Success for Federal State of Baden-Württemberg in “timber dispute” before Stuttgart Regional Court with aid of CMS

Stuttgart – On 20 January 2022, Stuttgart Regional Court dismissed the lawsuit brought by 36 sawmills against the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg in what has been dubbed the “timber dispute”.

The sawmills’ purported claims amounted to around EUR 416 million plus interest, and thus totalled some EUR 450 million. The claims were brought before the court with the aid of a litigation financier and a special-purpose claims vehicle to which the alleged claims had been assigned.

Through the dismissal of the action, the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg sees its position confirmed: There is no factual or legal basis for the damages claims.

CMS Germany has been advising the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg since 2014 on all competition law issues relating to the sale of timber. CMS acted initially in the administrative proceedings brought against the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg by the German Federal Cartel Office. In 2018, CMS won this case before the Federal Court of Justice and succeeded in getting the Federal Cartel Office’s prohibition lifted. Since then, CMS has been representing the federal state in competition law-based claims for damages relating to the sale of timber by the Federal State of Baden-Württemberg.

CMS Germany

Dr. Harald Kahlenberg, Partner, Stuttgart, Lead 
Dr. Rolf Hempel, Partner, Stuttgart, Lead
Dr. Tim Reher, Hamburg
Peter Giese, Principal Counsel, Stuttgart 
Martin Cholewa, Counsel, Stuttgart
Angelika Wieczorkowski, Senior Associate, Stuttgart, all Competition & EU
Dr. Sabina Krispenz, Principal Counsel, Stuttgart
Simone Philipp, Senior Associate, Stuttgart, both Corporate Law
John Hammond, Partner, Stuttgart
Pia Klages, Senior Associate, Stuttgart, both English Corporate Law

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