Prof. Dr. Benjamin von Bodungen, LL.M. (Auckland)¹

As an Of Counsel in our Finance & Financial Regulation Practice Group, based in Frankfurt, I have extensive experience in the transportation, mobility and logistics sectors. This pertains both to the cross-border financing and collateralisation of aircraft and rolling stock as well as the rapidly evolving legal framework for automated and autonomous driving.

As a member of Bird & Bird's Automotive & Mobility Sector Group, I have advised on the regulatory and liability framework and pitfalls of manufacturing and operating connected, automated and autonomous vehicles for the transport of people and goods. This included vehicle testing, type-approval, vehicle registration, product safety and product liability issues. I have also authored numerous legal articles on issues of tomorrow's mobility and co-edited the recently published book 'Autonomous Vehicles and Civil Liability in a Global Perspective'.

I also have wide-ranging expertise in the field of national and international transport, warehousing and logistics law. I have advised on the design and drafting of complex logistics agreements in domestic and cross-border scenarios. I was also involved in the market entry in Europe of various automotive manufacturers and suppliers, including the contractual set-up of logistics chains from Asia to Europe and regulatory issues concerning the transportation and warehousing of vehicles and vehicle components.

Finally, the financing and leasing of high-value mobile equipment such as aircraft, railway rolling stock, ships, road vehicles and containers has been at the core of my academic and practical work for many years. In this regard, I am also a management committee member of the Rail Working Group, which promotes the implementation of the Luxembourg Rail Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment.

Before joining Bird & Bird, I worked as a Principal Associate in the Frankfurt office of a magic circle law firm and as an in-house lawyer at KfW Bankengruppe, dealing with asset-based financing as well as general banking and banking regulatory issues. In 2025, I was appointed Professor of Commercial Law at the Frankfurt University of Applied Sciences (F-UAS). Since then, I assist the firm with my wealth of academic and practical experience as an Of Counsel.

I am a member of the German Association of Transport Sciences (DVWG), the Society for the Promotion of Inland Navigation Law at the University of Mannheim, the Interdisciplinary Institute for Automated Systems and the German-American Lawyers Association (DAJV).

¹ Not admitted to the bar.

• Member of the Management Committee of the Rail Working Group (RWG).
• Head of the German contact group of the Rail Working Group (RWG).
• Member of the Expert Study Group entrusted by UNIDROIT with preparing the first draft of a Protocol to the Cape Town Convention on International Interests in Mobile Equipment on matters specific to mining, agricultural and construction equipment (MAC Protocol).

• Advising a mobility service provider as well as various suppliers of vehicle components and software on type-approval, licensing, product safety and product liability aspects of connected, automated and autonomous vehicles including their testing.
• Advising an electric vehicle manufacturer on its market entry in Europe and the contractual set-up of its logistics network within Europe (including port operation services, 3PL, road and rail transportation).
• Comprehensive legal support of an intermediary of passenger transport services in the context of its market entry in Germany.
• Preparation of a logistics framework agreement for an international market leader in automotive joining technology.
• Advising on regulatory questions and the contractual set-up regarding the road transport and storage of lithium-ion batteries and other dangerous goods in Europe.
• Advising a rolling stock lessor on the cross-border purchase of a major portfolio of managed rail freight wagons.
• Advising a rolling stock lessor on its leasing structures and related terms and conditions for its leasing business.