Dr Michael Gottschalk

Dr. Michael Gottschalk was born in Viersen. After graduating from high school in 1991, he initially completed an apprenticeship as a bank clerk at Commerzbank AG, which he finished in 1993, before beginning his law studies in Augsburg. After a semester abroad at the University of Lausanne, he continued his studies at Ludwig Maximilian University of Munich and graduated with honors in 1998.

Before his bar exam, he gained several months of practical experience at a law office of what is now the firm TaylorWessing in Shanghai. He completed his legal traineeship at the Higher Regional Court of Munich and at law firms in San Francisco and Washington, D.C. In 2000, he passed the second state examination and was admitted to the bar in 2001.

After three years at an internationally oriented law firm in Düsseldorf, he moved to MayerBrown, where he opened the US firm's German office in the capital together with Friedrich Merz, who later became a member of the Bundestag. In 2007, he earned his doctorate in law and established himself as an independent lawyer in Viersen. In 2014, he opened another office in Krefeld; since 2018, the firm has also had a presence in Düsseldorf.

As a specialist in international inheritance law, Dr. Gottschalk advises clients from the USA, Canada, Australia, Spain, Switzerland, France, the Netherlands, and Belgium. As a frequently appointed executor of wills, he has experience from over 100 cases – particularly in matters of forced heirship and the settlement of estates among heirs.