Stefanie Lebek

About the Lawyer
Stefanie Lebek: A Leading Labour Lawyer in ItalyExperienceStefanie Lebek is a seasoned lawyer with extensive experience in the field of labour law. She has been practicing law since 1995, initially as a Rechtsanwältin (German lawyer) and Labor Law expert (Fachanwältin für Arbeitsrecht) and later specializing in labour law in Italy. Her career spans over two decades, including a substantial period in Italy and Germany in a multinational group with HQ in Germany. Apart from her legal expertise this gave her first hand insight in the management of multinational companies and the challenges they face. In the course of her professional life she has gained a deep understanding of the complexities and nuances of labour law in both German and Italian jurisdictions. Her clients are mainly companies but she also represents managers. Stefanie provides legally well founded and particularly practice-oriented advice, keeping the economic and strategic interests of her clients in mind. Stefanie Lebek looks beyond the horizon to protect clients from risks and problems that they may not yet be aware of.SpecialtyStefanie Lebek specializes in labour law, which includes a wide range of topics such as employment contracts, workplace disputes, and labour regulations. Her expertise also extends to related areas like commercial law, corporate law, and international business transactions. This broad spectrum of knowledge as well as her profound understanding of cultural differences and expectancies allows her to provide comprehensive legal advice to clients across various industries as well as facilitate understanding of cross-border contexts.EducationStefanie Lebek studied law and roman languages at the University of Cologne and holds a German PhD (Dr.) in labour law. Her academic background has equipped her with a solid foundation in legal principles and an understanding of the cultural nuances that often influence legal practices. Her education has been instrumental in shaping her career as a skilled and versatile lawyer.By combining her extensive experience, specialized knowledge in labour law, and strong educational background, Stefanie Lebek has established herself as a leading legal professional in Italy, particularly in the field of labour law.Achievements and Recognition

• Industry Recognition:
  • Partner at DM&P Legal & Tax, Milano, with expertise in various legal fields including labor law corporate law and succession law.

As a partner at DM&P Legal & Tax in Milan, Stefanie Lebek acts as both German Rechtsanwältin and avvocato stabilito before the Court of Milan, offering cross-border employment law advice grounded in her dual German–Italian professional experience. She works in German and Italian and is part of an international network of firms, which further strengthens her ability to guide clients through complex cross-border employment relationships and multinational workforce management.
Experience
Stefanie Lebek has been admitted as a German Rechtsanwältin since 1995, marking the start of a long-standing career focused on labour and employment law. Over the years she has developed a distinctly international profile, working for several years within a German multinational group, where she gained first-hand exposure to the internal dynamics, compliance requirements, and HR challenges of large corporate employers operating across jurisdictions. This background enables her to provide employment law advice that is closely aligned with business realities and corporate governance needs.
Since 1998 she has held the title of Fachanwältin für Arbeitsrecht, reflecting formal specialization in German labour law. She later expanded her practice to Italy, collaborating with law firms in Milan from 2009 onward and progressively focusing on Italian employment law alongside her German practice. From 2015 she worked with the Milan office of DMP Derra, Meyer & Partner, consolidating her experience in advising on employment issues for German-speaking and international clients active in Italy. In 2024 she joined DM&P Legal & Tax in Milan as partner, where she continues to advise mainly corporate clients and managers on a full range of employment law matters.
Her practice is characterized by legally rigorous yet highly practical, solution-oriented advice. She pays particular attention to the economic and strategic interests of her clients, identifying employment risks early and anticipating issues that may arise in multinational and cross-border labour relationships. The combination of her long tenure, dual jurisdiction expertise, and experience within corporate structures positions her as a key employment law advisor for companies operating between Germany and Italy.
Specialty
Stefanie Lebek’s core specialty is labour and employment law, covering the entire lifecycle of the employment relationship. This includes drafting and negotiating employment contracts, advising on hiring and onboarding practices, and structuring executive and managerial appointments for both domestic and cross-border roles. She assists employers and managers in workplace disputes, including disciplinary actions, individual dismissals, and contentious terminations, with a particular focus on aligning procedures with both Italian and German legal requirements in cross-border scenarios.
Her practice further encompasses collective aspects of employment law such as workforce restructurings, reorganization processes, and the employment-law implications of corporate changes, always approached from the perspective of labour regulation and employee relations. She regularly advises on compliance with labour regulations, internal policies, and corporate codes of conduct, helping clients to design systems that minimize employment-related risk while supporting business objectives.
Given her background in multinational environments, she is especially active in cases involving international assignments, cross-border employment arrangements, and coordination between German and Italian labour law regimes. Her profound understanding of cultural differences and expectations in the workplace allows her to bridge legal and cultural gaps, facilitating communication and mutual understanding between foreign headquarters and Italian subsidiaries, and between management and employees in international settings. This makes her a valuable resource for companies seeking integrated employment law support in cross-border contexts.
Education
Stefanie Lebek studied law and Roman languages at the University of Cologne, receiving a comprehensive legal education complemented by in-depth training in language and culture. She went on to obtain a German post‑graduate doctorate (PhD, Dr.) in comparative labour law, awarded magna cum laude, which underscores her academic focus on the differences and intersections between labour law systems, particularly those of Germany and Italy.
Her academic specialization in comparative labour law provides a robust theoretical framework for her practical work in cross-border employment matters, allowing her to interpret and apply labour regulations in a way that takes account of the specific legal structures and cultural contexts of each jurisdiction. This combination of legal and linguistic training supports her ability to work directly in multiple languages and to advise international clients whose operations straddle different legal systems.