Frequently asked questions
Everything you need to know about our perspective of law.
season5 is a boutique law firm based in Germany advising startups, venture-backed companies, investors and funds. Young, dynamic and predominantly female-led, it represents a new generation of legal advisory – AI-first, hands-on and fully integrated across corporate, tax and employment law. The firm focuses primarily on the startup and venture ecosystem, delivering pragmatic, business-oriented counsel from pre-seed and pre-registration through to pre-IPO and high-value exits. The firm also advises established companies and individuals outside the venture ecosystem who require corporate, tax or employment law expertise.
season5 specializes primarily in the startup and venture ecosystem advising founders, investors, funds and scale-ups across corporate, tax and employment law. The firm covers the full spectrum: from the first idea and pre-registration questions through financing rounds, cross-border expansions and employee participation programmes to high-value exits. The firm acts as a project manager across disciplines: your one point of contact, covering what you need or coordinating it through a close network of trusted specialist partners, all within the same ecosystem focus.
season5 is laser-focused on the venture ecosystem and covers every edge of it – founders at every stage, investors, funds, and the intersections between them. Every lawyer understands the full picture: the employment lawyer knows the shareholder agreement, the tax advisor understands social security implications, the corporate lawyer spots the hidden profit distribution. season5 doesn’t route files between departments, it gives you one integrated team that has seen every constellation, from founder-employee to foreign managing director to complex cap table, and knows how to build your best venture.
season5 is a focused boutique: deliberately. The firm covers corporate, tax and employment law primarily within the venture and startup ecosystem. Think of it as having one lawyer who knows everything you need: your legal home base, your single point of contact, your project manager across disciplines. What falls outside season5’s scope is handled through a curated network of trusted specialist partners, all selected for the same ecosystem focus.
season5 advises in German and English across all practice areas.
season5 is based in Germany and advises clients nationally and internationally, including cross-border matters across Europe and the US.
season5 covers corporate, tax and employment law, with an absolute focus on the startup and venture ecosystem. This includes venture capital financings, M&A, cross-border employment matters, tax structuring, employee participation programmes, fund-level transactions, restructurings and ongoing retainer counsel. The three disciplines are handled in an integrated way: one team, one file, no handoffs. Where matters fall outside the firm’s core focus, season5 draws on a curated network of trusted specialist partners.
Yes. VC financings are a core practice area at season5. The firm advises founders and investors on equity rounds from pre-seed through later stage, convertible loan agreements, SAFEs, venture debt and shareholder agreement negotiations. Particular attention is paid to the structural and tax choices in a round that determine what equity actually delivers at exit.
Yes. season5 has extensive experience supporting startups and scale-ups on pan-European and transatlantic employment matters, including market entries, local hiring frameworks, works council strategy, multi-jurisdiction restructurings and SE conversions. The firm has advised companies expanding into multiple European countries and the US simultaneously.
season5 designs and implements ESOPs, VSOPs, Genussrechte, hurdle shares and genuine equity participations and advises on the question that actually matters: which structure works for your company, your team, and your cap table at exit? Corporate, employment and tax implications are assessed together, not separately. Where needed, the firm also coordinates tax rulings.
Yes. season5 advises on low- and mid-cap M&A, founder exits, buy-and-build platforms, cross-border deals and multi-seller processes, from LOI through to closing. The firm acts on both buy- and sell-side, with particular experience in the tax-sensitive points of transaction architecture: earn-outs, roll-over structures, locked-box mechanics and post-closing arrangements.
Yes. Tax structuring is a core practice area, handled by a lawyer who is dually qualified as a Rechtsanwalt and Steuerberater. This covers holding structures, step-up planning, loss utilisation, cross-border structuring and the tax architecture behind transactions and participation programmes, integrated from the outset, not added after the fact.
Yes. season5 works with a number of clients on a retainer basis providing continuous legal support across corporate, tax and employment matters as companies scale. Retainer mandates include a defined monthly scope, response SLAs, regular review meetings and a continuously DD-ready documentation standard. This model works particularly well for fast-growing companies that need a reliable legal partner across disciplines without the overhead of multiple firm relationships.
