Haarmann Hemmelrath was founded in Munich in 1987 and at its peak employed 650 professionals, including 350 attorneys in 22 offices worldwide.

[2] In February 2004, Haarmann Hemmelrath completed a major internal restructuring, including the overhaul of its partnership structure and profits distribution system.

[4] In 2006 Haarmann Hemmelrath disintegrated as a result of continuing internal feuds over the distribution of profits in the partnership.

[6] Commentators viewed Haarmann Hemmelrath's collapse as another indicator that independent German law firms were unable to compete with international British and American heavyweights that had been making inroads into the German legal market.

Many medium to large sized German firms had merged with international firms in the late 1990s and early 2000s, for example Pünder, Volhard, Weber & Axster which joined with Clifford Chance and Boesebeck Droste with Lovells, both in 1999.