Practice Overview
Administrative law
Issues in administrative law have become increasingly significant for our clients, both in the business world and personally. Administrative law itself consists of a broad range of components. Accordingly, our areas of focus in this field include construction planning and zoning law, nature conservation and environmental protection law, the law of local improvement assessments, commercial administration law and, of course general police law. Our attorneys not only have the necessary theoretical knowledge in the aforementioned areas, but have also proven themselves in numerous judicial and extra-judicial proceedings.
Arbitration, conciliation and mediation
In addition to proceedings before the courts, many agreements provide for arbitration boards. Ahlers & Vogel has extensive experience in international and national arbitration law. For example, Dr. Peter Holtappels is honorary chairman of the German Maritime Arbitration Association (GMAA) and attorney Burkhard Klüver is chairman of the German Wool Arbitration Board. Many of our attorneys serve as valued arbitrators in various types of proceedings, particularly in maritime and building law. Of course, we routinely represent clients as attorneys in arbitration proceedings as well.
Since the beginning, we have stood by our clients in out-of-court settlement talks, negotiating in order to avoid lengthy court battles. In addition to the existing negotiation procedures, "mediation" is clearly gaining acceptance in Germany. Mediation is a structured procedure for the resolution of conflicts by the parties. In the mediation procedure, an attempt is made to reach a binding, mutually advantageous settlement through an impartial mediator who is not beholden to any one party. The object of mediation is to avoid lengthy and expensive court battles and induce the parties to identify solutions on their own, since the mediator does not make a ruling without the parties. We stand by our clients during mediation procedures as advisors. Furthermore, attorney Linnertz is a trained mediator. Mediations are not a cure-all, and the decision to undergo mediation should be considered carefully.
Architect's law
Hardly any field of law is as litigious as architectural law: although architectural services make up less than 10% of total construction services, they comprise nearly one fourth of legal disputes relating to building law. This is due to the murky situation created by unclear legal provisions and to rapidly changing and often contradictory supreme court rulings. The difficulties begin with the stipulation of compensation, where the personal autonomy of the parties is substantially restricted by the provisions of the Schedule of Fees for Architects and Engineers. In order to receive contracts, many architects are willing to perform their services at rates below those defined in the Schedule of Fees for Architects and Engineers. Such contractual arrangements are generally considered invalid, resulting in an ambiguous contractual situation and preparing the way for future disputes. The constantly expanding scope of the architect's responsibilities, as well as the generally unresolved issue as to whether the architect is authorised to issue legal statements on behalf of the developer, may lead to disagreements in performance of the contract.
We work on behalf of architects and principals from the drafting of agreements forward in order to create a reliable basis for constructive execution of the construction project. Of course, we can assist both principals and architects in enforcing their claims in court as well. For principals, this usually involves prosecuting their warranty claims due to planning errors or improper supervision of the construction, while architects often have difficulty collecting their fees or fighting copyright infringements.
Skilled contact persons are available at each of our locations. In addition to specialized legal expertise, you can also expect an understanding of complex technical matters, an understanding which is indispensable for this field of law and for building law in general.
Banking, securities and guarantee law
Banking law is a focus of our activities. We advise and represent banks and bank customers.
In addition to typical issues in banking law, we also provide advice regarding specialised topics such as IT law for banks, offer routine consulting services for property funds and offer specific expertise in the field of ship financing in our Hamburg office. We also handle securities and investment law.
We provide advice regarding the law of loan securities, which is in flux, as well as guarantee law in general, combining our advice in this area with our expertise in the fields of corporate and business law, as well as insolvency law.
Building law
We offer services in the fields of public and private building law and related matters at all three locations, with 11 attorneys currently assigned to this area. Especially in times when the housing market is weak, there is a heightened need for consultation, so that it is advisable to involve us in the preparatory phase before concluding an agreement. Our development of construction contracts, adapted to the specific needs of the customer, or our review of such contracts from the contractor's perspective, is followed by legal consultation regarding the actual construction. In consultation with the client, problems and issues relating to the actual construction, such as claims for additional compensation, the scope of performance and interruptions to the construction schedule, are subjected to a legal review and a practical solution is found. Naturally, we can also provide assistance for invoicing problems and securing claims for compensation, as well as for the ensuing warranty phase. To this end, utilisation of arbitrators or the services of construction experts is indispensable.
We service construction projects throughout Germany. Our client structure in this regards extends from private developers to investors to public institutions and international construction groups. The properties we manage are similarly diverse, including single- and multi-family houses, hotels, shopping and convention centres, as well as bridges, flood barriers, ports, power plants, highways, railway tracks and racetracks.