A co-founder leaver event occurs when a founding team fractures and one or more founders exit the company. These situations require corporate, employment and tax expertise simultaneously: miss one layer and disputes follow. season5 advises on exit mechanics, good/bad leaver architecture and vesting; on the shareholder and service agreement questions that determine whether a separation resolves cleanly; and on the tax implications of how shares are acquired back, whether by the company, remaining founders or existing investors, each of which carries different consequences for all parties involved.
Yes. season5 advises VC funds, family offices and business angels on investments, co-investments, follow-ons and exits. The firm also has deep experience with fund-level exit transactions, including contested and non-contested GP departures, which sit at the intersection of fund documentation, partnership dynamics and live transaction execution.
Yes. season5 provides a modern, tech-enabled company secretarial function, not open-ended advisory. This includes compliance calendars, standard resolution templates, governance checklists, cap table maintenance and DD-ready data room management. All corporate documentation is structured and maintained in sell-side DD format in real time, so nothing needs to be reconstructed at exit.
season5 predominantly advises founders, startups, scale-ups, venture capital investors, business angels, family offices and fund managers. The firm works across the full company lifecycle, from the first idea and pre-registration stage through financing rounds, international expansion and restructurings to high-value exits. season5 also advises established companies and individuals outside the venture ecosystem who require corporate, tax or employment law expertise.
Yes and deliberately so. season5 works with founders from the very beginning, including pre-registration and pre-incorporation stages where the right structural decisions can save significant time and money later. Early-stage clients receive the same level of attention and priority as larger mandates. Getting the foundation right matters and it’s easier to build it correctly from the start than to fix it during a financing round.
Yes. season5 advises the full range of venture ecosystem investors: business angels, family offices, VC funds and strategic investors. The firm understands that each investor type thinks differently about risk, governance, downside protection and exit expectations and translates those concerns into terms and structures that actually address them. The firm also advises on fund-level matters, including GP departures and fund-level exit transactions.
No. season5 advises national and international clients and handles cross-border matters across Europe and the US. The firm has supported companies on pan-European expansions, multi-jurisdiction restructurings, cross-border M&A and international employee participation programmes. All services are available in German and English.
Yes. season5 regularly advises international founders, investors and funds operating in or expanding into Germany and Europe. The firm is equally comfortable advising a US fund on a German portfolio company, a European startup entering new markets, or an international investor navigating German corporate and tax law for the first time.
No. season5 works with companies and founders at every stage, from the first idea through to a nine-figure exit. Size does not determine priority. Every client, regardless of where they are in their journey, receives direct access to experienced lawyers and the same standard of counsel. This is not a promise made for marketing purposes, it is a structural choice about how the firm was built and who it was built for.
Dr. Luisa Rödemer is a co-founder and partner at season5, heading the employment law practice. She advises startups, scale-ups and international companies on cross-border employment matters, restructurings, SE conversions, C-level and shareholder-managing director constellations, and employee participation programmes. She has supported high-growth companies across Europe and the US on some of the most complex employment law questions at the intersection of corporate and tax law.
→ Full profile: Dr. Luisa Rödemer
Dr. Max Weber is a co-founder and partner at season5, dually qualified as a attorney at law and certified tax advisor. He advises founders, investors and companies at the intersection of corporate and tax law across venture capital financings, M&A transactions, tax structuring and employee participation programmes. His dual qualification is rare in the market and gives clients integrated advice that most firms can only deliver by coordinating two separate teams.
→ Full profile: Dr. Max Weber
Katharina Erbe is a co-founder and partner at season5 with over eleven years of experience in corporate law. She advises founders, investors and companies across the full venture lifecycle, from incorporation and first financing rounds through to exit, leaver cases and fund-level transactions. Having sat on every side of the table, she brings the kind of judgment that only comes from seeing how deals actually play out.
→ Full profile: Katharina Erbe
Antonia Volhard is a co-founder and partner at season5 and advises founders, investors and companies at the intersection of corporate and employment law, the cases where the corporate file and the employment file turn out to be the same file. She has particular expertise in co-founder leaver events, VC financings, corporate housekeeping and employment law for fast-growing companies.
