General Terms and Conditions for the Acceptance of Mandates as a Lawyer

1. Mandate, inclusion of general terms and conditions

1.1 These General Terms and Conditions of Mandate form part of all contracts between Rogert & Ulbrich Rechtsanwälte in Partnerschaft mbB (hereinafter: R&U) and their clients (hereinafter: clients) that involve legal advice and/or representation (these contracts are hereinafter referred to as "mandates"). The inclusion of other general terms and conditions - in particular those of the client - in the mandate is expressly prohibited.

1.2 As a rule, R&U is mandated by signing a power of attorney in text form or by concluding a remuneration agreement. However, mandates can also be granted verbally or implicitly

1.3 However, R&U reserves the right to refuse a mandate even after the power of attorney has been signed. The client must be informed of the refusal within a reasonable period of time, which is usually one week.

2. Scope and execution of the order/mandate

2.1 The scope of the service to be provided by the partnership is always determined by the individual order placed. Placing an order in a lawyer's mandate does not entail the provision of tax advice.

2.2 The order will be carried out in accordance with the principles of proper professional practice and in accordance with professional regulations. The partnership is responsible for appointing the clerk. The clerk will assume that the facts provided by the client, in particular figures and documents, are correct. If facts provided subsequently change, the client is obliged to point this out without being asked. If the clerk discovers any inaccuracies in the client's information, the client is obliged to provide clarification. The clerk will not use obviously incorrect information to third parties.

The review of the accuracy, completeness and correctness of the documents and figures provided, in particular the accounting and balance sheet, is only part of the order if this has been separately agreed in writing.

2.3 Without a special order confirmed in writing, the clerk is not obliged to inspect disorganized bundles of attachments/collections of documents and to check their legal or tax relevance, unless the client has previously requested this in writing and pointed out the need for the inspection, unless the order expressly includes the inspection and verification from every legal point of view.

2.4 Information and orders given by telephone are only binding after written confirmation.

3. Fees, advance payment, set-off restriction

3.1 In the absence of a remuneration agreement permitted under Section 4 of the Lawyers' Act (RVG), R&U's fees are generally calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Lawyers' Remuneration Act (RVG). Please note that the fees charged under the RVG are based on the value of the matter.

3.2 The client is solely liable for the partnership's claims for remuneration. The existence of legal expenses insurance or a litigation financing agreement does not change this. The mandate in the main case does not entail a mandate to enforce claims from the legal expenses insurance contract or the litigation financing agreement. This applies even if the power of attorney also includes an activity towards the legal expenses insurance. If such an activity is to be commissioned, an express order is required, which must be accepted by the partnership in order to be concluded. A separate fee may be charged for this.

3.3 R&U objects to a mandate and an assignment within the mandate subject to reservation. This applies in particular to the order subject to the issuance of a commitment to cover by a legal expenses insurance company. The submission of a request for cover by R&U does not change the debtor status of the client and customer.

3.4 R&U may, when issuing the mandate, request an appropriate advance payment for the expected remuneration and expenses by sending a corresponding invoice and make the commencement or continuation of the activity dependent on the payment of this advance payment.

3.5 The client is only entitled to offset against a claim by R&U if the client’s claim has been acknowledged in writing or has been legally established.

4. Information from the client

4.1 The client must generally inform R&U in writing; if the handover of documents is required, only copies are to be handed over; R&U may also request originals verbally.

4.2 The client is required to read all documents sent to him carefully and to send his remarks and comments to R&U in writing or in text form as soon as possible.

4.3 The client has a contractual duty to cooperate. If documents, other data or information are requested by the partnership, these must be provided immediately. If this is not possible, the client will make every effort to obtain the relevant documents/data/information. If the lack of documents/information/data, despite the request, leads to procedural or other disadvantages, the partnership and the clerks shall not be liable for this.

5. Correction of defects

5.1 If the activities of the partnership, a partner or any other employee are defective, the client must give the partner and the partnership the opportunity to remedy the defects.
Obvious inaccuracies (e.g. typos, calculation errors) can be corrected by the partnership at any time, even to third parties.

5.2 The partnership and the clerk may correct other defects to third parties with the consent of the client. Consent is not required if the legitimate interests of the partnership, the partner in charge or the clerk take precedence over the interests of the client.

6. Storage, release and retention of work results and documents

6.1 The partnership keeps the lawyer's file digitally/electronically. It must store the files in accordance with the statutory regulations. However, this obligation expires before the end of this period if the lawyer has requested the client in writing to receive the file and the client has not complied with this request within 6 weeks of receiving it.

