Practical Insights
Practical insights for the moments when contracts meet reality.
Contracts often reveal their true character only when a conflict arises. What may look balanced on paper can shift significantly under pressure, often to the disadvantage of the party that overlooked or misjudged a legal or commercial risk.
The articles on this page are based on my daily work in contract design and litigation. A particular focus is on mechanical and plant engineering. In this sector, legal risks often become especially visible: in complex project chains, cross-border contractual relationships and disputes with substantial economic consequences.
The articles address questions that arise again and again in practice: Where are the legal breaking points of a contract? When do they become dangerous in the course of a project? And what can be done before commercial tension turns into litigation?
Each article combines legal substance with the perspective of a lawyer who does not only draft and review contracts, but also conducts the disputes that arise from them.
These articles cannot replace individual legal advice. They do, however, show what matters in practice and where contracts, projects and conflicts should be examined more closely.
LATEST ARTICLES
Guide to GmbH law: The duties and liability risks of the managing director of a GmbH
In the external relationship, only the GmbH is liable, which can indemnify its managing directors. However, this does not mean that external liability of the managing directors is excluded.
In addition to personal liability in the area of tax and social security law, the managing director may also be liable on the basis of his own contractual obligations, on the basis of an induced legal appearance, on the basis of (personal) culpability when concluding the contract and in tort.
For the aforementioned reasons, every managing director of a GmbH is urgently recommended to be familiar with the requirements for proper managing director activities.
Estimation of fictitious defect rectification costs
For some time now, a landmark decision by the Federal Court of Justice has clarified that the contractual claim for damages in lieu of performance pursuant to Sections 437 No. 3, 280, 281 BGB can be assessed on the basis of the “fictitious” defect rectification costs that are likely to be necessary but have not yet been incurred, see BGH ruling of 12.03.2021, Ref. V ZR 33/19. In practice, it is of particular relevance how the court called upon to decide in an individual case is to determine the amount of such fictitious damage costs.
EUGH ruling “LKW Walter”
The possibility of being able to enforce one’s own rights as easily and quickly as possible in cross-border EU business transactions, which is very welcome in principle, has some pitfalls. The author’s experience shows that traders are often overwhelmed when they receive legally relevant mail from abroad. This is not least due to the fact that court documents received from abroad often do not meet the requirements of European law.
BGH NEWS
Find out about the latest case law of the Federal Court of Justice here
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