DLA Piper appoints Birgit Kraml as partner and Head of Real Estate in Austria

DLA Piper is strengthening its Real Estate practice in Austria with the appointment of Dr. Birgit Kraml, LL.M as partner and Head of Real Estate at the firm’s Vienna office, from 1 October 2024. This significant hire marks another milestone for the firm as it continues to expand and establish a globally connected Real Estate Practice.

Birgit brings with her decades of experience in real estate law, having previously been a Real Estate partner at Wolf Theiss in Vienna, where she began her legal career in 2001. She regularly advises international corporations on major real estate projects in Austria and Central and Eastern Europe (CEE) with her expertise spanning project development, transactions, tenancy law, litigation, as well as environmental and sustainability law. Highly connected and familiar with the real estate sector, Birgit has been serving as the Chair of the Urban Land Institute (ULI) in Austria since July 2023. Additionally, she was appointed a Trade Advisor to the French Republic (Conseiller du Commerce extérieur de la France) by the French Prime Minister and has also lectured on environmental and planning law at the University of Natural Resources and Life Sciences, Vienna, and the Vienna University of Technology.

Dr. Christoph Mager, Country Managing Partner at DLA Piper Austria, commented: “We are thrilled to welcome Birgit to our partnership. Her extensive experience and deep industry knowledge will be instrumental in strengthening our market position in Austria and the CEE region and in pursuing our strategic goals. I am also pleased to note that we have a growing number of female partners at the firm, now over 40 percent women in our equity partnership in Vienna, which represents the highest proportion amongst the major law firms in Austria."

Birgit Kraml added: “I am absolutely delighted to be joining DLA Piper as a partner. The firm stands out for its international presence, excellence and diversity. I look forward to taking on the challenge of supporting such a leading international law firm in expanding its Real Estate Practice in Austria and providing our clients with the first-rate service with which they have become accustomed.”