Karsten Umnuß

Expertise

Karsten is a very experienced German labour and employment lawyer with over 26 years of experience as Rechtsanwalt/Fachanwalt für Arbeitsrecht at the law and multidisciplinary consulting business. With strong entrepreneurship and professional skilled, he provides advice in Labor and Employment Law, Mergers & Acquisitions (M&A), Due Diligence, Transactions and Restructurings, Compliance, Corporate Governance, employee equity programmes and complex interdisciplinary projects. He has many years of litigation experience before labour courts, social courts and civil courts. More than just a legal advisor, Karsten understands a client’s business as well as HR needs and concerns, so that creative and tailored solutions are rendered effectively.

Karsten Advises

• Commodities & Trade Finance
• Creative Industries
• Healthcare
• Infrastructure, Construction & Engineering
• Insurance
• Retail
• TMT
• Management/Private Individuals

Experience Highlights

• Counselling multinational groups in managing cross-border restructurings (acquisitions, mergers and transfer of undertakings) and in post-merger-integration issues, set-up of occupational pension scheme
• Counselling major headcount reductions and closure of business, negotiations for reconciliations of interests and social plans with works councils and trade unions, including litigation
• Feasibility study for carve-out for leading multinational industrial company division
• Advising public companies regarding the various legal forms of employment (employment agreements / freelancer / special public relationship
• Implementation of compliance projects under labour law and support of internal investigations
• Design and international implementation of employee equity participation programmes

Career History

Previous Law Firms

• DROSTE (now Hogan Lovells) 1995 – 1998
• ANDERSEN Legal 1998 – 2002
• LUTHER Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft 2002 – 2009, Head labour & employment law office Munich
• EY Law 2009 – 2020, German head labour & employment law

Education

• Friedrich-Schiller-University of Jena 1985 – 1990
• Albert-Ludwigs-University of Freiburg i.Br. 1990 – 1992

Other

• Publisher and co-author of the book “Corporate Compliance Checklisten”, C.H. Beck, 4. edition
• Co-author of several books about references (up to 9. edition) , Haufe-Verlag

Karsten is a partner in gunnercooke Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH, whose registered office is Kurfurstendamm 15, 10719, AG Charlottenburg, HRB 224488 B. All lawyers of gunnercooke Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH are admitted in Germany to practise as Rechtsanwalt or Rechsanwaltin and are members of and regulated by the relevant local Bar (Rechtsanwaltskammer)