Three new lawyers at DLA Piper in Vienna

DLA Piper is expanding its Corporate Group under the leadership of Elisabeth Stichmann with the appointment of Elisa Maria Zapletal, 36, and Daniel Schmidt, 34. In addition, Domen Brus, 31, is being appointed from within the team, reporting into Jasna Zwitter-Tehovnik.

Mag. Elisa Maria Zapletal, MSc. joined the Corporate Practice Group of DLA Piper’s Vienna office as Senior Associate at the start of October. Prior to joining DLA Piper, she worked for several years as an attorney at a national law firm in the area of Corporate/M&A and gained experience as a trainee in the areas of Corporate and Regulatory. Specializing in complex corporate law issues, Carinthian-born Elisa Maria will advise national and international clients in the area of corporate and commercial law as well as in international group restructurings. She studied law at the University of Vienna and international business administration at the Vienna University of Economics and Business Administration and speaks German, English and Italian.

Also joining in October, Dr. Daniel Schmidt, LL.M. MBA-HSG will support the Corporate Practice Group as Senior Associate. Prior to that, he worked for several years at national law firms in the area of Corporate/M&A. During his trainee period, he focused on corporate law issues as well as restructuring projects. Going forward, Daniel will contribute his expertise to M&A projects as well as to corporate law issues and reorganizations. He studied law at the University of Vienna, where he also earned an LL.M. and a doctorate. He also completed an MBA at the University of St. Gallen (HSG). He speaks German, English and Spanish.

DLA Piper’s Head of Corporate in Austria, Mag. Elisabeth Stichmann, commented: “We are very pleased to have Elisa Maria Zapletal and Daniel Schmidt join our expanding corporate practice. Both newcomers are a great addition to our team due to their first-class professional expertise and their personality. DLA Piper is very much focused on the importance of fostering the potential of young, motivated lawyers and have policies in place, such as flexi-working models not yet common in other law firm in Austria, to attract such talent.”

In addition, Domen Brus, mag. prav. joins DLA Piper’s Finance Team today as a registered attorney, reporting into Dr. Jasna Zwitter-Tehovnik. Domen Brus is active in finance law, especially in financing transactions and international infrastructure projects with a focus on the CEE/SEE regions. In addition, the Slovenian-born lawyer advises international clients on a wide range of corporate law matters, such as mergers and acquisitions and international corporate restructuring, with a particular focus on proceedings and transactions in Slovenia. He studied law at the University of Ljubljana and joined DLA Piper’s Vienna office in March 2018. He speaks German, English and Slovenian.

DLA Piper Partner Jasna Zwitter-Tehovnik said: “We congratulate Domen Brus on his swearing-in as a lawyer and look forward to supporting his continuing progress in the future. He has continuously demonstrated his comprehensive expertise in the previous years of cooperation and also illustrates DLA Piper’s focus on promoting top talent from our own ranks.”