Partner

Dr. Peter Wende, LL.M. (College of Europe)

Rechtsanwalt | Head of Multi-Jurisdictional Litigation Subgroup

Languages

German
English
French

Social media

Peter Wende advises clients on and represents them in national and international disputes before state courts and arbitral tribunals. He specialises in disputes arising from inter-company agreements and corporate law disputes, in product liability and contract law as well as in matters related to board members, directors and D&O liability. He also has extensive expertise in handling mass litigation (cost-)efficiently with legal tech-based support and coordinating and assisting with all in and out-of-court proceedings for companies ("claim management"). He also acts as an arbitrator and has been appointed as president in several arbitration proceedings.

Handelsblatt named him "Lawyer of the Year for Dispute Resolution" in 2024 (Handelsblatt/Best Lawyers). He was also awarded the FT Innovative Lawyers' Award in 2023 by the Financial Times in London.

Peter Wende joined CMS in 2010 and has been a partner since 2019. From 2015 to 2016 he went on secondment to Geneva. He therefore has particular experience with matters relating to Switzerland and France. In addition to his work as a lawyer, he regularly publishes in the Legal 500 Class Action Guide and in the Beck-Online Großkommentar für Handels- und Gesellschaftsrecht (commentary on commercial and corporate law), among other publications.

Peter Wende is a lead partner of the team which was awarded "Law Firm of the Year for Dispute Resolution" and "Law Firm of the Year" by JUVE in 2022.

Awards & Recognitions

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Lawyer of the Year for Arbitration / Dispute Resolution / Mediation

Deutschlands beste Anwälte 2024 – Handelsblatt in Kooperation mit Best Lawyers
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„Die Ernennung des jungen Partners Dr. Peter Wende zum globalen Litigation-Chef wirft ein Schlaglicht auf das internationale Gewicht der deutschen Praxis […]. Wenige Wettbewerber bringen so regelmäßig renommierte Partnerinnen und Partner aus den eigenen Reihen hervor.“

JUVE Handbuch 2022/2023
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„ganz klar ein Star der kommenden Generation“, Wettbewerber

JUVE Handbuch, 2024/2025
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"tactically strong, prudent and competent", "up-and-coming", "pleasant and always on the spot", competitors

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2022 (GCLF)
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Nennung als Top Anwalt für den Bereich Schiedsverfahren

WirtschaftsWoche Top-Kanzleien 2022; In Kooperation mit: Handelsblatt Research Institute
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„angenehm, always on the spot“, Wettbewerber

JUVE Handbuch, 2023/2024
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„guter Überblick, klare Kommunikation“, Mandant; „Name der kommenden Generation“, Wettbewerber

JUVE Handbuch, 2022/2023
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"rising star in shareholder disputes", competitor

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2021 (GCLF)
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"CMS has generally developed its litigation work in recent years for family-led companies in succession disputes […]. This is made possible thanks to its strategic internal structure comprising younger partners, some of whom have moved over from the corporate practice such as Dr. Peter Wende, who is already known among competitors."

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2020 (GCLF)
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"Recommended" for Dispute Resolution

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2020-2025 (GCLF)
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Listed for Dispute Resolution

Deutschlands beste Anwälte 2021 bis 2024 – Handelsblatt in Kooperation mit Best Lawyers
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"CMS has excellent young partners for litigation […], with Wende in Stuttgart"

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2021 (GCLF)

Relevant experience

Co-ordinating worldwide product liability cases and providing strategic advice and representation in related litigation for German automotive manufacturer (lead partner)
Providing strategic advice to and representing one of the largest German corporations in a mass proceeding (lead partner)
Successfully defending a former board member of a large German bank against claims for damages being brought by the bank in the sum of approx. EUR 190 million
Successfully representing a multinational in a contract law dispute in arbitration proceedings under the rules of the German Institution of Arbitration e.V. (DIS)
Successfully representing a leading global family-owned business in DIS arbitration proceedings regarding post M&A claims for damages
Regularly representing a globally active group in the field of engineering in international and national disputes before various German courts and arbitral tribunals (ICC and DIS)
Successfully representing a medium-sized company in two arbitration proceedings (DIS) concerning claims for damages under contract law
Successfully defending a private equity company in several arbitration proceedings (DIS) concerning claims for breach of warranty and misrepresentation
Representing one of the world's largest US companies out of court in a post-M&A dispute
Successfully representing a joint venture in an extensive and complex corporate dispute

