§1 Scope of application
1. validity | These General Terms and Conditions of Contract shall apply to all current contracts between the lawyer and the client.
2. deviating terms and conditions | The client’s terms and conditions shall only apply if expressly agreed in writing.
3. validity for future mandates | These General Terms and Conditions shall also apply to future contracts.
§2 Authorised lawyer
1. limitation to clerks | As a matter of principle, the mandate shall only be given to the lawyer named in the mandate agreement or the power of attorney; this lawyer alone shall be obliged to handle the mandate, including the obligations arising from §§ 3 et seq. of these Terms and Conditions of Mandate.
2. subcontracting | The lawyer shall be entitled to have the mandate handled by sub-authorised lawyers.
§3 Scope and processing of the mandate
1. subject matter of the mandate | The subject matter of the mandate is the activity agreed in particular in accordance with the mandate agreement or the power of attorney. The achievement of a specific legal success is not owed. Representation vis-à-vis the client’s legal expenses insurer, in particular to obtain a cover note, requires a separate engagement.
2. statement of facts | The lawyer shall be entitled to assume that the client’s statements of fact are correct and to reproduce them to the extent necessary for the other party. The lawyer shall not be obliged to investigate the facts of the case himself.
3. coordination in the handling of the mandate | In the course of handling the mandate, the lawyer shall coordinate with the client to the extent that this is possible and necessary to achieve the objective pursued in handling the mandate. When drafting written pleadings, the lawyer shall take into account the client’s requests for amendments to the extent reasonable and necessary.
§4 Other duties of the lawyer
1. professional legal framework | The lawyer shall carry out all assignments in compliance with the BRAO, the BORA and the other relevant statutory provisions.
2. confidentiality | The lawyer shall be obliged to maintain confidentiality – even after the termination of the mandate. This obligation shall apply to everything that is entrusted to him by the client or otherwise becomes known to him in the course of the mandate, but not to obvious facts and those which, due to their significance, do not require confidentiality.
3. information of third parties | If it becomes necessary to inform third parties who are not themselves subject to confidentiality by virtue of professional law or official position when handling the mandate, the lawyer shall endeavour to conclude a confidentiality agreement. The client shall expressly declare his consent to this. The lawyer shall be expressly released from his obligation of confidentiality vis-à-vis the client’s legal expenses insurer.
4. data protection | The lawyer shall take all proportionate and reasonable precautions to protect the client’s data from loss and unauthorised access by third parties.
5. custody of monies | The lawyer shall hold monies received for the client in trust and pay them out to the office designated by the client immediately upon the client’s written request.
§5 Payment obligation
1. advance payment and due date | The lawyer shall be entitled to demand reasonable advance payments at any time. Unless expressly agreed otherwise, payments to the lawyer shall be due upon invoicing.
2 Obligations of third parties | The client shall also be obliged to pay if claims for reimbursement of costs exist against third parties, in particular the legal expenses insurer or the opposing party.
3. assignment and offsetting | The client assigns all claims for reimbursement of costs against third parties to the lawyer. The latter accepts the assignment. The lawyer shall be entitled to set off incoming payments against outstanding fee claims, including those from other matters.
4. joint and several liability | Several clients shall be liable to the lawyer as joint and several debtors.
§6 Other obligations of the client
1. provision of information | The client shall inform the lawyer comprehensively and truthfully about all facts related to the mandate in a timely manner and provide him with all documents and data related to the mandate in an orderly manner.
2. contact details | The client shall inform the lawyer immediately of any changes to his contact details, in particular his address, telephone and fax numbers and e-mail address. Furthermore, the client shall inform the lawyer of any long-term absence or other circumstances that justify his temporary unavailability.
3. checking drafts | The Client shall immediately check the drafts of the Lawyer’s letters sent to him for approval to ensure that the information they contain on the facts of the case is true.
4. contacting third parties | During the term of the mandate, the client shall only contact courts, authorities, the opposing party or other parties after consultation with the lawyer.
§7 Copyrights
The copyrights to the works created by the lawyer within the scope of the mandate, in particular written pleadings and expert opinions, shall remain with the lawyer. The client shall only be authorised to use these works or to pass them on to third parties in the intended form and to the extent necessary.
§8 Communication
1. communication channels | The client agrees that the lawyer may contact him via the contact details provided in accordance with § 7.2.
2. e-mail | The client is aware that only limited confidentiality is guaranteed for unencrypted e-mails. If the client has the technical prerequisites for the use of signature procedures and encryption procedures and wishes to use them, he shall inform the lawyer accordingly. The client also agrees that the lawyer may communicate with third parties – e.g. with opposing lawyers or authorities – by e-mail in the course of handling the mandate.
§9 Termination
Unless otherwise agreed, the client shall be entitled to terminate the mandate agreement at any time. For his part, the lawyer shall have the right to terminate the mandate, whereby termination of the mandate may not take place at an inopportune time. This restriction shall not apply if the relationship of trust is permanently disturbed. The right to extraordinary termination for good cause shall remain unaffected.
§10 Liability
1. limitation of liability | The client’s claim for compensation for damage caused by a lawyer’s breach of duty due to slight negligence is limited to € 1,000,000 in accordance with § 52 BRAO. Liability insurance in this amount exists.
2. increase in the scope of liability | If the client so wishes and expressly notifies us, a higher insurance policy can be taken out for the individual case; the costs for this shall be borne by the client.
§11 File retention and destruction
The client is advised that the lawyer’s files, with the exception of the costs file and any titles, will be destroyed five years after termination of the mandate (Section 50 (2) sentence 1 BRAO), unless the client collects these files from the lawyer’s office beforehand. Otherwise, Section 50 (2) sentence 2 BRAO applies.
§12 Place of jurisdiction; applicable law
If the client is a merchant or legal entity under public law or has no general place of jurisdiction in Germany, the registered office of the law firm in Frankfurt am Main shall be the place of fulfilment and place of jurisdiction for all claims arising from or in connection with the mandate agreement. The client-lawyer relationship shall be governed exclusively by German law.
§13 Severability clause
Should any of the above provisions be or become invalid, this shall not affect the validity of the mandate as such. The validity of the remaining agreements shall remain unaffected.