Retired Senator Cornelia Yzer joins Luther to provide support in the Technology, Digitisation, and Life Sciences areas

Cornelia Yzer (55) will be joining the Berlin office of Luther Rechtsanwaltsgesellschaft as of 1 May 2017.  In her last function, she was the Senator of Economics, Technology and Research of the Land of Berlin. At Luther's, she will be advising technology-oriented companies on regulatory matters based on her many years of experience in industry and politics. Here, she will in particular use her expertise in the digitalisation and life sciences areas as well as her good connections to the national and international start-up scene.

Cornelia Yzer: “Technology companies that are very active in highly regulated markets expect a solution-focused approach that understands the industry and its innovative business models. Luther has those specific skills but can, at the same time, offer its clients comprehensive professional legal advice through interdisciplinary teams and support them even on an international level through foreign offices and desks. I am looking forward to working with Luther.”

Robert von Steinau-Steinrück, Head of Luther's Berlin office: “Having worked in executive operational positions in the industry as well as on national and international supervisory boards and councils of companies and research institutes for so many years, Cornelia Yzer has a vast treasure trove of experience. I appreciate her sense of what the free economy needs. With Cornelia Yzer, we want to further develop in the areas of digital economy and life sciences. We will benefit from her ties to the industry, both across Germany and in Berlin.”

About Cornelia Yzer

Cornelia Yzer began her professional career in 1989 as a senior employee of a corporation active in the chemical industry where she was dealing with matters related to environmental law.

From 1990 to 1998, Cornelia Yzer was a member of the Bundestag, a member of the Legal Committee of the German Bundestag and as of 1992 the Parliamentary Under-Secretary of State - lastly in the Federal Ministry of Education, Science, Research and Technology.

As of 1997, Cornelia Yzer served for 15 years as CEO of the Association of Research-Based Pharmaceutical Companies (Verband forschender Arzneimittelhersteller (vfa)) and as Member of the Board of the European Federation of Pharmaceutical Industries and Associations (EFPIA) and of the International Federation of Pharmaceutical Manufacturers & Associations (IFPMA).

From 2012 to 2016, she was the Senator of Economics, Technology and Research of the Land of Berlin.

Since the 1990s, Cornelia Yzer has been moreover serving on the supervisory boards and councils of companies and large-scale research institutes. She was, inter alia, Chairman of the Board of the investment bank IBB, Chairman of the Supervisory Board of Berliner Wasserbetriebe BWB, a member of the European Advisory Board of medical devices manufacturer Guidant and Chairman of the Board of trustees of the German Cancer Research Centre (Deutsches Krebsforschungszentrum DKFZ).

Cornelia Yzer has been a practising barrister for 27 years. She studied law and economics at Ruhr-Universität in Bochum and at Westfälische Wilhelms-Universität in Münster.