Bernd Josef Fehn studied law at the University of Cologne from 1979 to 1984, graduating with a degree (J.D.) and passing the First State Examination in Law. In 1987, after completing his doctoral studies in public law under the renowned constitutional law professor Klaus Stern, he was awarded a doctorate in both secular and ecclesiastical law (Ph.D.). After completing his legal training and passing the Second State Examination to become an Assessor iuris, Bernd J. Fehn joined the higher civil service of the Federal Finance Administration in 1988 and worked for the Federal Ministry of Finance, the Customs Criminal Investigation Office, and the Higher Finance Court of Baden-Wurttemberg, among others. In 2015, he left the civil service and began doctoral studies in theoretical medicine at the University of Witten/Herdecke. He first established himself as a lawyer in 2016 and then as a tax advisor in 2017. In 2018, he received his doctorate in theoretical medicine (Ph.D.) from Joachim Jackowski on a surgical-medical law topic.
From 2018 to 2021, Mr. Fehn held a lectureship at the University of Applied Sciences for Police and Public Administration of North Rhine-Westphalia. He is an associate member of the Institute for History and Ethics and the Institute for Police and Criminal Sciences there. In 2021, he and Karsten Fehn founded the law firm FEHN Legal Attorneys-at-Law & Tax Advisor, of which he is the managing partner together with his brother. Their boutique law firm, based in Cologne and Dusseldorf, primarily provides advisory and forensic services in general, sports, medical, tax, and white collar criminal law. B. J. Fehn is Fellow of Tax & Legal Excellence (an international excellence cluster in law, tax, finance, and economics, certified defense counsel for white collar criminal and criminal tax law, tax compliance officer, and ambulatory healthcare consultant.
In 2022, "The Silicon Review" recognized Dr. Fehn as one of the 5 Best Lawyers to Watch in Trade & Tax Law, International Criminal Law, Medical Law, and Sports Law, and in the following year as one of the 5 Best Defense Counsels to Watch. In 2024, he was named Advisor of the Year in Criminal Tax Law at the Finance Monthly Taxation Awards.
Bernd Josef Fehn has numerous professional publications to his name (including in English, e.g. B. J. Fehn, K. Fehn, M. Bitzer, "Transatlantic Tariffs—A European Customs Perspective on Trade Measures Between the U.S. and the EU", The Alabama Lawyer 2025, pp. 42-47). Coming soon in German language as book contributions: "Criminal and civil liability of anesthesiologists" and "Civil liability: Liability arising from contract and tort, recourse and indemnification in labor law" (both with K. Fehn), in: R. Rossaint, Ch. Werner, B. Zwißler (eds.), "Anesthesiology", 5th ed. 2025. Two German-language book contributions are furthermore in preparation for 2026: "Racism on the soccer field?—A plea for fairness and respect in soccer and soccer reporting based on a case study from a criminal, sports, and media law perspective" (solitary), and "Customs—financial police guarding the borders?" (with M. Bitzer), both in: K. Jöhnke, B. J. Fehn, K. Seidensticker (eds.), "Security, Crime, and Space". For a specialized U.S. journal, an English-language article is also planned on the Enhanced Games 2026, which raise numerous legal questions.
Dr. Fehn and his brother live the firm's strategy: "We go beyond." They thrive on the joint development of ideas and strategies incorporating into their briefs, negotiations, and defenses. They are not standing still in the development of FEHN Legal and in finding solutions for their clients, but are constantly moving forward. That requires not to adhere to tried-and-tested boundaries, but to take innovative approaches, and to offer solutions that go beyond what has been done before.
