After studying law at the University of Potsdam and comple­ting her clerk­ship in Brandenburg, Josephine Ballon was admitted to the bar in 2018 and initially worked in the field of consumer rights and legal tech. In November 2019, she joined HateAid as Head of Legal. Since September 2023, she has been co-leading the organi­zation as Managing Director along­side Anna-Lena von Hodenberg. Since July 2024, she has been a member of the advisory board of the Digital Services Coordinator in Germany.

Josephine Ballon is committed to impro­ving the legal conditions for victims of digital violence, who have been largely unprotected until now, and to providing them with access to justice. Ms. Ballon has been invited on several occasions to appear as an expert witness before the German Bundestag's Legal Affairs Committee and Digital Agenda Committee, as well as the European Parliament, where she has spoken on issues relating to the prose­cution of hate crimes on the internet, gender-based digital violence, and platform regulation.

Fabian Bauer, LL. M. is an attorney and specialist in copy­right and media law at SKW Schwarz. His practice focuses on press and free­dom of expression law, intellectual property law and IT law. He also has extensive experience in the judicial enforce­ment and defense of rights in these areas. Before joining SKW Schwarz, he worked as an attorney at a law firm speciali­zing in press and media law. At SKW Schwarz, he is part of the team that represented and advised Stefan Gelbhaar in press law matters.

Elaine Charlson Bredehoft is a nationally renowned U. S. trial attorney who gained international visibility in 2022 as lead counsel for Amber Heard in the widely publicized defamation trial against Johnny Depp. Previously, she was involved in the earlier proceedings between Heard, Depp, and the British tabloid "The Sun". Known for her strategic clarity and strong courtroom presence, she has been included in The Best Lawyers in America every year since 1997. She was inducted into the American College of Trial Lawyers in 2003 and the International Academy of Trial Lawyers in 2005. Ms. Bredehoft has been regularly voted by her peers as one of the top ten attorneys in the Virginia, Washington, D. C., and Baltimore areas. In 2023 Ms. Bredehoft received a Lifetime Achievement Award from the Virginia Bar Association Employment Law Section. Ms. Bredehoft is a founding partner of the law firm Charlson Bredehoft Cohen Brown & Nadelhaft, with core expertise in defamation law, employment law and complex civil litigation. She holds a law degree from the Catholic University of America and is frequently invited to speak on high-stakes litigation and legal strategy in the media spotlight.

Stefan Gelbhaar is a lawyer and politician with Bündnis 90/Die Grünen. He was born in Berlin in 1976 and grew up in the district of Pankow. After gradua­ting from high school, he studied law at Humboldt Univer­sity in Berlin, comple­ted his legal clerkship in the state of Branden­burg and in Cape Town, among other places, and then worked as a criminal defense attorney. He has been politi­cally active in the Green Party since 2000 and was district chair­man in Pankow from 2005. From 2011 to 2017, he was a member of the Berlin House of Represen­tatives before moving to the German Bundes­tag in 2017. There, he made a name for himself as an expert on mobility, digitali­zation, and public infra­structure and was a member of the super­visory board of Deutsche Bahn, among other things, until he left the Bundes­tag on March 25, 2025.

Steffen Hebestreit was born on May 24, 1972, in Frank­furt am Main and grew up in Heusen­stamm. After comple­ting his civil service with the Arbeiter-Samariter-Bund (Workers' Samaritan Federation), he studied political science, American studies, and history in Frankfurt am Main. After comple­ting his master's degree, he completed a trainee­ship at the Frank­furter Rund­schau, where he later worked as an editor and capital corres­pondent, and later also for the DuMont editorial association. This was followed by positions as spokes­person for the SPD secretary-general, head of the Hamburg state represen­tation at the federal level, and head of communi­cations at the Federal Ministry of Finance. From 2021 to 2025, he was head of the Press and Information Office of the Federal Govern­ment and govern­ment spokes­man for former Federal Chancellor Olaf Scholz.

After several years as a free­lance business journalist, Klaus Heiermann completed a trainee­ship at RAG. His last position at RAG was head of the corpo­rate re­pre­sen­tative office of Bonn/Berlin before becoming head of corpo­rate communi­cations at ARAG in Düsseldorf in 2000. In 2003, he was pro­moted to head of corpo­rate communi­cations there. He has been ARAG's chief re­presen­tative since the end of 2012 and a member of the board of manage­ment since March 2018.

Dr. Stefanie Hubig studied law at the University of Regensburg. After com­pleting her clerk­ship, she initially worked as a judge and then as a public pro­se­cutor at the Regio­nal Court of Ingolstadt. In 2000, she moved to the Federal Ministry of Justice, where she held va­rious posi­tions, incl. head of de­part­ment and later state secre­tary. Before Dr. Hubig took office as Federal Minister of Justice and Con­sumer Protec­tion in 2025, she was Minister of Education in Rhineland-Palatinate from 2016 to 2025.

