German heavyweight law firm Gleiss Lutz has made up five lawyers to partnership, in its first promotion round since 2016.

Rut Steinhauser (pictured) has been promoted as a partner in the Berlin office's labour team, along with IT and privacy lawyer Christian Hamann and IT and intellectual property lawyer Alexander Molle.

In its Munich office the firm has promoted corporate lawyer Tobias Harzenetter, while anti-trust lawyer Alexander Fritzsche joins the Frankfurt base as a partner.

The new appointments are effective from 1 January 2019 and the firm will then comprise 89 partners.

Managing partners Michael Arnold and Alexander Schwarz said: “Our strategy is not growth in itself or for growth's sake: we aim to strategically develop and expand important and future-relevant practice areas, offices and sectors.”

The firm has also introduced a new internal structure centered around three business units: advisory, transactions and regulatory/ litigation.

The duo say this is a result of a continued focus on collaboration, adding: "Collaboration is a central goal we are continuously working to further improve within our firm. The new structure focuses on different product categories rather than a specific legal area or a single sector, further institutionalising collaboration across all different areas of the law."

Gleiss Lutz 2018 partner promotions in full:

Rut Steinhauser - labour (Berlin)

Alexander Fritzsche - competition (Frankfurt)

Christian Hamann - data protection (Berlin)

Tobias Harzenetter - corporate (Munich)

Alexander Molle - IP/IT (Berlin)