Member Profile

Gerlind Wisskirchen specializes in advising international groups, providing added value through analytical expertise as well as precise and strategic recommendations. Her endeavors extend beyond simply providing legal advice. She and her team are performance-driven and creative and strive to forge workable and strategic client-focused solutions so that businesses can achieve their business objectives. Part of this advice is project management, thus under-standing the relevant factors, defining the goals, selecting the best methods and tools, and precisely implementing the set objectives. Gerlind advises multinational groups with a focus on restructurings, national and international labor and employment law and compliance issues. Acting as a strategic advisor to the management or serving as advisory board member, she assists with the development of business plans and strategies from an HR and labor and em-ployment law perspective. As an expert for the digitalization of the workplace, she has pub-lished the "Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and Their Impact on the Workplace" report for the Global Employment Institute and testified as expert before the German and European parliament.

In a globalized world in which national borders are increasingly diminishing and corporations are facing global challenges, she has particular expertise in cross-border projects like business reorganizations (outsourcing, offshoring), compliance issues, cross-border compensation pro-grams, cross-border audits and internal investigations, board level codetermination, matrix structures of multinational corporations, the European works council, the implementation of codes of conduct, whistleblowing systems and IT-systems, and data privacy protection issues. She developed the "EU Labor & Employment Law Navigator", a comparative analysis of the labor and employment law systems in Europe.

Gerlind is a regular moderator and panelist at national and international conferences on the legal issues of international HR management and on issues of cross-border labor and employ-ment law, such as the International Bar Association, the American Bar Association and the American Employment Law Council. She is a lecturer for the MBA program "International Human Resources Management" at Cranfield University, UK, one of Europe’s leading

Business Schools, and has published numerous articles in German and in English.

From 1991 to 1995, Gerlind worked for two US law firms before joining the international department of the German Federal Ministry of Finance. She joined CMS in 1998 and was made partner in 2003.

• 1993: PhD, thesis on "Indirect Discrimination in Employment (Disparate Impact Cases): USA – Europe"

• Konrad-Adenauer-Stiftung (Konrad Adenauer Foundation) scholar

• Law studies at the University of Bonn, Université de Lausanne (Switzerland) and Georgetown University (USA)

• IT and communications systems policy Q&A: Germany, published by Thomson Reuters Practical Law, https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/w-016-

1529?originationContext=knowHow&transitionType=KnowHowItem&contextData=%28sc.Search%29&comp=pluk

• Letter terminating a consultancy agreement Q&A: Germany, published by Thomson Reuters Practical Law, published by https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/1-520-7453, September 2019

• Social media policy Q&A: Germany, Thomson Reuters Practical Law, June 2019

https://uk.practicallaw.thomsonreuters.com/w-021-1260?originationContext=knowHow&transitionType=KnowHowItem&contextData=(sc.Category)&firstPage=true&bhcp=1

• Confidentiality clause (employment) Q&A: Germany, Thomson Reuters Practical Law

• Restrictive covenant clauses Q&A: Germany, Thomson Reuters Practical Law

• „EU: The time clock for everyone? New rules for time recording”, BEERG Global Labor Newsletter, No. 17, May 24, 2019

• International Labor and Employment Laws, 4th Edition, Volumes IA & IB, 2018 Cumulative Supplement

• Doing Business 2019: Training for Reform, World Bank Group

• Labour and Employment Compliance in Germany, International Labour and Employment Compliance Handbook (Sixth edition), Wolters Kluwer, 2018

• Relaxation of restrictive Protection Against Unfair Dismissal law in sight?, BEERG Global Labor Newsletter No. 31, October 18, 2018

• "Artificial Intelligence and Robotics: From a Labour and Tax Perspective", CMS website

• "Will The Robots Who Replace Us Also Pay Income Tax?", Law360 A LexisNexis Company

• "The Impact of the GDPR on Employer-Employee Relationships", International HR Decision Support Network, Bloomberg BNA

• Digitalisation, automation and the global labour marketwww.internationallawoffice.com/newsletters, 2017/09

• Preventing Pandemic Pandemonium: An Employer's Guide to Practical Strategies in Europe, Webinar, IADC, 20.05.2020

• Getting Back to Work – How to Organize the Workplace Safely for Covid-19, Webinar, BEERG, 06.05.2020

• Lessons Learned from Covid-19, and How to Prepare for a Changed World of Work, XBHR, Webinar, Open Discussion, 29.04.2020

• Company Responses to the Coronavirus in Europe (2nd Call), Webinar, BEERG, 25.03.2020

• Preventing Pandemic Pandemonium, Webinar, CUE, 20.03.2020

• Company Responses to the Coronavirus in Europe, Webinar, BEERG, 20.03.2020

• Digitization and its Impact on the Labor Market and Employment Law, Webinar, IADC, 29.01.2020

• AI in the Workplace: Legal and Policy Issues, Joint Fall Labor & Employment Relations Conference, HR Policy/NYU School of Law, 24.10.2019, New York

• AI and Its Impact on the Working World, Fall 2019 CUE Conference, 14.10.2019, Las Vegas

• Massive Disruption - How AI & Automation Are Likely to Reshape Labor & Employment Law in the Workplace, New York State Bar Association/Cornell University, 20.09.2019, Ithaca

• Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) Working Time Decision, BEERG Members' Network Meeting, 13.06.2019, Sitges

