New VAT Partner: Flick Gocke Schaumburg Recruits Head of BDO Berlin Office Dr. Ulrich Grünwald as Partner for Bonn

Flick Gocke Schaumburg has recruited a recognized VAT expert. Dr. Ulrich Grünwald will move to the FGS Bonn office as a partner from November 14, 2011 after leaving BDO AG.

Dr. Ulrich Grünwald (48), lawyer and tax consultant, studied law at the University of Munich and joined the tax administration of the state of Berlin in 1993. In 1999, he moved to BDO, where he built up the VAT division of BDO in Germany, and also headed the tax department of its Berlin office from then on. In addition, he was Chairman of the BDO International VAT Center of Excellence as of 2003. From 2007 onwards, he was also responsible for the structure of the tax departments of the local BDO offices.

In particular, Dr. Ulrich Grünwald regularly lectures and publishes on VAT topics, and his additional activities include his work on the Hartmann Metzenmacher commentary on the German VAT Act (UStG).

“In Ulrich Grünwald, we have a most highly regarded colleague joining the tax-law team at our Bonn office. His competence in the field of VAT will both enrich our expertise in this particular area and broaden the range of opportunities we have to offer our clients highly specialized advice at partner level,” says Bonn-based FGS partner Dr. Jens Eric Gotthardt.

Dr. Ulrich Grünwald says: “Hardly any other German firm can match the breadth and depth of practical tax-law expertise amassed at Flick Gocke Schaumburg. I am greatly looking forward to supporting the development of the VAT department in such an extraordinarily focused environment."

He is the third partner to have been recruited by Flick Gocke Schaumburg this year. In spring 2011, Dr. Helder Schnittker, who specializes in the taxation of M&As, joined the Berlin office after leaving Alpers & Stenger, and business taxation expert Dr. Holger Dietrich moved from Freshfields Bruckhaus Deringer to the FGS Bonn office. The firm now has 74 partners (including 36 equity partners) and over 160 associates throughout Germany. Apart from partner Dr. Jens Eric Gotthardt and nationally recognized expert Dr. Matthias Winter, Rainald Vobbe (tax consultant), Pia Hamm (lawyer and tax consultant) and Nicole Kapeller (lawyer) currently practice in the field of VAT at the FGS Bonn office; Dr. Barbara Fleckenstein-Weiland (lawyer and tax consultant) does so at the Frankfurt office.