Last month's re-election of Helmut Kohl as German chancellor represents not only a huge slice of more-of-the-same politics for the country, but also a desire for a period of much needed stability for Europe's biggest nation.Iain Morrison, of Kennedy's solicitors, says the Kohl vote reflects the German public's belief in the ability of a conservative administration to deliver on the economic front.'The British tend to be used to an up and down economy, whereas the Germans were much more shaken by the recession,' says Peter Singer, partner with Bedford Row solicitors, Gregory Rowcliffe & Milners.According to Mr Singer, former chairman of the 450-strong British-German Jurists Association (BGJA): 'There was a period after reunification when the Germans were facing very much east rather than west.

That is when quite a lot of the expansion for legal work in this country slowed down.'German companies were tending to set up their subsidiaries in the lander [regions] of the former East Germany, or in Poland or the Czech Republic.'They are now beginning to face west again and there are signs of that in the kind of legal work that is coming through,' Mr Singer says.Iain Morrison says that German insurers are responding to last July's deregulation of the insurance market by seeking to acquire UK insurance companies.Indeed, lawyers specialising in Anglo-German work say there is particular renewed interest in company acquisitions, as well as asset and property investments.

Theodore Goddard consultant lawyer Diana Kerr points to the attractiveness of UK commercial leases as investments as a key motivating factor behind the recent resurgence in activity.The new BGJA chairman, Lady Kerr, who is married to Sir Michael Kerr, the former Lord Justice of Appeal, points to insurance and reinsurance work, bonds, litigation, distribution agreements, employment and even film industry work as sectors yielding renewed work for law firms.'There are one thousand German subsidiary companies based in the UK,' Lady Kerr points out.

'We are the most favoured location for German investment in Europe, and second only to the USA worldwide.'The depth of UK-German trade is certainly substantial by any standards: in 1993 exports were valued at £18.349 billion, with imports totalling £14.641 billion.

Both figures were slightly down on the previous year, but that trend is expected to be reversed soon.The BGJA is off to Dresden this weekend to stage one of its impressive round of conferences, which now enjoy Law Society professional development accreditation: speakers include top libel silk George Carman QC on the limits of media freedom, and Simmons & Simmons insurance expert Patrick Daniels.Lady Kerr is keen that the association, which began as a 'club' for lawyers involved in Anglo-German work, should capitalise on its strengths.It already co-ordinates the state-funded placement of German trainees in UK firms, runs litigation workshops, as well as providing bursaries for young lawyers to travel to overseas conferences.'I would like to follow up some of the MPs and peers who have shown an interest in Anglo-German relations to see whether more could be done on the legal-lobbying aspect,' she says.According to Peter Singer: 'Where politically there are difficulties, to put it at its mildest, between Britain and the rest of Europe, and Germany in partic ular, the association can provide a lot of very useful and influential links at quite high levels as a lobbying tool between the two countries.'The association also sees itself playing a major role in building a bridge of understanding between the two countries' legal professions.

Big distinctions remain - adversarial/inquisitorial, precedential/code-based - and variations in practice, for example the lack of discovery procedures, can lead to misunderstandings.-- The British-German Jurists Association can be contacted through its honorary secretary, John Rhodes, at Pannone & Partners, 14 New Street, London EC2M 4TR; tel 071-972 9720, fax 071-972 9723.1994