Dr. Marc Pfirmann

My areas of expertise

Mergers & Acquisitions

Company law

Business succession

Shareholder disputes (corporate litigation)

Corporate Finance

More about me

I regularly advise national and international companies as well as financial investors on M&A transactions. In addition, I have particular experience in the area of corporate succession, in disputes between shareholders and am involved in promoting charitable causes as a member of the supervisory board of the Caritasverband e.V. Pforzheim.

Career

  • Since 2025: Lawyer and partner at Bartsch Rechtsanwälte and head of the Pforzheim office
  • 2009 to 2024: Lawyer and partner at two medium-sized commercial law firms
  • 2007 to 2009: Lawyer at an international commercial law firm
  • 2006: Foreign associate at Hughes Hubbard & Reed, Los Angeles (USA)
  • Doctorate at the University of Mannheim
  • Legal studies at the University of Heidelberg; legal clerkship in Landau and Koblenz

Memberships

  • Member of the German-American Lawyers’ Association (DAJV) and its M&A working group
  • Member of the supervisory board of the Caritasverband e.V. Pforzheim

Publications

  • The contractual and non-contractual liability of the carrier for consequential damages (2008)

Good to know

Interview with Dr. Marc Pfirmann

Assistance

Dr. Simon Bahlinger

My areas of expertise

Corporate law / M&A

Corporate law encompasses the legal relationships between companies organised as partnerships (GbR, oHG, KG, PartG) or corporations (GmbH, UG, AG, SE, Verein), their shareholders and their governing bodies. Corporate law regulates and sorts the individual interests of these parties, which are usually similar but still individual. If – as is often the case – the general legal regulations do not adequately reflect the interests of the parties involved, they can use individual agreements and regulations to create a set of rules among themselves that deviates from the general legal regulations and is tailored to their needs. Corporate law offers great freedom of design for this, which needs to be utilised. If a dispute nevertheless arises between the company, shareholders or governing bodies, a forward-looking structure proves its worth in the corporate dispute that then has to be resolved.

Inheritance law

Well-thought-out estate planning ensures that your wishes are respected and disputes avoided. When organising your succession or settling an estate, we take into account not only legal issues and economic interests, but also the interpersonal component.

More about me

As a lawyer, I advise medium-sized companies and their shareholders in the areas of corporate and inheritance law. This includes the formation of companies, the drafting of articles of association, the support of capital measures and transformation processes, as well as the resolution of shareholder disputes. A particular focus is on corporate succession.

I support private individuals in the drafting of wills, the structuring of asset succession and in inheritance disputes.

Career

After studying law at the University of Heidelberg, I initially worked as a research assistant at a major international law firm in Frankfurt am Main. I then worked on my doctoral thesis, which was supported by a scholarship from the Stiftung der Deutschen Wirtschaft (sdw). In 2021, I was awarded a doctorate in law from the Institute for Foreign and International Private and Commercial Law at the University of Heidelberg. Before joining Bartsch Rechtsanwälte, I worked as a lawyer for another commercial law firm in Baden-Württemberg.

My main areas of practice are corporate and inheritance law. I also regularly publish in these fields in specialist books and leading journals, including the Munich Handbook of Corporate Law (Vol. 9: Family Businesses).

Lectures

  • Examination tutorial in international corporate law, University of Heidelberg (winter term 2021/2022; winter term 2022/2023)

Publications

  • Note on ECJ, judgment of 25 April 2024 – C-276/22 (Edil Work 2), NZG 2024, 956 et seq.
  • Privileging of partnerships under §§ 5, 6 GrEStG in terms of land transfer tax until the end of 2024, DB 2023, 2852 et seq.
  • The outsourcing of the pension promise of the shareholder-managing director, DB 2023, 2587 et seq.
  • Consequences of the new partnership law for advisory practice – Overview and recommendations for tax advisors before the entry into force of the MoPeG on 1 January 2024, NWB Steuer- und Wirtschaftsrecht 13/2023, p. 921 et seq.
  • Limits of the freedom of choice of law in corporate law, Carl Heymanns (AHW series), Cologne 2022 (also doctoral thesis, University of Heidelberg
  • The cross-border family business, in: Bochmann/Cziupka/Prütting (eds.), Munich Handbook of Corporate Law, Volume 9, Law of Family Businesses, Munich 2021 (together with Prof. Dr. Leonhard Hübner)
  • Quotas for Women in Corporate Law, Neue Zeitschrift für Unternehmens- und Gesellschaftsrecht 2020, p. 1212 et seq. (together with Dr Maximilian Leydecker)
  • Report on the Discussion, in: Bergmann et al (eds), From Groups to Unitary Enterprises, Current Development Perspectives of German and European Group Law (ZGR Special Issue 22), 2020, p. 137 et seq.
  • Search and seizure in the sphere of the company lawyer in the course of internal investigations, BB 2018, p. 2953 et seq. (together with Dr Alexander Kiefner and Karl-Jörg Xylander)
  • Legal problems of personal liability of corporate bodies leading to an existential threat in the law of stock corporations, StudZR Wiss-On 2017, p. 1 et seq.

