1. These Terms of Engagement (“Terms”) apply to all agreements between B4U law – Rechtsanwalt Tim A. Fongern (“Legal Counsel”) and the Client except where the Legal Counsel and the Client have made an express agreement in writing to the contrary or mandatory provisions of law provide otherwise.
2. To the extent legally permissible, the liability of the Legal Counsel for damage caused by negligence will be limited to EUR 1 million per case except in the event of death, bodily injury or illness. Where work is performed by attorneys-at-law (Rechtsanwälte), however, this limitation of liability will only apply to cases of simple negligence. The limitation of liability will also apply to any liability of the Legal Counsel to third parties. Damage resulting from several breaches of duty will constitute a single case of damage. Each single case of damage will encompass all consequences of a breach of duty, irrespective of whether the damage occurred in one or more successive years. Multiple acts or omissions resulting from the same or a similar source of error will be considered a single breach of duty if they relate to matters that are either legally or economically related. The total liability of the Partnership will be limited to EUR 1 million where several Clients and/or third parties are entitled to assert a claim against it. The Legal Counsel maintains third-party liability insurance with coverage several times that of the minimum amounts prescribed by law.
3. A claim for damages may be brought against the Legal Counsel no later than one year from the date when the Client becomes aware of the damage and of the event giving rise to the claim; however, no claim may be brought later than five years from the date of the event giving rise to the claim. The claim will expire if the Client does not commence action within a period of six months after he or she is notified by the Legal Counsel in writing that it refuses to remedy the damage and is notified of the six-month time limit. The foregoing will be without prejudice to the Legal Counsel’s right to plead that the claim is time-barred.
4. The Client is hereby advised of the possibility of single item insurance. Where he or she considers the liability coverage specified in clause 2. to be inadequate, the Legal Counsel will take out single item insurance upon request if the Client agrees to bear the additional costs incurred thereby.
5. The Legal Counsel will not be held liable for any statements made and information given by telephone or by any other verbal means.
6. Where the Legal Counsel acts for two or more Clients, the Clients will be jointly and severally liable to the Legal Counsel for all obligations owed to the Legal Counsel. The Clients will also be joint and several creditors in respect of the Legal Counsel. Instructions issued and information given to the Legal Counsel by one Client will be binding on the other Clients unless one of them objects in writing. If this occurs, the Legal Counsel may terminate the engagement immediately.
7. The Legal Counsel is entitled to subcontract all or part of his services to subcontractors.
8. The Legal Counsel will be entitled to receive money and money equivalents on behalf of the Client and will be entitled to use same to satisfy its claims for remuneration and reimbursement.
9. The Legal Counsel’s duty to keep and hand over working files will expire five years from the termination of his engagement. At the end of the five-year period, he may destroy all of the Client’s files in his possession if he has first requested the Client to take receipt of the working files and the Client has not done so within six months of receiving such request.
10. Exclusively German substantive law applies to all agreements between the Legal Counsel and the respective Client, the performance thereof and any claims arising therefrom.
11. The Legal Counsel draws attention to Sec. 36 of the German Consumer Dispute Resolution Act (Verbraucherstreitbeilegungsgesetz) and the fact that he is not obliged nor willing to participate in dispute resolution procedures before a consumer arbitration board.
12. These Terms will apply to all current and future engagements without any necessity for reference to them to be repeated. They do not release the Legal Counsel from compliance with the relevant professional codes of conduct.
13. The Client undertakes to treat confidential all written documents (expert opinions, memorandums, etc.) provided to him or her and will not pass them on or reveal their content to third parties unless the Legal Counsel’s prior written approval has been obtained. The Client undertakes to impose the same obligation on his or her own employees. The Client may allow an expert bound by professional secrecy rules who is advising him or her in the same matter access to documents provided by the Legal Counsel, even without his prior approval, if he or she has placed such expert under an obligation to treat the documents confidential.
14. If the Client has supplied the Legal Counsel with an email address, he or she thereby consents to him forwarding him or her information relating to the engagement by e-mail. The Client is fully aware of the fact that emails can contain viruses, that other internet users can obtain knowledge of the content of emails and that there is no guarantee that the emails received actually originated from the sender indicated. The Client is hereby advised of the possibility of eliminating said risks, at least partially, by using encrypted email communication. If the Client wishes that the email he or she receives from the Legal Counsel be encrypted, an agreement with the Legal Counsel in which the encryption key is agreed will be necessary.
15. Should any of the provisions of these Terms be or become invalid or should there be any gaps in these Terms, this will not affect the validity of the remaining provisions. The parties undertake to replace the invalid provision and/or fill the gap with such valid provision as most closely approximates the provision the Client and the Legal Counsel would have agreed upon if they had been aware of the invalidity or gap. This applies in particular to the situation where a provision is invalid because it is broader in scope than what is legally permissible.

These terms of engagement are the version of July 2021 and are currently applicable.

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