BBH has announced the appointment of two new partners with effect from 1 January 2020. Another five colleagues were elevated to partner counsel status and have thus become part of the law firm’s extended management team.
Lawyers Niko Liebheit and Jens Panknin were promoted to BBH partners at the beginning of the year.
Lawyer Niko Liebheit, who is based in Berlin, advises clients on German and European electricity and energy tax law from the perspective of both suppliers and consumers. The electricity and energy tax require a great deal of administrative effort and expense on the part of companies from across all sectors, ranging from municipal utilities, waste management companies and hospitals to the industrial sector, with different possibilities of tax exemption and relief. With the appointment of Niko Liebheit, a recognised energy tax expert in Germany, BBH responds to the growing need for advice in this area. The Energy Tax Act also serves as basis for the newly introduced national emissions trading scheme.
Cologne-based Jens Panknin provides advice to industrial clients and SMEs on optimising their energy costs. He advises in particular energy-intensive companies on all matters relating to the special equalisation scheme, self-supply and reduced grid charges. His practice focuses particularly on advising operators of closed distribution networks and customer facilities, which makes him one of the few legal experts in this field in Germany. With the appointment of Jens Panknin as partner, BBH continues to consolidate its office in Cologne after Cologne-based BBH partner Axel Kafka returned to the law firm’s Berlin office. Jens Panknin will join BBH partner Matthias Pöhl as partner at BBH Cologne.
The newly appointed partner counsel include the Berlin-based lawyers Juliane Kaspers, Simone Mühe and Carsten Telschow, Munich-based Diplom-Ökonom Ronald Storp (degree in economics) and Cologne-based Dipl.-Ing. Frank Licht (degree in engineering).
Juliane Kaspers specialises in all matters of heat supply and decentralised energy generation and supply concepts (incl. project development, drafting of contracts and implementation) and is part of the team of the partners Dr. Martin Riedel, Ulf Jacobshagen and Dr. Markus Kachel. In her practice, she helps clients navigate the strategic challenges to be met in the context of the heat transition. She advises suppliers, contractors, industrial clients and companies of the real estate sector. Juliane Kaspers is noted for her long-standing experience and pragmatic advisory approach with a fine sense of detail.
Simone Mühe advises clients on e-mobility and charging infrastructure matters together with the mobility partners Dr. Christian de Wyl and Dr. Roman Ringwald. For many years, the BBH mobility team has been an “early bird” providing scientific and practical advice in many well-noted mobility projects, thus being able to give significant impetus to the development in this field. Simone Mühe is also well-known in the market for her expertise in energy sales and metering matters.
Carsten Telschow joined BBH at the time of the introduction of the emissions trading scheme. Since then, the brilliant administrative law expert has been advising clients on all aspects of emissions trading and immission control law as part of the team of BBH partners Prof. Dr. Ines Zenke and Dr. Tigran Heymann. The team of Dr. Zenke and Dr. Heymann provides counsel, among others, on all public law aspects relating to the construction of medium-sized and large generation and production installations, advises some hundred installation operators under the ETS and has now, together with Carsten Telschow, also positioned itself to help clients navigate the national emissions trading scheme.
Ronald Storp is part of the dynamic and growing corporate finance team of the BBH partners, public auditors and tax advisors Thomas Straßer and Tobias Sengenberger. His practice encompasses the valuation of companies in the context of business transactions and the valuation of supply grids. Furthermore, Ronald Storp – who holds a degree in economics (Diplom-Ökonom) and is a CFA charterholder and Certified Valuation Analyst (EACVA e.V.) – analyses capital market data, predominantly in the context of determining the cost of equity for energy regulation purposes.
Cologne-based Dipl.-Ing. Frank Licht complements BBH’s long-standing advisory practice on legal and economic water management aspects in the technical field. He is part of the team of BBH partner, public auditor and tax advisor Thomas Straßer. Frank Licht has many years of experience in leading positions in municipalities and the supply sector as well as a consultant to the water and energy industry. With Frank Licht and the team of BBH partner Daniel Schiebold, BBH is now able to provide holistic advice in the area of water industry.
Becker Büttner Held is a leading provider of advisory services for energy and infrastructure companies and their customers. Energy and supply companies, particularly public utilities, municipalities and local authorities, industrial companies and international groups are among its core clients. BBH advises these and many other companies and organisations in all legal matters and also assists them with business and strategic advice.
Contact:
Prof. Dr. Ines Zenke
Lawyer, Partner
phone +49 (0)30 611 28 40 179
ines.zenke@bbh-online.de
Visit Becker Büttner Held at www.die-bbh-gruppe.de, www.bbh-blog.de or twitter.com/BBH_online.