Tobias Vels was born in Bonn in 1977, grew up partly abroad and completed his studies at the Rheinische Friedrich-Wilhelms-Universität of Bonn. He completed his studies in economics with an intermediate diploma, his law studies with a focus on corporate law, and his legal clerkship in the district of the Higher Regional Court of Cologne. During his studies and traineeship he worked for medium-sized and big law firms in Germany, Canada and Israel. In addition to his work as a lawyer at RBB & Partner, he was a founding partner of an engineering firm and, since its sale, has been managing director of a consulting firm specialising in mining . Mr Vels is married and father of two children and enjoys sports in his leisure. He is also involved in party politics and a service club.