During his studies, Clemens Berlakovits completed numerous internships at internationally renowned commercial law firms in Austria and abroad. After completing his law studies in Vienna, he began working as an associate with Georg Karasek in 2008, with whom he completed his entire training period as an associate and with whom he is still closely associated today. In 2012, he passed the bar exam with distinction and has been a registered lawyer in Austria since 2013. He has been a managing partner of KWR since 2017 and heads KWR's construction and architectural law team. 

The internationally renowned legal directory “The Legal 500” recognized Clemens Berlakovits as a “next generation partner” in 2024 and “Chambers & Partners” ranks him as one of the leading individuals in his field. In addition, the German publisher JUVE lists him as a leading expert in the field of construction.

References

• Litigation lawyer and strategy consultant with a focus on comprehensive legal and strategic advice to civil engineers and architects, real estate developers and building owners, contractors (total, general and subcontractors as well as ancillary building trades).
• Highly specialized advice in the course of the implementation and execution of building construction and civil engineering projects (in particular residential construction projects, infrastructure projects, hotel projects, shopping centers, etc.). This includes, in particular, strategic advice on the basic conception of construction projects (project structuring and awarding strategies), drafting and negotiating all necessary contractual documentation (technical and general contractor contracts, individual trades contracts, architect and consultant contracts (GP contracts, contracts with specialist planners and other specialist consultants, etc.), all project-related advice, in particular in the area of claiming and anti-claiming.
• Legal representation in all disputes, for example in connection with billing and fee disputes of all kinds, claims for damages and warranty proceedings (in particular major claims), representation in civil proceedings, arbitration proceedings, conciliation proceedings, arbitration expert proceedings or mediation.
• A particular focus is on advising at the interface between law and construction management and planning. For several years, Clemens Berlakovits has also been dealing with issues of digitalization in the construction industry.

Functions and other activities

• Editor of the trade journal bauaktuell published by Lindeverlag

• Editor of the commemorative publication Georg Karasek, published by Manzverlag

• Author of numerous publications on construction contract and architectural law

• University lecturer at the University of Vienna (Faculty of Law)

• University lecturer at the Vienna University of Technology

• Member of the supervisory board of a renowned Austrian construction company

• Member of the Austrian Society for Construction Law

• Speaker of the Management Board of KWR