L I A B I L I T Y  I S S U E S /P R O F E S S I O N A L  I N D E M N I T Y  I N S U R A N C E

Avoiding conflicts of interests:
German professional regulations (§ 43a (4) BRAO) prohibit an attorney-at-law qualified in Germany from representing conflicting interests. Therefore, it is always made sure that a conflict of interests does not exist, before an engagement is accepted.

Engagement letters:
To determine the date of the engagement, the scope of the services and the fees, engagement letters (power-of-attorney) and fee arrangements are individually negotiated with the client and have to be signed by the client before entering into the agreement.

Extrajudicial settlement of disputes:
If disputes arise between an attorney-at-law qualified in Germany and their clients, such disputes can be settled out of court by applying to the regional Bar Association (Rechtsanwaltskammer) (according to § 73 (2) no. 3 in conjunction with § 73 (5) BRAO). Details can be found on the homepage of the German Federal Bar Association (Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer) at www.brak.de,
e-mail: schlichtungsstelle@brak.de, www.schlichtungsstelle-der-rechtsanwaltschaft.de.
Regarding the EU platform for extrajudicial settlement of disputes, please see:  
http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/
 
The Professional Indemnity Insurance is provided by
ERGO Versicherung AG, ERGO-Platz 1, 40198 Düsseldorf, Germany

The professional liability insurance policy is valid worldwide in as far as it is related with consultancy and representation in European law or the law of non-European territories of European countries that are either Member States of the EU or of the European Economic Area, and the legal representation at a European court, or a court of the said non-European territories as defined above, excluded is national law of non-EU countries.

It covers not only activities like court representation and legal consultancy, but also such activities as membership of a supervisory board, a board of advisers, a foundation board, working as an insolvency trustee, trustee, liquidator, receiver, sequestrator, member of a committee of creditors, executor of a will, expert witness, speaker or as an author in the area of law.

All attorneys-at-law qualified in Germany are required to take out a professional indemnity insurance policy according to the provisions of the German Federal Lawyers’ Act (Bundesrechtsanwaltsordnung, BRAO) that has a minimum cover of 250.000,- EUR. The details are regulated in § 51 BRAO. If needed  and on request, the client will be provided with an individual professional indemnity insurance policy with a higher cover which will then have to be charged.