TESTIMONIALS.

ATTORNEYS

“When I was getting ready to move from Bavaria to Schleswig-Holstein in 2012, BROCK MÜLLER ZIEGENBEIN was not initially near the top of my ‘wish list’ of north German law firms. However, because the corporate law/M&A department under Hauke Thilow had such a fantastic reputation – outside Schleswig-Holstein too – I decided to give the Kiel-based law firm a second look.

Immediately after my first talk with Dr Thilow, I was absolutely certain that this was where I wanted to work. I immediately felt at home and could easily picture myself leaving behind the familiar environment of large law firms and taking up work in the Kiel Fjord area.

My plan, to initially work on a part-time basis so I could write a thesis alongside my work, was supported from the outset. And so, I found myself taking on the versatile and challenging duties of an M&A attorney at BMZ. I relished advising clients on matters of corporate law and assisting with transactions of varying complexity and magnitude. I had direct contact with clients right from the beginning, and over time this contact expanded to become a largely independent advisory role over the years. There is no back office in Hauke Thilow’s team.

My tasks were very varied and also extremely challenging from a professional perspective. I often didn’t know what direction my day would take when I started work in the morning. Of course, that also meant that I couldn’t always tell when I’d be leaving the office in the evening. But the special thing about BMZ is that we always faced all of our challenges together. The small, highly motivated team worked together in a spirit of trust – and we had fun too! We were always focused on developing efficient, professionally outstanding, pragmatic solutions for each individual client.

I was also immediately reintegrated into the team after my parental leave and fully involved in our assignments. Thanks to great flexibility on both sides, I was able to balance parenting and my career. When personal reasons prompted me to move back home to Bavaria after almost six years, it was not easy to say goodbye to BMZ.

In summary, my time at BMZ was very exciting and highly instructive. My work on Hauke Thilow’s team was truly enriching, both professionally and personally.”

Dr Bettina Wirth-Duncan, attorney at BMZ’s Kiel office in the corporate law/M&A department from 2013 to 2018

TRAINEESHIP

“I completed my legal traineeship at BMZ’s Kiel office in winter 2019/2020. During this time, I was part of the medical law team in particular, where I received excellent training. At the same time, I was also able to gain insights into other areas, such as M&A and public building law. I would particularly like to highlight the professional and always friendly collaboration I enjoyed during my time at the firm. I would recommend a traineeship with the firm to any ambitious trainee attorney who is eager to learn. My traineeship advanced and motivated me, both professionally and in terms of exams. As such I would like to offer everyone at BMZ, and especially Dr Rochlitz, my sincere thanks.”

Tobias Brandenburg

“I really enjoyed the time I spent completing my legal traineeship at the law firm’s Kiel office. I felt warmly welcomed by the entire team and was involved in work processes from the very beginning. My tasks were varied and very useful for my exams, especially in the area of administrative law. I gained many exciting insights into the work of a attorney – from the first conversation with a client to a court hearing. Thank you so much for making my time with the firm so wonderful!”

Inga Stöterau

“I completed my legal traineeship at the BMZ office in Kiel, and I would make the same choice over and over again! All the attorneys and other employees there are very friendly, so you immediately feel welcome, and the traineeship offers a very comprehensive overview of the duties of a attorney. I particularly liked that you are able to get an insight into all the areas of law that the firm specialises in, and all the work to be done. I would also like to highlight that the firm made sure that I was given work tasks which would also help me with the exams. I would recommend BMZ to anyone as a wonderful place to complete their legal traineeship!”

Alina Schmidt

“A fun traineeship with many exciting assignments across a wide variety of legal areas. You are actively involved in client tasks, but also have the chance to work independently. One of the highlights of my training was that I was able to independently attend sessions at the local court. Overall, it was an interesting and challenging training placement in a pleasant environment.”

Malte May

“I really enjoyed my time at BMZ. We trainees were immediately involved in the everyday work of the firm, which enabled us to experience first-hand what an attorney's normal day is like, and to learn about the problems and tasks that arise during it.

At the very beginning of the traineeship, we were introduced to all the attorneys working in the office, which meant we were seen as part of the team from the outset – and we also felt part of the team. This was reflected in particular by the fact that we could approach anyone at any time if we had questions, and that attorneys would come to us with interesting tasks even if we were not directly assigned to them. This was true not only for the local site, but also the other offices of the firm, which regularly came to us with a wide variety of tasks. As a result, during my time at BMZ I not only worked on medical law tasks, but also on tasks connected with general public law, civil service legislation, property law, tenancy law and tax law, for example. 

We were each assigned to a specific attorney for the duration of our traineeship. Most of the documents we worked on were given to us by this attorney, who was also our main point of contact for all questions. However, we could also learn more about the work of notaries if we wanted to and, of course, even accompany them to court proceedings.

For anyone who can foresee working as an attorney in future, it is particularly important to gain an overview of what needs to be done in a law firm aside from the purely legal work, as there may be some unexpected tasks to fulfil or problems that arise. Talking to the administrative team and the trainer to get an impression of these considerations was very rewarding, as they were able to recount such diverse problems they had encountered.

Perhaps I might also add a short sentence about the work environment, as you often hear negative comments on the work environment at law firms with multiple offices. I never got that impression. Regardless of whether you already personally knew the colleagues in the office in which you were based, or whether a colleague from a different site called, you were always treated as a colleague on an equal footing.

In summary, I can say that I really enjoyed my traineeship at BMZ. It was varied, instructive and interesting.”

Lucas Augustin

“I made the choice to predominantly focus on the area of medical law when completing my legal traineeship with the law firm. Nevertheless, I was also repeatedly given the opportunity to work on documents from the areas of general civil law and public law, which meant that I was well prepared for the exams. 
My work at BMZ also gave me a very good insight into everyday working life at a law firm and enabled me to gain my first practical experience. I particularly liked that I was able to independently attend court sessions. The work environment was open and always friendly, and I was completely satisfied with the support I received.
I felt that I was in very good hands and was getting the right support.”

Eva Beute

I completed both my legal traineeship and my elective traineeship in public law with BMZ, and I have never regretted that decision. During my elective traineeship, I was given the opportunity to attend discussions with clients, present cases before the local courts and draft my own legal documents, for which I received detailed feedback. In summary, I was able to gain a clear insight into the various facets of the legal profession and I had a lot of fun during my work. I was also offered excellent assistance in preparing for the exam during my elective traineeship. I was able to give presentations on several documents and always felt that I was in very good hands with BMZ.”

Anette Purucker