Contract Law

Contracts are concluded daily in all areas of life, mostly orally and without thinking about it. However, immense financial values are at stake in trade and business, in company law, in real estate transfers and in plant and mechanical engineering, which requires special care. Thus, the possible risks and consequences should be determined before the contract is concluded in order to avoid surprises at a later date, especially of a financial nature.

During our years of practice, we have gained experience in all areas of contract law. We can therefore also support our clients in special areas of law at the process of contract drafting.

Our lawyers for contract law draft, review and negotiate for you, e.g.

• General Terms and Conditions
• Plant construction contracts
• Architect contracts
• Construction contracts
• Share purchase contracts
• Freight contracts
• Franchise agreements
• Partnership agreements
• Commercial agency contracts
• Purchase and supply contracts
• Leasing agreements
• License agreements
• Rental and lease agreements
• Statutes
• Software leasing agreements
• Company purchase agreements
• Distribution contracts, e.g. dealer agreements

Our speciality: Anglo-Saxon model contracts

In the course of globalization, more and more contracts are being concluded according to the Anglo-Saxon model and above all in English. These contracts are almost always very extensive, since – unlike continental European model contracts – they regulate all legal consequences and variations in detail. Hardly anyone can read and understand these contracts completely, so that a degree of uncertainty almost always remains.

As an international law firm, we have been working with these contracts for many years, checking them and asserting your interests. In many cases, this is even easier than with purely German contracts that refer to existing laws.

We recommend the following checklist when concluding an international contract:

• Check the creditworthiness of the contractual partner
• Get a sample contract
• Determine negotiation and contract language
• Write down the Letter of Intent (LOI) and the text of the contract
• Contract clauses in short and clear sentences
• Make us of limitation of liability clauses
• Determine applicable law and place of jurisdiction/arbitration
• Before signing the contract, read it again slowly and word for word

We will be glad to help you. Please contact us for an initial, non-binding and free examination of your request.

Dr. Frank Schmitz