The “Schließmann Principles”
Legal, commercial and tax issues concerning yachts regularly arise in an international context. Our clients rely on intelligent and innovative solutions that transcend standard practice.
We are advisers & companions.
Thanks to our particular specialisation and positioning, we deliberately and successfully place ourselves in the premium segment of the international yacht market and provide our clients with especially personal support.
Our clients benefit from our four principles:
No trust in templates without context
Time and again, we warn clients urgently against signing sample contracts or standard formulations whose origin is unclear, whose legal consequences are not fully understood and whose jurisdiction or choice of law is aimed at foreign jurisdictions or jurisdictions that are not transparent for the client. Contract templates from brokers, managers or third parties may be optimised from a business point of view, but from a legal point of view they are often a risk: one-sided, incomplete, out-of-form or deliberately asymmetrical. Especially when:
- English law / Malta etc. is applied, but no client has access to local property law;
- Jurisdictions are chosen that are purely administrative and practical – but not legally advantageous;
- liability or warranty exclusions are “waved through” across the board, with no recourse in the event of problems (e.g. yacht condition, crew conflicts or management failure).
Our principle: No contract without localisation. No signature without context. No agreement without clarity.
That’s why we offer our “Pre-Signature Risk Check” – a quick contractual check for clients.
Our clients benefit from our four principles:
1. “understanding”
We do not merely accompany yacht owners and manufacturers; we understand them.
And this is not only because of our more than 20 years of expertise in international consultancy, but also because of our entrepreneurial character and passion for the yachting industry.
For us, consultancy means: understanding, thinking ahead, analysing and helping effectively.
We provide you with support and guidance in complex projects as well as in day-to-day queries, both nationally and internationally.We do not just accompany yacht owners and manufacturers; we understand them.
2. “One face to the customer”
Prof Dr Christoph Ph. Schließmann personally manages your mandate/project, irrespective of where and by whom the services are delivered, and he monitors its progress throughout.
He supports you in person and internationally at your locations, and will travel on your behalf whenever required.
You can read more about our activities in international business law on our company website www.cps-schliessmann.de
3. “eye level”
Prof Dr Schließmann sees himself as a project manager and specialist in yacht law, and is a Specialist Lawyer for International Commercial Law (he was one of the first Germans to hold this title in October 2014).
As founder and head of the owner-managed commercial law firm “CPS Schließmann Wirtschaftsanwälte”, Prof Dr Christoph Ph. Schließmann offers personal support on an equal footing, entrepreneurial empathy for the facts of the case, and sound, critical advice with a holistic international perspective.
The focus of our work is on maximising benefit while simultaneously minimising risk.
Read more at www.cps-schliessmann.de – and discover my very personal philosophy.
As a law firm, we clearly stand for confidentiality, exclusivity and professional loyalty. We do not take on mandates against colleagues, do not allow ourselves to be instrumentalised and protect our intellectual property with all due care. Excellence begins with an attitude – and loyalty is not a one-way street. In an industry where discretion and trust are the most valuable assets, legal advice must not allow itself to be used as a pawn that can be manipulated. Law firms that take a stand prove that ethics, loyalty and professionalism are not at odds with excellence, but are a prerequisite for it. CPS Schließmann does not accept any mandates against colleagues and does not accept any mandates if it is known that other colleagues are already involved.
And: We say what is – not what we like. If you are only looking for legal legitimisation for decisions that have already been made, CPS is not the right place for you. We advise independently, critically and in the interests of long-term legal certainty – even if this is uncomfortable. Because loyalty does not mean favouritism, it means responsibility.