Commercial and business law
As an old Hanseatic law firm, Ahlers & Vogel has been dealing with issues of commercial and business law since before the Commercial Code took effect, and it does so today as well. We advise businesses in all matters of commercial law, beginning with representation in corporate law (commercial powers of attorney, commercial agents), and through the law governing commercial agents, commercial brokers and other distribution structures (franchises, commission transactions, etc.). We have special expertise in the field of international commercial law.
Special areas of commercial law, such as shipping and transportation law, are handled by proven experts.
Ahlers & Vogel advises a broad range of companies, primarily mid-size companies, in the structuring and optimisation of agreements and in connection with disputes. We do not limit ourselves to the law relating to businesses, concentrating on the law relating to workers as well, whose legal relations with other companies are clearly affected by the provisions of commercial law.
Company and corporate law
We have always offered sound legal advice in the various areas of company and corporate law. Our services in this regard are not limited to consultation regarding the shaping of legal relations, but include the resolution of concrete conflicts. Whether a managing director or management board member is to be recalled or a resolution is to be challenged, the company must act properly in such cases, and the affected person must respond properly. We advise our clients regarding tactics while conducting negotiations and arguing their case before the court. We appreciate the importance of finding financially reasonable solutions to conflicts in corporate law, because we know that a trial is often not the solution to the problems facing a company.
Our services include: Formation consulting; Organisational consulting; Transformation and contributions; Corporate acquisitions and agreements; The law of corporate groups; Equity substitution law, insolvency consulting and restructuring; The law of corporate officers, i.e. managing directors and management board members; International corporate law; Arbitration law; Joint ventures.
Customs and excise law, export control
We serve many clients all over Germany including large international companies in a broad variety of customs and indirect tax matters including excise duties. We represent clients on all levels up to the Court of Justice of the European Union. Export control issues which include goods in transit are also handled on a regular basis as well.
Foundations and associations
Associations have traditionally had a strong role to play in Germany, and foundations have become increasingly significant.
Associations require legal advice not only when drafting bylaws, but often in order to resolve internal conflicts as well. We help management boards develop strategies to resolve the problems facing their associations. Since we are convinced that conflicts must remain within manageable limits in most cases, we advise our clients accordingly.
We advise a large number of non-profit associations, which must act with particular care due to their non-profit status. We also provide expert advice regarding the spin-off and formation of non-profit limited liability companies.
We advise foundations and founders in the establishment and conception of their foundations, e.g. as part of a will, whether as an independent foundation or as an expansion of existing foundations. Existing foundations can benefit from the experience of our attorneys as management board members and curators of various foundations.
Insolvency consulting
Almost daily, one reads new horror stories about the number of insolvencies breaking new records. This makes it all the more important for creditors to protect themselves from bad debt losses in time if insolvency is imminent and, in the event of insolvency, to exhaust all their rights and options in order to minimise their losses from bad debt. It is also of increasing importance for debtors to recognise problem signs in time and react properly, and to find ways out of the crisis. In order to meet these different needs, our attorneys specialise in the fields of insolvency law, company law and labour law, since those three fields of law are frequently intertwined from both the creditor's and the debtor's perspective, especially in times of crisis.
Services include: Creditor strategies for insolvency; Companies in crisis; Insolvency administration.
Insurance law
We represent advise both insurers and insurance customers in the field of insurance law, primarily in marine insurance law, but also in all other insurance lines, such as motor vehicle, contents, fire, burglary and theft, legal expenses, life, accident, health and occupational disability insurance, as well as private and supplementary liability insurance and professional liability insurance.
The services we provide are comprehensive and customised for each client's requirements. This includes consultation prior to concluding the insurance contract and providing routine advice to insurance customers in order to adapt operational processes to insurance coverage, if necessary, and to raise awareness for and explain risks and responsibilities. Our services also include ongoing consultation before and after occurrence of the loss, preparing and reviewing terms and conditions of insurance and representing insurers and insurance customers in judicial and extra-judicial disputes.
Intellectual property law
Intellectual property law includes the law governing unfair competition and anti-trust law, as well as patent, trademark and copyright law. The law governing unfair competition is essentially defined by the Act Against Unfair Competition (Gesetz gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb) and its supplementary statutes. Prosecutions of unfair competition cases have increased recently, due in no small part to developments which have made research easier over the internet, with sometimes draconian penalties, including skimming off profits. As a result, it is advisable to clarify in advance whether business activities constitute "unfair competition" or not. Since the relatively general elements cited in the Act Against Unfair Competition are ultimately filled out by judicial rulings, the provision of proper advice in this field requires constant attention to recent developments. We offer just that.
