Our clients want to accomplish big things. In many cases, reaching their objective means navigating their way through public law with all its nuances and challenges. We are very familiar with every step along this way because public law is our speciality at Köchling & Krahnefeld.
Specialists in the field of public law.
Anyone who seeks us out will receive solid advice in the field of public law.
We are your resource for all matters concerning public law. Always included: Expertise and experience, ambition and enthusiasm.
Our primary practice areas
We focus our practice on the following areas:
Environmental and nature conservation law (primarily immission control and climate protection law, water law, waste management law, soil protection and contaminated sites law, nature conservation law)
Environmental and nature conservation law (primarily immission control and climate protection law, water law, waste management law, soil protection and contaminated sites law, nature conservation law)
Public construction and planning law (primarily development planning and building regulation law, local and regional planning law, mining law, traffic law, aviation law)
Emissions trading (primarily obligation to participate in emissions trading, reporting and sanctions)
Public energy law / power lines (primarily power grid expansion law, energy industry law) and special regulations (renewable energy law, electricity tax law)
Public procurement and other public commercial law (primarily public procurement law, subsidy law, price law, communal commercial law, state aid law)
Our approach
We see ourselves are problem solvers for our clients. Although this sounds simple, in reality it’s a very complicated endeavour.
Just as every project is unique, legal advice for a given project needs to be just as unique. Legal expertise is indispensable however by itself that is not enough. We rely on teamwork and an interdisciplinary approach in order to create tailor-made solutions that fit our clients’ needs- especially in the case major projects. For us, this means addressing the technical, economic, scientific, political and social context in addition to legal issues. Accordingly, we collaborate with engineers, environmental experts, landscape planners, auditors and tax advisers.
Viewing projects holistically
As a result of our approach, our services include much more than mere legal advice addressing specific questions. Our recipe for success is viewing things holistically - but not losing focus of all the details in the process. This ability is particularly in demand for approval procedures related to large projects, for example environmentally-relevant major projects. We offer the “total package” for these type of projects: Legal advice and support, from advice when preparing and reviewing application documents to public comments (including representation at hearings) on to reviewing draft approvals and coordination with approval authorities. Of course, we also represent our clients should it be necessary to pursue subsequent administrative or legal remedies.
Our clients
Our clients include private and public investors in environmentally-relevant (major) projects, public corporations and institutions, private enterprises and individuals.
Our list of representative engagements has since grown to become quite extensive and reflects the trust our clients place in our law firm. And this trust just continues to grow with each and every project. Would you like additional information about the types of projects we have worked on to date? Under Representative Engagements you can find details about our services and selected projects from our areas of focus.
What others are saying about us
The most important praise for us are satisfied clients. However, we are also pleased with the many positive law firm reviews in recent years.
For the “Handelsblatt” newspaper, our partners Dr. Lutz Krahnefeld and Dr. Markus Ehrmann are among "Germany's Best Lawyers 2021": In June 2021, this business newspaper awarded us this distinction for the second time in a row after 2020, for public commercial law and environmental law (Dr. Krahnefeld) and energy law (Dr. Ehrmann), respectively. The rankings are based on an extensive peer-to-peer survey conducted by the internationally active U.S. trade publication "Best Lawyers". Find out more
The Magazine “WirtschaftsWoche" agrees and lists Köchling & Krahnefeld in its issue 36/2021 as one of the 34 best law firms for environmental and construction planning law. Furthermore, the editorial staff counts our partners Dr. Lutz Krahnefeld as well as Dr. Markus Ehrmann among the most renowned German lawyers in this field of law. Find out more
We were again voted one of the best commercial law firms in May 2021 by “brandeins” magazine after 2020 and listed as one of the recommended commercial law firms in the category of environmental, water and wastewater law. Find out more
For years now, the industry service JUVE has listed us as a "very good address" in environmental and planning law in its annual "Commercial Law Firms" handbook. In its current Handbook of Commercial Law Firms 2021/2022, the JUVE editorial team names us as one of the best German law firms for environmental and planning law. In the same volume, the editors recommend our partners Dr. Lutz Krahnefeld ("public lawyer of the first league") and Dr. Markus Ehrmann ("client-oriented, factually comprehensive advice"). Our partner Claire Pröbstle is "in the top league in environmental and planning law" for JUVE. Dr. Ehrmann was also honored as "Leading consultant in environmental and planning law over 50 years". Find out more
For the editors of FOCUS magazine, our firm has consistently ranked among Germany's best commercial law firms since 2013 and was most recently awarded "Top Commercial Law Firm Environmental Law in Germany 2021" in September 2021.