Labour

As employer and as employee you can rely on our vast experience in consulting on individual and on collective labor law. With our expertise we offer the following consulting services:

  • planning and announcing a vacancy
  • formulating tailored contracts
  • checking existing employment contracts (e.g. validity of clauses like general terms and conditions clauses, of replacement provisions and of conractual penalties)
  • proper handling cases of breach of contract (e.g. by warning/reminder, written warning or dismissal)
  • strategic advice on dissolution, respective liquidation of employment (e.g. by dismissal, dissolution contract or termination agreement)

Our team of lawyers and advisors is ready to assist you in cases of operational changes, dismissal complaints or other urgent issues.

Personality Rights

The 'Personality Right' (also known as 'Rights of Publicity') is the right to control the commercial use of your name, likeness, image, voice and other aspects of your identity. For celebrities in the entertainment and sports industries, but also for everyday people, protecting personality rights is an important issue with significant financial ramifications.

Audits by the governmental authorithies

The German pension authority (Deutsche Rentenversicherung) check at least every four years, whether employers comply with all notification requirements and other obligations concerning the overall social insurance contribution (§ 28p SGB IV). These audits include notification requirements of the social insurance law for artists and payment of social security contributions for artists. With our expertise we are ready to assist you with preparing and implementing audits by the Deutsche Rentenversicherung as well as assisting with opposition or legal proceedings. We offer particular expertise in: 

  • administrative acts on compulsory insurance and social insurance contribution levels
  • estimating remuneration through accumulated contribution notices
  • obligatory social security contributions for artists
  • levels of social security contributions for artists and levels of advance payments according to the social insurance law for artists.

 

Employee´s Co-determination

The cooperation of the operating partners - of employer and of works council - contains complex legal questions, e.g. the course of elections of the works council, costs and material cost of the works council or codetermination on economic and social issues. You, your company or your works council will benefit from our vast experience in advising international companies, in particular on training of employees, on elaborating bargaining agreements and on extrajudicial settlements.

Data Privacy Laws

The data privacy laws protect the individual from abusive use of personal data. The core of the data privacy laws consists of the right to informational self-determination. We assist companies in implementing and complying with regulations on data privacy (federal data privacy laws/BDSG etc.) and offer the services of an external data protection officer. We advise individuals in cases of abuse or violation of personal data (e.g. employee data protection, online data protection ).

Design Protection

Design protection means protection of two- or three-dimensional appearances. Protection of such appearances can rarely be granted by the copyright law and thus often requires a registration as national design patent or Europe-wide Community design. A design patent essentially protects designs of products or parts thereof which arise from the lines, contours, colours, surface texture and material used or from the overall appearance. Prerequisites for protection are novelty and individuality. We will assist you with your design patent application or with protection against unlawful appropriation (counterfeiting or plagiarising of merchandise).

European Law

We offer extensive advice on law of the European Union, in particular on questions concerning free exchange of goods and services as well as freedom of movement for workers within the European Union. Another focus of our services consists in advice on how to protect your rights Europe-wide.

Industrial Property

Protection for industrial property  includes, amongst others, trademark law, protection by the utility model and design law. Additionally the term 'Industrial Property usually includes the competition law and the protection of intellectual property rights with its related protection rights.

Trade Law

We advise companies and single-member companies on formulating contracts and on legal proceedings with trade partners. Additional to formulating general terms and conditions, agency agreements, distribution agreements, etc., we regularly assist our clients with all questions concerning commercial legal protection.

Real Estate

Buying and selling real estate and property often requires reliable legal advice. Additionally to advising you on all legal questions we are also ready to support you as competent negotiators. 

Debt Collection

Effective enforcement and collection of outstanding debts require the exhaustion of all available legal subpoenas. If necessary, we will cooperate with reputable detective agencies and investigators to trace potentially hidden financial assets.

Internet Law

The area of internet law includes various legal matters like copyright, data privacy laws, domain law, electronic commerce, protection of privacy / protection against defamation, image rights, the area of entertainment law, etc. As stated media lawyers we are a competent partner for questions concerning internet commerce or breach of personal rights in the internet on Facebook, Twitter and other social networks. Naturally we frequently also help affected internet users who have receipt  a dissuasion because of filesharing or other property rights infringements.

Trademark Law

We can assist you in registering national word marks and figurative marks or Community trade marks. Furthermore, we will see your trade mark application through and we will inform you about compliance with deadlines. We regularly are a competent partner in cases of infringement of trademarks and dissuasion.

Media Law

The term media law delineates a multitude of fields of law, which emerged in the period of digitalization and further development of multimedia. Besides the protection of personality rights, media law includes the fields of law of press law, copyright, publishing law, music law, trademark law, competition law, event law, electronic commerce, labour law and data protection. As stated media lawyers  we advise on and represent our clients in and out of court on all questions concerning modern communications systems.

Medical Law

Our experienced lawyers can advise you on all relevant questions concerning medical law, especially on medical malpractice law, health insurance physician law and health insurance law. In this connection we work with experienced mediators, if necessary or wanted, to promote quick, out of court dispute settlements in the interest of all parties.

Tenancy Law

German tenancy law is increasingly defined by comprehensive case law. Based on our vast experience in the area of acquisition and tenancy of real estate, we regularly advise and represent owners and lessors on disputed settlements with tenants, predominantly on tenancy law for premises. We assist you with the reasons or termination of tenancy.

Entertainment law

Our entertainment attorneys represent writers, right holders, producers, directors, actors, composers and musicians in structuring and negotiating their agreements with studios, record labels, publishing houses and production companies. We also represent producers and production companies in their rights acquisition and production legal activities, and well as in their distribution and rights management needs.

Press Law

As stated media lawyers we constantly advise and represent  celebrities, actors, artists, athletes and politicians as well as individuals who became victims of unwarranted media coverage in television, print and online media. We will assist you in cases of improper photo publication and other breaches of personality rights. Please do not hesitate to contact us immediately, as the defence against improper coverage regularly does not for bear postponement. 

Sports law

Whether it has to do with individual athletes within the various professional sports industries, or entire professional sporting entities, our lawyers have handled the business and personal matters of athletes and entrepreneurs with undeniable vested interests and integrity.

Criminal Law

Often mandates concerning press law are linked to penal accusations so that our clients have great interest in both competent penal pleas as well as professional media law pleas. That is why we offer our clients a professional crisis management (reputation management, crisis PR, litigation PR) besides cooperating with accomplished criminal defence lawyers.

Copyright

The copyright law serves as protection and security of creative people and their intellectual property. This includes publishing law and music law. We advise artists, media professionals and individuals on enforcing their claims and in defence against unwarranted claims (e.g.  dissuasions due to breach of image rights, counterfeiting or plagiarising of merchandise, file sharing, etc.). 

Law of Contract

We advise our clients on the conclusion of various civil contracts and will assist as negotiators. Due to our loyal, fair and assertive negotiating style we generally have been able to enforce the interest of our clients even in seemingly hopeless negotiations.

Business dispute

Litigation is often about efficiently analyzing complex legal and business challenges, and understanding litigation risk. All too often attorneys think and express themselves in terms of 'cause and effect' or 'action/reaction'. While our business litigators have impressive records as trial lawyers, we additionally focus on achieving creative, efficient, cost-effective solutions for our clients.

Competition Law

The competition law protects companies from unfair practices of competitors like boycott, slander and distribution of plagiarisms or the unlawful obstruction of market actors. According to that the integrity of trade takes centre stage and is nationally protected by the unfair competition law (UWG).