• Technology, Privacy and Employee Monitoring, PLI Conference, New York, 05.06.2019

• Digital Transformation and its Impact on Work and Employees, IBIS Academy 2019, Milan, 08.05.2019

• Drugs and Alcohol in the Workplace (Canada/US/EU), NRF Committee on Employment Law Spring 2019 Meeting, San Francisco, 16.04.2019

• Artificial Intelligence and Robotics and Their Impact on the Workplace and how to be prepared (especially for HR) for the new development, Client Event, Dusseldorf, 26.03.2019

• Protection of Know-How/IP: Considerations for Retaining Competitive Information, XBHR Annual Conference 2019, Barcelona, 08.03.2019

• European Update", BEERG Network Meeting, Brussels, 31.01.2019

• The Future of Work - Artificial Intelligence and Robotics Impact on the Workplace and Implications for Labor & Employment Lawyers, ABA 12th Annual Section of Labor and Employment Law Conference, 08.11.2018, San Francisco

• Restrictive Covenants and Confidential Information Protections in the Technology Sector and in a World of Data and Artificial Intelligence, CM Murray LLP, Global Business Protection Conference, 26.09.2018, London

• Written Statement Directive, GDPR and Potential Developments in Germany, BEERG Network Meeting, 15.06.2018, Sitges

• Digitization and its Impact on the Working World, McGeorge School of Law, 09.06.2018, Berlin

• Gig Economy: Can the Law Catch up with the New Reality?, PLI Practicing Law Institute, 06.06.2018, New York

• How Artificial Intelligence Impacts Labour and Management, CEC European Managers, 25.05.2018, Brussels

• Digitalisation and Automation: Challenges for the Labour Market and Social Security Systems, European Parliament, 14.05.2018, Brussels

• Modern Forms of Work, IBIS Academy 2018, 09.05.2018, Berlin

• Fireside Chat re: Artificial Intelligence and the Workplace", ABA Midyear Meeting 2018, 07.05.2018, Milan

• Digitization and the Impact on Labor Relations, CUE Spring Conference 2018, 17.04.2018, Tampa, Florida

• The Legal and Other Challenges to the "Gig Economy around the Globe: What's the Score?", ABA ERR Midwinter Meeting, 22.03.2018, Clearwater, Florida

• Uberisation/Crowdworking/Gig and Platform Economy, XBHR Annual Conference 2018, 01.03./02.03.2018, Prag

• Managing German Works Councils: A Case Study, BEERG Network Meeting, 07.02.2018, Brussels

• The Impact of Technology on the Global Workforce and Labor and Employment Law, National CLE Conference, 06.01.2018, Vail, Colorado

• Council Member and Note Keeper for multinationals, IBA Global Employment Institute

• Vice-Chair of Cross-Border HR (XBHR), a global multidisciplinary forum for international HR and employment law experts with a focus on international HR management issues

• Past Chair of the International Bar Associations’ Employment and Industrial Relations Law Committee

• Co-Chair of the International ERR Committee of the American Bar Association, Labor and Employment Law Section

• Advisory board member and lecturer at Cranfield University (UK), for the MBA program in International Human Resources Management

• Labor Lawyers Advisory Committee of CUE, an organization for positive employee relations

• Labor Law Committee of the German Federal Bar Association

#1 of the most highly regarded Labour and Employment Lawyers in Germany: "Gerlind Wisskirchen enjoys a prominent position in the German market thanks to her leading work advising corporate clients on restructuring and employment law strategy."

Who’s Who Legal 2020

Listed as 1 of 22: "Thought Leader"

Who's Who Legal 2020 - Labour & Employment, Germany

Listed as 1 of 12 Leading Individual in the area of Labor and Employment Law in Germany

The Legal 500 Deutschland, 2020

"Outstanding in international projects" (competitor)

JUVE German Commercial Law Firms 2020 (GCLF)

Listed as 1 of 15 among the leading senior labor and employment partners in Germany

JUVE Handbuch, 2019/2020

"Gerlind Wisskirchen is highly sought after by clients thanks to her strong understanding of cross-border outsourcing projects and corporate reorganisations."

Who's Who Legal 2019

Listed as 1 of 18: "Thought Leader"

Who's Who Legal 2019 - Labour & Employment, Germany

Listed for Employment Law

Germany's Top Lawers 2019 – Handelsblatt in cooperation with Best Lawyers

"Gerlind Wisskirchen is ‘very visible in the market’ and features prominently in our research this year as one of the leading practitioners in the space. One respondent describes her as ‘one of the best lawyers I have every worked with’."

Who's Who Legal 2018

Listed as: Notable Practitioner for Employment Chambers Europe, 2019

Listed as: Leading Individual for Employment

The Legal 500 EMEA, 2018

Recommended lawyer

Kanzleimonitor 2017, 2018

"Gerlind Wisskirchen's client base consists largely of international companies and she is noted as particular for her work for US clients. She regularly handles compliance matters and reorganizations."

Chambers Europe, 2017

"The ‘outstanding’ Gerlind Wisskirchen is highly recommended by peers and an international client base, placing her at the top of our research. A number of respondents pick her out as ‘the go-to labour and employment lawyer in Germany’."

The International Who’s Who of Management Labour & Employment Lawyers 2017

Listed for Employment Law

Germany's Top Lawyers 2017 – Handelsblatt in cooperation with Best Lawyers