When managing partner Katharina Kolb opened the Munich office of U.S. law firm Lieff Cabraser Heimann & Bernstein in 2020, she knew her business would differ significantly from her U.S. colleagues. The firm is well-known for representing plaintiffs in U.S. class action lawsuits but that’s hardly a profitable business model in Germany.

“We have to live with the fact that we don’t have powerful class-action mechanisms in Europe yet,” says Kolb.