Together with Thomas Lüthi and two other partners, Dr. Andreas Pohlmann founded the interdisciplinary law and consulting firm Pohlmann & Company in Frankfurt am Main in February 2012. Its mission is to advise companies on the introduction and further development of compliance management systems and in the area of corporate governance. Initial mandates include comprehensive compliance risk analyses and health checks.
A second office was opened in Munich in August 2013 in order to serve the growing client base of the interdisciplinary law and consulting firm in southern Germany, Switzerland and Austria.
Further mandates included advising a large German industrial company on the handling and management of past compliance incidents as well as various compliance risk analyses, health checks, training programs, business partner audits and the introduction of whistleblower systems.
Pohlmann & Company strengthened its corporate law, compliance and competition law practice with further new partners. Nicole Willms from White & Case joined the firm as a partner at the beginning of the year. Soon thereafter, Dr. Thomas Preute, formerly Chief Legal Officer and Chief Compliance Officer at Elster Group, joined the firm. In March 2014, the respected environmental and real estate attorney Dr. Horst Schlemminger joined the firm as equity partner – after 25 years with Clifford Chance.
In addition to numerous other mandates in the areas of preventive compliance advisory and environmental compliance, Pohlmann & Company advised Robert Bosch GmbH on the effectiveness of its worldwide compliance and legal function as well as the international chemicals group Celanese (legal successor to Hoechst AG) and the Hafen- und Marktbetriebe der Stadt Frankfurt/Main in numerous environmental matters. In addition, Pohlmann & Company supported and accompanied Bilfinger SE with regard to the compliance monitorship resulting from a settlement agreement with the US authorities.
The semi-state owned Brazilian oil company Petrobras, shaken by a corruption scandal, appointed Dr. Andreas Pohlmann as an independent foreign member of the three-member Special Committee, which accompanies the internal investigations into the matter.
In the third quarter of 2015, Pohlmann & Company opened an office in Montreal, Canada, headed by Stefan Hoffmann-Kuhnt, a recognized compliance expert. With this step, Pohlmann & Company focuses on the current development of compliance requirements facing companies in the North American market.
At the beginning of 2016, the attorneys Dr. Thomas Preute and Nicole Willms were appointed equity partners. Pohlmann & Company is thus expanding its shareholder base, which previously consisted of the equity partners Dr. Andreas Pohlmann, Thomas Lüthi and Dr. Horst Schlemminger.
In mid-2016, Dr. Andreas Pohlmann is appointed Independent Compliance Monitor at a NASDAQ 100 company. The appointment is part of a settlement agreement between the company and the US Department of Justice and the US Securities and Exchange Commission.
With four experienced specialists from industry and the legal profession, Pohlmann & Company expanded and strengthened the team. In addition, the former GEA Executive Board member Dr. Stephan Petri, a senior executive with many years of corporate experience, joined Pohlmann & Company as a partner.
That year, Stefan Hoffmann-Kuhnt served as a monitor for a Canadian company in a settlement with the World Bank. Since October 2017, Pohlmann & Company has also been advising Volkswagen's Independent Compliance Monitor, Larry Thompson, as German Counsel. Other areas of focus included internal investigations and directors' and officers' liability.
Pohlmann & Company celebrated its first successful five years in August, followed by an information and discussion session with Hui Chen, formerly in charge of assessing the compliance programs of companies targeted by the U.S. authorities at the U.S. Department of Justice.
Christian Beer and Julia Kahlenberg are made partners in March 2018. Christian was previously with PricewaterhouseCoopers, and also brought experience from a company when he joined in 2013. Julia joined Pohlmann & Company in 2015 and had previously worked in various compliance functions at Siemens and Osram. Dr. Anita Schieffer also joined Pohlmann & Company as partner in May 2018. The compliance specialist also moved from Siemens and strenghtened our Munich office.