Trusted Legal Advisor
Legal advice strategically conceived. For entrepreneurial decisions.

KOCH: your external German general counsel – your dedicated point of contact for all legal matters

Legal issues are part of everyday business life – often unexpected and often complex. In such situations, what matters is not only the right legal answer, but above all having a point of contact who understands your business, is always available, and maintains a clear overview.

KOCH Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH supports companies on an ongoing basis as a reliable, personal point of contact for all legal matters – from contract law and trademark and competition law to real estate, corporate and finance law, M&A, and crisis situations. Whether it is a quick question, a strategic decision, or a complex special situation, you turn to KOCH – and we take care of the rest.

There is no need for you to deal with responsibilities, areas of specialization, or the selection of additional advisors. KOCH centrally manages all matters and, where necessary, draws on a carefully built and proven network of specialized experts. All coordination takes place entirely in the background; for you, it remains a single point of contact, one client relationship, and clear, consistent solutions.

KOCH has been working closely with its network partners as a well-coordinated team for many years. When required, specialized experts can be integrated into the mandate at any time. This ensures access to advisory resources comparable in both quality and scale to those of a large law firm – without the typical conflicts of interest.

Over time, this develops into a collaboration that goes beyond occasional advice: KOCH gains an increasingly deep understanding of your business, your decision-making logic, and your priorities – enabling faster, more forward-looking, and more targeted advice.

One call is all it takes.

Oversight of legal and strategic projects

Entrepreneurial challenges can rarely be reduced to a single area of law. Financing, shareholder structures, liability, strategy and implementation are closely interlinked. KOCH considers these interdependencies proactively, pragmatically and with a clear focus on solutions.

Where desired, KOCH assumes the role of central point of contact and project lead also on a project basis. Clients do not need to coordinate additional advisers themselves. When required, KOCH draws on a well-established network of experienced experts and assembles – where appropriate in multidisciplinary teams – a solution tailored to the client with the precision of a bespoke suit.

The selection of all involved experts is guided exclusively by efficiency, expertise and the client’s best interests – free from conflicts of interest and hidden agendas.

Trusted Advisor

KOCH advises entrepreneurs and companies not only on legal matters, but acts as a strategic sparring partner with a holistic perspective.

KOCH is the business law firm for clients seeking legal excellence – and, beyond that, a trusted consigliere who penetrates complex entrepreneurial situations, structures options and supports sound decision-making.

Entrepreneurial challenges can rarely be reduced to a single area of law. Financing, shareholder structures, liability, strategy and implementation are closely interlinked. KOCH considers these interdependencies proactively, pragmatically and with a clear focus on solutions.

Where desired, KOCH assumes the role of central point of contact and project lead. Clients do not need to coordinate additional advisers themselves. When required, KOCH draws on a well-established network of experienced experts and assembles – where appropriate in multidisciplinary teams – a solution tailored to the client with the precision of a bespoke suit.

The selection of all involved experts is guided exclusively by efficiency, expertise and the client’s best interests – free from conflicts of interest and hidden agendas.

This advisory philosophy is also reflected in the founder of KOCH himself: a generalist business lawyer with legal and business expertise, a broad range of experience and the ability to think in terms of entrepreneurial responsibility – as a trusted adviser on equal footing.

 

KOCH advises a sales representative of factoring products in a special market on founding his own factoring company. The client has developed the factoring products for this special market and has sold them there very successfully so far. Until now, however, the complete contractual processing was carried out by an external factoring company.

When the client starts his own factoring company, the separation from his former factoring partner becomes controversial because he sees his business dwindling. The factoring partner is trying to use an injunction to prevent his former sales representative from competing. KOCH represents the commercial agent in court and at the same time advises him comprehensively on the establishment and development of

- His new factoring company;
- The financing of the purchase of receivables;
- The design of employment and service contracts;
- The design of the factoring contracts;
- Etc.

At that time, factoring could still be operated without a permit under the German Banking Act (KWG) if it was not structured as a banking transaction. KOCH designs the business model of the factoring company in such a way that no KWG license is required.

After KOCH has won the court case for the client, the newly founded factoring company can get started. When the factoring business becomes subject to a permit in 2009, KOCH assists the factoring company in obtaining the factoring permit in accordance with the KWG and thus accompanies the client in the supervision of the Federal Financial Supervisory Authority and the Bundesbank. The factoring company's business is doing well; it becomes the market leader in its niche.

KOCH is the constant contact for the factoring company, not only for all questions relating to the strategic development of the company, but also for all other legal questions that arise. Now, with many questions it is important to the client that the legal issues are processed under KOCH's leadership due to the special relationship of trust that has grown over the years. The factoring company does not need an in-house legal department. As the main contact, KOCH as an external legal department takes care of any legal advice that may arise. If necessary, KOCH draws on experts from its network to find the best possible legal solution for the client efficiently.

Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ)

Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: As your sparring partner, we engage with you at eye level. We think not only legally, but also commercially and entrepreneurially. We help you structure complex situations, assess options and make robust decisions — legally well-founded and with a view to the bigger picture.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: On the contrary. Even where the cooperation is personal and close, it remains clearly structured and professional. The aim is to make complex matters comprehensible and decisions robust within a trusted client relationship.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: Through continuous cooperation, reliability and a deep understanding of your company. Trust does not develop in the abstract, but in concrete, shared work.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: No. Precisely because the role is based on trust, openness in both directions is essential. You retain full decision-making authority at all times; the consigliere provides the basis for well-founded decisions.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: A consigliere is particularly valuable for entrepreneurs, managing directors and shareholders who regularly face complex or sensitive decisions and who value having an experienced, independent discussion partner they can confide in.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: A traditional lawyer is instructed and then answers specific legal questions. A consigliere holds a special position of trust that has grown over a long period of working together. They think beyond individual legal questions and help to place situations in context and prepare decisions.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: A consigliere is a close and trusted advisor at eye level — someone who cuts through complexity, provides candid and clear assessments and consistently keeps your interests in view, both legally and commercially.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: You will be advised primarily by Dr. Maximilian Koch as sparring partner, if you wish. As the founder of KOCH, he is particularly well suited to this role. He combines legal excellence with business-administration expertise and a pronounced entrepreneurial perspective. Upon request, however, any of our lawyers is available as an experienced sparring partner.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: Through close and continuous cooperation. We take the time to understand your structures, objectives and decision-making processes. This is the foundation for advice at eye level and with genuine added value for you as a client.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: We combine legal excellence with a deliberately broad and commercially shaped approach. Instead of looking at isolated legal questions, we consider interdependencies and develop pragmatic solutions that can be implemented in practice.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: Management consultants, tax advisors and KOCH contribute different and complementary perspectives. We supplement and connect these perspectives with in-depth legal assessment and legal safeguarding. As a sparring partner, this means that you receive not only strategic input, but also a robust legal assessment and safeguarding of your decisions.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: A sparring partner complements your existing structures. They do not replace them. Unlike internal advisors, a sparring partner is independent of corporate-body structures, internal coordination processes and potential conflicts of interest. The added value lies in the combination: your internal bodies and advisors know the company in detail. KOCH supplements this perspective with independent, structuring and commercially minded input.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: A sparring partner is particularly valuable in complex or directional decisions — for example in transactions, restructurings, shareholder matters or strategic turning points. In such situations, the issue is often not simply “right or wrong”, but the careful weighing of options and risks.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: Yes. Legal questions are often only one part of a broader business context. We include issues such as financing, shareholder structure and strategic objectives in our analysis and develop solutions that work both legally and commercially.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: A strategic legal advisor is a lawyer who supports companies not only on individual legal questions, but also over the long term in important business decisions. Unlike traditional legal advice, which often responds to specific issues only once they arise, a strategic legal advisor works proactively: they identify risks at an early stage, highlight structuring options and place legal issues in their broader commercial context. Typical roles in which KOCH acts as strategic legal advisor include external general counsel / external legal department, management of legal and strategic projects, sparring partner for the entrepreneur and the company, and — as the most comprehensive position of trust — consigliere.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: A sparring partner is an independent discussion partner who helps critically assess and further develop ideas, strategies or decisions. In a business context, this means that a sparring partner contributes an external perspective, asks the right questions, identifies weaknesses in reasoning and helps make decisions better and more robust.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: Your internal experts are at the center. In multidisciplinary projects, we work closely with the existing departments and specialists within your company. We involve external experts from our network only where it makes sense or where additional specialist knowledge is required.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: We do not limit ourselves to purely legal questions. Many business projects today are multidisciplinary from the outset. In such cases, we can also assume overall project management upon request and coordinate cooperation with advisors from other disciplines. The founder of KOCH was a partner at EY for many years and therefore has extensive experience in selecting and leading large multidisciplinary teams.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: No. The cooperation must be right both professionally and personally. That is crucial to success. If this is ever not the case, we will find another solution within our network without complications. For you, this means that you remain in control at all times.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: An in-house counsel is part of your company. An external general counsel, by contrast, is a long-term and close partner who advises you independently. Both models allow for loyal representation of interests. The difference lies primarily in perspective. As external advisors, we are independent and not embedded in internal structures or hierarchies. This enables a particularly objective and clear legal assessment.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: If you instruct KOCH on an initial, clearly defined advisory project, you can easily issue further mandates on that basis at any time, should you wish to do so. Our engagement agreements provide for this possibility as standard. The first mandate therefore opens the door to ongoing cooperation without obliging you to enter into it or causing additional costs.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: At first glance, ongoing legal support may appear to be an additional cost factor. In practice, it is usually much more economical than one-off advice. Through continuous cooperation, we know your company, your structures and your decision-making processes very well. This builds trust and, above all, creates significant efficiency gains. At the same time, risks can often be identified and avoided before costs arise at all.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: Yes. Through continuous cooperation, we gain a detailed understanding of your company, your structures and your decision-making processes. This reduces coordination effort, increases speed and helps identify and avoid risks at an early stage.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: Except in special cases involving clearly defined legal issues, this is usually not the cheaper option. In practice, such a setup — an employed lawyer supported by AI — quickly reaches its limits, which can result in legal solutions that are suboptimal or simply wrong. In the best case, the business lawyer recognizes that external legal advice should also be obtained. In the worst case, you do not receive sound legal advice.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: That is precisely one of the advantages. A legal department must cover a broad range of topics, but it cannot be highly specialized in every area. We combine targeted specialist depth with a pragmatic, mid-market and fundamentally generalist approach to legal advice. Where required, we can involve experts from other areas of law from our curated network and integrate them in a targeted manner.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: Yes. As external general counsel, we are genuinely available as the point of contact for all legal questions that arise for you. This includes smaller matters and routine issues from your operating business. As a business law firm with a strong mid-market focus, we take care of your legal matters so that you do not have to look for additional lawyers yourself.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: An external general counsel is the central point of contact for all legal matters of a client, from strategic issues to operational day-to-day questions. The objective is consistent, efficient and business-oriented legal advice from a single source.
Diese Antwort bezieht sich auf das Thema: An external general counsel is an outsourced chief legal advisor who assumes the function of an internal legal department without being permanently employed by the company. They serve as the central point of contact for all legal matters and support the company on an ongoing basis in both legal and strategic matters. Unlike the one-off engagement of individual lawyers, an external general counsel works closely and continuously with management.
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