King & Spalding Expands German Real Estate Tax Practice

FRANKFURT, GERMANY--(Marketwire - Feb 29, 2012) - Dr. Axel Schilder, a prominent German tax lawyer and former official of the German tax authority, joined King & Spalding as a partner in its Frankfurt am Main, Germany, office, the firm announced today. Schilder will help build up the German arm of the firm's tax practice with a focus on real estate and investment tax law, support the continued growth of the firm's capital transactions and real estate practice in Frankfurt and strengthen the taxation expertise of the firm's and office's fund structuring and international transactional work. Schilder joined King & Spalding today from the law firm of Beiten Burkhardt Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft mbH, where he was a partner.

"With the establishment of a leading real estate capital markets and funds practice in Germany over the last four and half years, we are experiencing increased client demand for top-rate tax advice as a natural supplement to our high-end regulatory and structuring work," said Mario Leissner, managing partner of King & Spalding's Frankfurt office. "Axel is an outstanding tax advisor and lawyer whose skills and experience perfectly complement our continuing strategic growth plans both in Germany and internationally."

Schilder advises companies, funds and individuals in Germany, Luxembourg, the United States, the United Kingdom and France on all German and international tax aspects of their fund formation, inward and outbound investments, real estate and corporate transactions as well as financings. He advises closed- and open-ended German and international real estate funds as well as multinational corporations on international and investment tax issues arising from cross-border and fund investment, in addition to providing general German tax advice. Schilder also advises on VAT optimization structures, tax audits and tax fraud. He received a Dr. jur. degree from the University of Marburg. He is admitted to both the German bar and the chamber of tax advisors and holds a diploma of tax and financial administration.

"We are pleased to have a German lawyer of Axel's caliber as part of the team serving the firm's growing base of clients seeking tax advice on transactions in Germany and Europe," said Abraham N.M. "Hap" Shashy, Jr., chair of King & Spalding's global tax practice. "We welcome Axel to King & Spalding and look forward to his help in building up our tax practice and expanding the firm's tax capacity in our offices outside the United States."

King & Spalding has expanded its global tax practice with the addition of four partners during the past 20 months, most recently last January with the arrival of Shashy, former chief counsel of the Internal Revenue Service, and earlier with the arrivals of Christopher Roman and Kenneth A. Raskin. In addition, the arrival of international arbitration partner Jan K. Schäfer in January 2012 boosted the Frankfurt office roster.

"I look forward to playing a role in the continued development of the tax and real estate tax practices and the firm's Frankfurt office," said Schilder. "The opportunity to help top-end firm King & Spalding expand its strong real estate and funds practice in Germany and internationally in the United States, the Middle East and the United Kingdom is an exciting one."

King & Spalding's 16-lawyer Frankfurt office extends the firm's real estate capital markets capacity in Europe and includes regulatory, corporate, finance, tax and restructuring experience. The firm has been advising German-based clients in German and global real estate markets for more than 30 years.

About King & Spalding
Celebrating more than 125 years of service, King & Spalding is an international law firm that represents a broad array of clients, including half of the Fortune Global 100, with 800 lawyers in 17 offices in the United States, Europe, the Middle East and Asia. The firm has handled matters in over 160 countries on six continents and is consistently recognized for the results it obtains, uncompromising commitment to quality and dedication to understanding the business and culture of its clients. More information is available at www.kslaw.com.