companies, the shaping of joint ventures and M&A projects as well as in company law and labor law.

The law firm of Suman Khaitan & Co. has been serving Indian as well as international clients since 2004. As a full-service business law firm, it operates nationwide, advising on and representing in corporate and tax matters, litigation, regulation, and arbitration. Over the years, the firm has built an extensive network of other law firms, service providers, and with Indian chambers of commerce and business associations, which facilitates entry into the Indian market for German-speaking companies.

Stefan Schmierer has been living and working in Hong Kong since 2009. Most of his clients are medium-sized companies from Germany and Austria that are already based in Hong Kong or are considering opening a branch in Hong Kong. Over the past ten years, Stefan has advised and represented a large number of local and foreign clients in all aspects of commercial, corporate and tax law. In addition, Stefan Schmierer has worked for many years as a consultant to the German consulate in Hong Kong and as a trusted attorney to the Austrian Chamber of Commerce in Hong Kong.

In addition to legal advice, Stefan Schmierer offers other services in Hong Kong, including business advice, Company Secretarial Services, accounting and auditing.

Dr. Sippel is an Austrian lawyer and admitted to the Malaysian Bar Council as a Foreign Lawyer. He is only the third foreign lawyer in Malaysia overall and the first ever to be licensed from a country in the continental European legal system.

Dr. Sippel first came to East Asia in 2004 (scholarship with National Taiwan University) and has spent most of his professional careeer in East Asia (Malaysia, Indonesia, Korea, China). An expert in international dispute resolution (arbitration, mediation, adjudication), he has been increasingly advising companies on their investments and general business activities in Southeast Asia in recent years. This is always with a particular focus on avoiding differences from escalating and amicably settling disputes.

For several years, Dr. Sippel has been advising companies on legal and economic issues related to supply chains. In particular, he deals with legal issues in the area of compliance (including economic sanctions), ESG/sustainability and general disruptions in supply chains. Dr. Sippel is recognized as an expert on supply chain disruption in East Asia and is the editor of a book on force majeure and hardship for 17 countries in the Asia Pacific Region.

In addition to his work as a lawyer, Dr. Sippel teaches at Universiti Malaya (Malaysia), Keio University (Japan) and Universitas Padjadjaran (Indonesia). He is a frequent speaker at international conferences on arbitration, mediation and dispute avoidance, as well as supply chain matters.