Former SJ Berwin German head joins Hogan & Hartson

Uwe Steininger, the former head of international law firm SJ Berwin’s German practice, has joined the Munich office of Hogan & Hartson this week.

Steininger: considered working at an investment bank or PE fund

Steininger resigned from SJ Berwin’s Munich office last December and has spent the last six month evaluating his options. “I was considering what to do next,” Steininger said. “I used the time to have meetings with private equity funds, investment banks and law firms and eventually decided to join a law firm again.”

At Hogan & Hartson, Steininger will work alongside Jochen Schaefer, a corporate and M&A partner, who joined the firm late last year.

Steininger helped to establish SJ Berwin’s Munich office in 2000 and is a specialist in fund structuring, venture capital investments and buyouts. He also has experience in advising on funds, transactions and financial products adhering to Islamic law.

Steininger’s legal career began in 1983 as an in-house counsel at Siemens, the engineering and electronics group, where he worked on international mergers and acquisitions in Germany, the US and Eastern Europe, as well as the company’s real estate portfolio. In 1986, he joined law firm Dissman & Partner, becoming partner in 1987 and focusing on M&A and flotations.

In 1996, Steininger joined Baker McKenzie, where he was involved in the expansion of the Munich office and developing its private equity practice. He left for SJ Berwin in 2000, serving as joint managing partner and head of its German funds practice.

Hogan & Hartson’s private equity clients include Doughty Hanson & Co, Advent Ventures and BC Partners. In April, the firm advised Northzone Ventures, a Nordic private equity firm, on the final closing of its €175 million ($222 million) fifth venture capital fund.