6.2 The files within the meaning of this provision include all documents that the lawyer has received from the client or on his behalf in connection with his professional activities. This does not apply, however, to correspondence between the lawyer and his client and to documents that the latter has already received in original or copy form, as well as to working papers prepared for internal purposes.

6.3 At the client's request, at the latest after completion of the assignment, the lawyer must return the documents provided to him to the client within a reasonable period of time, unless electronic access to these documents already exists or existed. The lawyer can make and retain copies or photocopies of documents that he returns to the client.

6.4 The lawyer may refuse to release the results of his work and the file until he has been paid his fees and expenses. This shall not apply if, under the circumstances, withholding payment would violate good faith, in particular due to the relatively insignificant amounts owed.

7. Confidentiality

7.1 R&U is obliged to maintain confidentiality with regard to all information of the Client of which R&U becomes aware in the context of the mandate, except with regard to such facts which are obvious or which by their nature do not require confidentiality.

7.2 By commissioning R&U, the client grants permission to disclose facts subject to confidentiality to third parties, provided that this is necessary in the normal course of business for the proper performance of the mandate; this also includes the passing on of any information covered by the confidentiality obligation to non-lawyers and freelance employees of RU, provided that they have themselves been obliged to maintain confidentiality by R&U.

8. Liability / Insurance

If the client complains about R&U's services or has suffered direct damage as a result of R&U's services, he must inform R&U of this within a reasonable period of time after he has discovered the damage. However, the complaint must be reported to R&U no later than one year after the end of the respective mandate. In such a case, it is agreed that the client's claim for compensation for damage caused by negligence is limited to EUR 5,000,000 (in words: five million euros). R&U has taken out financial loss liability insurance for this amount. If the client is of the opinion that a matter requires higher cover, special arrangements must be made for this before work begins. The costs for the higher cover are then borne by the client.

9. Assignment restriction

9.1 The rights to which the client is entitled under the mandate relationship are not transferable without the prior written consent of R&U.

9.2 R&U's claims for remuneration and reimbursement of expenses are generally only transferable to lawyers as third parties; in the event of a legally binding claim, a fruitless attempt at enforcement or the express prior consent of the client also to third parties who are not admitted as lawyers.

10. Written form

10.1 Any additions or changes to these General Terms and Conditions of Mandate, including mere deviations within the scope of a mandate, must be agreed in writing to be effective.

10.2 This also applies to any amendments to this written form requirement.

11. Electronic correspondence, data storage

11.1 The client is aware that data security cannot be fully guaranteed using electronic media, particularly messages sent via email and the Internet, and that letters, documents and messages sent in this way cannot be effectively protected from access by unauthorized third parties and thus from misuse, or can only be effectively protected by mutually agreed protective measures. By issuing the mandate, the client agrees that communication with the lawyer will nevertheless take place electronically. If this is not the case, a written agreement must be made to this effect.

11.2 The commissioned lawyers and the partnership assume no liability for access, completeness, accuracy and timely receipt of the messages sent by them in this way. If the client uses this transmission channel to communicate with the commissioned lawyers, he or she implicitly agrees to continue using the corresponding communication channel. The partnership will store the client's personal data as client master and billing data, and if necessary in electronic file management or as accounting data, and may also transmit this to third parties as part of the fulfillment of the order.

11.3 Deletion of data subject to retention within statutory retention periods is not possible.

12. Place of performance, place of jurisdiction, applicable law

12.1 The place of performance and exclusive jurisdiction is the registered office of the partnership in Düsseldorf. This only applies if the client is a merchant.

12.2 The same applies if the client does not have a general place of jurisdiction within the meaning of the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO) in Germany.

12.3 The same applies if the client moves his place of residence or habitual abode outside the scope of the Code of Civil Procedure after the conclusion of the contract or if his place of residence and habitual abode are not known at the time the action is brought. This place of jurisdiction is also agreed for disputes arising from any checks and bills of exchange given to R&U for collection.

12.4 All mandates are subject exclusively to German law.

13. Effectiveness in the event of partial invalidity

13.1 Should individual provisions of these Terms and Conditions be or become invalid, the validity of the remaining provisions shall not be affected thereby.

13.2 The invalid provision shall be replaced by a valid provision that comes as close as possible to the intended purpose.

14. Validity of deviating terms and conditions

14.1 The client’s general terms and conditions, purchasing and payment conditions or deviating jurisdiction agreements have no effect.

14.2 The content of defence clauses is expressly contradicted.

Status: 05.09.2024 © Rogert & Ulbrich Rechtsanwälte in Partnerschaft mbB