National/International Lawsuits
From an economic point of view, litigation in court often is unsatisfactory, time-consuming and annoying for many companies and in more than just a few cases. But ex-perience shows that litigation cannot always be avoided in various situations – in private life or in business – for instance to enforce trademarks or patents or to recover a debt.
To enter into litigation, you need the following: well presented and detailed facts, a strin-gent argumentation covering all factual and legal aspects and the necessary psychological sensitivity for dealing with the court and theopponent’s lawyers. The criteria for the de-cision of a court are different from those in negotiations between businesses.
Successful litigation therefore requires the lawyer you commission to be experienced in processing and presenting the facts of a case, in finding the right focal points for his/her legal argumentation and in reacting correctly in certain process situations. This “skill” demands comprehensive experience.
Our special area in this field is representing clients in litigation resulting from technical projects and for clients or opponents of abroad.
Our services:
pre-trial assessment of risks and chances for success
analysis of burden of proof risks / identification of qualified experts
identification of law firms in foreign legal systems
preparing the decision about the choice of proceedings (see “arbitration and settlement proceedings”)
legal representation in court and other legal dispute resolution procedures
for companies or subsidiaries located in Germany: in case of pre-trial discovery related to court proceedings in the US, organisation of documentation and communication with US attorneys
Arbitration
Litigation in an ordinary court might lead to problems that make such litigation virtually impossible – be it in Germany or in other European countries:
Long duration of the proceedings, which might last up to several years depending on the case load of the court.
A change of judge, which compromises continuity and potentially the quality of the decision.
Judges often lack factual knowledge in the actual subject of an action.
Economic aspects have to take second place behind the legal situation.
This is why a forensically experienced lawyer will more and more often consider whether going for mediation and/or arbitration might not make more sense.
Benefits of arbitration:
Mediation can avoid failure in the short term even in projects which first seemed doomed to fail.
Mediation and arbitration procedures can be commenced within a short time.
The duration of proceedings can be shortened to about six to twelve months when both parties co-operate.
Factual knowledge can be ensured by choosing the right arbitrator.
A change of judge is an exception.
There are no public hearings.
Mediator and even arbitrators may give economic criteria priority in their decisions.
It is advisable, to look into alternative methods to settle a dispute according to these criteria in equipment and plant projects, in logistics projects and in projects concerning the introduction of software solutions.
Disadvantages of arbitration
Especially when three judges are chosen costs for the arbitrators will be high.
When you decide about which rules of arbitration shell apply you must know the pros and cons of the different arbitration rules for your case.
In every arbitration proceeding you need to have specific experience with a number of pitfalls.
Especially when you deal in projects about production and plant machinery about e.g. intralogistics or an introduction of e.g. an ERP software solution, ADS (alternative dispute solutions) should be checked.
Our services:
case to case examination of the best possible conditions of either
– mediation,
– comciliation,
– arbitration,
– legal proceeding in front of ordinary jurisdiction
legal representation in all these proceedings
