Get Your Free Copy of Our Civil Litigation Brochure Practical Information from Court Savy German Litigators In the brand new brochure “A Short Guide to Civil & Commercial Litigation in Germany”, I explain the basics of commercial litigation under German Civil Procedure Rules: How to prepare, which court to approach, whether to try to negotiate a settlement and – if so – when. How to adapt to the very different German civil procedure rules with regard to evidence. And finally, what to do and – more importantly – what not to do in a German courtroom. After 20 years of experience in internat ..read more

Check the National Register of German Attorneys at Law The official professional title of a German lawyer is Rechtsanwalt (male) oder Rechtsanwältin (female). Only fully qualified German lawyers who have passed both legal exams are entitled to refer to themselves as “Rechtsanwalt” or – in short – “Anwalt”. The use of the word “Anwalt” in Germany corresponds with ths use of “counsellor” in the USA. The German legal profession is not divided into two classes of lawyers (solicitors and barristers). Instead, as in the USA, a German counsellor is permitted to appear and represent clients in court ..read more

Checklist & Terms of Engagement If you consider hiring the German law office Graf & Partners to represent you in a German civil lawsuit, we recommend to carefully read the below checklist before you contact us with any details of your case. The information below will give you a better idea of whether Graf Legal is the right law firm for your German legal dispute. We exclusively take on German civil and business litigation cases. While we may be able to recommend criminal defense lawyers, Graf & Partners themselves do not take on criminal cases. Our lawyers are licensed to practice ..read more

Why are German Wills often successfully challenged and voided? As in most jurisdictions, a German Last Will can be challenged if the testator, at the time of making the Will, (i) lacked mental capacity (in German: if he or she was “testierunfähig”); or (ii) was under undue influence, e.g. pressured or threatened (“bedroht”); or (iii) was under some false impression (“im Irrtum”), i.e. erred about certain circumstances. These are the most commonly known standard legal reasons based on which a Will can be made void. German inheritance law, however, has a few surprises to offer. More legal groun ..read more

Corona forces German courts into de facto lockdown for 2020 If you want to end a German legal dispute in the foreseeable future – settle! If you have beef with a German business partner, do not count on any help from German civil or business courts during spring and summer 2020. While German civil courts are officially still open and working, oral hearings (mündliche Verhandlungen) are being postponed, stayed or outright cancelled. In theory, pursuant to sec. 128a German Civil Procedure Rules (link to the English translation of the statute available here) German court hearings (mündliche Verha ..read more

Lawyer Video on Probate in Europe Our special interest blog www.internationalprobatelaw.com deals with the matter of how to administer German-American estates, how to obtain probate in Europe (especially Germany, Austria and England), the overseas succession laws and estate taxes (death taxes) in Europe. Contentious Probate Proceedings in Germany (Erbscheinverfahren) Normally, German probate cases are dealt with the local surrogate court (Amtsgericht). They issue the German grant of probate (also referred to as letter of succession or letter of administration) in a quite straight forward proce ..read more

The Process and Main Stages of Civil Litigation in Germany Filing a Civil Complaint In order to initiate a civil lawsuit (Zivilprozess) in Germany, the plaintiff (Kläger) files a complaint with the competent German court (see here). This complaint is called “Klage” or “Klageschrift”, which means “statement of claim”. After due registration by the court and a very preliminary compliance check with regards to the formal requirements set out by the German Civil Procedure Rules, the complaint is then served to the defendant. In most cases, the court itself takes care of the service procedure, but ..read more

What to do if you are served a German Default Judgment? In German civil litigation cases, the court will immediately issue a default court order (Versäumnisurteil) against any party that does not appear for a court hearing unless that party (claimant or defendant) is properly excused. This is why every German litigation lawyer worth his or her salt has the court’s phone number on speed dial in case the lawyer gets stuck in a traffic jam on the way to court. Otherwise, if there is a no show without a credible excuse or if a party is more than 15 minutes late, the court will issue the Versäumnis ..read more

What is an “Unterlassungsklage”? If you start a business in Germany, it is hard to avoid being taken to court by a competitor who files a German cease and desist order lawsuit against you in order to tell you what you are allowed to do and what you are not. Why so? Germans have a lot of rules. An old saying is “Alles muss seine Ordnung haben” which means “everything must be in order”. But what good are rules if no one bothers to obey them? Unlike the Italians and the Greek, who – at least on paper – also have a lot of laws and regulations, which – however – in everyday life no one seems to car ..read more

Can German patients demand a complete copy of their medical file? They certainly can. The German Civil Code contains an entire chapter on medical treatment and patient rights. Section 630g German Civil Code regulates that a patient has the right to demand to personally inspect the original patient file. This includes computer files as well as any handwritten notes that may exist. Nowadays, most physicians and certainly all hospitals keep patient files in electronic form. Thus, in practice, the doctors and medical institutions will offer to provide the patient with a copy of the medical records ..read more