Handelsblatt / Best Lawyers Ranking: Award in the category "Germany's Best Lawyers 2025" in employment law

Dr. Anne-Kathrin Bertke honed her skills at the most prestigious law firms in her field, where she has led highly complex cases in recent years. These experiences have shaped her approach. At NEWHAVEN, clients can expect excellent and innovative advice.

Professional career

• Lawyer since 2013, first nine years at Freshfields, then at a leading employment law boutique (Tier One)
• Secondment to the HR department of Novartis Germany during ongoing restructuring measures
• Secondment to the "Global Litigation Communications" department (Group-wide crisis communications) of Volkswagen AG
• Five-month internal investigation at a global insurance company in Switzerland

Academic career

• Studied at the Bucerius Law School in Hamburg (LL.B. and Dr. jur.) and the University of Texas at Austin, USA, as a scholarship holder of the German National Academic Foundation
• Doctorate with Professor Dr. Matthias Jacobs (Bucerius Law School) on the topic "On the admissibility of sympathy strikes"
• Legal clerkship at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court

Publications and Presentations

Dr. Anne-Kathrin Bertke is a speaker at the IfUS Institute (Institute for Corporate Restructuring and Development) in Heidelberg, where she leads the module "Employment Law Restructuring Measures in Crisis" as part of the "Restructuring and Reorganization Consultant Certificate Course". She is a regular speaker at specialist conferences, most recently at the Center for Labor Relations and Labor Law (ZAAR) in Munich, at the conference of the Labor Law Working Group of the German Bar Association (DAV) and at the local conference of the German Association of Labor Courts, at the Practitioners' Group on Works Constitution Law and at the Federal Association of Labor Lawyers in Companies (BVAU) and provides impetus in publications on key topics in labor law.

Recent lectures and publications deal with the following topics, among others:

• Employment law in restructuring and insolvency
• Digitalization in the workplace - data protection and employee co-determination
• Compliance risk works council remuneration
• Working time recording
• Post-contractual non-compete clauses
• Supply chain compliance and trade secret protection
• Cross-border conversions and news on the European Company (SE)
• Whistleblowing and managing directors
• Directors' liability in the pandemic
• Occupational health and safety

Voluntary commitment / Memberships

• As President of the Bucerius Law School Alumni Association (Bucerius Alumni e.V.), Dr. Anne-Kathrin Bertke leads a community of over 2,300 members and is committed to the exchange between academia and practice.
• Further memberships (selection)
  • Alumni of the Studienstiftung e.V.
  • Labor Law Working Group of the German Bar Association (DAV)
  • German Labor Court Association
  • Hamburg Association for Labor Law e.V.
  • Hamburg Bar Association