FORMING INTERNATIONAL TEAMS

Many of our cases involve parties from different countries and jurisdictions. Therefore we are often faced with the challenge of having to put together international teams of specialized lawyers, surveyors, investigators, IT- and other experts. In these cases we face the same challenge as, for example, foreign insurers or industrial companies that have to handle claims in Germany.

How do we proceed?

Our first choice is of course specialists from our global network who we know personally, with whom we have already worked and of whom we simply know that they are capable.
The second choice is recommendations from our network. We have never had a bad experience with this either, even if you never know beforehand whether the chemistry is right. Here too, mutual trust is the key.
If there is no personal point of contact, certain rankings can help with a pre-selection if they are based on case research. The combination with corresponding publications offers at least some certainty that specialist knowledge in the required area is available.
We do not rely on well-known brands alone. The size and reputation of a law firm, an expert’s office or other service provider alone offers no guarantee that a suitable expert with the necessary specialist knowledge is actually working on site.

If someone is looking for suitable lawyers in Germany, the system of bar certified specialist lawyers is helpful for orientation. The German bar associations can grant specialized lawyers the title of a bar certified specialist lawyer (Fachanwalt) for a specific area of law on a uniform legal basis. The prerequisites are admission as a lawyer for at least 3 years and special theoretical knowledge that has been proven in a course of 120 hours with a final written examination lasting no less than 15 hours. Finally, the lawyer must prove his practical experience by providing the Bar with evidence in 80 cases he has personally worked on. With over 165,000 lawyers in Germany, the search can be narrowed down to a shortlist for example of just under 250 bar certified specialist lawyers in the fields of transport and forwarding law and international commercial law. These can usually be accessed via the electronic search engines of the local chambers.