Schalast | Our growth history: Growth for impact
1995 - The foundation
According to recent figures, such as those collected by the German Bar Association (DAV), the number of new law firm foundations is currently declining sharply. When new firms are established, they are often spin-offs by senior associates from so-called major law firms, or solo practices started due to a lack of alternatives. At Schalast, things were different in 1995. Christoph Schalast began his career at the internationally oriented M&A boutique Albert, Flad & Schlosshan (now part of Mayer Brown LLP), and in late 1992 he joined a medium-sized Frankfurt firm as a partner. This firm, after the authorization of interregional partnerships, quickly opened additional offices in Berlin and Dresden. After heading the Berlin office on Friedrichstraße from 1992 to 1994, the question arose in early 1995 as to what prospects remained for the Berlin location after the closure of the Treuhand agency. For Christoph Schalast, it was clear that he wanted to return to Frankfurt to establish his own firm in his hometown, shaped by his personal vision. A move to the existing Frankfurt office of Brandt Partnerschaft or to Dresden was not an option, as his vision for a new foundation could not be realized there. And that idea was still relatively new in Germany at the time: advising on buy & build strategies for Anglo-American private equity funds in the freshly deregulated German and European telecommunications market.
1995 to 1999 - The Early Years
Thus, in May 1995, the Schalast office was established at Unterlindau 31 in Frankfurt’s Westend, followed in 1996 by a move to larger premises on Wilhelm-Hauff-Straße. During this period, the firm advised, among others, the British private equity fund Alchemy on acquisitions of broadband cable operators in North Rhine-Westphalia, Rhineland-Palatinate, and Hesse as part of a buy & build strategy. The goal was to take the resulting SMATcom public by the end of 1999. However, the collapse of the Neuer Markt prevented this IPO, and the company was successfully sold to Deutsche Bank Investor in early 2000 – an early example of a dual-track strategy. At the same time, the firm was already advising banks such as Dexia Hypothekenbank on the servicing and later disposal of non-performing real estate loans, primarily in the new federal states.
During this period, another area of expertise developed at Schalast: advising the BMZ (Federal Ministry for Economic Cooperation and Development), GIZ, and other national and international organizations such as the World Bank, the European Union, and KfW on legal consulting projects in the successor states of the former Soviet Union, EU accession candidates in Eastern Europe, and even in the Middle East. The firm supported numerous legislative projects, particularly in Southeastern Europe, where it advised on notary laws in Bosnia and Herzegovina, Albania, North Macedonia, and Montenegro. It also participated in energy law reforms in Slovenia, Bulgaria, Lithuania, and Cyprus, water law in Georgia, and the establishment of a competition authority in Lebanon.
2000 - Main-Elbe-Fusion
In 2000, the firm merged with its former colleagues from the Brandt partnership in Dresden to form the supra-local law firm Schalast & Partner with offices in Frankfurt and Dresden. At the same time, the “classic” GbR law firm became a partnership.
2003 - Tele Columbus deal for BC Partners delivers largest mandate and JUVE return
The next major step in the firm's development was, in addition to the ongoing advice to Anglo-Saxon private equity funds such as GMT or Veronis Suhler Stevenson on buy & build strategies, for example under the umbrella of PEPcom or Docu Group, the support of BC Partners in the takeover of one of the leading national German telecommunications and broadband cable providers, Tele Columbus. This EUR 500 million transaction, which Schalast advised on together with Luther, was not only the firm's largest deal to date, it also led to the transaction being reported to JUVE - at the time without a Schalast press release - and the firm being mentioned there for the first time since the merger in 2000.
2004 - JUVE entry 2004: Laterals-Boost heralds first phase of growth
In 2004, Schalast was included in the JUVE Handbook of Commercial Law Firms for the first time, which made the firm increasingly attractive for laterals. Shortly afterwards, Dr. Georg Berger joined Schalast with his telecommunications practice and Dr. Martin Bouchon from Hölters & Elsing (now Orrick) with his capital markets practice. This marked the beginning of the firm's first strong growth phase.JUVE entry 2004: Laterals boost heralds first growth phase
2005 - Expansion and establishment as leading NPL practice since 2004
The firm's growth since 2004 also led to it being mandated for larger NPL transactions, in particular for MHB Bank, a member of the Lone Star Group. For MHB Bank, Schalast was able to advise on the Supernova transaction, which is still considered a milestone today. Overall, the firm subsequently succeeded in establishing itself as one of the leading NPL practices in Germany. At the same time, the firm continued to advise private equity funds on buy & build strategies, exemplified by the acquisitions for PEPcom in the new federal states or in Bavaria. Furthermore, an office was opened in Berlin in connection with the growing telecommunications practice. The firm now had three offices in Frankfurt, Dresden and Berlin.
