Sullivan Hill Continues German Referendars Partnership
Sullivan Hill’s Referendar Partnership
For more than 20 years, Sullivan Hill has invited a limited number of highly qualified German Referendars to receive practical legal training in the firm. A Referendar, which means intern or trainee, is a German pre-lawyer who is in the process of receiving practical legal training. This summer, Sullivan Hill provided training for two German Referendars, Alexander Beck and Corinna Minderop.
Alexander Beck graduated second in his class from law school in Freiburg and was ranked in the top 6% of the persons who passed the first state law exam. Owing to his studies of international law and Spanish employment law in Seville, Spain, Mr. Beck also speaks and writes Spanish fluently.
In his two years of practical legal training Mr. Beck predominantly worked as an attorney in the field of civil litigation and also specialized in employment law and sports law for international law firms in the German cities of Freiburg, Hamburg and Stuttgart. At Sullivan Hill, Mr. Alexander Beck focused on the field of employment litigation.
Corinna Minderop studied law and business administration at the University of Cologne where she specialized in corporate and business transaction law. During her studies Ms. Minderop attended seminars about the U.S. Legal System and its legal English as well as about Business Behavior in the U.S.
Ms. Minderop had previously worked as an intern at the legal department of one of the oldest European privately owned banking houses, at the legal department of a finance holding and at an international law firm in Cologne in the field of corporate law. At Sullivan Hill, Ms. Minderop focused on corporate and business transaction law as well as bankruptcy law.
The German legal education differs from United States legal education. To become a lawyer in Germany, a person must complete an average of 4.5 years of legal education at a German University, take and pass their first state law exam, complete two years of practical legal training, and then take and pass their second state law exam.
During the two years of practical legal training, Referendars work in six different stages as and for judges, attorneys, district attorneys and the German administration in order to get an inside view in all the different job possibilities which exist for German lawyers. During this two year period of legal training, Referendars have the opportunity to spend one three-month stage with a qualified law firm anywhere in the world.
Most German Referendars spend three month “internships” with the firm, although some trainees have stayed for up to a year. During their internship the German Referendars may expect to be introduced to the United States legal system, receive training in Internet legal research, learn how to write a formal legal memorandum, work on cases in their area of legal interest, observe the operation of an American law firm and, with luck, observe a jury trial.
Sullivan Hill benefits from having German interns as they offer the firm’s young lawyers the opportunity to meet and learn from lawyers from a different culture with a different educational background. The firm has also provided legal training to new lawyers from France, Italy and the United Kingdom.
Several of the firm’s Referendars have returned to San Diego to study for and obtain advanced legal degrees, such as a Master of Comparative Law, from California Western School of Law. Other of our Referendar have achieved important legal positions with international companies based in Germany or with major German law firms, some have obtained Ph.D.’s in German law, and one has influenced German legislation based on her exposure to California law.
German Outreach
The firm has recently served a number of German clients including Bavaria International Aircraft Leasing, CBM Cross Border Management, Metabo, PRESCOS and Winmac. As a firm initiative to broaden its reach to Germany companies, Sullivan Hill Shareholder Jeffrey Lewin will attend the Meritas Board of Directors Meeting and EMEA Regional Meeting in Munich, Germany on October 13-15. Mr. Lewin plans to meet with several current clients and the Meritas Germany affiliate to discuss possible ways the firms can work together. Sullivan Hill is the San Diego affiliate of Meritas, and has been a member since 2000. Meritas, an international affiliation of independent business and commercial law firms, offers clients the ability to access top-notch legal service worldwide.
As part of the same initiative, the firm became a member of the German American Chamber of Commerce California (GACCC) in September 2011. GACCC is a public charity organization that runs two major programs - the Business Program and the Career Program - which serves individuals, corporations and academic institutions from all over the world to support the trade relations between the United States and Europe.