Legal Billing - Differences between Germany and the US (Part 2)

And on we go - one part of the legal billing that has always been treated differently, is the one surrounding criminal matters and administrative fines. Historically legal work in the area of criminal matters and administrative fines was considered a part of the legal practices that require a different approach and therefore should follow a different billing-philosophy. Having said this, for decades the billing in this field would not take into consideration the amount of time and preparation that was needed in preparation as well as presentation before the trial, but mainly the trial itself. All that was changed with the 2004 changes in the RVG; criminal matters are now contained in part 4 of the RVG annex. Here it is determined that in addition to a procedural fee, a basic fee has to be set for the process to get familiar with the matter, and one in case a preliminary hearing and/or investigation is deemed necessary. Should the court appoint counsel, her fee corresponds to 80% of the fee of a chosen counsel. Administrative fines are set in the following part of the annex, part 5. They follow the rules for fees for criminal matters.
Now to an area that is especially interesting for non-billable staff. How are they put in the billing picture? Similar to the concept behind the amount for billing by the hour, attorneys will add into their spreadsheet the time they anticipate their support personal to spend on the matter. Named support staff consists mainly of legal secretaries who work the administrative side of the case, as well as research attorneys. While the German legal system does not know law librarians, we do have something similar in the person of research attorneys, who will not be paid the same amount as a fully licensed attorney but bring with them a tremendous amount of knowledge (like a law librarian).

Legal Billing - Differences between Germany and the US (Part 1)

Lately a couple of interesting blog postings (especially Toby Brown's on 3 Geeks and a Law Blog), as well as articles have been published around the issue of billing by the hour or so-called "alternative billing". Having been educated and practiced in Germany, a legal system that lives and breathes anything but billing by the hour, I have been astonished for the longest time, how law firms can charge clients as much as they do, when said clients might not know what the bill will look like in the end.
The fees set by German lawyers are calculated on the basis of either the law on the remuneration of lawyers, the Rechtsanwaltsverguetungsgesetz (RVG) or on the basis of negotiated fees. The negotiation of fees is always a possibility but it has to be set in writing and the sect. 4 RVG as well as sect. 49 Bundesrechtsanwaltsordnung (BRAO) have to be taken in consideration. German law does not allow the negotiation of a fee that would only be paid in case of success.
How is the RVG organized? The RVG does contain general provisions regarding fees as well as an appendix listing individual acts performed by the attorney and the respective applicable rate. It provides for a number of different types of fees, which are either fixed or within a fixed range.
How is a fee set? If the fee is to be determined within a fee range, the attorney chooses the amount at her own discretion in an equitable manner. She has to take into account the circumstances linked with the case, especially scope and difficulty of the legal work, importance of the matter as well as the income and financial well-being of the client (sect. 14 (1) RVG). Additionally her risk of liability might be taken into consideration.


More information regarding the different types of legal work in the upcoming part 2.

Link of the month - Facts about Germany!

While looking for information about the legal billing in Germany I came across this interesting website and thought it makes an informative link of the month. It is called "Facts about Germany" and offers a variety of information in several languages from Arabic to Ukrainian.

Link of the month - EJIL: Talk!

This month the European Journal of International Law entered the blogosphere with its own blog, and (so far) it is as well thought through as its journal articles.
Under the title "EJIL:Talk!" Dapo Akande, a well known scholar in the field of international criminal law and international dispute settlement, posts a few articles about the 60th anniversary about the Universal Declaration of Human Rights and an impressive (and sad) human rights recapture of the year 2008.

Link of the month - Juristisches Internetprojekt Saarbruecken

This link is not new but still good, it is actually one of the oldest and most reliable web sites in the German legal research arena - the Juristisches Internetprojekt Saarbruecken. It started out in 1993 as a project in Professor Herberger's Legal Information Science class, and has since developed to a platform with a variety of tabs to different international and European legal sources. Especially to have links to decisions from the European Courts, the French and the German courts all on one site makes it very handy. Only disadvantage, the web site is mainly in German with some content in French and English.

Private Limited Companies Act in Germany reformed

Since May 2006 the federal legislator had been working hard to modernise the Law Governing Private Limited Companies and to Combat Abuses (AMPrLCCA). After going the way all bills go on the Committee on Legal Affairs of the German Federal Parliament in January 2008 conducted a public hearing of experts concerning the reform of private limited companies. Further steps were taken and the Act entered into force on November 1st 2008.

More information about the Act is available in German and a law journal article by Matthias Casper in English.

New Regulations regarding German Federal Central Register

Today (October 15, 2008) the Federal Cabinet decided to renew the administrative regulations regarding the Federal law of Central Register(Bundeszentralregister). Currently to receive notifications about entries in the register one has to apply in writing and paper form. In the future this shall be possible via a secure internet system.

The new act shall become law on January 1, 2009. The Federal Assembly (Bundesrat) needs to approve.