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STAHL
We are lawyers.
We advise, represent and defend private individuals, entrepreneurs and corporations in criminal law.
STAHL stands for first-class advice and outstanding defence in criminal matters.
Criminal Defence
We practise exclusively in the field of criminal law and are highly specialised in defence in criminal and administrative offence proceedings as well as in mandates with a criminal-law dimension. We deliberately do not act in other fields of law and instead recommend that specialised colleagues be instructed.
The defence of private individuals, entrepreneurs and companies in white-collar and tax criminal matters constitutes a key focus of our work. In particular, in complex and large-scale white-collar criminal proceedings we cooperate with a network of experienced defence lawyers, tax advisers, auditors active throughout Germany and, where necessary, with specialists in media law and litigation PR.
Wolfgang Stahl also has many years of expertise in the defence of members of the public service (public officials), such as police officers, soldiers, public prosecutors and judges.
Finally, defence in appellate proceedings (Revisionen) before the Higher Regional Courts (Oberlandesgerichte) and the Federal Court of Justice (Bundesgerichtshof) forms another focus of our work.
Expertise
White-Collar and Tax Criminal Law
- White-collar criminal law, in particular fraud and breach of trust (Untreue)
- Anti-corruption and competition-related criminal law
- Criminal employment law
- Tax criminal law
- Customs offences
- Insolvency offences
- Environmental criminal law
Profession-related Criminal Law
- Offences in public office
- Medical and healthcare criminal law
- Defence of lawyers in professional disciplinary proceedings
- Defence of members of the public service (in particular police officers, soldiers, public prosecutors and judges)
Special Proceedings
- Defence in state security proceedings before state security chambers and Higher Regional Courts
- Appeals on points of law (Revisionen) in criminal matters before the Higher Regional Courts and the Federal Court of Justice
- Advising and representing clients before parliamentary committees of inquiry
General Criminal Law
- Capital offences (offences against life and bodily integrity)
- Narcotics criminal law
- Offences against sexual self-determination, in particular allegations of abuse as well as dissemination, acquisition and possession of child and youth pornography
»Anyone who fundamentally refuses to defend against certain allegations for political reasons or because they simply do not suit them, in my view betrays the very idea of criminal defence.«
Legal Tribune Online
Henning Silbernagel
- Lawyer
- Associate
Attorney Henning Silbernagel, born in 1997 in Wuppertal, studied law at the University of Trier. In the course of his studies, he chose “International and White-Collar Criminal Law” as his specialisation. Henning Silbernagel completed his legal traineeship (Referendariat) in the district of the Higher Regional Court of Koblenz and already worked in the law firm of Attorney Stahl during that time.
Since his admission to the bar, Henning Silbernagel has been practising as a lawyer in the firm. He advises and represents clients in cases involving general criminal law as well as white-collar and tax criminal law.
Henning Silbernagel is a member of the Criminal Law Working Group of the German Bar Association (Deutscher Anwaltverein, DAV) e.V..
Wolfgang Stahl
- Lawyer
- Certified Specialist Lawyer for Criminal Law
- Certified Defence Counsel for Tax Criminal Law (DSV)
- Certified Defence Counsel for White-Collar Criminal Law (DSV)
Wolfgang Stahl, born in 1972, has practised exclusively as a criminal defence lawyer since his admission to the bar. He has been a certified specialist lawyer for criminal law since 2007. In addition, he is a certified defence counsel for white-collar criminal law (DSV) and a certified defence counsel for tax criminal law (DSV). He is a member of the Criminal Law Working Group of the German Bar Association (Deutscher Anwaltverein, DAV) e.V. and of the White-Collar Crime Association (WisteV) e.V..
Wolfgang Stahl advises and defends clients throughout Germany and abroad in criminal investigations and criminal court proceedings. He has defended and advised individuals and companies in a large number of high-profile criminal cases as well as before parliamentary committees of inquiry. The news magazine Focus has repeatedly ranked Wolfgang Stahl among Germany’s leading lawyers in the field of criminal law.
Among other activities, Attorney Stahl is co-author of the “Münchener Anwaltshandbuch” series published by C. H. Beck. As a lecturer in criminal law and criminal procedure law, he has trained junior staff in the public administration and delivers seminars for senior executives of banks at a leading management and leadership academy.
In addition, Attorney Stahl is, on a part-time basis, an examiner for the First State Examination (Staatliche Pflichtfachprüfung) and the Second State Examination in Law and serves as a member of the State Examination Office for Lawyers at the Ministry of Justice of the State of Rhineland-Palatinate.
