TerraLex is pleased to announce that the firm of Loschelder Rechtsanwaelte (www.loschelder.de), based in Cologne, has become the TerraLex Member for the North Rhine-Westphalia region of Germany. With more than 30 lawyers, Loschelder Rechtsanwaelte is one of the leading law firms in North Rhine-Westphalia. The firm's clients comprise large German and foreign listed companies as well as German medium-sized businesses (Mittelstand) in a variety of industries.

Measured by its population of 18 million or by its 2008 GDP of 541 billion Euro, North Rhine-Westphalia is Germany's largest state. It is centered on Germany's Rhine-Ruhr urbanised region, which includes the cities of Cologne, Duesseldorf, Muenster, and Bonn, as well the Ruhr Area industrial complex with numerous cities such as Dortmund, Essen, and Duisburg. The westernmost state of Germany, North Rhine-Westphalia shares borders with Belgium and The Netherlands. Many well-known German multinational companies are headquartered in North Rhine-Westphalia, including Bayer, Bertelsmann, Deutsche Telekom, Deutsche Post, Henkel, Lanxess, Metro, RWE, and ThyssenKrupp. Numerous foreign companies manage their German or European operations and investments from a base of operations in North Rhine-Westphalia, including 3M, BP, Ericsson, Ford, Hitachi, LG Electronics, and QVC. The key industries of the region are chemicals, energy, mechanical engineering and engineered products, media, steel, and automotive products. With numerous large international trade fairs held annually in Cologne, Duesseldorf, Essen, and Dortmund, North Rhine-Westphalia considers itself the world's leading international trade fair venue.

Loschelder Rechtsanwaelte was founded in 2002 as a spin-off of a large international firm. Its office is located in attractive offices situated on the Rhine in the heart of Cologne, the largest city in North Rhine-Westphalia. The firm's practice covers all needs of business and corporate clients, including: corporate; M&A and private equity; restructuring and insolvency; general commercial transactions and relationships (such as agency, distribution, and import/export); competition and antitrust; labor and employment; construction and real estate; intellectual property and unfair competition (including prosecution and enforcement of trademarks); IT, media, and telecommunication; environmental; public procurement and state aid; regulated markets; insurance, banking and asset financing; and litigation, arbitration, and mediation.

A number of the lawyers in Loschelder Rechtsanwaelte previously practiced with the former firm of Gaedertz Rechtsanwaelte when that firm was a TerraLex Member and are therefore familiar with the network.

The contact information for Loschelder Rechtsanwaelte is:

Loschelder Rechtsanwaelte Partnerschaftsgesellschaft
Konrad-Adenauer-Ufer 11
D-50668 Cologne
Federal Republic of Germany

Phone:  +49 221-65065 0
Fax:      +49 221-65065 110

Our initial contacts at Loschelder Rechtsanwaelte will be Dr. Frank Heerstrassen (frank.heerstrassen@loschelder.de; phone: +49 221-65065 180) and Dr. Thilo Klingbeil (thilo.klingbeil@loschelder.de; phone: +49 221-65065 200).

Please join us in welcoming Dr. Heerstrassen, Dr. Klingbeil, and their colleagues to TerraLex.