Coudert moves senior partner for IT focus

Coudert Scharmann, Coudert Brothers' German office, has relocated a senior partner to Munich.

Wolfgang Althaus, who is one of three managing partners in Frankfurt, will join partner Federico Pappalardo and five associates in the Munich office.

The move is reflective of the growing importance of intellectual property and IT, as Munich is the country's technolo

gy centre.

Venture capital already accounts for 90 per cent of Coudert's Munich practice and Althaus believes there is more work out there.

He says that private equity is likely to grow because of the number of German corporations based in Munich. I see enormous potential and I want to double the size of the office by the end of 2001, he says.

Venture capital and private equity are tax driven and Althaus, who is a tax consultant, will bolster the firm's tax capability.