In 2005, the firm also moved to much more spacious offices in Mendelssohnstrasse with the clear prospect of further dynamic growth. Part of the new office concept was the now almost legendary Schalast roof terrace with its skyline view.
2006 - Nomination as JUVE law firm for medium-sized businesses
The year 2006 was then characterized by the support of numerous capital market transactions and IPOs, particularly in the Prime Standard of the Frankfurt Stock Exchange. This and the continued strong presence of the PE and telecommunications practice led to Schalast being nominated for the first time in 2006 by JUVE as law firm of the year for medium-sized companies.
2007 - Three JUVE Awards
After failing to win in 2006, the three JUVE Awards in the fall of 2007 were a dream come true. Although this time we were nominated in two “big” categories, Mittelstand and Media, it was overwhelming to win a total of three awards, Mittelstand, Telecommunications and Frankfurt. The laudation for the JUVE Award Mittelstand Law Firm of the Year reads as follows:
"It has shown an almost breathtaking pace: Blow by blow went the development of his law firm driven by Professor Dr. Christoph Schalast. The firm has impressively demonstrated how well a smaller law firm can successfully develop other areas, such as corporate and banking and capital markets law, from an outstanding specialization."
2008 to 2009 - Spin-Offs and full service
In 2008, the legal market in Germany and Europe was characterized above all by the financial crisis and the considerable changes that came with it. This year was not easy for Schalast either. The then head of the telecommunications practice, Dr. Georg Berger, moved to a telecommunications boutique and at the end of the year part of the capital markets and corporate practice split off to form a spin-off law firm. For Schalast, this represented an opportunity in view of the financial crisis, but on the other hand it clearly demonstrated the need for sustainable integration as part of the future growth strategy.
An important strategic decision by the partnership in response to these developments was to abandon the previous boutique approach at the beginning of 2009 and focus more on full service for companies/entrepreneurs. This was reflected in particular by the establishment of the notary's office at the end of 2008, the appointment of Christoph Schalast as a notary and the move of a team around the lawyer and notary and later State Secretary in the Federal Ministry of Economics, Hans-Joachim Otto, to the law firm, which from then on had a much broader base.
2010 - International networking through Mutlilaw
Joining the Tier 1 network Multilaw was a decisive step in the internationalization of the law firm. Multilaw itself was undergoing a transformation at the time and was looking for strong medium-sized partner law firms with a cross-border M&A focus 20 years after its foundation. For this reason, Multilaw had selected Schalast as part of a due diligence of potential partner law firms in Frankfurt and then offered to join. With its presence in all major jurisdictions, but especially in Europe, the US and South East Asia, Multilaw has become one of the central pillars of Schalast's success over the last 15 years. In this way, we can offer our clients worldwide in all relevant jurisdictions advice at the highest level from a single source, and at the same time we are regularly subjected to an appraisal process by the network, in which our processes are checked against its requirements. This has led to a clear leap in quality, but has also significantly increased our international work overall. Transactions, such as the Isoplus transaction for Viessmann in 2024 with the parallel handling of merger control and FDI in ten European jurisdictions, would not have been possible without Multilaw. Over the last 15 years, Multilaw has become an increasingly important part of the Schalast culture and the Schalast philosophy.
This is particularly evident in the fact that the firm has consistently internationalized itself - since the JUVE Award in 2007 - and is now also present in all important international directories, from Legal 500 to Best Lawyers to Chambers and many others. Multilaw itself has recognized this by naming Schalast the first Multilaw Firm of the Year in 2023.
2011 to 2016 - Expansion of new practice groups and innovation leadership in Banking & Finance
The years 2011 to 2016 were then characterized above all by continuous growth and the establishment of further, now important, practice groups, such as employment law or IPO/IT and litigation. At the same time, the Banking & Finance practice established itself as one of the leading players in the “shark tank” of Frankfurt in competition with the large law firms and boutiques in the area. It benefited from the fact that numerous regulatory issues were already present in the traditional NPL practice. Later, under the leadership of the current co-managing partner, Prof. Dr. Andreas Walter, the Banking & Finance practice managed to establish itself as a point of contact for innovation topics, in particular FinTech but far beyond that, and often in cooperation with multilaw partners also accompanied role outs far beyond Germany. The subsequent takeover of MHB Bank by FinTech WeltSparen Raisin and its renaming as Raisin Bank is an example of the change in this market Expansion of new practice groups and innovation leadership in Banking & Finance
2017 - LegalTech pioneer and expansion to Hamburg
The next important step in the firm's development was the acquisition of the LegalTech provider Clarius.Legal and the associated opening of an office in the Hanseatic city of Hamburg. Dr. Georg Berger, who had left the firm in 2008, had founded the LegalTech pioneer Clarius.Legal in Hamburg in 2015 and the merger of Schalast and Clarius.Legal took place in 2017. The aim was to integrate LegalTech offerings into the advisory services at a very early stage via Clarius.Legal and thus become a front runner for the later dynamic development of AI. At the same time, a Schalast office was set up in Hamburg with a focus on tax, energy law, employment law and later real estate.
