Dr. Werner Born studied law at Heidelberg University. After receiving his doctorate in Heidelberg, he began his work as a lawyer with a focus on family businesses. He was made partner at RITTERSHAUS in 2010. He heads the Corporate Succession and Estate Planning Practice Group, which comprises nine lawyers and notaries. In 2017, they took second place for “Exzellenz in Mediation und Konfliktmanagement” (Excellence in Mediation and Conflict Management), an award that was presented for the first time that year by the Round Table of the same name. One reason why they were chosen was the development of mediation-based succession consultancy services centred around the family charter. With this innovative consultancy approach, RITTERSHAUS has achieved a prominent, leading position in consultancy for family businesses. According to the legal publishing house JUVE, which delivered the laudatory speech at the award-giving ceremony during which Rittershaus was pronounced Law Firm of the Year 2020 for succession, assets and foundations, the firm’s consultancy approach amounted to more than “focussing on purely legal and fiscal matters”. RITTERSHAUS is unique in Germany also because it has 10 lawyers on its legal team with additional certification in mediation. Dr. Born himself was one of the first when he completed mediation training in 2012 at Heidelberg University. He is also a member of the Bundesarbeitsgemeinschaft für Familien-Mediation e.V. (Federal Association of Family Mediators - BAFM) in Berlin. He publishes articles on inheritance tax, mediation for family businesses and has co-authored the chapter “Gestaltungen der lebzeitigen Unternehmensnachfolge” (Lifetime Company Succession Planning) for the “Handbuch Familienunternehmen” (Family Business Handbook) as well as the chapter “Mediation für Familienunternehmen – Innovative Anwendungen und Einsatzgebiete in den Systemen Familie, Unternehmen und Gesellschafter” (Mediation for family-run businesses – innovative applications and fields of use in the systems comprising families, businesses and shareholders/partners) in the “Handbuch Unternehmensnachfolge” (Succession Planning Handbook).