Skills
Within the vast field of white-collar criminal law, our outstanding skills are:
Compliance, Prevention and Crisis Consultation
Compliance is an essential element of responsible corporate governance. We provide advice on the development, implementation, and review of compliance management systems (CMS). Our areas of focus:
- ESG Compliance: Supporting the implementation of regulatory ESG requirements, including sustainability reporting, supply chain due diligence, and governance structures
- CMS & Tax-CMS: Designing and enhancing legally compliant organizational structures to minimize tax and corporate liability risks. We assist with the setup of internal control systems (ICS), documentation, and communication with tax authorities.
- Healthcare Compliance: Advising companies and institutions in the healthcare sector on industry-specific regulations, particularly in pharmaceutical and medical device law, anti-corruption regulations, and cooperation with healthcare professionals.
Corporate representation and directors‘ and officers‘ liability
Understanding factual allegations and legal accusations is vital for a company facing criminal investigations. Once proceedings are initiated against a director, officer or employee, the firm is legally obliged and personally interested in gaining insights in the asserted facts and their legal assessment in order to preserve the image of integrity.
The consequences of such investigations vary: not only individual analysts or employees can be The resulting cooperation with the public prosecutor’s office or the investigating professional chambers can often lead to positive cooperation on both sides, i.e. a “win-win situation”. On the one hand, the company is interested in investigating the crime internally and drawing appropriate consequences from the misconduct. This may involve labour law consequences or a rethinking of the company’s internal control mechanisms. On the other hand, there is an advantage for the investigating authorities. The latter can gain comprehensive insights into the company's processes and thus, in the best case, enable a rapid clarification of the facts to be investigated.
At least in German criminal law, the principle of “Societas delinquere non potest” (still) applies (while in light of a current proposal to introduce a law on the legal responsibility of entities, this situation is likely to change in the future). This means that our legal system does not have a codified corporate criminal law. Nevertheless, legal entities and associations of persons are frequently the focus of investigations under criminal and administrative penalty law to a particular extent. The consequences of such investigations are manifold: not only individual company officers or employees can be affected by criminal and regulatory investigations, but the company itself can also be exposed to serious financial burdens through criminal measures such as corporate fines (ss. 30, 130 of the German Act on Regulatory Offences – OWiG) or confiscation (ss. 74 ff of the German Criminal Code – StGB). Even the initiation of proceedings can have a considerable disruptive impact on day-to-day business operations, with companies having to deal with problems such as searches, seizures and, not least, negative press coverage.
In the case of commercially active companies, there is also an economic risk for the management to be prosecuted and sanctioned under civil and criminal law. In many business (criminal) law situations, the special concerns of managing directors, board members and supervisory board members must therefore be considered both preventively and in defense of the company.
In this area, we offer comprehensive support to both companies and individuals. Knierim Lorenz Breit Attorneys at Law have many years of experience in advising and representing companies in criminal law matters and possess comprehensive know-how in criminal and administrative fine investigations, both in terms of personnel and expertise, in order to coordinate legal advice, coordination and defense with you and to find the best possible solution.
Criminal Complaints and Representation of Injured Parties
You have become a victim of a crime as a natural or legal person? As an aggrieved person, we will gladly accompany you through the extensive and complex criminal proceedings process
– from the drafting of the criminal complaint and the associated notification of the criminally relevant facts to the relevant investigating authority to the conclusion or discontinuation of the proceedings. We represent your procedural rights and support you in claiming them.
Individual Defence
We support you in every phase of investigation, criminal or regulatory proceedings. We represent and support you in investigations led by the public prosecutors or the tax authorities, as well as in disciplinary proceedings and at trial in court, regardless of whether you need a defense attorney, witness assistance or individual counsel.
With our many years of forensic experience in criminal, tax and professional disciplinary proceedings we support you at every step of the legal procedure. Contact us at any time in the event of searches, arrests, interrogations, requests for information or government inquiries, indictments or penalty orders as well as seizing of assets and any other investigative measures.
Internal Investigations
At times when company managers (board of directors, managing directors) as well as controlling bodies (supervisory board and board of directors) need a factual and value-neutral basis for their decisions (business judgment), internal investigations by external law firms or auditing companies are a recognised and necessary corporate measure.
Their purpose is to find possible legal problems, stop further damage, and protect the company’s integrity and reputation. We help with internal investigations from the first review of concerns to putting the right actions in place.
Legal Opinions / Expert Reports
As legal experts, we support you and your company in identifying applicable legal regimes and provisions to be observed in your individual circumstances, e.g. in the planification and implementation of new projects.
Our goal is to provide you with a trustworthy assessment of a (criminal) legally relevant matter without losing sight of the economic interests of your company. By answering legal questions objectively and comprehensively, we support you both in setting a decisive course and in other decision-making processes in connection with the management of your company.
Due to the comprehensive and specialised legal knowledge and the expertise of our lawyers based on many years of professional experience, we will be glad to assist you in answering legal questions.
Ombud Activities
As external lawyers we offer your employees support as ombudspersons. A company’s employee may address an ombudsperson in cases of suspected corruption, tax fraud or other irregularities within the company. The external lawyer is able to guarantee confidentiality and full anonymity between the employee and the company.
We receive the reports of suspicious cases on behalf of the company. Our position as an independent contact partner – who guarantees confidentiality for internal and external whistleblowers – reduces the barriers for employees to report suspicious incidents.
In close consultation with the whistleblower and the company’s management, we agree on the further courses of action required within the framework of a company's self-image of integrity. As the ombudsperson, we provide support in the investigation of serious reports of misconduct and advise on responsible action after such allegations or suspicions have come to light.