Good to know

Interview with Dr. Simon Bahlinger

Assistance

Dr. Stephanie Funk

My specialties

Inheritance law

Inheritance law often does not correspond to a person’s ideas about what should happen to their assets after their death.

This affects entrepreneurs more than private individuals, especially when it comes to company succession. Well thought-out testamentary dispositions help to avoid disputes.

I think through legal options, draft individual inheritance law concepts and implement them with my clients. So that the last will and testament corresponds to what is really wanted.

More about me

As a Rhinelander, I live in the Palatinate and work in Baden. Family and friends are very important to me. I spend my free time with them and recharge my batteries with joint activities. I find relaxation in a good book.

Career

Dr. Stephanie Funk studied law at the Universities of Passau and Heidelberg. After completing her legal clerkship in Düsseldorf, she was admitted to the bar in 2004 and has since focused on inheritance law. She has been a specialist lawyer for inheritance law since 2009.

Dr. Stephanie Funk completed her doctorate at the University of Cologne on the subject of “Assisted living for senior citizens – term, concept and legal classification in distinction to residential care facilities in accordance with the Nursing Home Act”.

Dr. Stephanie Funk has been with Bartsch Rechtsanwälte since July 2011.

Good to know

Interview with Dr. Stephanie Funk

Assistance

I   News
03.07.2023
Certified executor

Daniel Scharpf

My specialties

Inheritance law

Well thought-out estate planning ensures that your wishes are respected and disputes are avoided. Both when structuring your succession and when settling an inheritance, we not only consider legal issues and economic interests, but also the interpersonal component.

Company succession

Successful company succession, especially in owner-managed businesses, is often a complex challenge. It requires not only legal and business expertise, but also empathy. I support you in the creation and implementation of your succession concept in order to preserve your entrepreneurial life’s work and pass it on safely to new hands.

Company law

Company law forms the foundation of your company. I support you with the foundation, organizational structure, restructuring and dissolution of your company. I can also assist you in the event of conflicts with fellow shareholders or the management.

Commercial Law

Entrepreneurs and merchants are subject to different rules in legal transactions than private individuals. These differences must be taken into account both when drafting contracts and in conflict situations with business partners in order to ensure your business success.

Foundation law

The establishment of a foundation is an option to consider for asset investment and succession, especially for larger assets. In matters of foundation law, I assist and support founders and foundation bodies in particular in the legally compliant establishment and administration of their foundations. For tax optimization, we work closely with tax advisors from our network on foundation law as required.

More about me

Our task is to provide our clients with the best possible support in challenging life situations. We fulfill this task with outstanding professional expertise, the necessary empathy and the required assertiveness.

I support our clients with their pension and succession planning, both in the corporate and private sphere. After the death of the deceased, I help the surviving dependants to find sensible solutions and to assert their legal interests, if necessary also in court.

Another focus of my work is advising and representing companies and entrepreneurs in commercial and corporate law matters, in particular in shareholder disputes.

Daniel Scharpf in person

I grew up in Villingen in the Black Forest. In my free time, I like to explore the area around Karlsruhe and enjoy long hikes in the countryside, especially in the Palatinate and the northern Black Forest.

Career

I studied law at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen with a focus on corporate organization and financing. I completed my legal clerkship at Karlsruhe Regional Court. I already supported Bartsch Rechtsanwälte as a research assistant during my legal clerkship. I have been working as a lawyer at the law firm Bartsch Rechtsanwälte since 2020.

Education

  • Studied law at the Eberhard Karls University of Tübingen
  • Legal clerkship at Karlsruhe Regional Court

Good to know

Interview with Daniel Scharpf

Assistance

31.08.2022
  I   News
3rd Bartsch Run in Karlsruhe

Bartsch Rechtsanwälte at the EXPO Real in Munich

From October 4 to 6, the largest real estate trade fair EXPO Real took place again in Munich. Investors, project developers and construction companies from all over the world met to exchange experiences.

Our partner, the Karlsruhe TechnologyRegion, was also represented there with its own stand and we had many opportunities to talk to clients and interested parties and share our experience and knowledge.

This year in Munich, around 1,900 exhibitors from 36 countries presented their services to 40,000 participants with a focus on sustainability, digitalization and the transformation of the real estate industry.

Advoselect webinar, topic: Energy and heat

Energy security, energy supply and energy prices are not only an economic issue, but also present us with legal challenges.

The law firms in the Europe-wide Advoselect network of lawyers have therefore taken up this issue. In five short articles, you will learn interesting facts about rental and lease agreements for solar and wind power plants, about intra-European energy trading, but also about an important topic for local authorities and investors, namely the possibilities accelerated by politics to designate areas for wind power use.

Our partner Alexander Hoff spoke about this (in the video from minute 41). We look forward to receiving your suggestions.

www.dropbox.com/scl/fi/box4jglomkk69mcc8oxkd/Energie-und-W-rme.mp4