White & Case LLP - Lawyers - Christian Wirth

Practice Experience

Christian Wirth is the head of the German Dispute Resolution practice. He is a leading litigator and has advised both German and international clients on a range of high profile and innovative matters over recent years. Christian specializes in the insurance sector as well as the banking and financial sector. He regularly represents plaintiffs and defendants before civil courts and arbitral tribunals and supports clients in their efforts to put effective risk management systems in place.

As a Certified Lawyer for Insurance Law (Fachanwalt für Versicherungsrecht) Mr. Wirth advises leading German and international clients from the insurance sector and from industry in the field of private insurance law, which includes all types of industry and liability insurance, on all issues relating to existing insurance contracts as well the design of new contracts. He has comprehensive experience in the legal assessment and structuring of complex insurance programs, including cross-border programs, and of individually tailored coverage. His advice focuses especially on major claims, captive solutions, reinsurance and alternative risk transfer.
In the private banking sector, Mr. Wirth, who is a Certified Lawyer for Bank and Capital Market Law (Fachanwalt für Bank- und Kapitalmarktrecht), advises and represents domestic and international clients especially with regard to fundamental and liability issues of bank law. His practice includes advising on risk management for major rescue loans. Mr. Wirth has successfully represented a range of banks with regard to allegedly deficient prospectuses and investment advice in connection with unsuccessful capital investment products. In the transactions field Mr. Wirth specializes in structuring the risk assessment of credit portfolios, including both performing and non-performing loans.

Mr. Wirth is the author of a number of publications on issues of banking and insurance law and is a member of the German Institution of Arbitration (DIS), the AIDA Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society (ARIAS), and of the German Bar Association's working groups on bank and capital markets law an on insurance law. He directs the working group section "International insurance law/insurance supervision law". Mr. Wirth is also the author of the course unit on business interruption insurance of the Euroforum management training course "Insurance contracts and management in enterprises".

Bars and Courts
Certified Lawyer for Bank and Capital Market Law, 2008
Certified Insurance Lawyer, 2006
Rechtsanwalt, 1992

Education
Second State Exam, Higher Regional Court of Berlin, 1992
First State Exam, Free University of Berlin, 1988

Professional Associations and Memberships
Working Group Insurance Law of the German Bar Association
Head of Working Group International Insurance Law/Insurance Supervision Law of the German Bar Association
Working Group Bank & Capital Market Law of the German Bar Association
DIS - German Institution for Arbitration
ARIAS – Reinsurance and Insurance Arbitration Society

Publications
Co-author, "Requirements for a real estate vendor's interest in the maintenance of the property to be included in the coverage provided by the insurance taken out by the buyer (Anforderungen an die Einbeziehung des Sacherhaltungsinteresses des Grundstücksverkäufers in die vom Käufer abgeschlossene Versicherung)", VersR, Issue 33, Page 1531 et seqq., 2009 (with Frederik Paul)
"The Consequences of the Abolition of the Former Section 102 German Insurance Contracts Act (VVG) for Loans Secured by Charges on Real Property (Konsequenzen des Wegfalls des § 102 VVG a.F. für den grundpfandrechtlich besicherten Kredit)", WM, Issue 37, Page 1731 et seqq., 2009
Co-author, "On interpreting an arbitral award directed towards performance as constituting a claim in insolvency proceedings (Zur Auslegung eines auf eine Leistung gerichteten Schiedsspruchs als Insolvenzforderung)", EWiR, Issue 14 , Page 451 et seq., 2009 (with Sven-Holger Undritz)
"The interpretation and scope of application of an arbitral award or arbitration agreement (Zur Auslegung und Reichweite eines Schiedsspruchs bzw. einer Schiedsvereinbarung)", SchiedsVZ, Issue 4, Page 203 et seq., 2009
"The outside view: Regulation of duties to provide information in Spain and Germany – an example for insurance law harmonization in practice (Der Blick über die Grenze: Die Regelung der Auflärungsobliegenheiten in Spanien und Deutschland – ein Beispiel für eine praktizierte Harmonisierung des Versicherungsrechts)", SpV, Issue 1, Page 12 et seqq., 2009
Co-author, "On the structuring of company pension schemes with special focus on questions of insurance and labor law (Zur Strukturierung betrieblicher Altersvorsorge durch Unternehmen unter besonderer Berücksichtigung versicherungs- und arbeitsrechtlicher Fragestellungen)", SpV, Issue 3, Page 60 et seqq., 2006 (with Nicolaus Pieper)
"Business Interruption Insurance (Betriebsunterbrechungsversicherung)", Euroforum Verlag GmbH, insurance contracts and management in enterprises – management training course, section 9, 2006
Co-author, "Manager liability and insurance in Germany (Managerhaftung und Versicherung in Deutschland)", JUVE Handbuch, Page 244 et seqq., 2002/2003 (with Henning Berger)
"The Architect's Claim for his Fee (Die Honorarklage des Architekten)", Honorar-Handbuch für Architekten und Ingenieure. Ed. Manfred von Bentheim and Karsten Meurer. Berlin, 2002
Co-author, "Possible reclaim of a drawn guarantee at first demand in procedures of producing documentary evidence (Zur Möglichkeit der Rückforderung einer gezogenen Bürgschaft auf erstes Anfordern im Urkundsverfahren)", Bauwirtschaft und Baubetriebe, Reports, No. 1, Page 47 et seq., 2002 (with Nils Clemm and Tobias Masing)

Languages
German
English

Citizenship
Germany