For me, the relationship between a client and a lawyer is not a pure service that can be translated into six-minute increments or dispute values. It is a relationship built on trust. And trust is a currency that goes far beyond any invoice.
Trust is the real currency
When a startup founder shows me their cap table, when a game publisher sends me a licensing agreement with a major platform, when an influencer tells me the conditions under which she signed a campaign — these people are not just handing me documents. They are handing me a piece of their entrepreneurial fate. They trust me to handle it with care, to advise them honestly and to put their interests above my own.
You don't get this kind of trust by holding a bar license, hanging up a shingle or having a nice website. You earn it — every day, in every conversation, in every brief. And I believe this is exactly why many of my client relationships have lasted for many years — some longer than most firms in this niche have even existed.
If there is no added value, I don't want your money
I tell my clients regularly: I don't want your money if you don't feel that I'm adding real value. In an industry that traditionally bills in six-minute units, that sounds almost provocative. To me, it's the only honest basis for a working relationship.
That's why the first conversation — 15 minutes — is free. Not for marketing reasons, but because we both need to form a picture first. Do we fit as people? Do we speak the same language, literally and figuratively? Do I understand what you are trying to build as an entrepreneur? And do you feel that you want to trust me with your next steps? If any of these answers is "no", that's completely fine. We part ways after fifteen minutes — no invoice, no bad feelings. I will not sell advice to someone who doesn't need it, just because they feel uncertain.
What trust means in practice
Trust is a big word. In day-to-day work, it translates into very concrete principles for me.
No pointless invoices. I do not bill for time units that have no value for the client. If a question can be answered in five minutes with an email, then it's an answer in five minutes — not an "in-depth legal opinion" that magically adds up to a nice fee.
I advise against litigation when it doesn't help. A lawsuit generates revenue for the lawyer. But it often generates time, cost and stress for the client — without producing what they hoped for. I say very clearly when I believe that a settlement, a pragmatic conversation or even a conscious "let's leave it" is smarter than pushing a case through two instances.
Contracts that serve the client — not the fee. I could make every contract twice as long, triple-secure every clause and sell every footnote as a separate advisory item. I don't. A good contract is as long as necessary and as short as possible. It protects the client without forcing them into a corset that slows their daily operations.
Honest feedback instead of wish-list opinions. If your business model carries legal risk, I will tell you — even when it's not what you want to hear. If your case is weak, I will say so. Conversely, I will be equally clear when a matter is solid and we should move forward. A lawyer who only confirms what the client wants to hear is more expensive than any candid pushback.
Why this matters especially for startups, founders, games and creators
For nearly two decades I have advised people who are building something: startup founders, investors, game publishers, esports organisations, influencers and creators, SaaS providers, AI companies. These clients hand me a responsibility that goes far beyond classic legal advice. Because I'm not just a lawyer — I'm also a business consultant, and a former founder with a successful exit.
That means: whoever works with me doesn't get a jurist who cites paragraphs and closes the door. They get someone who knows what it feels like when the next funding round is wobbling, when a publishing deal isn't going as planned, when an investor suddenly has different ideas, or when a platform changes the rules overnight. I understand the entrepreneurial perspective because I have lived it. And that lets me deliver legal counsel that works in real life — not just in a textbook.
Trust building isn't marketing
I don't believe in "trust-building measures" in the marketing sense. I believe in things you actually do. That includes being directly reachable — not through three secretaries, not with two weeks lead time, but personally, by email, by Signal, by phone. It includes working bilingually in German and English, so international clients don't need to fall back on a second-best contact. It includes being transparent about pricing before anything happens. And it includes showing publicly for years — through articles, podcast episodes and videos — how I think and work, so you can form your own picture in advance.
Trust emerges when you experience that what I write here is what I actually do in day-to-day client work. None of this is a marketing promise. It is simply the basis on which I want to work.
How we start
If this way of working sounds right for you, just book the fifteen minutes. Free, non-binding, no sales pressure. We see if we fit — and if we do, we talk about the next step. If not, we've both saved time honestly. That, too, is trust.
If you'd like to know more about my approach beforehand, you can read my principles as a lawyer, my answer to "How can I help you?" and the explanation of why I work as both lawyer and business consultant.