1.1 The Terms and Conditions of Contract shall apply to all activities and acts of representation in and out of court, both in and out of court, which are performed in the course of a contractual relationship (hereinafter also referred to as „mandate“) between the lawyer/law firm (hereinafter referred to as „lawyer“) and the client(s).

1.2 The Terms and Conditions of Contract shall also apply to new mandates, unless otherwise agreed in writing.

 

2. order and authorisation

2.1 The lawyer shall be entitled and obliged to represent the client to the extent that this is necessary and expedient for the fulfilment of the mandate. If the legal situation changes after the end of the mandate, the lawyer shall not be obliged to inform the client of any changes or consequences resulting therefrom.

2.2 The client shall sign a written power of attorney vis-à-vis the lawyer upon request. This power of attorney may be directed to the performance of individual, precisely defined or all possible legal transactions or legal acts.

 

3. principles of representation

3.1 The lawyer shall conduct the representation entrusted to him in accordance with the law and represent the rights and interests of the client vis-à-vis all persons with diligence, loyalty and conscientiousness.

3.2 In principle, the lawyer shall be entitled to perform his services at his own discretion and to take all steps, in particular to use means of attack and defence in any way, as long as this does not contradict the client's instructions, his conscience or the law.

3.3 If the client issues an instruction to the lawyer, compliance with which is incompatible with the principles of proper professional practice of the lawyer based on the law or other rules of professional conduct (e.g. the „Guidelines for the Practice of the Legal Profession“ [RL-BA 2015] or the case law of the Supreme Appellate and Disciplinary Commission for Lawyers and Trainee Lawyers [OBDK], now the Appellate and Disciplinary Senate for Lawyers and Trainee Lawyers at the Supreme Court), the lawyer shall reject the instruction. If the lawyer considers instructions to be inappropriate or even disadvantageous for the client, the lawyer shall inform the client of the potentially disadvantageous consequences before carrying them out.

3.4 In the event of imminent danger, the lawyer shall also be entitled to take or refrain from taking an action not expressly covered by the instruction given or an action contrary to an instruction given if this appears to be urgently required in the interests of the client.

 

4. information and co-operation obligations of the client

4.1 After the mandate has been granted, the client shall be obliged to inform the lawyer immediately of all information and facts that may be of significance in connection with the performance of the mandate, and to make available all necessary documents and evidence. The lawyer shall be entitled to assume that the information, facts, documents, records and evidence are correct, unless their incorrectness is obvious. The lawyer shall endeavour to ensure that the facts are complete and correct by questioning the client and/or by other suitable means. With regard to the accuracy of supplementary information, the second sentence of point 4.1 shall apply.

4.2 During the term of the mandate, the client shall be obliged to inform the lawyer of any changed or newly arising circumstances that may be of significance in connection with the performance of the mandate immediately after they become known.

4.3 If the lawyer acts as contract draftsman, the client shall be obliged to provide the lawyer with all information required for the self-calculation of the real estate transfer tax, registration fee and real estate income tax. If the lawyer performs the self-calculations on the basis of information provided by the client that is not recognisably incorrect for the lawyer, the lawyer shall in any case be exempt from any liability towards the client in this respect. However, the client shall be obliged to indemnify and hold the lawyer harmless in the event of financial disadvantages should the client's information prove to be incorrect.

4.4 On the basis of the statutory provisions on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, the lawyer shall be obliged to carry out certain audit procedures in the case of transactions that are susceptible to money laundering. These include, for example, determining the parties, the beneficial owner(s) and their identity. He must also check the purpose of the transaction and, if necessary, the origin of the funds. In the case of such transactions, the client is obliged to provide the lawyer with all information and corresponding evidence requested in this context in full and truthfully without delay. This shall also apply if the lawyer requests such information on behalf of an involved bank.

 

5 Obligation of confidentiality and exceptions thereto

5.1 The lawyer shall be obliged to maintain confidentiality with regard to all matters entrusted to him and all facts that otherwise become known to him in his professional capacity, the confidentiality of which is in the interest of his client.

5.2 The lawyer shall be released from the duty of confidentiality insofar as this is necessary for the pursuit of claims by the lawyer (in particular claims for the lawyer's fee) or for the defence against claims against the lawyer (in particular claims for damages by the client or third parties against the lawyer).

