BLOMSTEIN promotes two partners and three counsel

We continue to grow and strengthen our team with outstanding talent. As of July 1, 2025, Christopher Wolters and Leonard Freiherr von Rummel will become partners; Ramona Ader, Laura Louca and Philipp Trube will join the counsel ranks. With these promotions, we foster continuous, organic growth and strong individual development opportunities for all career levels across all practice groups.

Our new partners bring excellent expertise and underline our commitment to the highest quality standard. Christopher and Leonard have been part of the team since the early days of the firm and have established themselves as key players with their strategic advice, entrepreneurial thinking and professional excellence.

"Christopher and Leonard have shown from the outset that they are not only outstanding lawyers, but also true creators. Their promotion to partnership is a logical and well-deserved next step," says partner Pascal Friton.

The three new counsel have also built a considerable reputation in their respective areas of expertise and are already playing a central role within the firm. Their promotion shows that we are committed to strategic expansion of all our respective practice areas.

"We are proud to be shaping the careers of three excellent lawyers - Ramona, Laura and Philipp - together with them. As a firm, we are committed to organic growth through targeted promotion of our own talents and to offering long-term career prospects to our team", says partner Anna Blume Huttenlauch.

BLOMSTEIN remains an attractive employer with clear career prospects for everyone. We congratulate these five excellent colleagues and look forward to a strong future together.

Spotlights

Leonard Freiherr von Rummel is a specialist in international trade law. Since joining BLOMSTEIN, he has become a leading name in the fields of foreign investment control, customs law, excise tax as well as export control and has contributed hugely to the success of our international trade law practice.

Leonard has represented clients in numerous high-profile proceedings. For example, he advised RWE and Shell before the European Court of Justice on electricity tax matters and advised Helsing on investment control aspects in the Series A to C financing rounds. COSCO relied on his expertise when investing in a terminal in the port of Hamburg. He represented the German government in administrative court proceedings concerning foreign investment control prohibitions, including Siltronic, Elmos and Heyer Medical. He also assisted Kobe Steel in safeguard proceedings before the European Commission.

Leonard is regularly listed by The Legal 500 ("Rising Star Award"), Lexology Index (formerly: Who's Who Legal) for international trade and customs law and by JUVE for customs law and excise taxes. He is a board member of the Forum Contracting and coordinates the CELIS Germany Chapter.

Christopher Wolters advises on public procurement and foreign trade law and has been instrumental in establishing and expanding the practice for national security (with a focus on arms procurement and export control) and public procurement law in the healthcare and IT sectors.

He regularly represents defense companies in complex review proceedings and advises DAX and MDAX companies comprehensively on compliance with EU sanctions and export control law. Christopher advised German Naval Yards and Flensburger Schiffbau-Gesellschaft on public procurement law proceedings, including the procurement of F126 class frigates, K130 class corvettes (2nd lot), 707 class fuel supply vessels and 424 class fleet service boats. He also advised IT companies in connection with procurement procedures for digital solutions in the healthcare sector (e.g. Recare, Kumi Health and Thieme DokuForm).

Christopher is very active in the International Association of Young Lawyers (AIJA), where he is President of the Public Procurement Law Commission, and in the Bitkom and BDSV associations on the topics of defense procurement and public procurement law. His expertise is also recognized by The Legal 500 and Best Lawyers.

Ramona Ader advises both private companies and the public sector on German and European public procurement law as well as EU state aid law. She is also active in the area of trade defense.

Ramona advised FASTNED on public procurement law in relation to the operation of charging infrastructure for electric vehicles in Germany, including review proceedings before the Higher Regional Court of Düsseldorf and the ECJ. She advised CVC on state aid law in the bidding process for DB Schenker, and Vodafone on the Foreign Subsidies Regulation as well as public procurement law. She recently acted for a consortium in the first hydrogen auction of H2Global.

In addition, Ramona is increasingly active in the growing area of trade defense. She also advises clients regularly on the Foreign Subsidies Regulation and acts in anti-dumping and anti-subsidies proceedings.

Laura Louca specializes in German and European foreign trade law. She focuses in particular on export control and sanctions law as well as customs law.

Laura has advised numerous well-known clients in these areas, including representing the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Climate Protection in proceedings to defend against an urgent application by the Taiwanese chip supplier GlobalWafers in connection with the planned takeover of Siltronic. In addition, she regularly advises Infineon on foreign trade law issues and also supports Knorr-Bremse in this area. She also advises aviation companies from the civil and defense industries on complex foreign trade law matters.

In addition to her professional expertise, Laura has played a key role in the further development of the firm's foreign trade law practice and actively helped to shape the expansion of compliance advice. She has been involved in several internal and external investigations and has advised important clients on sensitive compliance issues.

Laura is one of the "Rising Stars" in foreign trade law (The Legal 500) and is listed as an expert in export control, sanctions and compliance in WorldECR's directory of consultants.

Philipp Trube specializes in German and European competition and antitrust law. He advises on national and international merger control and also has longstanding experience in court proceedings and investigations by the German Federal Cartel Office and the European Commission. Philipp also drives the firm’s digital strategy including the use of artificial intelligence.

Philipp has advised numerous high-profile clients in antitrust and merger control law. He successfully represented Vodafone in appeal proceedings before the Düsseldorf Higher Regional Court and the Federal Court of Justice against the Federal Cartel Office's decision to approve a joint venture between Deutsche Telekom and EWE for the joint expansion of fiber optics: the decision was overturned and the proceedings are now back before the Higher Regional Court following a referral by the Federal Court of Justice. He also represented the Chinese locomotive manufacturer CRRC, both as a third party in the merger control proceedings regarding the acquisition of Bombardier by Alstom and regarding the acquisition of Vossloh Locomotives in a complex Phase II proceeding before the Federal Cartel Office. He advised Fastned on antitrust issues in relation to the introduction of e-charging infrastructure in Germany and was involved in several investigations by antitrust and other authorities; due to his digital expertise, he is particularly well-versed in dealing with forensic investigation methods. 

Philipp is listed by Handelsblatt as one of Germany's best lawyers (2021-2024) in the field of antitrust and competition law.