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"Prozess als Investment – Anwaltschaft zwischen Mandant, Versicherer und Finanzierer" – ("Litigation as an investment - the legal profession between client, insurer and financier") – this was the topic of the conference "Anwaltschaft im Blick der Wissenschaft" on the 10th of November 2023. The Federal Bar Association (BRAK) and the Institut für Prozess und Anwaltsrecht (IPA) organised the annual conference series for the sixth time.
The conference, which was held in the Royal Stables for the first time due to the fire safety renovations at Leibniz Universität Hannover, began with welcoming addresses by Prof. Dr Christian Wolf, Managing Director of the Institut für Prozess und Anwaltsrecht (IPA), and Dr Ulrich Wessels, President of the German Federal Bar Association. The importance of the cooperation between the German Federal Bar and the Institute for Litigation and Lawyers' Law was also emphasised by the President of the University, Professor Dr Volker Epping, in his welcoming speech to the 130 or so participants. The conference was chaired by André Haug, Vice President of the German Federal Bar Association.
The conference kicked off with a keynote speech by the President of the Higher Regional Court of Celle, Stefanie Otte. In her keynote speech, she addressed the burden placed on the judiciary by numerous mass proceedings, such as those surrounding the VW emissions scandal. Otte discussed whether the developments of recent years can be remedied by digitalisation and artificial intelligence.
In the first thematic block, the recourse of legal expenses insurers against lawyers after a lost lawsuit was discussed in more detail. Joachim Cornelius-Winkler began by presenting the case law of the IXth Civil Senate of the Federal Court of Justice on the recourse of legal expenses insurers against lawyers. He emphasised that legal expenses insurers are increasingly removing such cases from their products due to the high financial risk of insolvency proceedings. Thomas Lämmrich then provided insights into the tense relationship between the assessment of the prospects of success or the refusal of cover and the recourse against lawyers. The subsequent presentation by Monika Maria Risch focused on the lawyer's duty of care towards clients and their legal expenses insurers with regard to assessing the prospects of success. According to Risch, it should be noted that lawyers must fulfil their duties to their clients and not to the insurers.
In an interjection, Dr Michael Weigel spoke on the topic of "Insolvency proceedings: a long road without a satisfactory solution". Among other things, he addressed the redress action as a new instrument of collective legal protection. Following his presentation, Weigel was honoured for his many years of chairing the ZPO/GVG committee of the BRAK. In this context, Dr Ulrich Wessels outlined the opinions and reforms in which Weigel was significantly involved.
In the second thematic block - "Legal expenses insurers as legal service providers" - Dr Christian Lemke first presented the view of the RDG and professional policy on the topic. Dr Ulrich Eberhardt then explained the perspective of a legal expenses insurer. During his presentation, Eberhardt spoke in favour of the necessity of the ban on third-party ownership, among other things. According to Eberhardt, this need not be a serious problem for legal expenses insurers in particular, as investing capital in a traditional law firm is not attractive for them per se. Stephen P. Younger then explained the foreign experience with the authorisation of outside capital.
The third thematic block focussed on private litigation financing. Professor Dr Alexander Klauser introduced the thematic block by explaining the Austrian perspective on legal expenses insurance and litigation financing. He emphasised that both legal expenses insurance and litigation funding are important for access to justice. Professor Dr Tanja Domej then described litigation funding and regulatory trends at EU level. Thomas Kohlmeier then addressed the view of a litigation financier on recourse trends and planned EU regulation.
The conference concluded with a panel discussion moderated by Professor Dr Christian Wolf. Together, Dr Christian Lemke, Professor Dr Tanja Domej, Dr Ulrich Eberhardt and Monika Maria Risch discussed legal expenses insurers and litigation funding.
All in all, it was a successful and informative event. For all interested parties, the next and thus 7th Lawyers' Conference will take place on the 8th of November 2024.
Aftermovie and picture gallery
You can find a review in pictures here.
Events for interested students at the Faculty of Law
If you would like to delve deeper into issues of law and civil procedure law during your studies, we recommend the following events and programmes offered by the Faculty:
