1. An overview of our services
1.1 Legalpaca GmbH, Bernhard-Lichtenberg-Str 13, 10407 Berlin (hereinafter referred to as “lawyer4expats.de”) is the provider and operator of the internet platform “lawyer4expats.de”. lawyer4expats.de brokers services from lawyers and law firms to natural persons (hereinafter referred to as “you”) under “lawyer4expats.de”. In particular, lawyer4expats.de provides free initial counselling by lawyers on selected legal topics. The user is called by a partner lawyer on the telephone number provided.
lawyer4expats.de also informs its users on the lawyer4expats.de website about labour law issues, among other things. There we provide our users with general information on the topics of dismissal, severance pay, labour law and similar topics. This general information may, according to our selection, include articles on areas of law, judgements and case collections, sample contracts, calculation programs, legal tips and blog articles on current topics.
lawyer4expats.de reserves the right to restrict, adapt or no longer offer individual or all services in the future without giving reasons.
1.2 These terms and conditions of mediation only apply to the mediation of services as defined in section 1.1. They regulate the contractual relationship between the user and lawyer4expats.de. Lawyers and law firms enter into separate business agreements with lawyer4expats.de.
2. Conclusion of licence agreement and transmission of information
2.1 In order to use parts of our offer, it is necessary to commission lawyer4expats.de. This is free of charge. We use so-called “surveys” to request the data required for the assignment. Within the survey, the user enters his or her name, an e-mail address, postcode and telephone number and – optionally – other requested data.
2.2 To place an order, it is necessary for the user to agree to these terms and conditions by ticking the Privacy policy and these terms and conditions and clicking on the “Send request” button (or similar wording). As part of the commissioning process, we assume that you as a user are a natural person over the age of 18 with unlimited legal capacity. The transmission of user information is regulated in detail in our privacy policy.
2.3 A contractual user relationship between the user and lawyer4expats.de (the “User Agreement”) is created upon commissioning.
2.4 The editorial content on the lawyer4expats.de website does not constitute legal advice or advice in individual cases. It expressly does not replace sound legal advice in individual cases from lawyers authorised for this purpose.
3. Mediation of a lawyer by lawyer4expats.de including free initial assessment
3.1 lawyer4expats.de gives the user the opportunity to have his/her data transmitted to authorised lawyers for the purpose of a free initial assessment of the submitted matter. The user does not incur any costs for the use of the lawyer4expats.de platform, the forwarding of the information to a lawyer and the initial assessment of the prospects of success by a mediated lawyer.
3.2 As a mediation platform, lawyer4expats.de forwards your enquiry and the data contained therein to a suitable external lawyer. By submitting his/her data/enquiry, the user authorises lawyer4expats.de to forward the enquiry to the lawyer selected by lawyer4expats.de and to provide the necessary information and data. We select the lawyer according to who, in our opinion and experience, is particularly suitable for processing the case or facts or the information requested in each case. It is not possible to predict which lawyer the data will be passed on to before or at the time of your enquiry. However, it is guaranteed that the data will only be forwarded to persons who have a relevant specialisation. The forwarding of the user’s enquiry to a lawyer expressly does not constitute a legal services contract between the user and the lawyer. Neither the user nor the lawyer referred are obliged to conclude a corresponding contract due to the forwarding by lawyer4expats.de. Even a free initial assessment, if received, does not oblige the user to accept further offers.
3.3 Unfortunately, it may happen that, at the discretion of lawyer4expats.de, no suitable lawyer is found for an appropriate handling of the matter and therefore the mediation cannot be carried out. In this case, there are no legal claims to the mediation by lawyer4expats.de to a lawyer or a law firm. Of course, lawyer4expats.de reserves the right not to mediate the case if the user provides recognisably false information.
3.4 If a contract is concluded between the user and a lawyer or law firm mediated by lawyer4expats.de, its content is based on the agreements made there between these parties. lawyer4expats.de does not become a contractual partner and is not liable for any breaches of duty by the contracting parties. The mediation service of lawyer4expats.de therefore expressly does not create a lawyer-client relationship between lawyer4expats.de and the user. lawyer4expats.de merely mediates the user to the respective lawyer. Contracting parties in connection with the provision of legal advice or initial assessments are solely the respective user and the lawyer or law firm. Any services provided by registered, independent lawyers or law firms are provided only by them.
3.5 If contact is made outside the portal before the offer is accepted and a contract is concluded between you and the lawyer with regard to the facts transmitted, you are obliged to inform us of this.
4. Term and cancellation of the contract of use
4.1 The contract of use between lawyer4expats.de and the user is concluded for an indefinite period and can be cancelled by lawyer4expats.de with a notice period of four weeks, by the user at any time and without notice.
4.2 Upon termination of the contract of use, lawyer4expats.de is authorised and obliged to irrevocably delete any member account assigned to you. The deletion of personal data and other information that was transmitted to the lawyer or service provider in the course of a free initial assessment or an existing or concluded client relationship between you and the brokered lawyer is the responsibility of the respective lawyer or service provider.
4.3 lawyer4expats.de reserves the right to terminate the user relationship with immediate effect and to block the user account in the event of good cause, in particular in the event of breaches of these terms and conditions of brokerage and other contractual obligations, or in the event of disruption, misuse or damage to the reputation of this platform.
5. Liability of lawyer4expats.de
5.1 lawyer4expats.de assumes no liability for the legal assessment of your matter made by a mediated lawyer. lawyer4expats.de merely provides the platform for the transmission of case-relevant information within the framework of the licence agreement. The legal assessment and the recommendation for action are the responsibility of the mediated lawyer s. The lawyer is liable for violations of the lawyer contract existing between you and the lawyer in accordance with the statutory provisions. lawyer4expats.de is not a party to the lawyer contract.
5.2 In case of violations of the contract of use via the platform by lawyer4expats.com, lawyer4expats.com shall be liable in accordance with the statutory provisions for damages of the contractual partner caused by intentional or grossly negligent behaviour of lawyer4expats.com or its vicarious agents as well as for personal injury and damages under the Product Liability Act. Furthermore, the liability of lawyer4expats.de for claims for damages is limited in accordance with the following provisions, unless otherwise stated in a guarantee given by lawyer4expats.de.
5.3 For damages caused by slight negligence, lawyer4expats.de’s liability is limited to the typically foreseeable damage. For damages caused by delay due to slight negligence, the liability of lawyer4expats.de is limited to the typically foreseeable damage. The provisions of this paragraph also apply accordingly to a limitation of the obligation to pay compensation for futile expenses (§ 284 BGB). The above limitations of liability also apply in favour of vicarious agents of lawyer4expats.de.
5.4 lawyer4expats.de accepts no liability for the accuracy of our editorial contributions.
6. Disruptions to utilisation
A claim to use the platform services exists only within the framework of the current state of the art. lawyer4expats.de always endeavours to avoid any disruptions in the use of the services. Unfortunately, this is not always possible for technical reasons. lawyer4expats.de may temporarily restrict or completely suspend its services if this becomes necessary for reasons of capacity, security or to carry out technical measures such as maintenance or updating work. lawyer4expats.de endeavours to protect the legitimate interests of users, for example by providing advance information about any service disruptions in good time. Finally, lawyer4expats.co.uk shall ensure that the restrictions on use, insofar as these originate from the sphere of lawyer4expats.co.uk, are within a reasonable scope. lawyer4expats.co.uk shall not be responsible for delays, disruptions in the transmission of information or service failures, insofar as these are caused by force majeure or similar unforeseeable events. Uninterrupted availability of the platform cannot be guaranteed.
7. Prohibition of illegal content and indemnification against third-party claims
7.1 Users are prohibited from posting criminal or otherwise illegal content and data on lawyer4expats.de or using programmes with viruses or other malware in connection with the lawyer4expats.de software. In particular, it is prohibited to use the software to offer illegal services or goods.
7.2 If a claim is made against us by a third party due to your actions or omissions, you are obliged to indemnify us against any liability and any costs in this connection, including potential and actual costs of legal action. We will inform you of the claim and, as far as legally possible, give you the opportunity to defend yourself against the asserted claim. At the same time, you are obliged to provide us immediately with all information available to you about the facts that are the subject of the claim. Further claims for damages by lawyer4expats.de remain unaffected.
8. Conciliation procedure
In the event of legal disputes with consumers (§ 13 BGB), we declare our willingness to participate in the consumer arbitration procedure in accordance with the Consumer Dispute Settlement Act. The responsible consumer arbitration centre is the Federal Universal Arbitration Centre:
Zentrum für Schlichtung e. V., Straßburger Straße 8, 77694 Kehl am Rhein
Telephone 07851 / 795 79 40
Fax 07851 / 795 79 41
E-mail: mail@universalschlichtungsstelle.de
Website: www. universalschlichtungsstelle.de
General information obligations for alternative dispute resolution in accordance with Art. 14 para. 1 ODR-VO and § 36 VSBG (Consumer Dispute Resolution Act): The European Commission provides a platform for online dispute resolution (OS), which you can find at this address: http://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr/
9. Final provisions
9.1 Changes to these agreed mediation conditions require the express consent of you as the user. However, we reserve the right to amend these terms and conditions of mediation if serious reasons beyond helloAnwalt’s control lead or would lead to an unforeseeable change in the contractual equivalence relationship and therefore, taking into account the interests of the contractual partner, make it necessary to amend the terms and conditions of mediation or if an amendment becomes necessary due to a change in the law or supreme court judgement. Amendments are only possible if they do not unreasonably disadvantage the user or violate good faith. We will inform you by e-mail of any planned amendment to the terms and conditions of brokerage, stating the content of the provisions to be amended. The amendment shall become part of the contract if you do not object to its inclusion in the contractual relationship in writing or text form within two months of receipt of the notification of amendment. The e-mail sent will contain the amended brokerage terms and conditions as well as a reference to the right of objection, the objection period and the consequences of failure to object. Upon expiry of the objection period, the amended agency terms and conditions shall become valid for you and replace the previous version of the agency terms and conditions.
9.2 If you are not a consumer within the meaning of § 13 BGB, the place of jurisdiction for all legal disputes concerning these agency terms and conditions is Berlin.
10. Right of cancellation
10.1 This cancellation policy relates exclusively to the contractual relationship between you and us. For contractual relationships with lawyers or third parties via our platform, please use the corresponding cancellation policy provided elsewhere.
10.2 Right of cancellation: You have the right to cancel this contract within fourteen days without giving any reason. The cancellation period begins on the day the contract is concluded. To exercise your right of cancellation, you must inform us of your decision to cancel this contract by means of a clear statement (e.g. a letter sent by post or email). You can use the attached sample cancellation form, but this is not mandatory. To meet the cancellation deadline, it is sufficient for you to send your notification of exercising your right of cancellation before the cancellation period has expired.
10.3 Consequences of cancellation: As no payments are made in the contractual relationship between you and us, you are not entitled to a refund. The only consequence of cancellation is the deletion of your account.