Steven H. Thal: Legal Practice In New York Concentrating on US, German and EU Legal Matters

Steven Thal is fluent in German and is admitted to practice U.S. and international law as a foreign legal consultant in Germany and is an attorney at law in New York. The focus of his practice is on US-inbound and international business transactions of companies and individuals from the German speaking countries of Europe. He is a Principal at the law firm of Offit Kurman P.A. with offices in seven states and the D.C. Mr. Thal has an extensive practice in international corporate and commercial transactions, with particular concentration in U.S. and European cross-border transactions. Mr. Thal advises German, Swiss and Austrian companies and individuals on cross-border transactions and United States legal issues. He has represented numerous large and mid-sized German, Swiss and Austrian based multinational corporations. Through his prior law firm affiliation with global law firms and personal network of attorneys throughout Europe and the world, Mr. Thal also advises on transactions in Europe and elsewhere.

Mr. Thal was a visiting lecturer within the Faculty of Law at Ludwig-Maximilians-Universität München (University of Munich) and Ruprecht-Karls-Universität Heidelberg (University of Heidelberg) where he conducted seminars on international business transactions. Additionally, he is a frequent speaker in the United States, Germany, Switzerland and Austria on various matters relating to international investments, corporate matters and U.S. litigation issues and has lectured at Euroforum Deutschland, Europäisches Forum Alpach, Council of American States in Europe (CASE), Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes e.V. and U.S. Embassies and Consulates. He is also a Trusted Attorney to the German and Swiss Consulates in New York.

Mr. Thal is the co-author of the German Newsletter “Zur Information”.

Mr. Thal received his J.D. and B.A. in Economics from the University of Michigan. He also studied law at Eberhard-Karls-Universität Tübingen (University of Tübingen) in Germany as a Fulbright, DAAD and Ford Foundation Scholar and also political economics at the New School for Social Research in New York.

Mr. Thal served as President of Deutscher Verein New York from 2008 until 2010.

Mr. Thal is also a co-founder, Director and current General Counsel to the German-American Partnership Program, which is the largest student exchange program between the United States and Germany, and is President of Städel Friends, Inc. organized in the U.S. to support the world famous Städel Museum in Frankfurt, Germany.

Mr. Thal is listed in Who’s Who in American Law and is a member of the American Council on Germany, the German American Chamber of Commerce in New York, the European Association of Lawyes (AEA-EAL), the German American Lawyers Association, the International Bar Association (Committee on International Sales) and the New York State Bar Association (Committee on International Law).

Mr. Thal was co-counsel in the New York and Frankfurt offices of the highly regarded law firm Latham & Watkins LLP.

Mr. Thal was profiled in Legal Leaders as a 2013 “New York Area Top Rated Lawyer in International Law”. This designation in Legal leaders is limited to lawyers who have received the highest “AV” rating by the highly regarded Martindale-Hubbell legal directory.

German Practice Group

The German Practice Group at Offit Kurman’s New York office consists of German speaking attorneys (incl. German and American native speakers) trained and admitted in both Germany and the United States (admitted in New York and Federal Courts) as well as England (Barrister) who focus on business transactions between the German speaking countries of Europe and the United States. We have many years of experience representing German, Swiss and Austrian clients in the US and throughout the Common Law world, acting as a bridge among Continental Civil Law, legal, business and cultural systems and the Common Law systems for business entities and individuals worldwide. Members of our German Practice Group studied in U.S., German and English law schools.

We counsel our clients in a wide variety of international and national transactions. With more than 200 attorneys across eight states, Offit Kurman covers virtually every area of law. Beyond the market entry or first US transaction, we see our role in the German Practice Group as a permanent bridgehead to advise our clients’ US subsidiaries but with a particular focus on guiding and protecting the German parent companies from liability arising out of their US business. We provide comprehensive planning, tax and negotiating strategies, as well as post-transaction implementation advice in the following areas:

• General corporate and business law (e.g. market entry, creation and ongoing operation of U.S. subsidiaries, general contract law, product liability, terms and conditions of sale etc.)
• Mergers & Acquisitions
• Joint Ventures, Franchises
• International manufacturing, sales and distribution
• National and international litigation, arbitration and dispute resolution (e.g. in construction, architectural, defamation and commercial cases)
• Intergovernmental matters (e.g. Sanctions)
• Real estate
• Finance, trade, investment
• Immigration (work visa, green card and dual citizenship)
• Intellectual property, licensing
• Trust & Estates, wills
• Governmental contracts. 

For other specialized areas such as patent-, construction- or family law we can rely on the expertise of numerous specialists at Offit Kurman and act as the German contact person and coordinator for our German speaking clients. Our extensive network of German and American tax accountants, real estate- and insurance brokers, bankers and other service providers allows us to optimize and coordinate our legal advice with our clients’ other advisers as a central point of contact.

Our philosophy is to build long-term trusted relationships with our clients to develop a deeper understanding of their needs, goals, risk analyses and market strategies.  Our integrated team approach is particularly well-suited for mid-market clients and mid-market transactions for large enterprises.  We use lean staffing of experienced attorneys to provide cost-efficiency to our clients. We value personal relationships and often travel to Germany for personal consultations.