Patricia Volhard is a partner in Debevoise’s Frankfurt and London offices and is a member of the firm’s Private Equity and Funds/Investment Management Groups. Her practice focuses on advising private funds (including on a range of European regulatory issues and structuring funds for EU insurance companies and pension funds). 

Ms. Volhard is one of Europe’s leading private funds regulatory lawyers and has played a prominent role in the ongoing development of the area, in part through involvement in Invest Europe (formerly the European Private Equity & Venture Capital Association). She is the former Chair of its Tax, Legal & Regulatory Committee, as well as the current chair of its Financial Services/Regulatory Working Group. She is also a member of the Investment Management Consultative Working Group of the European Securities and Markets Authority (“ESMA”); the Legal Committee of BVK, the German private equity association; the Alternative Credit Technical Group of the Alternative Investment Management Association; and the Regulatory Committee of the Listed Private Equity Association. 

Ms. Volhard has been recognised by the major legal directories as a leader in her field. She is recommended by The Legal 500 UK (2021) for her regulatory practice, with clients describing her as “a standout performer – top of her field.” Who’s Who Legal names her as one of the foremost investment management lawyers in Germany and has stated that she is “first-rate on regulatory advice in relation to the management of private funds to clients.” 

Ms. Volhard studied law in Frankfurt/Main, Strasbourg, and at the London School of Economics, where she obtained her LL.M. in 1999. 

Ms. Volhard is admitted to practise in Germany and France, and speaks fluent German, French and English.