Procurement Law

Public bodies and public-sector companies award high-value contracts every day. Construction, transport, IT infrastructure, healthcare and energy projects often depend on a legally robust tender. For bidders, a formal error can lead to exclusion. For contracting authorities, weaknesses in the procedure can trigger challenges and delay delivery.

Procurement law is detailed and develops continuously through legislation and case law. We advise contracting authorities, bidders and funding recipients across the full procurement cycle: from selecting the procedure and drafting the tender documents to bid evaluation and review proceedings. Our focus is legally compliant, practical advice that supports decision-making and delivery.

Services at a glance

For contracting authorities

• Develop a procurement strategy that fits the market, timetable and risk profile
• Prepare and review contract notices, tender documentation and contracts
• Support efficient processes, including the lawful use of digital tools and AI in procurement workflows
• Advise on procuring AI and cloud solutions, including data, security and compliance requirements
• Manage communication with bidders and steer the process through to award
• Defend against complaints and support risk-managed remediation steps
• Represent you in contentious proceedings before procurement tribunals and courts

For bidders

• Develop a participation and bid strategy aligned to award criteria and evaluation logic
• Structure bidding consortia and advise on consortium and subcontractor arrangements
• Review and optimise tender submissions, including compliance checks
• Support with self-cleaning and reliability measures
• Address procedural errors, information rights and market access issues
• Represent you in procurement procedures, review proceedings and subsequent litigation

Sector insight and core competences

Our specialist lawyers have extensive experience in procurement law. Our clients include contracting authorities, public companies, federal and state ministries, funding recipients as well as private and international tenderers. We provide advice on the following topics in particular:

• Structuring and implementation of EU-wide and national procurement procedures (German Act against Restraints of Competition (GWB), German Public Procurement Ordinance (VgV), German Ordinance on the Award of Concessions (KonzVgV), German Sector Ordinance (SektVO), Ordinance on Sub-threshold Procurement (UVgO), etc.)
• Preparation and review of award documents, service descriptions and contracts
• Tender evaluation, letters of complaint and representation in review proceedings before the public procurement tribunals and panels of higher regional courts
• Strategy consulting for bid submission and optimisation
• Legal certainty in the awarding of funding and in subsidy law
• Procurement compliance, documentation and self-cleaning

We advise not only on the rules, but also on the market context. This supports realistic specifications, defensible award criteria and efficient evaluation. Our work frequently involves energy and infrastructure, healthcare and pharmaceuticals, IT and digitalisation, security and defence, transport, construction, utilities and waste disposal, both in Germany and internationally.

Cross-border capability for complex tenders

CMS has a broad-based European Procurement Law team. Our network has more than 170 experts worldwide who support clients in cross-border tenders and international projects, from structuring procurement procedures to implementing decisions. This allows coordinated advice on multi-jurisdictional requirements, interfaces with funding regimes and dispute management.