Bettina Rentsch is an Assistant Professor for European Private Law, Private International Law and Comparative Law at Freie Universität Berlin's Department of Law. Her current research covers the foundations and current challenges of Private International Law from an interdisciplinary viewpoint, with a special focus on the interplay of the European court and legislative system, PIL and collective action (and redress). A second string of her research discovers the current status and transformation of the Private Law of groups, including the influence of space and what can be called the spatial turn on Private (and Private International Legal) thought and the idea of Corporate Citizenship.

Bettina holds a First State Exam in Law from the University of Freiburg and the State of Baden-Württemberg (High Honors '13), a Doctoral Degree in Law from the University of Heidelberg (s.c.l., '16), a Master of Laws from the University of Michigan, Ann Arbor (LL.M., '16) and Bar Exam equivalent from the Higher Regional Court of Berlin ('19).

Bettina's doctoral thesis (Der gewöhnliche Aufenthalt im System des Europäischen Kollisionsrechts, published at Mohr Siebeck in 2017) has received the Rolf and Lucia Serick award '16, acknowledging the best doctoral thesis in Private International Law, and the Ruprecht Karls award '18 for the best doctoral thesis accomplished at the University of Heidelberg in that academic year.

After passing the Bar, Bettina practiced in the German lawfirm Hengeler Mueller's Berlin office with a focus on Dispute Resolution and Corporate Law. In 2020, she returned to the University of Heidelberg for a Postdoctoral Degree (Habilitation), before being appointed to a tenure track assistant professorship at Freie Universität Berlin in early 2022.

Selected Publications

Books

Der gewöhnliche Aufenthalt im System des Europäischen Kollisionsrechts, Studien zum ausländischen und internationalen Privatrecht Band 382, Mohr Siebeck 2017, 465 + XXXII Seiten; Review in RabelsZ 83 (2019), 880–886 (Dietmar Baetge), IPRax 2/2018, Conflict of Laws (November 2017) (Giesela Rühl)

Reports and Studies

Study to support the preparation of a report on the application of Regulation (EU) No 1215/2012 on jurisdiction and the recognition and enforcement of judgments in civil and commercial matters (Brussels Ia Regulation) - Publications Office of the EU (europa.eu) (co-authored with Maren Vogel)

Selected contributions in Journals, Handbooks and Essay Collections

• Board Diversity als Zukunftsaufgabe der Corporate Governance, ZGR 2022, 107 – 143
• Leihmutterschaft als Schadensersatz – Babies beyond the Law, ZEuP 2021, 712 – 730, co-authored with Lisa-Sophie Wollschläger
• Grenzüberschreitender kollektiver Rechtsschutz in der Europäischen Union – No New Deal for Consumers, RabelsZ 85 (2021), 544 – 578
• Kollektiver Rechtsschutz unter der EU-Verbandsklagerichtlinie – forum shopping unter Brüssel Ia?, EuZW 2021, 524 – 533
• Forum Shopping against Digital Unfairness – Upsides and Downsides of the Representative Action Directive, in Reinhard Singer u.a. (Hrsg.), Consumer Protection in a Digitalized World, 2021, 134 – 150, co-authored with Jonas Müter
• Hans Kelsen’s Psychoanalytic Heritage – an Ehrenzweigian Reconstruction, in: Jeremy Telman (Hrsg.): Hans Kelsen in America: The Anxieties of Non-Influence, Part IV, Chapter 11, Springer 2016
• Habitual Residence“ in a Rome 0-Regulation – A Plea for Settled Intention, in: Stefan Leible et al (Hrsg.), General Principles of European Private International Law, 2016, 171 – 188, co-authored with Marc-Philippe Weller
• US-Verfassung und Zeitgeist - Anmerkung zum Urteil des US-Supreme Court in der Rechtssache Obergefell et al. v. Hodges, Director, Ohio, Department of Health et al. vom 26.6.2015, NZFam 2015, 995 – 998
• Der internationale Anwendungsbereich der Geschlechterquote für Großunternehmen, ZGR 2015, 361 – 395, co-authored with Charlotte Harms, Chris Thomale, Marc-Philippe Weller
• Die Zukunft des Europäischen Personalstatuts im gewöhnlichen Aufenthalt, ZEuP 2015, 288 – 311