For the past several years, we have benefited from our affiliation with Heiermann, Franke, Knipp (HFK). You have probably noticed on our letterhead, website and other literature, HFK’s offices in Berlin, Frankfurt, Munich and other cities in Germany. HFK is the leading construction law firm in Germany. While our relationship has existed for several years, last year we decided that it would be advantageous to both firms to expand our connection by having more lawyers at more levels become acquainted in finding areas where they could work together. The starting point was a series of visits between the firms. The first visit was Christian Nunn’s (the managing partner of HFK’s Munich office) visit to our McLean, Irvine, and San Francisco offices this past April. The next visitor was HFK’s Natalie Keller (Berlin office) to our McLean, Irvine and San Francisco offices. Thereafter, Justin Watkins of our Las Vegas office visited HFK’s Munich, Berlin and Frankfurt offices. The culmination of this year’s exchange was Mike Long, Paul Varela and I (along with my wife, Rufus) visiting the HFK Munich , Berlin and Frankfurt offices.

We started the trip in Munich so we could overlap with Oktoberfest. As many of you know from our annual invitation, each year our firms co-host a party on the first Monday of Munich’s renowned Oktoberfest.

The day after the Oktoberfest party, we met in HFK’s office to discuss mutual goals and interests. This was followed by a traditional Munich breakfast of weisswurst and weissbeer, which must be consumed before the last strike of noon on the Rathaus clock.

Our next stop was Berlin, HFK’s largest office and meetings and dinners with partners Christian Zanner and Ernst Wilhelm. Each city has a special place for local delicacies. Berlin’s is an outdoor “curry wurst” stand. Open until 5:00 A.M., it is the Berliners’ last stop of the evening. Curry wurst and beer, rain or shine, hot or cold, outside. Chancellor Merkel is apparently a regular, and of course, we tried it! The next day we had meetings in the HFK Berlin office, lunch on the top of the restored Reichstag Building, and an afternoon of sightseeing, all under the guidance of Ulrich Arlt.

Thursday we moved to Essen for a separate meeting. On Friday morning, it was a quick train to Frankfurt for an afternoon meeting on the top floor of HFK’s office building overlooking the Frankfurt skyline. That evening was memorable for both the restaurant and the company where Bernd Knipp and Bettina Schmidt-Rady won the HFK best partier awards. We quit around midnight in Jimmy’s bar, but our Frankfurt colleagues showed no signs of fatigue. Jimmy’s bar is famous in German law for a substantial contract signed on a beer mat. It was held to be valid and although it no longer adorns the bar, still prompts lively, if not always coherent, conversation on a party’s capacity to enter into contracts.

What did we accomplish other than a great time and a quick tour of Germany’s largest cities? Although we already knew that HFK is the most highly regarded construction law firm in Germany, the substance of that knowledge is impressive. Many of the partners are leaders in their field; their publications on German construction law are the leading texts in the country; they work on the largest and most impressive architectural and infrastructure projects in the Country. We learned that we have more clients in common than we ever expected; we learned what gracious and entertaining hosts they are; we learned that it is a relationship that can greatly benefit both firms; and finally we learned that the better we get to know one another, the more we can accomplish together. We are truly proud to be affiliated with them.

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