Hermann Melnikov moves from White & Case to litigation boutique Schmitz & Partner

Former partner at White & Case, Hermann Melnikov (pictured), has joined the Frankfurt litigation boutique Schmitz & Partner, becoming the firm’s third partner (together with Bernd-Wilhelm Schmitz and Mirjam Escher). Schmitz & Partner is thus trying its course for growth after several departures in 2022 and the cancelled merger with the law firm Massari Olbrich.

Melnikov gained a long experience at Clifford Chance before moving to White & Case in 2004. For both law firms he worked for many years in Moscow, until he started heading the White & Case office in Düsseldorf from 2013 to 2019, where he worked most recently as of counsel of the firm.

In addition to international groups such as Wintershall, Commerzbank, Mercedes-Benz and the Nordstream banking consortium, he took care of Russian and Ukrainian clients, primarily on corporate and capital markets law, like the mobile phone operator KyivStar, the steel group Magnitogorsk Steel Works, the aluminium manufacturer RusAl and Sberbank.

He also sat on the supervisory board of Strabag for the Russian company Rasperia, which he had to resign from after the start of the war in Ukraine. Moreover, he was Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Kabel Deutschland from 2019 until October 2023. During this time, the company was involved in disputes with the activist investment fund Elliot.

michela.cannovale@lcpublishinggroup.com

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