Both were previously partners at McDermott Will & Emery
Reed Smith has added two new lawyers to its Munich office, growing the international law firm’s footprint in Germany and the Europe and Middle East (EME) regions. Nikolaus von Jacobs (pictured, left) will be joining Reed Smith as partner effective May 2, while Christian von Sydow (pictured, right) will become the firm’s latest senior associate. Both were recruited from McDermott Will & Emery.
Von Jacobs brings his expertise in the German private equity sector to Reed Smith. In McDermott Will & Emery, von Jacobs advised funds and other strategic players on private equity, venture capital, and M&A transactions across multiple industries such as technology and healthcare. His practice focuses on advising German clients on outbound transactions as well as international clients on capital deployments in Germany.
Before he joined McDermott Will & Emery, von Jacobs led Ashurst’s German private equity practice, was an associate at Freshfields, and was seconded to Merrill Lynch in 2002, where he focused on investment banking and European capital markets from the firm’s London office.
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“Reed Smith has a fantastic reputation, but what really stood out to me was the culture and the people, as well as the international platform and full service offering that will help me to grow my practice and respond to the needs of clients,” von Jacobs said of his appointment.
Von Sydow was also a partner in McDermott Will & Emery’s Munich office prior to his appointment in Reed Smith. Before he joined McDermott, von Sydow worked for 10 years at German commercial law firm Beiten Burkhardt.
Von Sydow’s expertise includes financial investors in corporate law, M&A transactions, private equity, restructuring, and corporate conflict resolution, built on years of advising clients through initial public offerings, spin-offs, increases in capital, mergers, and joint venture negotiations. He regularly arbitrates impaired M&A cases and estate-planning matters.
“I am excited to be joining Reed Smith, a firm with a renowned global platform, strong collegiate culture, and high-quality client base,” said von Sydow.
Reed Smith Munich office managing partner Daja Apetz-Dreier expressed his delight in welcoming “two extremely talented lawyers with decades of experience between them”.
“Nik and Christian’s expertise representing clients across a wide variety of sectors reflects the firm’s global strategy of aligning our offering to key industries, including transportation, life sciences, entertainment and media, financial services, and energy and natural resources,” Apatz-Dreier said.
Reed Smith has been established in Munich for over 15 years and launched of its Frankfurt office in 2015. It boasts a team of 3,000 people – including over 1,700 lawyers – operating from 31 offices across the globe.