Lars Petersen is a partner in the Gibson Dunn Frankfurt office; he works closely with the firm’s Riyadh office. Lars advises clients with a focus on German, EU and international administrative and regulatory law, and represents them before courts and authorities.
Lars is known for being at the forefront of new and often complex regulatory developments. He helped clients navigate emerging regulatory trends in the EU in a variety of areas including media regulation, foreign direct investment, merger control, and environmental and public procurement law. His international, comparative perspective on regulatory trends developed during his legal traineeship at national and international agencies and organizations, including the German Federal Foreign Office (Auswärtiges Amt), the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) and the European Union Delegation to the United Nations. This background, combined with his comprehensive experience in German and EU administrative and regulatory law, makes Lars a trusted counsel for clients on all regulatory matters and related proceedings before the authorities.
In Saudi Arabia, Lars is leveraging his international regulatory expertise to assist clients with new regulatory developments associated with Saudi Vision 2030 and related government initiatives.
The Legal 500 Deutschland 2023 and The Legal 500 EMEA 2023 recommended him for Foreign Trade Law, Commercial Administrative Law and Media – Entertainment.
Lars passed his first state exam with honors at Bucerius Law School in 2007 and his second state exam with honors at the Hanseatic Higher Regional Court of Hamburg in 2011. He is an alumnus of the German National Academic Foundation (Studienstiftung des deutschen Volkes). He received his Dr. jur. degree, magna cum laude, from Kiel University in 2010 (Walther Schücking Institute for International Law) and an LL.M. (European Law), with distinction, from the London School of Economics and Political Science in 2019. He has practiced as an admitted German lawyer (Rechtsanwalt) since 2011.
Lars regularly publishes on legal matters. Among his publications, he is co-author of a commentary on the Regulation on the Award of Public Contracts and the Lower Threshold Public Award Regulation (VgV – UVgO) (3rd edition, 2022, published by Beck Verlag). In addition to his native German, Lars is fluent in English.
Capabilities
- Administrative Law and Regulatory Practice
- International Trade Advisory and Enforcement
- Media, Entertainment, and Technology
- Public Policy
Credentials
Education:
- London School of Economics & Political Science - 2019 Master of Laws (LL.M.)
- Christian-Albrechts-Universität zu Kiel - 2010 Dr. jur.
- Bucerius Law School - 2007 Law Degree
Admissions:
- Germany - Rechtsanwalt