Judicial core competencies of our law firm

Lothar Zmija, Michael Pietzcker, Michael Bechtold and Alexander Budenberg are on hand to advise and represent you in all areas of real estate law and property law. This can include legal issues in the following judicial areas:

• Property law
• Private construction law
• Property rental and ownership law
• Law of brokerage
• Checking, preparing and drawing up of relevant contracts

Lothar Zmija, Michael Pietzcker (certified specialist lawyer for construction and architect law), Alexander Budenberg and Dott. Francesca Rosati are available to offer advice and representation to all parties involved in construction projects, as well as representation and consumer advice in the case of construction defects.

Our services cover the following areas of law in particular:

• Private construction law
• Public construction law
• Architect and engineer law
• Procurement law
• Insurance law

Commercial law is also often referred to as the special private law between merchants. Corporate law concentrates on private companies and corporations and includes transformation law as well as group law, as pertaining to the connecting of numerous legally independent companies.

Lawyers Lothar Zmija, Michael Bechtold, Michael Pietzcker as well as Dott. Francesca Rosati offer the following services in business law:

• Set-up consultancy, especially in choosing the legal form of the company
• Representation in cases of corporate litigation
• Trademark registration
• Management contracts
• Drafting of corporate contracts

Christina Sieger, our certified specialist lawyer in family law, and Christoph Weber, certified specialist in both family law and mediation, are available to advise you on family law in any and all pertinent situations. Subjects covered include the cohabiting of married couples or pairs, separation, divorce, maintenance for wives and children, the sharing of property and inheritance, and the setting up of relevant contracts, for example marriage contracts.

Mediation is a modern method of settling disputes out of court. Mediation makes it possible to resolve conflicts comprehensively, effectively and sustainably - even though the opposing viewpoints are often so entrenched that a successful resolution seems out of the question. A solution arrived at through successful mediation is intended to best meet the personal and financial interests of both parties. Mediator Christoph Weber is on hand to assist you in the autonomous and constructive resolution of conflicts.

Michael Bechtold is available to support you in all areas of labour law, for example in suing for unfair dismissal - or in protecting yourself against the same. Other subjects include questions relating to work contracts and internal regulations such as work stipulations and operating and organisational procedures.

In the case of international relationships, international private law - also known as the conflict of laws provision - decides which law domestic authorities and courts must use. Lawyers Michael Pietzcker, and Dott. Francesca Rosati are happy to advise and represent you in this area.

Lawyer Michael Bechtold will be at your side when disputes between doctor and patient come up, and is happy to advise you on questions of medical law. Legal areas here include:

• Medical liability (malpractice, obligations to document and to inform)
• Personal damages liability (compensation, regular compensation benefits, compensation for housekeeping expenses, loss of earnings, loss of dependency, physical and mental consequential damages, burden of proof)
• Medical criminal law

Countless contracts regulate nearly all areas of life, with or without notarial certification. Clearly written formulations can ensure legal certainty, and prevent possible later problems concerning lack of evidence which may crop up -  thus preventing a number of legal disputes.

Apart from their notarial duties, our law office provides Lothar Zmija, Michael Bechtold, Michael Pietzcker, Christina Sieger and Dott. Francesca Rosati to be of assistance as regards contract law.

When faced with either company bankruptcy or personal bankruptcy, good legal advice is indispensable. Lothar Zmija advises parties involved in insolvency, either on the side of the creditor or the debtor - both preventatively and during the crisis itself. Services include:

• Advice on the obligatory notification of insolvency
• Help in the assessment of whether a company is insolvent
• Application and support throughout the process
• Representation in and advice on the right of appeal

Inheritance law counts among the core competencies of our lawyers Lothar Zmija and Christoph Weber. We advise and support you in matters of inheritance law, private financial planning during one’s lifetime, and power of attorney as well as advance directives and patient decrees.

Our specialist subjects in terms of inheritance law include:

• Statutory portion
• Inheritance pension
• Succession
• Inheritance and bequests
• Drawing up of wills
• Execution of wills
• In- and out-of-court disputes

Lawyers Lothar Zmija is there to advise you in criminal tax and business law.

The pressure on pursuing offences on the judicial authorities has increased hugely over the last years in the areas of tax and commercial criminal law. In commercial criminal law particularly the majority of the cases aren’t necessarily the big cases that you might read about in the media - small and middle-sized companies especially, lacking their own legal department, often slip into criminal legal procedures with far-reaching consequences. And it’s not so rare that the perspective of the state prosecutor is quite different to that of the company...

There’s one thing that is almost always identical in both civil and criminal proceedings. There are almost always drastic commercial consequences in case of a conviction, which can often, for example, lead to the concerned party being unable to again be in a managerial position of a GmbH (limited liability company)   - and who would imagine that a conviction regarding the failure to promptly announce an insolvency would lead to the loss of one’s right to carry a weapon? But that can easily happen...

Our remit in terms of criminal tax and commercial law includes:

• Compliance
• Failure to promptly notify of an insolvency
• Non-payment of worker contributions
• Defence in criminal tax cases
• Defence in all aspects of corporate criminal cases

Lawyer Michael Bechtold is happy to represent you in all traffic law cases, such as for example the List Of Offences Punishable By Fines, in cases of the loss of a driving licence, or traffic accidents.

Further specialist areas include:

• Regulation of the settlement of claims
• Driving under the influence of alcohol
• Driving under the influence of narcotics / anaesthetics
• Exceeding the speed limit
• Coercion in traffic
• Leaving the scene of an accident without permission

Lawyer Christina Sieger is available for all legal questions to do with horses and to represent you in a legal capacity. Herself a passionate horse rider, Christina Sieger is extremely conversant with legal issues in equine law from both the judicial and private perspective. Her legal advice covers the following areas:

• Warranties in the buying of horses
• Liability of horse owners, riders, vets or smiths
• Representation of legal interests in equestrian sport

Tenancy law has great relevance to everyday life, since it often deals with life’s basic needs on the one hand and those of the owner on the other. Alexander Budenberg is happy to represent you in questions of renting of both living and working quarters, in the formulation of rent contracts, laws that govern rental prices, the implementation of funding, the termination of rental agreements, protection against termination of rent contracts to do with living spaces, notices to vacate properties, cosmetic repairs or the laws pertaining to operating costs.