→ Full profile: Antonia Volhard
The season5 team brings decades of combined experience advising founders, investors and funds across complex transactions and high-growth environments. Lawyers have previously worked at international full-service firms and specialist VC boutiques in Germany and abroad and have sat on every side of the table: founder-side, investor-side, buy-side and sell-side. At season5, that experience is available directly, without layers in between.
season5 is predominantly female-led, which remains uncommon in the legal industry, and particularly so in venture capital law. The firm sees this not as a talking point but as a reflection of how it was built: on merit, directness and a deliberate rejection of the structures that have historically made law firms less accessible to clients and lawyers alike.
season5 believes the legal market is changing and fees should reflect that. The firm uses AI-first workflows to work efficiently and passes that efficiency on to clients. season5 knows that early-stage founders rarely have large legal budgets, and structures its fees accordingly: fixed fees wherever possible, retainer arrangements for ongoing work, and hourly rates only where scope genuinely cannot be defined in advance. A transparent fee menu is available on request, reach out to discuss the right structure for your matter.
Yes and this is a priority, not an exception. season5 aims to agree fixed fees for as many matters as possible: financing rounds, shareholders’ agreements, employment contracts, participation programme design and more. Where a fixed fee cannot be agreed, the firm commits to absolute transparency: any additional costs are flagged upfront, and weekly cost updates are available on request. No surprises. No invoices that arrive without context. The goal is a fee structure that works for the client, especially at the stages where every euro of legal spend is felt.
The easiest way is to reach out directly by email or through the contact form on the website. season5 responds promptly to all new enquiries and will typically suggest a short introductory call to understand the matter and assess how the firm can help. There is no obligation attached to an initial conversation.
season5 aims to respond to all new enquiries within one business day. The firm operates with short lines of communication, clients reach their lawyer directly. For urgent matters within an active retainer, season5 commits to a 4-working-hour response SLA. Speed matters and so does knowing who will pick up.
Yes. season5 offers a short introductory call for all new enquiries to understand the matter, explain how the firm works and assess whether there is a good fit. No commitment is required and no fee is charged for the initial conversation.
Yes. season5 advises international clients and handles cross-border matters regularly. Initial calls, ongoing communication and all documentation can be conducted in English. The firm is equally comfortable working with a founder based in London, a fund headquartered in the US, or a portfolio company expanding across Europe.
Most law firms give you a lawyer. season5 gives you a home base, a place where your business is understood, your cap table is known, and your shareholder agreement has been read while your lawyer is reachable when it matters. A legal home base must not be asked. Your lawyers flag the issue before it becomes a problem, connect the dots across disciplines and think about what the advice means for your company, not just for the file. That is the standard season5 holds itself to, for every client, at every stage.
The same way it handles larger ones. At season5, the size of a mandate does not determine the quality of attention it receives. A pre-seed founder with a first shareholders’ agreement gets the same senior counsel as a fund manager closing a nine-figure transaction. This is not a promise made for marketing purposes, it is a structural choice about how the firm was built and who it was built for.
It means focus, directness and accountability. At season5, clients work with experienced lawyers who know their matter. The firm’s scope is deliberately concentrated: corporate, tax and employment law for the venture ecosystem. That focus is what makes deep expertise possible. And it means that when season5 takes on a mandate, the people who win the work are the people who do the work.
Because it is where the most interesting legal work happens and where integrated advice matters most. Venture-backed companies move fast, operate across borders, and face legal questions that sit at the intersection of corporate, tax and employment law simultaneously. Most firms handle these questions by routing them to separate departments. season5 was built to handle them together, by lawyers who understand the ecosystem from the inside, have sat on every side of the table, and know that the best legal advice is advice that helps you build.
Yes. season5 integrates AI into its workflows as a matter of principle, not as a novelty, but as a tool for working faster, more accurately and more efficiently. Standard documents and routine tasks are AI-accelerated at the input stage; every deliverable passes partner-level review before it leaves the firm. For clients, this means leaner processes, lower costs and more time spent on the legal judgment that actually requires a lawyer. AI speeds up the volume, it does not lower the quality bar.
The kind that starts before the first financing round and is still there at exit and ideally beyond. season5 is built for founders and investors who want a legal partner that grows with them: that knows the history, remembers the decisions and doesn’t need to be briefed from scratch every time something comes up. The best legal relationships are long ones. That is what season5 is here to build.