5.3 The client is aware that the lawyer is obliged by law in certain cases to provide information or reports to authorities without having to obtain the client's consent; in particular, reference is made to the provisions on money laundering and terrorist financing as well as to provisions of tax law (e.g. Account Register and Account Inspection Act, GMSG, etc.).

5.4 The client may release the lawyer from the obligation of confidentiality at any time. The release from the duty of confidentiality by the client does not release the lawyer from the obligation to check whether his statement is in the interests of his client. If the lawyer acts as a mediator or as a collaborative lawyer, he must exercise his right to confidentiality despite his release from the duty of confidentiality. 

 

6. reporting obligation of the lawyer

The lawyer shall inform the client orally or in writing to an appropriate extent about the actions taken by him in connection with the mandate.

 

7. sub-authorisation and substitution

It is agreed that the lawyer may be represented by another lawyer (sub-authorisation). In the event of temporary incapacity, the lawyer may pass on the mandate or individual sub-activities to another lawyer pursuant to Section 14 RAO (substitution). In the event of sub-authorisation or substitution to another lawyer, the substitute shall only be liable for fault in selection.

 

8. fee

8.1 Unless otherwise agreed, the lawyer shall be entitled to a reasonable fee.

8.2 Even if a reduced fee compared to the RATG has been agreed, the lawyer shall also be entitled to the reimbursement of costs claimed by the opposing party in excess of this fee, insofar as this can be recovered.

8.3 If the lawyer receives an e-mail from the client or the client's sphere that is not addressed to the lawyer, but is only sent to the lawyer by cc or bcc, the lawyer shall not be obliged to read this e-mail unless expressly instructed to do so.

8.4 Value added tax at the statutory rate, the necessary and reasonable expenses (e.g. for travelling expenses, telephone, fax, copies) and the cash expenses paid on behalf of the client (e.g. court fees) shall be added to the fee due to/agreed with the lawyer.

8.5 The client acknowledges that any estimate made by the lawyer regarding the amount of the anticipated fee that is not expressly designated as binding shall be non-binding and shall not be regarded as a binding cost estimate (within the meaning of Section 5 (2) KSchG), because the extent of the services to be rendered by the lawyer cannot, by its nature, be reliably assessed in advance.

8.6 The client shall not be charged for the costs of invoicing and preparing the fee notes. However, this shall not apply to the expenses incurred for the translation of service specifications into a language other than German at the client's request. Unless otherwise agreed, the time and effort required to write letters to the client's auditor at the client's request, in which, for example, the status of pending cases, a risk assessment for the creation of provisions and/or the status of outstanding fees as at the balance sheet date are stated, shall be charged.

8.7 The lawyer shall be entitled at any time, but in any case on a quarterly basis, to submit fee notes and to demand advances on fees.

8.8 If the client is in arrears with the payment of all or part of the fee, he shall pay the lawyer the statutory interest in the amount of 4% per annum. If the client is responsible for the delay in payment, he shall compensate the lawyer for the actual interest loss in excess thereof. Any further statutory claims (in particular § 1333 ABGB) shall remain unaffected.

8.9 All court and official costs (cash outlays) and expenses (e.g. due to purchased third-party services) incurred in the fulfilment of the mandate may - at the lawyer's discretion - be passed on to the client for direct settlement.

8.10. If an instruction is given by several clients in one legal case, they shall be jointly and severally liable for all claims of the lawyer arising therefrom, unless the lawyer's services under the mandate are divisible and were clearly rendered for only one client.

 

9 Liability of the lawyer

9.1 The Lawyer's liability for faulty advice or representation in the event of slightly negligent damage shall be limited to the sum insured available for the specific case of damage, but shall at least amount to the sum insured specified in § 21a RAO as amended. This is currently EUR 400,000 (in words: four hundred thousand euros) and in the case of law firms in the form of a limited liability company EUR 2,400,000 (in words: two million four hundred thousand euros).

9.2 The maximum amount applicable pursuant to Section 9.1. shall include all claims against the lawyer for incorrect advice and/or representation, in particular claims for damages and price reduction. This maximum amount shall not include claims of the client for the recovery of the fee paid to the lawyer. Any deductibles shall not reduce the liability. The maximum amount applicable pursuant to clause 9.1. refers to one insured event. If there are two or more competing injured parties (clients), the maximum amount for each individual injured party shall be reduced in proportion to the amount of the claims.

