From Studying to Underwriting – Graduate Nele Danschacher

Nele, your career path is impressive. What inspired you to pursue this track?

After a period of orientation, determination soon followed: I initially studied law for several semesters at a large university in northern Germany. During that time, I realized that I wanted more practical orientation. Then I became aware of the Law School at Leuphana University and transferred to Lüneburg. There, I was able to combine law as a major with business administration as a minor – a choice of university and combination of subjects that has proven fortunate for me personally and professionally.

In what way?

I was able to combine legal questions, and topics from business administration in the subject combination I had chosen. I found that exciting and very close to real-world practice, because in professional life, the disciplines are also interwoven. Decisions in one field have effects on the other. Moreover, Leuphana is distinguished by excellent student support. I have particularly positive memories of the appreciative interaction between teachers and students.

How does this fit with the insurance sector and your career choice?

In underwriting, that is, in the process in which the insurer analyzes and decides whether and under what conditions insurance coverage can be granted to the client, it is important to have a comprehensive understanding of the client’s risk landscape. HDI, the Liability Association German Industry (Haftpflichtverband der Deutschen Industrie), focuses on German companies and their activities worldwide. In the area which I have the opportunity to contribute to, we are concerned with liability risks. My legal and business expertise comes in handy here, especially since I am not afraid of numbers – which lawyers are mockingly accused of being.

What role do foreign language skills play, especially English?

English plays a major role in my professional context and will become even more significant after my induction period. During my studies, I completed several internships in which English was also important. But especially during my year abroad in Barcelona, where classes were taught in English, I had the opportunity to improve my foreign language skills.

What led you to choose HDI?

That came up in the context of a bachelor’s seminar. Several professors at the Law School offer such a seminar in their respective research and interest areas. The goal is to formally and substantively prepare advanced students for the bachelor’s thesis. I attended a civil law seminar with Prof. Dr. Hohlbein, who outlined several topic areas for final BA theses. I appreciated that he was open to student suggestions. To my own surprise, I then became enthusiastic about a topic related to liability and insurance law, even though I had previously had no contact to the field of insurance. And when Prof. Hohlbein noticed my genuine interest, he was able to arrange for Mr. Marco Visser, LL.M., Head of Wording and Reinsurance at HDI Global SE, to act as second supervisor for my thesis.

That sounds well-coordinated. Now we would like to know: what was the specific topic of your thesis?

I examined the concept of “damage” in liability law and liability insurance law, analyzing to what extent the terms are identical or different in content. And since my supervisors evaluated the thesis very well, it led to a double success: permanent employment and publication. The bachelor’s thesis was revised for publication in the professional journal Produkthaftung international – Recht & Versicherung (Note: PHi No. 5, October 2025, pp. 196–203).

Thank you very much, Nele, for this open and inspiring conversation!

Questions by Mathias Paulokat, MBA. A graduate in Business Law (FH), he is an alumnus of Leuphana. He is a press officer in the banking sector and continuously engaged with Leuphana University of Lüneburg as a guest speaker.