Arbitration Clauses in Plant Construction
Arbitration clauses in international master contracts are not always suitable for subcontractors. The key factors are the costs of the proceedings, enforceability, and the specific terms of the clause.
Entries by Daniel Meier-Greve
Negotiating and Enforcing Limitations of Liability — How You, as a Provider, Can Limit Your Risk
In the machinery and plant engineering sector, consequential damages can exceed the value of a company’s own services many times over. This article explains how suppliers can limit their liability risk through caps, exclusions for certain types of damages, clauses in standard terms and conditions, and coordinated arrangements throughout the project chain.
YouTube Terms of Service for Businesses: A Practical Look at Monetization and Embedding
YouTube is standard practice for corporate communications. This article examines YouTube’s general monetization policies and the rules for embedding videos from a corporate perspective, and highlights the implications for the advertising environment, hosting strategy, and a company’s own marketing efforts.
Insolvency Challenge: Recovery of Payments
When a letter arrives from the insolvency administrator following an insolvency proceeding, it usually involves a significant amount of money. The letter demands repayment of amounts that were received long ago—based on the right to challenge transactions under §§ 129 ff. of the Insolvency Code (InsO). For affected companies, this is not a minor issue but a genuine liability risk. This article explains the grounds for avoidance, what matters most in mounting a defense, and which documents are now critical.
Up to €10,000 before the local court: why it goes wrong
Up to €10,000 in the local court – a mistake with an announcement. The planned reform of the amount in dispute will shift masses of proceedings from the regional courts to the local courts. Sounds like a relief – but will have the opposite effect.
Contract law: Stuttgart 21 and the speech clause – a lesson in clear contract drafting
Sometimes a single sentence decides billions. This is exactly what happened with the Stuttgart 21 project. At the center of the legal dispute was a short contractual provision – the so-called “speech clause”.
Breach of an international jurisdiction agreement can result in liability for damages! – On the ruling of the BGH from 17.10.2019 (Ref. III ZR 42/19)
International agreements on jurisdiction, especially if they are to have exclusive validity, generally have the purpose of protecting the party benefiting from the agreement from the often very considerable costs of a legal dispute in a foreign country.
Unfortunately, however, it is not uncommon for the other contracting party to suddenly no longer want to know about the jurisdiction agreement in the event of a dispute. The background to such a dishonest approach is – obviously – not least the potential for blackmail associated with such an approach. This is because the party that finds itself – in breach of the jurisdiction agreement – exposed to a foreign lawsuit is regularly forced to take action abroad through lawyers in order to avoid legal disadvantages. This in turn is often very expensive, with the USA being the most prominent example.
Expert witness biased – can the court still use existing expert opinion?
In a ruling of practical relevance, the Federal Court of Justice clarified whether and in which cases the expert opinion of an expert declared to be biased may be used by the court.
Brief overview: Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments (“Hague Convention”)
The Hague Convention on the Recognition and Enforcement of Foreign Judgments (“Hague Convention”) has been in force in the EU since September 1, 2023.
Enforcement of international jurisdiction agreements: What to do in the event of an action from abroad despite an exclusive jurisdiction agreement to the contrary?
In order to avoid costly and unpleasant legal disputes abroad, it is advisable to conclude exclusive jurisdiction agreements with foreign business partners which stipulate that only German courts have jurisdiction. However, it is not uncommon for the business partner to file a lawsuit in their own country in the event of a dispute, contrary to the jurisdiction agreement. In such cases, the question arises: What can be done to enforce international choice of court agreements?