Commercial & Distribution Law, Product Liability/Product Compliance

The economic success of your products is determined during distribution – we have the experience and the legal and economic knowledge needed to develop the best possible purchasing and distribution structures for your transactions worldwide. In addition to being familiar with the increasingly more complex national and international legal provisions applicable to your products or your services, we also take into account the particularities of the industry in which you operate – because we have experience advising clients from this industry and understand the economic, technological and organisational changes affecting it. We assess the opportunities and the risks that are involved for you in e-commerce and understand and take into consideration all relevant developments resulting from Industry 4.0 in order to prepare your company efficiently for the future.

There is only a very narrow framework, defined by commercial law and by the law governing general terms and conditions, as well as by European antitrust law, within which you can install your distribution system in a legally valid manner. Our team, which has many years of experience and great expertise in this area, can advise you on all matters relating to distribution law, for example, on the drafting of authorised dealer, sales agency or franchising agreements. At the same time, there are only few other areas of law that are as prone to legal disputes as distribution law – in particular after parties put an end to their cooperation. We can represent you in all legal disputes before state courts or before national and international arbitral tribunals. 

We are also the ideal partner for you for advice on supply relationships and on all matters relating to the purchase or sale of goods, equipment or services: we ensure that the legal relations throughout your supply chain are perfectly structured in the context of national and international trade, both legally and economically. For complex procurement projects, we can draft development and supply contracts. Furthermore, we can revise and draft all further agreements that may be required for this purpose, such as general terms and conditions, quality agreements, logistics agreements, etc., and advise you on syndicate and plant engineering agreements. If the business of any of your suppliers is in crisis or insolvent, we represent you in close consultation with our Restructuring and Insolvency colleagues in securing your supply. 

Product liability cases are costly, complex and, in particular, may cause long-term damage to a company’s reputation. Successful advisors must be able to combine contract law, tort law and the German Product Liability Act, public law – such as the law governing CE marking or general product safety law – and dealings with regulatory authorities, as well as insurance law and criminal law. Stringent internal and external communications, organisational skills and a sure instinct are required to reconcile matters as diverse as defending against claims, safeguarding rights of recourse and maintaining customer relationships. One factor is, however, of particular importance: preparing timely and proactively for all contingencies – as well as ensuring that an experienced and well-rehearsed team consisting of both members from your company and lawyers exists. No matter how much (process-controlled) care is taken, product liability cases cannot always be avoided. The manner in which such cases are handled, as well as recourse to insurance companies or to your own suppliers, is one of the key issues when it comes to securing your own results. We help you prepare betimes for such risks. In this context, product compliance issues become increasingly more important. Your products’ conformity with the rising number of legal requirements, their official approval or certification, their design and marking, but also their documentation and monitoring are under scrutiny not only at the time of entering the market but throughout the lifecycle of your products. We can provide proactive advice in this regard and assist you with the implementation of a “legally sound” corporate organisation. If necessary, we can represent you in disputes with the market surveillance authorities. For there is little that can jeopardise a company more than an official prohibition imposed on the sale of its products.

In all of these areas, we enforce your rights and claims before state courts or national and international arbitral tribunals or defend you in legal disputes – in Germany and abroad. We develop the best strategy in consultation with you and represent you in all legal disputes, in and out of court, in a national and international context. We act as your negotiators, prepare settlements on your behalf, and handle the implementation and enforcement of judgments, decrees, orders and other decisions.

We are convinced that providing efficient and optimal advice to our clients requires a well-rehearsed, multidisciplinary team of lawyers, especially in complex projects. As a full-service law firm, our “Commercial and Distribution Law, Product Liability/Product Compliance” team works closely with its national and international colleagues from other practice areas, such as antitrust, competition, IP, IT or data protection law. At the same time, we make sure that you benefit from our proven industry expertise, for example, in the area of “Mobility & Logistics”. We always place our legal expertise in an overall context that is economically reasonable for you and successfully address any legal challenges faced by your company jointly with you.