History

Rödl & Partner was founded in 1977 as a single practice in Nuremberg, Germany, by Dr. Bernd Rödl (1943-2015), a German solicitor who later also qualified as a German chartered accountant. Since the end of 2010 the management of the firm is led by Prof. Dr. Christian Rödl. 

The firm became a well-known regional and national practice in Germany, expanding into East Germany when the Berlin Wall came down in 1989. We were one of the first West German law and consulting firms to do so. Our first office outside Germany opened in 1989 in Prague, followed by offices in Budapest and Warsaw in 1990 and 1991. Rödl & Partner rapidly expanded across central and eastern Europe. We were the first western law firm in many post-communist countries. Offices in Moscow, St. Petersburg, Tallinn, Riga, Vilnius, Bratislava, Bucharest, Ljubljana, Zagreb, Chisinau, Minsk and other locations followed. Today we have six offices in Poland.

In 1994 Rödl & Partner became the first non-Chinese firm to obtain a license to offer both legal services and accounting services in the People’s Republic of China. Offices in Shanghai, Hong Kong, Beijing and Guangzhou opened, followed by regional offices in Singapore and Jakarta. 

Our expansion in western Europe and the Americas began in 1998 when our first office in Italy opened. Today we have four offices in Italy - Rome, Milan, Padova and Bolzano. Offices in the US, Spain, France, Brazil, Switzerland, Dubai, Abu Dhabi, India, Thailand, Vietnam, South Africa and, in 2008, the UK followed.