Prof. Dr Tobias Leidinger

Lawyer Partner
Certified Specialist in Administrative Law
Prof. Dr Tobias Leidinger

Areas of practice

As a lawyer and certified specialist in administrative law, Prof Dr Tobias Leidinger advises industrial enterprises and clients on public business law issues regarding energy, industrial plant, environmental, nuclear power, planning and waste management law. His clients include companies from the energy and network industry, the nuclear power industry, the manufacturing industry and the waste management industry. Based on his wealth of experience in connection with the implementation of large infrastructure projects, he also acts as a legal project and process manager.

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Vita

Prof. Dr Tobias Leidinger studied law at the Universities of Freiburg/i.Br., Münster and Speyer (all Germany) and worked for several years as a research assistant at the Institute of Public Business Law of the University of Münster. In 1992, he was awarded his doctorate for a thesis on a Special Administrative Law topic. Tobias Leidinger has been working as a lawyer since 1995 and has additionally been a certified specialist in administrative law since 1999. Until 1998, he worked as a lawyer for the Dusseldorf (Germany) office of Kapellmann und Partner, a specialist law firm for private and public building law and legal project management. From 1998 to 2012, he worked as an in-house lawyer in the energy industry (DAX 30 corporation) and as such held leading positions in diverse functions and at various locations in Germany and abroad, dealing primarily with matters related to energy, industrial plant, environmental and regulatory law. From 2012 to 2015, he worked as a lawyer in the Dusseldorf office of Gleiss Lutz.

Tobias Leidinger joined Luther’s Dusseldorf office in 2015 and has since been advising clients on public business, planning and environmental law.

Tobias Leidinger is an honorary professor at Ruhr University in Bochum (Germany) and also director of the Institute of Mining and Energy Law there. He has (co-)authored numerous books and specialist papers on environmental, planning and energy law (inter alia, Leidinger, “Energieanlagenrecht” (Energy Plant Law), 2007; “Kommentar zum Gesetz über die Umweltverträglichkeitsprüfung (UVPG)” (Commentary on the German Environmental Impact Assessment Act) – Hoppe/Beckmann/Kment (editors), 5th ed 2018; “Praxishandbuch Netzplanung und Netzausbau” (Practitioner’s Guide to Network Planning and Network Expansion), Posser/Fassbender (editors), 2013; “Atomrecht: Atomgesetz und Ausstiegsgesetze” (a commentary on the German Atomic Energy Act and Phasing Out Acts), Frenz (editor), 2019).

Honors and distinctions

  • JUVE Guide 2024/2025: Listed under "Frequently Recommended" in "Public Law – Planning and Environment" (first listed in 2016/2017, "very competent", client) and "Public Law - Administrative and Constitutional Law" (first listed in 2022/2023)
  • The Legal 500 Germany 2025: Recommendation in the category "Public Law - Environmental and Planning Law" (first recommendation in 2020, "Tobias Leidinger has excellent expertise in the field of mining law and its special features. Prof Leidinger has excellent knowledge not only of the legal situation, but also of the political situation and the social challenges facing the nuclear energy industry in Germany.") and mention in the "Industry Focus - Energy" (first recommendation in 2023, first mention in 2018, "Tobias Leidinger is a very experienced expert in both nuclear law and administrative procedural law.")
  • The Legal 500 Germany 2023: Recommendation in the category "Public Law - Commercial Administrative Law"
  • Best Lawyers 2026: Recommended in "Public Law" (first recommended in 2017) and "Energy Law" (first recommended in 2020)
  • WirtschaftsWoche 2018: Recommended as "Top Lawyer" in "Public Procurement Law"
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Clients

  • Chemical company – Advice and representation during the conception, approval and implementation of a complex industrial project
  • Avacon AG – Planning law advice with regard to the extension of the 110kV high-voltage grid (regional planning and planning approval procedure) and advice in connection with the requirements planning procedure for the Electricity Network Development Plan
  • Statkraft Germany GmbH – Planning and licensing law advice and representation before the German Federal Administrative Court in connection with the extension of a 380kV extra-high-voltage line (planning approval procedure according to the German Energy Line Extension Act (EnLAG))
  • E.ON Kraftwerke (today, Uniper) – Planning and regional planning law advice in connection with the Datteln 4 hard-coal-fired power plant project with connections to the transmission grid and the district heat network
  • Network operator – Advice on a planning approval procedure according to the German Energy Line Extension Act (EnLAG)
  • Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin für Materialien und Energie GmbH – Advice regarding approval for the decommissioning and dismantling of the BER II reactor
  • Federal company – Advice and representation during the conception, approval and implementation of a complex infrastructure project
  • E.ON SE – Advice on atomic energy and contribution law issues according to the German Nuclear Disposal Transfer Act (EntsorgÜbG) and the German Ordinance on Advance Payments for the Creation of Repositories (EndlagerVlV)
  • Helmholtz Zentrum Berlin and another federal company – Advice and representation in court in connection with cost allocation notices according to the German Site Selection Act (StandAG)
  • Uniper AG – Developing the approval concept for an LNG receiving terminal in Northern Germany
  • Uniper AG – Mining law advice and representation in an operations plan procedure according to the German Federal Mining Act (BBergG)
  • Uniper AG –Environmental law advice on liability for contaminated sites under the German Federal Soil Protection Act (BBodSchG)
  • Saint-Gobain Deutschland – Advice on waste law issues in connection with cross-border shipments of waste
  • Industrial company – Advice on requirements under radiation protection law upon cessation of business according to the German Radiation Protection Ordinance (StrlSchV))
  • Saint-Gobain Sekurit – Advice on requirements as to the expertise of radiation protection officers and radiation protection agents
  • RKD Recycling Kontor Dual GmbH & Co. KG – Advice on questions of law according to the German Packaging Ordinance (VerpackV) and the German Circular Economy and Waste Management Act (KrWG)
  • SRS EcoTherm GmbH – Advice on the conception, planning and licensing of a waste incineration plant according to the German Federal Immission Control Act (BImSchG)
  • Housing society – Advice on energy and contract law issues in connection with a contracting model for the supply of electricity and heat
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Publications

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Memberships

  • Member of the Board of Directors of the Institute for Mining and Energy Law at the Ruhr University Bochum
  • Member of the Gesellschaft für Umweltrecht e.V., Berlin
  • Member of the Working Group for Administrative Law in the German Bar Association, North Rhine-Westphalia Regional Group
  • Member of the Studienkreis Öffentliches Wirtschaftsrecht e.V., Münster
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