Economic Consulting in Commercial Law
Often, in addition to consulting in corporate law, economic consulting also involves consulting in commercial law. Even though both areas of law are often mentioned in the same breath, both areas are fundamentally different in terms of content, because commercial law is special civil law that only applies to merchants.
In the broadest sense, commercial law deals with the sale and distribution of goods – by the manufacturer itself or by third parties such as franchise partners, representatives or authorized dealers. However, liability issues also play a role in commercial law.
Distribution contracts, license agreements and general terms and conditions
Distribution contracts and general terms and conditions play an important role, especially in the manufacturing industry. Because the product distribution details can be regulated individually in the general terms and conditions. For example, in the event of a breach of contract, this can lead to legal disputes becoming superfluous in court, or it can make legal proceedings easier to conduct, because the legal consequences of a breach of contract have been so clearly defined. In this case, it is important to have an effective combination of an individual contract and solid, legally binding terms and conditions.
Contracts can be quite different in nature: distribution contracts, dealer contracts, licence contracts, commission contracts or contracts that are made up of different types of contracts, such as franchise contacts.
Power of attorney, proxy, etc.
In companies, it is also important that persons, such as managing directors, who are not permitted by law to act legally for a company can carry out legal transactions for the company. So, proxy and power of attorney are the most important keywords.
In the case of a power of attorney, an employee is granted the authority to carry out legal transactions for the company within a specific framework, such as hiring personnel. This power of attorney is therefore limited to individual types of contracts or, for example, to business areas. Proxy, on the other hand, is a “general power of attorney.” With exceptions such as real estate transactions, a proxy can perform all out-of-court actions for a company and even make valid declarations in court. To whom proxy is granted and how to effectively limit it internally (for example, by means of an employment contract) should therefore be carefully considered.
Commercial Purchasing and Entrepreneurial Recourse
Not all sales contracts are alike – at least not if merchants are involved in this kind of a transaction. There are special regulations in the German Commercial Code (HGB) that apply to merchants, which are stricter for so-called commercial purchases in comparison to consumer regulations. For example, special regulations apply for default of acceptance and for warranties on material defects. Although these special regulations speed up the handling of commercial transactions in cases of doubt, as is the objective of the law, they do contain contractual risks that you should be aware of as a merchant or a commercial enterprise.
The regulations on entrepreneurial recourse in the German Civil Code (BGB) also take into account the special regulations on entrepreneurial recourse and make it easier to “pass on” recourse claims in the supplier or production chain to the party who is ultimately legally responsible for defects or damages..
Our areas of focus in commercial law
Commercial law is a highly diversified field of law. We advise and represent you in all matters of commercial law. However, our legal practice focuses on the following areas:
- Review and Drafting of
- Distribution Agreements
- Covering Agreements Authorized Dealers
- Insurance and Factoring Contracts (genuine/non-genuine factoring)
- Franchise Contracts (such as, restaurant chains)
- License Agreements
- Commission Contracts
- Links Contract review / Drafting of contracts with general terms and conditions law and general terms and conditions drafting
- Risk Assessment for Franchising (Customer and Provider)
- Legal Certificate Liability in Commercial Transactions
- Legal Questions about the “Company” (Company Name)
- Registry Law (Commercial Register)
- Power of Attorney in Commercial Transactions (Powers of Attorney, Proxy, etc.)
- Enforcement of Commission Payments, Contractual Penalties, Damages etc.