9.3 The lawyer shall only be liable for third parties (in particular external experts) who are neither employees nor partners and who are commissioned with individual partial services with the knowledge of the client within the scope of the provision of services, if they are at fault in the selection.

9.4 The lawyer shall only be liable towards his client, not towards third parties. The client shall be obliged to expressly draw the attention of third parties who come into contact with the lawyer's services due to the client's involvement to this fact, otherwise the lawyer shall be indemnified and held harmless. This shall not apply to cases in which the lawyer recognises that his services interfere with the sphere of a third party.

9.5 The lawyer shall only be liable for knowledge of foreign law if this has been agreed in writing or if he has undertaken to examine foreign law. Foreign law shall also include the law of EU member states.

 

10. legal expenses insurance of the client

10.1 If the client has legal expenses insurance, he shall inform the lawyer thereof without delay and submit the required documents (if available).

10.2 The disclosure of a legal expenses insurance policy by the client and the lawyer's obtaining of legal expenses cover shall not affect the lawyer's fee claim against the client and shall not be regarded as the lawyer's agreement to be satisfied with the fee paid by the legal expenses insurance.

10.3 The lawyer shall not be obliged to claim the fee directly from the legal expenses insurance, but may demand the entire fee from the client.

 

11. termination of the mandate

11.1 The mandate may be cancelled by the lawyer or the client at any time without notice and without giving reasons. The lawyer's fee claim shall remain unaffected.

11.2 In the event of cancellation by the client or the lawyer, the lawyer shall continue to represent the client for a period of 14 days insofar as this is necessary to protect the client from legal disadvantages. This obligation shall not apply if the client cancels the mandate and expresses that he does not wish the lawyer to continue working for him.

 

12. obligation to surrender

12.1 Upon termination of the client-lawyer relationship, the lawyer shall return the originals of the documents belonging to him to the client upon request. The lawyer shall be entitled to retain copies of these documents.

12.2 If the client requests further documents (copies of documents) after the end of the mandate, which he has already received in the course of the mandate, the costs of EUR 2.00 per page shall be borne by the client.

12.3 The lawyer shall be obliged to retain the files for a period of five years from the end of the mandate. If longer statutory periods apply for the duration of the retention obligation, these shall be complied with. The client agrees to the destruction of the files (including original documents) after expiry of the retention obligation.

 

13. choice of law and out-of-court dispute resolution

13.1 The Terms and Conditions of Contract and the client relationship governed by them shall be subject to Austrian law with the exception of the conflict of law rules.

13.2 Should disputes arise between the lawyer and the client regarding the fee, the client shall be free to request a review of the fee by the Vienna Bar Association; if the lawyer agrees to the review by the Bar Association, this shall lead to an out-of-court review of the reasonableness of the fee free of charge. The arbitration board for consumer transactions (www.verbraucherschlichtung.or.at) shall act as an out-of-court dispute resolution body in disputes between lawyers and clients. The client acknowledges that the lawyer is not obliged to involve this body for dispute resolution or to submit to it, and that in the event of a dispute with him, he will first decide whether or not to agree to an out-of-court arbitration procedure.

 

14. final provisions

14.1 Unless otherwise agreed, the lawyer may correspond with the client in any way he deems appropriate, in particular also by e-mail using the e-mail address that the client provides to the lawyer for the purpose of communication. If the client sends e-mails to the lawyer from other e-mail addresses, the lawyer may also communicate with the client via these e-mail addresses, unless the client expressly rejects such communication in advance. Declarations to be made in writing in accordance with these Terms and Conditions of Contract may also be made by means of „WhatsApp“ or e-mail, unless otherwise specified.

Unless otherwise instructed in writing by the client, the lawyer shall be authorised to conduct e-mail correspondence with the client in unencrypted form. The client declares that he is aware of the associated risks (in particular access, confidentiality, alteration of messages in the course of transmission) and of the possibility of using Context and that he agrees, in full knowledge of these risks, that the e-mail correspondence will not be conducted in encrypted form.

14.2 The client shall be informed of the purposes and manner of the processing of his personal data by the lawyer by means of separate data protection information.