Dr René Voigtländer, US Attorney at Law, joined Bird & Bird in March 2005. Previously he was a partner with a global US law firm. René specialises in regulatory law, energy, procurement and privatisation.

René’s clients include large corporations in the fields of energy, pharmaceuticals and biotechnology, as well as IT, infrastructure, transportation and telecommunications. René also advises numerous national and international joint ventures, supply and waste management companies, as well as their public-private holding companies, with respect to activities in the areas of electricity, gas, water and sewage, community heating, contracting, facility management, real estate, plant management and concessions. Further clients include several German states as well as numerous districts and local municipal entities, as well as their (partly) privatised units and undertakings.

Along with structuring and supporting national and cross-border projects and (corporate) transactions, René draws upon extensive experience in the multi-faceted field of business regulatory law, with a special focus on environmental and energy law. He is especially active in the areas of privatisation and public procurement contracting, including all aspects relating to state, district and budgetary law. He advises both bidders and public entities in respect to the structuring of bids and compliance with public tender projects, the preparation of the transaction documentation and tender submissions, the conduct of bidding procedures and subsequent contract management.

An increasingly prominent part of René’s practice consists of preparing and conducting bidding procedures and private procurement projects in which issues of contract structuring, negotiations and award management are crucial.

René also represents his clients in the context of public procurement bid challenges including the defence against review applications.

René studied law in Bonn, Knoxville (Tennessee, USA), at the Universidad Autonoma Nacional de México in Mexico City, and in Trier, Germany. In 1992, he obtained his J.D. law degree in the USA, and in 2001, he completed his doctorate degree in law in Germany. He has received numerous scholarships and awards, both in Europe and in the USA. Additionally, he majored in political science at the University of the Sorbonne in Paris.

René publishes extensively and is frequently called upon to prepare expert opinions. He is a member of the Federation of German Industries’ forum vergabe e.V., an association of leading experts in the procurement field. He is a co-author of a study prepared on behalf of the German Federal Ministry of Economics and Labor on “Chances and Risks of a Liberalization of the German Drinking Water Market”.