Problems in anti-trust law arise not only in the event of price fixing, but often in connection with corporate mergers and acquisitions as well. In this area as well, both German and European case law must be followed diligently in order to accurately assess the matter in question. The protection of patents, registered designs, trademarks and copyright law in general, as well as representation of interests in connection with petitions for injunctive relief from right holders or alleged right holders, are also gaining in importance. We advise and represent our clients in connection with the protection and defence of such proprietary rights.
IT law
Mostly from our Bremen office, we guarantee know-how and expert advice in the field of "information technology" and related legal matters, with a department currently consisting of two attorneys. Due especially to the increasing globalisation and the resulting use of technologies for communication and for the conclusion of agreements, there is a heightened need for consultation. Involving us in the planning phase of specific projects can ensure confident and effective appearance in the implementation of projects. Our services begin in the projection phase, in order to subject project-related problems and questions to an immediate legal review and find practical solutions.
We also help providers, trading companies and banks solve day-to-day problems in the field of IT, data processing and internet law. We stand beside young, up-and-coming companies from their formation on. The structuring of provider agreements, e-mail account agreements, web design agreements and agreements relating to domains are as routine for us as consultation and drafting agreements regarding the creation of companies on the internet or the supply of companies with hardware and software. We also draft all types of license, hosting and ASP agreements.
Labour law
Lawmakers are constantly introducing new laws, which are less and less consistent. As a result, labour law has become something of a "cratered landscape": it has become almost impossible for the non-specialist not to stumble in this unpredictable terrain. To make things worse, the German economy is experiencing a period of massive upheaval at the moment due to the global economic crisis, the increasing reach of the European Union, as well as homemade problems. In order to meet these requirements, along with the associated issues and problems in labour law, we have focused on making our labour law team highly specialised, as is demonstrated by our three attorneys specializing in labour law.
Areas of expertise include:Restructuring, Dismissals, Contracts, Works constitution, staff representation and collective agreement law, Disputes, Services.
Law of Succession and Family Law
Family law is a "broad field," including matrimonial law, the law governing relations between legitimate and illegitimate children and their parents and the law governing maintenance of relatives, maintenance claims of unwed mothers, the law of extra-marital cohabitation, adoption, curatorship, custody and guardianship and related fields of law.
For many couples, there is a need and necessity to reach a settlement even before the marriage through a marriage agreement. We provide comprehensive advice in this regard with respect to your options in structuring the agreement and the legal limits of such contracts.
If course, we assist our clients not only in connection with the marriage process, but in disputes before family courts as well, e.g. in child custody or right of access disputes, maintenance disputes, surplus equalisation proceedings, pension rights adjustment proceedings, etc.
Medical law
Medical law includes all legal standards for physicians and the medical profession. This law does not appear in a self-contained system or comprehensive codification, although individual professional laws and statutes have been enacted. Instead, there are scattered provisions in civil, criminal, social and procedural law which relate to physicians in particular. Sound knowledge of tax and corporate law is also indispensable in order to open a practice, as well as for disputes. Also of increasing importance for physicians and hospitals is the issue of permissible advertising for medical services, where provisions of professional law, the Medicament Advertising Act and the Act Against Unfair Competition collide.
After years of representing and advising several large hospitals, private hospital operators and a large number of medical practitioners, we have particular experience in this area.
Areas of expertise include: Medical liability law, Professional law, Registered physician law, Group practices, Medical care centres, Integrated care.
Public contracts
We advise both contractors and public contract placing authorities on matters relating to the law of public contracts.
We offer legal assistance to contract placing authorities subject to national or European public contract law, particularly in the awarding of construction contracts (procedures in accordance with Part B of the General Rules for the Award of Public Works Contracts [VOB/B]) and architectural services (procedures in accordance with the General Rules for the Award of Freelance Services [VOF]) in all phases of the award procedure. Our services range from helping draft the tendering documents to assisting in the legal assessment of the bids to defence in review procedures.
We also advise contractor in all phases of the contract awarding procedure. Our consulting services are focused on construction companies seeking contracts for major construction projects as part of Europe-wide award procedures. We will assess the lawfulness of the planned award decision, draft letters of protest and conduct review procedures. Since bidders who feel that they have been unjustly treated as part of a public contract procedure only have a few days to protest the alleged violation, bidders in that position require timely legal advice. Unlike other fields of law, there is no time for orientation into public contract law. Our attorneys are capable of providing sound and timely advice about public contract law, having been involved in numerous review procedures since the reform of public contract law in 1999 and demonstrating their expertise, e.g. through various publications.
