Weil, Gotshal & Manges has announced that Dr. David Jansen will join its Frankfurt office as a partner in the Private Equity practice, expanding the firm’s German capabilities across financial regulation, asset management, private equity transactions and secondaries.
Jansen will advise financial sponsors, asset managers and financial institutions on complex transactions and regulatory matters. His arrival is part of a significant expansion of Weil’s German Private Equity practice, which the firm said will have more than doubled in size within 12 months.
Jansen focuses on German and European financial regulatory law and advises banks, payment service providers, insurers, asset managers and financial sponsors across a broad range of regulatory matters.
A significant part of his practice involves financial institutions M&A. He advises buyers and sellers on transactions involving regulated entities, ownership control proceedings and interactions with regulators including BaFin and the European Central Bank.
Jansen also advises sponsors and investors on the structuring, formation and distribution of investment funds under the Alternative Investment Fund Managers Directive and Germany’s Investment Code. His experience extends to ELTIF 2.0, the Sustainable Finance Disclosure Regulation and private markets secondaries.
His secondaries work includes both GP-led and LP-led transactions as well as continuation funds, adding another capability to Weil’s private capital platform as sponsors increasingly use secondary transactions to provide liquidity and extend ownership of portfolio assets.
Jansen has also focused on the use of artificial intelligence within legal practice. Weil described him as a pioneer in deploying legal AI in transactional and regulatory work, including developing and implementing AI-driven workflows for client matters.
In addition to his client responsibilities, Jansen will support Weil’s legal AI strategy across Germany and Europe.
His appointment continues a rapid expansion of Weil’s German business. Since the end of 2025, 11 partners, along with additional counsel and lawyers, have joined the firm’s German offices.
Weil said its German Private Equity practice will have more than doubled in size during that period, while overall lawyer headcount across its German offices is on track to increase by more than 50% during 2026.
The firm’s German operations include offices in Frankfurt and Munich and are connected to Weil’s broader European and international platform. The offices advise clients across private equity, M&A, restructuring, disputes, finance, tax, antitrust and employment matters.
Globally, Weil advises more than 300 private equity clients, ranging from middle-market firms to each of the 10 largest global private equity funds and eight of the 10 largest funds ranked by the PEI 300 in 2026.
KEY QUOTES:
“With David, we are gaining one of the most respected financial regulatory lawyers in the German market. Our clients are increasingly investing in regulated companies and asset managers, and fund structures are becoming ever more demanding from a regulatory standpoint. The fact that David is also one of the leading practitioners in the use of legal AI fits perfectly with the direction Weil has taken.”
Dr. Sebastian Pauls, Co-Managing Partner of Weil’s German Offices and Co-Head of Weil’s German Private Equity Practice
“Hardly any firm in the German private equity market is developing as dynamically as Weil right now, and that’s exactly why I wanted to be part of this development. Here, I can bring my regulatory expertise to the practice and continue to develop it independently.”
Dr. David Jansen, Incoming Partner at Weil
“Our Private Equity practice in Germany continues to grow at a remarkable pace. We are expanding consistently across virtually every key area, and in doing so, we are strengthening our platform globally as well. David’s arrival further strengthens the breadth and depth of our practice in Germany.”
Barry Wolf, Executive Partner of Weil, Gotshal & Manges
