Stefan Hertwig

Professor Dr Stefan Hertwig specialises in the field of public commercial law, with particular emphasis on public procurement law and European state aid law.

Professor Hertwig is a specialist attorney for public procurement law, administrative law as well as construction and architectural law. He is an honorary professor at the Heinrich Heine University in Düsseldorf. In this context, he is also Chairman of the Preliminary Examination Committee of the Cologne Bar Association for the award of the specialist title “Public Procurement Law”.

Professor Hertwig is the author of a widespread textbook on public procurement law which is currently in its 7th edition. He studied law in Munich, Geneva and Paris. After obtaining his doctorate and holding positions in the Federal Ministry of Finance and as a judge at the Regional Court, he was initially admitted to the bar in Cologne. Today, he heads the Berlin office of our firm. Professor Hertwig speaks German, English and French.

Professor Hertwig combines a broad experience from insight into public administration, of having been a judge and of many years as a lawyer. He won a number of fundamental judgements before the European Court of Justice and before high German courts, for example concerning the role of public property sales or of patent rights in public procurement procedures. Therefore, Professor Hertwig is often asked to render second opinions in already ongoing cases.

The practice group under his leadership advises the public sector and public companies in the context of restructurings, privatisations and in complex procurement procedures for the award of contracts or concessions, most recently, for example, the federal task force in the tendering of contracts for the supply of vaccines in the event of a pandemic. On the other hand, he advises bidders to find the appropriate bidding strategy and to obey all relevant prerequisites of a public tender. In addition, Professor Dr Hertwig is also active in forensic matters and represents public clients and bidders in review proceedings.

Professor Hertwig’s notable proceedings include: the representation of the company Heckler & Koch in several review proceedings concerning the procurement of a new assault rifle by the German Federal Armed Forces from 2017 until 2023; and the representation of the bidding consortium A 3 Nordbayern (Bauunternehmung Bunte & Eiffage) in the context of a public-private partnership for the 6-lane expansion of the A 3 freeway over a distance of 66 km. The consortium has been awarded this contract, which was the largest PPP-Project ever awarded in Germany. During the pandemic, the Task Force of the German Government entrusted Professor Hertwig with supporting the tender of a pandemic stand-by and framework supply agreement.

Professor Dr Hertwig’s recent awards include:
● JUVE Handbuch 2022/2023 “Führender Berater: Vergaberecht” (Public Law)
● JUVE Handbuch 2022/2023 “Oft empfohlen: Beihilfenrecht und Vergaberecht“
● The Best Lawyers/Handelsblatt 2024 - Public Law
● The Legal500 Deutschland 2023: “Vergaberecht“ (Public Law)
● WirtschaftsWoche: TOP Anwalt 2022 “Vergaberecht“ (Public Law)