Dr Claußen has many years of experience in the marine sector. She primarily focuses on shipping and marine insurance law, as well as transport and traffic liability insurance and general liability law, in which she has specialist expertise. In particular, she specialises in defending and enforcing claims as well as recourse claims in court and arbitration proceedings. Furthermore, she advises clients – in particular shipowners, liability insurers and P&I clubs, as well as logistics and transhipment companies – on issues relating to shipping, transport and freight forwarding law.
"By bringing Dr Claußen on board, we are gaining an experienced and renowned expert in shipping and marine insurance law, who will give a distinctive face to our strategic expansion, especially in the shipping sector," explains Björn Seitz, managing partner at BLD and head of the Hamburg office. The further expansion of the marine team is part of the law firm's international growth strategy. Coordinated with DAC Beachcroft, this strategy recently led to the merger with BLD Ekelmans in the Netherlands and envisages further steps in neighbouring countries.
Dr Simone Claußen, LLM, studied law at the University of Trier from 1997 to 2002 where she passed her first state examination. She then completed a Master of Laws (Maritime Law) degree at the University of Southampton, UK, from 2002 to 2003. She completed her legal clerkship with a second state examination in Schleswig-Holstein from 2003 to 2006. In 2010, she obtained her doctorate from the University of Trier on a topic related to shipping law. She has also been admitted as a solicitor (England & Wales) since 2015. From 2006 to 2026, Dr Claußen worked for a German commercial law firm specialising in shipping law before joining BLD as a salary partner in 2026.
"I am very much looking forward to taking the BLD marine team forward and providing our clients with strategic and procedural support in increasingly complex international matters. The law firm's clear focus and strong orientation towards insurance law, as well as its close ties to our international maritime colleagues at DAC Beachcroft, offer ideal conditions for this," said Dr Simone Claußen, LLM, commenting on her move.
Notes for the editorial team:
BLD Bach Langheid Dallmayr Rechtsanwälte Partnerschaftsgesellschaft mbB is the largest German law firm specialising exclusively in liability and insurance law. This specialisation has existed ever since the law firm was founded in 1911. Today, approximately 220 lawyers and more than 520 non-lawyer staff are working successfully in particular for German, Dutch and international insurers and industry companies at the German offices in Cologne, Munich, Frankfurt, Berlin, Karlsruhe, Dortmund, Hamburg and Leipzig, as well as in the Netherlands at the office in The Hague as BLD Ekelmans. On an international level, BLD cooperates with DAC Beachcroft.
Contact for further questions:
Dr Christopher Holl
Theodor-Heuss-Ring 13-15 | 50668 Cologne, Germany
Email: marketing@bld.de | Phone +49 221 944027-839
