Subject of Consultation

The tasks brought to us vary from simple legal questions that can be answered quickly to highly complex life situations with potentially existential significance for you as a client. In some cases, it’s about a defined amount of money, while in others, the importance of the case is difficult to express in euros. Moreover, a distinction must be made between whether it’s about consultation, an out-of-court negotiation, or whether a court proceeding is necessary. Additionally, very different billing models are sensible in the individual legal areas. The guidelines set by the legislator in the Lawyers’ Remuneration Act (RVG) are authoritative in legal consultation.

Since inquiries are as diverse as life itself, there cannot be one fair remuneration system that does justice to all cases. Therefore, the legislator has provided the opportunity to negotiate fees largely freely. Our concern is to inform you openly and transparently about the incurred costs and fees in every case. So please feel free to ask if anything is unclear to you.

In accordance with the legal regulation in § 9 RVG, we regularly ask you for an advance on the expected fee before taking on a mandate for the first time. This advance is, of course, fully credited towards our interim invoice(s) or the final invoice.

If you outline your case to us via email through the contact request and emphasize that you are initially only interested in learning about the anticipated amount of costs for taking on the mandate, we will gladly submit an individual offer to you.

Initial Consultation

However, a realistic estimation of costs is not always possible in advance. In these cases, we offer an initial consultation for an agreed fixed amount, so you know from the start what costs you must expect for the first meeting.

During this initial consultation, which typically can last up to an hour, many questions can already be clarified with good preparation. The costs for such an initial consultation usually do not exceed EUR 249.90 (incl. VAT), regardless of the respective value of the matter, no matter how high it may be. For simple cases or a significantly shorter consultation duration, this amount may also be lower.

Fee Agreement

In most cases, we will conclude a fee agreement based on the facts you have described. Usually, either a remuneration according to the Lawyers’ Remuneration Act (RVG) is determined or a billing based on an agreed hourly rate. In suitable cases, we also offer flat-rate agreements. Feel free to contact us.

If we agree on hourly rates, these typically start from EUR 240.00 plus VAT (EUR 285.60 gross). In justified individual cases, this can also be deviated from downwards. The amount of the hourly rate takes into account both the difficulty and complexity of the respective case as well as the degree of specialization of the lawyer handling your case.

For long-term clients, we may also offer the conclusion of consulting contracts with fixed monthly flat rates and/or flexible hourly contingents. If you are interested in this, please contact us.

For special areas, e.g., intellectual property searches and applications, we work on the basis of flat rates, which you can find under Intellectual Property Applications.

If no separate written agreement is made, the fees as stipulated in the Lawyers’ Remuneration Act (RVG) will apply. You can determine the costs via the following links. There you will also find further information about the Lawyers’ Remuneration Act, clear fee tables, and much more.

Cost Support

Regardless of whether you have a right to cost reimbursement in the end or not, costs (advance payment, court costs) regularly incur initially, which you must bear yourself. There are various ways to support you in this, whether because you have appropriate legal expenses insurance or are “poor” in the sense of the law or at least temporarily unable to bear the costs.

The principle is that no one who wishes to file a seemingly successful lawsuit should be denied the right to receive committed and appropriate advice and have their interests represented in court due to the lack of ability to provide an advance payment for court costs. Therefore, there is the so-called legal aid. You can learn more here.

In recent times, various so-called litigation financiers have also established themselves in the market, who assume the cost risk in exchange for a percentage share of the potential litigation success and can thus be helpful in certain situations where you currently cannot or do not want to bear the costs. You can find more information here.