Dr. Jens Bodo Koch holds a docto­rate in enginee­ring and served as CEO of the inter­national defense weapons company Heckler & Koch since 2018. Under his leader­ship, the company has achieved signifi­cant economic success, under­gone strategic realignment and strengthened its global market position. His current contract as CEO runs until January 2027.

Christian Lindner was Germany's Federal Minister of Finance. The 46-year-old is one of the most prominent advocates of market-based policies, strong capital markets, and stability-oriented public finances. He was a member of parlia­ment for almost 25 years and led the FDP as chairman for eleven years. Lindner studied political science and constitu­tional law in Bonn, worked as an entre­preneur before entering politics, and holds the rank of a major in the reserves.

In Germany, Lindner initiated the consoli­dation of the federal budget follo­wing the corona­virus pandemic. In the European Union, Lindner has played a key role in shaping the current fiscal rules and the roadmap for the capital markets union. As chair of the G7 finance ministers, he was instrumental in coordinating the crisis response in shaping the crisis response following Russia's attack on Ukraine. Lindner is a Knight of the French Legion of Honor and a recipient of the Grand Deco­ration of Honor for Services to the Republic of Austria, as well as other inter­national awards.

Dr. Kirsten Saßmann studied law at Heidelberg University, where she also completed her disser­tation. After completing her clerkship, she began her professional career at a major inter­national law firm in Frankfurt am Main and New York. In October 2007, she joined the legal department at Commerzbank, where she held various positions. Since January 2025, she has been head of the Corporate Finance division in the legal department.

Stefan von Raumer, born in Munich in 1965, has been President of the German Bar Associa­tion (DAV) since February 2025. He studied law with a focus on inter­natio­nal and public law in Freiburg and completed his legal clerk­ship at the Regional Court of Düsseldorf. He has been prac­ticing law since 1995, specia­lising in consti­tutional law and human rights. In 2001, he founded his own law firm in Berlin.

Von Raumer has been com­mitted to the rights of lawyers and the pro­tec­tion of human rights at national and inter­natio­nal level for many years. He is a founding member (2008) and, since 2019, chair­man of the DAV's Human Rights Com­mittee, a member of the Consti­tutional Law Com­mittee and, since 2020, the DAV's repre­sen­tative at the German Institute for Human Rights. He also repre­sents the DAV on the Council of the Inter­natio­nal Bar Associa­tion and on the Advisory Board of the Eu­ropean Lawyers Foun­dation. Since 2024, he has been chair­man of the German delega­tion to the Council of Bars and Law Societies of Europe (CCBE), of which he has been a member in various capacities for many years.

Daria Gladkov is a graduate lawyer speciali­zing in strategic communi­cation in legally sensitive, economi­cally and socially complex procee­dings. She develops inter­discipli­nary communi­cation strate­gies that support legal arguments and contribute to long-term reputa­tion goals. She advises clients on positio­ning, reputa­tion protec­tion and resto­ration, particu­larly in civil and criminal procee­dings as well as in reorgani­zation and restruc­turing situations. Other areas of focus include ESG communi­cation and socio-political develop­ments with an inter­cultural dimension. Previously, she worked as a journalist for SZ, BR, and ProSiebenSat.1, among others, and was co-responsible for public relations for the state govern­­ment of North Rhine-West­­phalia during the corona­­virus pandemic and the Ahr Valley floods.

Maximilian Herke is a lawyer and consul­tant for legal and crisis communi­cation with a focus on reorgani­zation and restruc­turing procee­dings as well as ad hoc corporate crises. He has in-depth know­ledge at the inter­section of law, health­care, and politics and supports companies and organi­zations in various industries with strategic stake­holder manage­ment. With his legal expertise, he targeted support in complex procee­dings and sensitive communi­cation situations. Herke is a certified crisis communi­cations manager and studied law in Münster and Halle an der Saale. Before joining CONSILIUM, he worked in the legal affairs depart­ment of an auto­motive start-up and in tradi­tional product communi­cations.

Maximilian Schwärecke, LL. M. is an attorney-at-law and ad­visor for strategic communi­cation and crisis PR. He acts as spokes­person and senior communi­cations advisor in complex and high-stakes situations, supporting com­panies, law firms, and public insti­tutions in navigating repu­tational and legal challenges. His work focuses on litigation PR, repu­tation manage­ment, and narrative posi­tioning in restruc­turing, regu­lated indus­tries, and sen­sitive public affairs – both domes­tically and across borders. He advises clients on media strategy, inter­nal communi­cation, and public messa­ging, especially in legally complex or crisis-driven contexts. Pre­viously, he worked at an inter­natio­nal law firm. He is also actively involved in academic and inter­cul­tural ex­change between Germany and China.

Martin Wohlrabe is the founder and managing director of CONSILIUM Rechtskommunikation. For many years, he has advised companies and individuals on the strategic communication of special situations. Wohlrabe previously worked as a journalist for the BILD newspaper. He also worked as an advisor to Wolfgang Schäuble in the Bundestag. The lawyer holds a teaching position for “Strategic Legal Communi­cation” at Humboldt University in Berlin.