( Counselors & Advocates · Est. 1987 )
Deliberate counsel. Decisive outcomes.
A Berlin partnership of ninety-two attorneys advising boards, investors and families on the matters that define them — quietly, precisely, and without conflict.
( 01 )The Firm
A quiet authority,
built over four decades.
Deliberately few. Selectively instructed. Personally accountable for every mandate we accept.
Since 1987, Ashford & Whitmore has counselled clients through their defining moments — the acquisitions that reshape an industry, the disputes that decide a company's future, and the private decisions that protect a family's legacy. We are not a firm of departments. We are a partnership in the original sense: the partner you appoint is the partner who does the work, answers the telephone, and signs the opinion letter.
Our clients range from DAX-listed boards to founder-led growth companies and some of Europe's oldest family offices. What they share is not scale but temperament: they value judgment over volume, and they expect counsel that weighs the commercial consequence of every clause.
Founded1987, Berlin
StructurePartner-led, conflict-free
LanguagesGerman · English · French · Mandarin
RecognitionTop-tier, Chambers Europe 2026
“We are not the loudest voice in the room.
Dr. Katharina Rabe — Managing Partner
We are the one the room waits for.”
( 02 )Outcomes
Measured in outcomes,
not billable noise.
Every figure below is drawn from our last full reporting year, audited internally and presented without ornament.
0
Years of continuous practice in Berlin and abroad
0B
Aggregate value of mandates closed in 2025
0%
Of new instructions from returning or referred clients
0
Jurisdictions reached through our best-friends network
- 2026Lead counsel on the €3.8bn pan-European take-private of a logistics platformPrivate Equity
- 2025ICC award of €640m on behalf of a renewable-energy consortiumArbitration
- 2025Landmark defence in Germany's largest follow-on cartel damages claimLitigation
- 2024€900m refinancing of a prime office portfolio across three citiesReal Estate
- 2024Cross-border succession of a €1.2bn family holding, three generationsPrivate Clients
Mandates anonymised in accordance with our professional secrecy obligations.
( 03 )Practices
Six disciplines.
One standard of care.
A narrow field, worked deeply. We do not practise everything — we practise what we can defend at the highest level.
- 01 Corporate & M&A Mergers, acquisitions, carve-outs and the governance that outlives them.
- 02 Litigation & Arbitration Commercial courts, ICC and DIS tribunals — argued, not administered.
- 03 Private Equity & Funds Sponsor-side counsel across the life of a fund, from raise to exit.
- 04 Real Estate & Construction Prime assets, forward deals and the disputes that follow the drawings.
- 05 Banking & Finance Acquisition finance, refinancing and facility work at institutional grade.
- 06 Private Clients & Succession Wealth, structures and legacies — held quietly, passed cleanly.
( 04 )People
The partnership.
We hire lawyers we would trust with our own affairs — then we entrust them with yours. Every matter is led personally by a partner.
Ninety-two attorneys, three offices, one switchboard. Begin a conversation
( In confidence )
“They saw the shape of the deal before we did. Three bidders, two regulators, one signature — flawless.”
General Counsel — DAX-listed industrial group
“In eighteen years I have never once briefed them twice. Ashford & Whitmore simply carry it.”
Principal — European growth fund
“Discretion is not a service they offer. It is the air they breathe.”
Trustee — German family office, third generation
01 — 03
( 05 )Insights
The Brief —
notes from the partnership.
Written by the partners who will act on it. Published quarterly, read by boards.
Vol. 41 · Regulatory
The EU AI Act enters its decisive phase — what boards must settle before Q4.
General-purpose AI obligations are now enforceable. The gap between “aware” and “compliant” is where supervisory fines will live in 2027.
Read the noteVol. 40 · Compliance
Supply-chain due diligence in 2026 — enforcement is getting personal.
BaFin and BAFA have shifted from paper audits to named-officer accountability. Minutes, not manuals, are becoming the evidence of first resort.
Read the noteVol. 39 · Transactions
Take-privates return to Europe — an anatomy of the new deal logic.
Cheap public equity and patient private capital are meeting again. The takeover code has not changed; the tactics around it have.
Read the noteThe Brief is mailed quarterly to clients of the firm. To receive it, write to the partnership office via the consultation desk.
An initial conversation costs nothing —
it often changes everything.
( 06 )Contact
Begin the
conversation.
Every enquiry is read by a partner, not a system. You will receive a considered reply within one business day.
Thank you — received with discretion.
Your enquiry sits with the partnership desk. A partner will respond within one business day. Your reference is AW-2026-0000.
For urgent matters, call +49 30 8841 7200 or write directly to concierge@ashford-whitmore.de.