Up to now, BLD has been represented in Germany at five locations: Cologne, Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin and Karlsruhe. At the turn of the year, a further office will be established in Dortmund at Ellipson building on Friedensplatz. This means that BLD is now represented for its clients in Germany's most densely populated region in the immediate vicinity of many relevant courts and is also moving closer to the insurance companies based in the Ruhr region.
As part of the new opening, Dr. Stefan Spielmann (property and transport insurance), Marcel Hohagen, LL.M. (industrial and environmental liability) and Lutz Köther, LL.M. (health insurance) are moving from Cologne to the new location in Dortmund. All three partners of BLD have their home in the Ruhr area.
They will be supported by BLD partners Dr. Christoph Krischer (motor insurance), Dr. Tobias Mergner (personal injury) and Dr. Joachim Grote (life and health insurance), who will be responsible for the development of the divisions with a regular on-site presence from Cologne. The team in Dortmund will start with two additional lawyers and is to be expanded both in the area of litigation and claims handling.
Dr. Stefan Spielmann is deputy head of the Property, Marine and Transport department. He is a Specialist Insurance Lawyer and has become one of the leading expands on property insurance law in Germany after many years of experience in multiple coverage law issues in the property and cyber insurance sectors. He has handled waves of litigation after major loss events, and advised on complex major industrial claims, including in the context of dubious claims.
Marcel Hohagen, LLM., is partner in the Industrial Liability department. He is a renowned legal expert in industrial liability insurance and particularly in product and environmental liability. He offers a profound understanding of technical, chemical, biological and geological matters as well as many years of experience. Marcel Hohagen is familiar with the interactions of civil and public liability, hazard defence and procedural law in connection with insurance coverage issues and has a well-founded understanding of relevant common legal principles across borders.
Lutz Köther, LLM., is a lawyer and partner in the Health department. He is a Specialist Insurance Lawyer, and focusses on litigation in the area of medical expenses and daily sickness benefit insurance, compulsory long-term care insurance and foreign travel health insurance. As a result of his many years of experience, Lutz Köther has a pronounced awareness of where problems lie, as well as comprehension of sensitive issues and the associated opportunities and risks.
"We have already been the first point of contact for many insurance companies for nationwide representation in court proceedings in the Ruhr area for years and would also like to be present locally with our own office in this important economic region," says Dortmund office manager Dr. Stefan Spielmann and continues: "For the firm, the opening of the Dortmund office is therefore not only a spatial expansion of the nationwide BLD network, but our clients will also benefit from the expansion of our claims settlement unit, for which we are currently specifically looking for legal talent."
On behalf of the management and all partners of BLD, Dr. Joachim Grote thanks the three partners for their great commitment, who will be working for our clients from Dortmund in the future. "It is an expression of our strong growth that we are now present in Dortmund from our own resources and with our own strength. We are very happy at BLD about this good development!"
