German Legal Market
Rimôn Falkenfort: "Law-Firm-Evolved"
Much has been written about hybrid, virtual, alternative, "disruptive" law firms in recent years. In September 2021, the U.S. law firm RIMÔN opened an office in Frankfurt under the brand " Rimôn Falkenfort" (RF) with a concept that is new for Germany. Thomas Wegerich spoke with the German founding partners.
Deutscher AnwaltSpiegel: Who is behind Rimôn Falkenfort? Where do the founding partners come from?
Bernd Geier: Stephan Krampe, Michael Magotsch, Oliver Otto, and myself are the four founding partners of Rimôn Falkenfort here at the Taunus Tower in the very center of Frankfurt am Main. We want to be a driving force for the law firm of tomorrow - through short paths, lean structures, and innovative technologies that directly benefit our clients - and ourselves. Stephan Krampe was previously responsible for tax law at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner. Michael Magotsch was formerly office managing partner at DLA Piper in Frankfurt, and Oliver Otto joined us as a restructuring specialist from DLA Piper. In May 2022, Stephan Kleemann, an experienced litigator with many years of expertise in banking and capital markets, joined the firm, and at the beginning of next year, the firm will be welcoming a partner in the real estate area.
Deutscher AnwaltSpiegel: What makes Rimôn Falkenfort more innovative, what makes it different from your competitors? Where does Rimôn come from?
Michael Magotsch: We live the slogan "Law Firm Evolved". Our goal is to constantly improve, develop, and expand RF. Last year, Rimôn was named "Best Law Firm" in the USA for the eleventh time in a row for its innovative approach. This shows the success of the model. Dirk Hamann, previously Co-Head Energy & Natural Resources at Freshfields, had joined Rimôn in Berlin earlier in 2020 and thus made a start in Germany. With RF, we are adapting Rimôn's creative model for the German market.
" Rimôn" means pomegranate in Hebrew and represents, among other things, Rimôn's spherical or "ball" model, in contrast to the pyramid model of classic large law firms. Figuratively speaking, the spherical model reflects a maximum contact area between equal partners and clients, internally supported by the management and the platform structure.
We rely on lean structures and the greatest possible entrepreneurial freedom for the individual partners without rigid internal guidelines. This also means that we are trying to move away from time-based fee structures toward fixed prices. This opens up new fields of activity: we do not run the risk of missing out on interesting cases and promising subject areas due to hourly rates, and we can also advise startups and FinTech in areas that may not be open to other law firms with rigid cost structures.
Deutscher AnwaltSpiegel: Where does the name Rimôn Falkenfort come from and what are the specifics of establishing the firm in Germany?
Oliver Otto: Rimôn Falkenfort is a new creation. We are an integral part of the international law firm Rimôn, but it was important for us to develop our own image here in Germany from the very start. This fusion is reflected, among other things, in the name of our firm. Falkenfort is a made-up German name that illustrates the qualities that play an important role for lawyers: the foresight, perseverance, patience, and speed of falcons combined with the security and strength of a fort. We provide our clients with long-term and sustainable security in legal matters within the Rimôn family.
Our team consists of experienced partners who have many years of large law firm background, in most cases Magic Circle firms. We are convinced that it is time to break away from many traditional structures of the law firm industry. We are enthusiasts who believe in going high-tech internally and in our communication with clients and wanted to offer alternatives to the leverage and time-based business model of traditional large law firms. That's why we decided to re-establish ourselves within RF in Frankfurt.
Deutscher AnwaltSpiegel: How did you get to know each other as a founding team in Frankfurt?
Stephan Krampe: Bernd Geier and I know each other from our time at Linklaters and met again at Bryan Cave Leighton Paisner. That's where we met Michael Magotsch. Oliver Otto worked with Bernd Geier and me at Linklaters and with Michael Magotsch at DLA Piper.
With our group of several very experienced partners, we can now cover almost the entire service spectrum from M&A and Corporate to Labor Law, Compliance, Financial Services, Restructuring, Startup & FinTech as well as Tax Law and Private Clients. With Stephan Kleemann, we have been able to gain a very experienced litigator, especially in the banking and capital markets area, and will soon also fill the gap in real estate and construction law as well as project development. Through seamless cooperation we can view the complex cases of our clients from many perspectives and offer comprehensive advice from a single source. Together with our Rimôn colleagues worldwide, we form a very large team.
Deutscher AnwaltSpiegel: What are your goals? The first year is behind you. Is your concept working and are you satisfied with the start?
Bernd Geier: We are committed to an ambitious, sustainable growth course of the highest quality. Our goal is to be among the most innovative law firms in the country and among the first addresses to be approached for complex and demanding mandates. We expect to be able to expand the number of our partners soon and are in talks with numerous colleagues. We are aiming for significant growth by the end of 2023. We are taking our cue from Rimôn which is one of the most continuously growing law firms in America.
The Corona pandemic has shown that even very large and complex entities can collaborate exclusively virtually and still be extremely efficient and effective. We will use this profitably for our clients whenever possible. We are still, however, working face-to-face when it makes sense to do so - this is an expression of our "hybrid" and flexible model. No one-size-fits-all with central management and rigid guidelines. Instead, we offer variable management support for each partner and great flexibility in the partner/client relationship.
Deutscher AnwaltSpiegel: Does Rimôn's success in the U.S. help you in this regard?
Stephan Krampe: Rimôn Falkenfort is an integral part of Rimôn in Germany and thus combines the expertise and flexibility of a local partner with the clout and reach of a large international law firm: It was important for us to be able to make decisions according to local market needs, while still offering our clients the familiar international environment. We give our partners the greatest possible freedom to advise clients from a wide range of market segments and with different market positioning in the best possible, most sustainable and cost-efficient way. This independence is also reflected in our brand Rimôn Falkenfort.
Michael Magotsch: Rimôn Falkenfort thus has full access to a top-class international network. Rimôn is a large law firm, currently represented in over 40 locations. Last year, it was named "Best Law Firm" for the eleventh time in a row for its innovative approach. It is also one of the most dynamically growing large law firms in the world, with a revenue increase of more than 50 percent. Michael Moradzadeh, co-founder and ex-CEO of Rimôn, recently emphasized that "as a law-firm-evolved, we set the pace". Rimôn Falkenfort is further expanding the network in Germany: in the next one to two years, we want to be represented in several strategically important locations and significantly increase our team strength.
Deutscher AnwaltSpiegel: Gentlemen, thank you very much for giving our readers these insights. We will continue to follow Rimôn Falkenfort's further development in the German legal market with interest.
This interview was originally published in the German language in the online magazine Deutscher AnwaltSpiegel no. 25/2022 on 7 December 2022.