2018 - The Lawyer European Award: Law Firm of the Year Germany
The merger with Clarius.Legal and the associated early focus on LegalTech topics, innovative advice and the broader positioning of the law firm overall then led to Schalast - completely unexpectedly and against the competition of numerous large German law firms - being awarded the European “Law Firm of the Year Germany” award by the leading British industry magazine The Lawyer in 2018. A success that reflects both the firm's innovative strength and its successful internationalization - not least via Multilaw.
2020 to 2021 - Despite the pandemic: expansion plans to Düsseldorf and Stuttgart, Green Law & Pro Bono
Now that the law firm had offices in Frankfurt, Hamburg and Berlin - the unit in Dresden had become independent by mutual agreement in the meantime - the partnership decided in 2019 to establish a presence in the other important German business centers of Düsseldorf and Stuttgart as soon as possible in order to better serve medium-sized clients locally. However, the start of the coronavirus pandemic, the lockdowns and the associated changes in the legal market from the beginning of 2020 called the corresponding considerations, which were already very far advanced, into question again. However, after adapting very well and quickly to the new conditions - not least due to its LegalTech expertise - the partnership decided to continue on its growth path.
Schalast then opened offices in Düsseldorf and Stuttgart simultaneously at the start of 2021. In Düsseldorf, a team from a competitor moved to the firm and in Stuttgart, some of the partners from Derpa, Bender & Sigler and later the established IP boutique Lichtenstein Körner joined Schalast. Further growth took place in parallel.
Schalast has been socially committed to children's rights in particular since the beginning of its transformation consulting in Eastern and South-Eastern Europe and beyond. Schalast's social commitment began with support for a ward for orphans suffering from AIDS in Pskov. At the beginning of the 2000s, the “Our Kids” project in Kiev was supported both through pro bono advice and social commitment in the construction of integration facilities for street kids. For this reason, Schalast is also one of the co-founders of Pro Bono Deutschland e.V. and today advises the Franziskustreff in Frankfurt, for example. Since the firm was founded, its activities have focused on supporting children and young adults, particularly with regard to educational opportunities. Examples of this include the collaboration with the girls' office Milena since 2016 and the integration project launched together with Champions League team Eintracht Frankfurt in 2024. In this respect, pro bono advice and social commitment are part of Schalast's DNA.
Closely related to this is the fact that the law firm - despite the coronavirus pandemic - was certified CO2-neutral at the beginning of 2020 and has been pursuing a focused ESG and sustainability strategy ever since. This includes a commitment to implementing the 17 United Nations Sustainable Development Goals and membership of Climate Change Now and The Chancery Lane Project. Legal 500 has recognized this by highlighting Schalast in the first Green Guide 2024 and in the recently published Green Ambassador Ranking, the law firm is also one of the few in Germany to be highlighted. Schalast's involvement in Multilaw's Sustainability Committee, which has been chaired by Christoph Schalast since its inception in 2022, is closely linked to this.
2022 to 2025 - Growth, change and social responsibility
The year 2025 marks a special anniversary in the history of our firm: 30 years of Schalast Law | Tax. Three decades in which we have grown steadily - professionally, geographically and culturally.
This growth is particularly evident in 2025: three of our five offices - Stuttgart, Düsseldorf and Berlin - have moved to new, larger premises. All locations are closely networked in terms of technology and organization and work together as an integrated team across locations.
Another highlight of these years is the launch of our charitable project with Eintracht Frankfurt in summer 2024. With the language café in the heart of Eintracht, we are jointly promoting language, sport and social cohesion. The aim is to strengthen the language skills of refugee coaches in order to pave the way for their sporting future in Germany.
There have also been decisive professional changes during this phase: our Corporate/M&A team made a quantum leap in 2025. By advising the renowned German family-owned company Viessmann on major transactions with Landefeld, Gritec and ISOPLUS, the team has impressively positioned itself at the top of the market. This achievement was not only recognized by our clients - Chambers awarded the team a distinction for the first time, and The Lawyer also recognized us again in 2025.