Wolfgang Stahl’s practice focuses on white-collar and tax criminal law. In particular, the defence of managing directors, board members and senior executives in so-called complex and large-scale proceedings (Umfangsverfahren) is a key part of his work. Furthermore, he is regularly engaged in assessing the prospects of success and drafting appeals on points of law (Revisionen) in criminal matters to the Federal Court of Justice and the Higher Regional Courts. He has in-depth knowledge of criminal procedure law and more than 20 years of forensic experience in main hearings before criminal divisions of Regional Courts and criminal panels of Higher Regional Courts.
Before studying law at the University of Bonn (Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität), Wolfgang Stahl completed professional training for the higher-grade military police service of the German Armed Forces (Bundeswehr). In military professional and disciplinary law, he was – most recently with the rank of Lieutenant Colonel (Reserve) – for several years responsible, among other tasks, for handling military criminal and disciplinary matters in general staff departments of Bundeswehr command authorities.
»It is about fundamentals – fundamental rights and human rights. Standing by the accused against the state with the monopoly on the use of force.«
Kepler Tribune, Johannes Kepler University Linz
How We Work – 360-Degree Thinking.
Those who turn to us and seek our advice are usually facing the most serious problem of their lives and find themselves in an exceptional situation. The law enforcement authorities may already have intervened in their daily lives with far-reaching investigative measures such as searches of private and business premises or even the execution of pre-trial detention, thereby throwing them off course.
Partners at every stage
At every stage of the criminal proceedings, we act as strong partners at our clients’ side. Our office and all of its processes are tailored to the specific needs of defendants. Where necessary, we rapidly and routinely assemble powerful defence teams in dealings with public prosecutors’ offices and courts, drawing on our excellent professional network.
Precision and resources
Our working methods are characterised by the greatest possible precision. Unlike public prosecutors’ offices and courts, we are not subject to continual cost and throughput pressures. We have access to state-of-the-art technical equipment that is always kept up to date. Naturally, we have round-the-clock access from any location to all relevant legal databases and online libraries. For the analysis of particularly extensive case files, we use certified AI-based legal databases and research tools. For this reason alone, we are usually significantly superior to public prosecutors’ offices and courts in technical terms and in the field of knowledge management. Above all, we do not have to work under time pressure. Together with our research associates where appropriate, we take the time required to identify and evaluate every possible avenue for a successful defence.
Case analysis, submissions and media
In doing so, we always keep a close eye on the weaknesses in our client’s position as well. The basis for our assessment of the procedural situation is always a precise analysis of the case files, followed by discussions with the client and, where appropriate, our own investigations. At every stage of the proceedings, any written submissions that leave our firm are drafted to academic standards yet never overloaded with unnecessary content. Our principal objective is always to ensure that proceedings are conducted discreetly and without public attention. Where necessary, particularly if those concerned are in the public eye, we have proven experience in dealing with the media. Our clients include prominent figures from politics, business and the entertainment industry as well as other public figures whom we not only defend in criminal proceedings but also competently assist in their dealings with the media and for whom we establish litigation PR strategies to accompany proceedings where appropriate.
Data Security
Data security and confidentiality are self-evident obligations for lawyers, not least for professional regulatory reasons. We protect our clients’ sensitive data by storing it in a specialised data centre for lawyers and only for as long as is strictly required by law. In our view, conventional cloud solutions are not an option for law firms.
We therefore use servers, storage, networks, firewalls and other infrastructure operated by a German Tier 3 data centre for lawyers. The data centre itself is secured with extensive access controls to prevent unauthorised physical access. The same strict standards apply to access to data within the data centre. For external or mobile users, we employ so-called two-factor authentication, which provides the highest level of security. All data connections are strongly encrypted and thus protected against interception.
Artificial Intelligence
Artificial intelligence (AI), when integrated into professional legal applications, provides valuable support in structuring and analysing complex factual scenarios and is, of course, part of our day-to-day work.
Personal and independent decision-making in criminal proceedings, however, remains the exclusive preserve of natural persons. It can neither be replaced by AI-based systems nor by automatically generated texts. Effective defence requires individual psychological and tactical skills that only an experienced criminal defence lawyer can provide. Reflective and responsible use of AI is therefore an integral part of our legal practice, but it does not replace independent, human representation of our clients’ interests.
Online File (OnlineAkte)
We recommend that our clients communicate via access to our Online File (OnlineAkte). For reasons of data security and confidentiality alone, we advise against open communication by email. Email communication is known to be insecure and is in part unsuitable for the transmission of large files, such as digitised copies of investigation and court files. By contrast, the security architecture of our Online File is designed so that our clients’ data is not stored on the internet in a conventional cloud but remains on our servers in our data centre for lawyers.
Our clients are provided – as with online banking – with 256-bit SSL-encrypted access to a portal in which the data stored in the digitised file on our servers can be viewed and downloaded as copies.
To onlineAkte