Publications

Legal 500 Class Action Guide: Germany, 2024
Litigation/Arbitration/ADR, Doing Business in Europe, 2022, Sweet & Maxwell
CMS European Class Action Report (since 2021), commentary on the chapter for Germany
CMS Expert Guide to Class Action (ongoing), commentary on the chapter for Germany, since 2021
Sharp rise in class actions in Europe – trends, figures, facts and how companies can protect themselves, ICC Germany Magazine Vol.13 2021/2022
Beck-Online Großkommentar Handels- und Gesellschaftsrecht, commentary on sections 108 and 119 German Commercial Code (HGB) (new version) and on sections 109 to 111 German Commercial Code (HGB) (previous version), since 2015
EU will Wettbewerb durch modernes Gesellschaftsrecht stärken, Platow-Brief Recht, 28.03.2013
EU bastelt an einheitlichem Unternehmensregister, Platow-Brief Recht, 19.06.2012
Das Fremdbesitzverbot in den freien Berufen, Deutscher Anwaltverlag, Bonn, 2012
E-Mobilität – Unternehmen fehlt es oft an Kapital: Klare rechtliche Firmenstrukturen erleichtern die Suche nach der richtigen Finanzierung erheblich, Stuttgarter Zeitung 19.04.2011, p. 4

Memberships & Roles

International Association of Defense Counsel (IADC)
International Bar Association (IBA)
Deutsche Institution für Schiedsgerichtsbarkeit e.V. (DIS)
Swiss Arbitration Association (ASA)
Stuttgart Arbitration Circle (SAC)
International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA)
German-Swiss Lawyers' Association
German-French Lawyers' association)
Gesellschaftsrechtliche Vereinigung (VGR) (corporate law association)
Tönissteiner Kreis (science and economy discussion group)

Lectures list

Drafting contracts and dispute resolution in international business, Stuttgart Chamber of Commerce, 25.03.2025
Music for the future or the future of music? Sustainability and mass litigation – the German and EU legal framework, Geneva International Legal Week, Geneva, 11.03.2025
COVID-19 and the impact on international arbitration, Stuttgart, 05.10.2021
Multi-Party and Multi-Contract in Arbitration Proceedings, ICC Warsaw Arbitration Workshops, Warsaw, 31.01.2020
Purchase Price Adjustment Disputes in post-M&A Arbitration, Conference on Dispute Resolution in M&A Transactions, ICC, 23.05.2019
Arbitration and Consumer Jurisdiction in Cross-Border Banking Disputes, Zurich Bankers Association/Zurich Chamber of Commerce/Swiss Chamber's Arbitration Institution, Zurich, 26.03.2019
Lectureship at the Frankfurt School of Finance and Management, 2012-2019
Post-M&A disputes: what sellers and buyers need to consider after entering into a contract, M&A Round Table in Frankfurt, 17.04.2018
The new DIS Rules, Stuttgart, 21.03.2018
En Marche – The Franco-German economic engine picks up speed again, Stuttgart, 15.03.2018
Nouveautés juridiques – legal developments from employment law to arbitration, jointly with the German Chamber of Foreign Trade, Paris, 08.03.2018
Disputes concerning defective decisions in arbitration proceedings and in state proceedings, Stuttgart, 22.11.2017
Shaping digitalisation, Stuttgart, 22.11.2017
Study on post-M&A-Disputes, Stuttgart, 09.12.2016
Company acquisitions and post-M&A disputes in Germany and Switzerland, Ulm, 24.10.2016
Mobility tomorrow with, among others, the former Chancellery Minister and Head of External Affairs of Daimler AG, Eckart von Klaeden, Stuttgart, 31.08.2016

Education

2011: PhD, University of Cologne
2009 - 2010: LL.M. at the College of Europe in Bruges (Belgium) as a scholar of the Federal Ministry of Education and Research
2005 - 2007: Trainee lawyer at Oldenburg Higher Regional Court
2001 - 2003: Work experience with an internationally operating law firm in Tokyo (Japan), the French Embassy in Dublin (Ireland), an international accounting and tax consultancy firm as well as the Court of Justice of the European Union in Luxembourg
2002 - 2004: Scholar of the Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung who awards scholarships to students of exceptional academic achievement
1999 - 2004: Law studies at the Universities of Tuebingen, Lausanne (Switzerland), Muenster and Cologne

Practice Areas

Dispute Resolution Arbitration Corporate / M&A Litigation Mergers & Acquisitions Alternative Dispute Resolution Class actions ESG

sectors

Transformation of the automotive industry and new powertrain technologies

Insights

Global Reach