Dr. Werner H. Born

Dr Werner Born studied law at Heidelberg University. After completing his doctorate in Heidelberg, he began working as a lawyer with a focus on family businesses. In 2010 he made partner at RITTERSHAUS where he is a member of the Practice Group dedicated to Entrepreneurial Families & Private Clients consisting of seventeen lawyers and two 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, and first place in 2021. One reason for these awards is the firm’s continuous development of new fields of business that use mediation-based elements. Due to its innovative approach to mediation-based succession advice, RITTERSHAUS has achieved a leading, high-profile position in family business consultancy. This approach to consultancy is about more “than purely focussing on the legal and fiscal aspects” explained the representative of JUVE (German legal industry publishing house) in the eulogy delivered during the award ceremony honouring the firm with the 2020 prize for law firm of the year for succession, assets and foundations. Another element that makes RITTERSHAUS stand out in Germany is the fact that the firm employs ten lawyers who have received additional training as mediators. Werner Born himself took the lead in 2012 with his training as a mediator through the Heidelberg Institute for Mediation in cooperation with the University of Heidelberg. He is also a member of BAFM (Federal Association of Family Mediators) based in Berlin and has, since 2022, been acting as a supervisor (Steinbeis University Berlin). He has been a certified trainer (BAFM) since 2025. Since 2026, he has been a co-partner at Mediationswerkstatt Münster, where he also works as a trainer. He publishes articles on inheritance tax, mediation for family businesses and has co-authored the chapter on “Gestaltungen der lebzeitigen Unternehmensnachfolge” (Lifetime Company Succession Planning) in the “Handbuch Familienunternehmen” (Family Business Handbook) as well as the chapter on “Mediation für Familienunternehmen – Innovative Anwendungen und Einsatzgebiete in den Systemen Familie, Unternehmen und Gesellschafter” (Mediation for Family Businesses – Innovative Applications and Areas of Use in Family, Company and Shareholder Systems) in the “Handbuch Unternehmensnachfolge” (Company Succession Handbook).

I have been a member of the rock band Purple Haze since my university days and am singer, guitarist, songwriter and producer.