I am sure your mother always told you as a child to keep your hands clean. But did you know what that means in a legal sense? “Clean hands” are important in court proceedings (or, should we say any dispute where a remedy is sought “at equity.”) We are not talking of a requirement of personal hygiene but referring to an equitable principle (i.e. principle of justice) that when a claimant (or “plaintiff”) brings an action against another party (defendant), the claimant  cannot generally successfully seek an equitable remedy (e.g. an injunction) if the claimant has itself been unfair or unjust. In other words, the court will say that “you must come to court with clean hands.” So, get...

Contract Management and Boilerplate Clauses 17-18 April 2015 Hotel Victoria Nürnberg German Contracts in English 17-18 July 2015 Hotel Victoria Nürnberg Introduction to Common Law and Legal English 11-12 September 2015 Hotel Victoria Nürnberg Masterclass: Contract Law Update 2015 4-5 December 2015 Hotel Victoria Nürnberg REGISTRATION FORMS etc.: augustinbugg.com/en/we-do/seminars/ For further information on the above seminars and workshops please contact us by telephone +49 (0) 911 945 8867 or by email seminar@augustinbugg.com or see our homepage at augustinbugg.com/en/we-do/seminars/ for further details and seminar...

German-English, English-German Concise Legal Dictionary with overviews of the German, English and U.S. legal systems.    ...

   Frustrated, confused or just unsure about your contracts? Help is at hand! This is a  book for second-language speakers dealing with English-language contracts. If you need to work with contracts in English and want to be able to better understand, develop, draft, amend and work with such agreements, this is probably a book for you. It is a short and concise no-nonsense guide to the key points and is intended to give a quick overview of the subjects of both law and language.  The book is intended for lawyers, business people, contract managers, translators and anybody who is forced to confront Legal English in his/her day-to-day work. Subjects in the revised 2nd edition include: What exactly is a “contract”? Essential Elements Contract Formation Consideration Drafting and Interpretation Boilerplates Force Majeure Language Liability Penalties and Liquidated Damages Jurisdiction and Applicable Law Problems with Translations Warranties and Guarantees The book can be bought online at http://www.beck-shop.de/Bugg-Contracts-English/productview.aspx?product=10632636 Published in Austria, Germany, Switzerland and...

Although the romantics amongst us wouln’t admit it, in some ways making a contract is just like getting married. Certainly, there is a general unwillingness to even admit the prospect of separation or divorce at the wedding ceremony, let alone discuss the exact terms and conditions of an eventual break-up with the vows of eternal togetherness. And so it is with contracts, too. Potential commercial partners, when courting in the intensive passion of the negotiations, spend little time to think what could happen if or when the end is nigh. Contracts do end. Just as they have a beginning so they will have an end. We should pay equal attention to both types of events and certainly have detailed provisions in the contract. When a contract starts  (the date of effectiveness and validity) should be clearly stated in the agreement. Similarly, we should have contract clauses, as applicable, on if, how and when a contract can be brought to an end by: a) the expiry of the contract term b) termination for breach or other events c) termination for convenience d) rescission ab initio so that the parties are returned to their starting position In some contract situations the parties may dare to briefly talk of termination, cancellation and rescission somewhere in the “Miscellaneous” section. But, the parties often do so without knowing exactly what they mean and realising that at law such words can have very different meanings and consequences. In the recent case of Hardy v Griffiths  [2014] EWHC 3947 (Ch) it was  held that the sellers of a property had in fact rescinded the contract ab initio (and not terminated it), with the unwanted result that they lost their rights to claim damages and to forfeiture of the deposit. Breaking up is made even more complicated by international relationships: so-called cross-system contracts in which law and language are mixed. Thus, a German law contract drafted and agreed in the English language only, will have a hard job with an English law term such as rescission? Does it mean Anfechtung, or could it be Aufhebung, but then again, what about Rücktritt or even Kündigung? These are examples of the pitfalls of cross-system transactions. Translate with care!   But, most importantly, make sure that you do consider from the very beginning and  set out exactly in your contract doucumentation the circumstances that can result in a contract ending, how it will end and the respective rights and duties of the parties. Separation can then also be a postive experience!      ...

                                 We have just completed another successful seminar workshop (Introduction to Working with Contracts) at the Hotel Victoria in the medieval city in Nuernberg. As always, it was a meeting for both lawyers and non-lawyers. Participants came from various parts of Europe but they all had in common a desire to improve how they draft, develop, negotiate and understand contracts from different legal systems. Our sessions involved identifying the pitfalls in both language and law. In particular, we dealt with cross-system business agreements. In the end we covered everything from drafting matters to issues of liability and the fifty shades of contract interpretation. I hope the contract overview will prove useful to the participants and they will take back lots of practical ideas for their work. Thank you for attending! My gratitude also goes out again to the wonderful team at Hotel Victoria: as always, great location, great hospitality and marvellous support! Thank you, and we look forward to seeing you at the next seminar! January, 2015 Stuart Bugg, Nuremberg P.S. Anybody interested in coming to Nuernberg to attend one of the seminars should check the programme for this year here in Facebook or in my blog (Bugg’s Lawspeak) or go to the Augustin & Bugg website at www.augustinbugg.com. Please note that places are limited to a maximum of ca. 16 at each seminar. So, please be sure to book...