Rental and condominium law
There is hardly any other field of law which has such strong relevance for nearly everyone and which has undergone such significant changes, due to legislation and legal rulings. Supposedly "simple" matters, such as the conclusion of lease agreements, may quickly lead to situations which take lessors and lessees to the brink of insolvency, often for a period of many years. In order to place lease relations on a secure and stable basis, there is a heightened need for explanation and consultation, especially before concluding long-term lease agreements. In addition to drafting lease agreements, customised to the special needs of the clients and featuring individual solutions, we naturally assess any pre-existing contractual relations, as well as any issues posed by the client. We also accompany the lease relation as an advisor, e.g. with respect to strategies in the event of overdue payments, rent adjustments, warranty rights for defects and in the settlement of heating and operating costs. The termination and wind-up of lease relations requires particularly intensive consultation, since the interests of lessors and lessees are often far apart at that time. Due to our practical experience in judicial disputes as well, we are in a position to protect and enforce your rights in a timely manner in advance.
Condominium law has become increasingly significant. A rising number of residential buildings are being divided into condominiums, in addition to the construction of new condominiums and the transfer of condominiums to different owners. But wherever people live together at close quarters, or wherever people share common rights, disputes often arise, since the individual must suddenly subordinate his or her interests to those of the group, the condominium association. Anticipating this, our consultants begin crafting appropriate solutions for condominium declarations or condominium rules as early as the planning and establishment phase of the condominium association. The advice and representation we offer to existing condominium associations extends from very formal problems in condominium law to the preparation and execution of condominium meetings and the facilitation of resolutions through representation in judicial appeals against resolutions. Of course, we also assist building managers in questions relating to day-to-day operations, and for special cases, including issues affecting the relationship between building management and the condominium association and the relationship between the condominium association and the former building manager, for the purpose of transferring management of the building.
Shipping and transport law
We have extensive experience in shipping law at all three locations, all traditional maritime trading cities. This field of law is a particular focus of our Hamburg office: all the attorneys in that office have specialised expertise and experience in this area, although with different areas of emphasis. Our experience extends from shipbuilding agreements and deliveries, ship registrations and financing of oceangoing vessels, formulating and applying charter agreements, settling the consequences of collisions and maritime accidents, consultation in bill of lading disputes to day-to-day consultation in the event of irregularities in maritime transport, e.g. handling cargo damage and associated ship arrests.
Beyond the field of cargo shipping itself, we have pronounced expertise and experience in all areas of transport law, i.e. the shipment of goods using other modes of transportation, as well as forwarding and logistics. Our clients benefit from this broad range of professional services in the event of disputes, as well as in the form of advice and the drafting of general and specific contractual provisions. More and more frequently today, shipments are executed with more than one mode of transportation. "Multi-modal transports," like forwarding and, in particular, port forwarding, raise a wide range of specific problems which require a great deal of experience. To this end, it is generally not enough to consult German law alone; rather, a complex and eclectic system of international agreements must be considered, in addition to foreign law. For matters of international law, we maintain extensive connections with foreign law firms and academic institutes, often enabling us to rapidly obtain up-to-date information about foreign legal systems as necessary.
Tax law
Tax law is increasingly becoming a focus of the firm's activities. In close collaboration with the client's tax consultants, we concentrate on developing tax-optimised solutions and handle appeals before the tax courts for many tax consultant firms, all the way to the Federal Fiscal Court.
We also represent our clients' interests in criminal proceedings in connection with tax offences.
Since we have extensive experience representing companies involved in international trade, we have special expertise in the field of customs and excise taxes. These matters are handled in the form of precautionary consulting, as well in formal proceedings, including representation before the European Court of Justice.
Traffic law
Traffic law is becoming ever more complicated. Everyone, regardless of age, is necessarily a traffic participant, whether as a pedestrian or as a driver.
We offer our clients sound advice and representation in all areas of traffic law. This requires familiarity with civil law, criminal law and administrative law in equal parts. In addition, a basic knowledge of traffic medicine and psychology is indispensable, as well as a technical understanding of matters relating to accident analysis.
Our services include defence in cases before criminal and traffic courts, advice and representation in matters relating to driver's licenses in proceedings before criminal, traffic and administrative courts (revocation and re-issuance of driving licenses, driving bans, medical/psychological examinations), including the new EU driver's license law. We also offer representation in civil law pertaining to traffic offences, both in and out of court, as well as prosecution and defence of claims in the event of personal injury or property damage and settlement negotiations with liability and comprehensive cover insurance providers.
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