Axiom, an alternative legal services provider, has appointed Matthias Schwenke to head the company’s operations in Germany.
Axiom now provides access to high-quality legal services for large enterprises across Germany, which join a long list of Axiom’s current global clients, including more than half the Fortune/FTSE100.
Axiom’s lawyers provide clients with flexible capacity and specialised knowledge, offering in-house legal teams an alternative to traditional external law firms. In addition to experience working at top law firms, most Axiom lawyers also have spent several years at in-house legal departments. This profile allows them to effectively integrate into clients’ in-house legal departments much faster and bring immediate practical value.
Axiom’s global offerings also include a full range of technology-enabled legal services, ranging from support for corporate transactions like mergers and acquisitions, and regulatory events such as the EU’s Global Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) or Markets in Financial Instruments Directive (MiFID), as well as various mandates affecting large financial services organisations.
Schwenke was appointed as Axiom’s country lead and General Manager for Germany on 1 May, heading Axiom’s Frankfurt central office.
“Matthias brings a unique perspective to Germany and to Axiom,” says Sandra L Devine, Axiom’s head of operations in Continental Europe. “Many of our clients are rethinking how legal services are resourced, seeking new ways to enhance flexibility and cost-efficiency while supporting rapidly-changing areas of expertise. Combining his experience both as a classically trained German lawyer as well as a former management consultant, Matthias is well-equipped to help GCs address these challenges with practical solutions.”
Most recently, Schwenke served in several executive positions for Deutsche Telekom, including head of top clients for the company’s wholesale customers. Previously, Schwenke served as a strategy consultant for The Boston Consulting Group where he specialised in reorganisation and operations.
“The time is right for Axiom’s entry into the German market,” says Schwenke. “Axiom created a new category of alternative legal services providers 17 years ago, and continues to lead innovation in this exciting area. For lawyers, Axiom provides an alternative means of career development and access to a wide range of challenging engagements at top international companies. Axiom combines methods and techniques from other disciplines such as strategy consulting, project management and IT with the legal talent of its lawyers in order provide a unique approach to problem solving for our clients. The combination of these diverse competencies distinguishes Axiom and is something the German market desperately needs. Axiom’s global scale creates excellent development possibilities with flexible working models and strong investment in career training.”
