German district court enjoins
for-pay "lawyer hotline" as contrary to professional rules for
lawyers and German competition law
The defendant in this German case
offered legal information through a "0190" for-pay telephone number
(like a "1-900" number in the U.S.), and advertised in a regional
newspaper as follows:
"Lawyer Telephone. Legal
consultation simple, fast, effective. 26 lawyers advise you 9.00 am - 9.00 pm.
General: ... Special interests: labor, retirement benefits, social issues ...
family, inheritance, traffic, criminal law ... rent, property, construction ...
DM 3.63/minute [approximately U.S.$2/minute], responsible for this service is
..."
The plaintiff sought an injunction against offering this type of legal consultations by telephone chargeable by the minute. The plaintiff argued that (1) the Lawyer Hotline possibly involves lawyers in conflicts of interest (for example, both parties to a dispute might call the hotline), (2) the compensation of the attorney may be higher or may be lower than provided in the regulation of attorneys fees (referred to by its acronym BRAGO) [Editors' Note: In Germany, the amount of attorneys fees is government regulated. Lawyers must generally follow the government-set fee schedules in BRAGO for their services], and (3) this kind of legal consultation [should not be called] "effective" on grounds of competition law.
The district court of Moenchengladbach agrees with the plaintiff that this kind of lawyer hotline scheme violates both professional rules and general competition law, and issues a preliminary injunction.
The Court notes that the employment relationship between the hotline service provider and the "26 lawyers" is unclear. It may well violate BRAGO. This kind of hotline service may lead to violations of BRAGO, because the cost per minute is the same regardless of the importance of the legal matter that the caller is asking about. Therefore, this may lead to "attorneys fees dumping." Also, the hotline service does not provide written explanatory statements regarding the consultation and the underlying legal issues, as well as a written bill for legal services, as BRAGO requires.
Thus, this kind of hotline is
anti-competitive under the German Law Against Improper Competition (Gesetz
gegen den unlauteren Wettbewerb, UWG). Furthermore, the term
"effective" in the advertising is misleading. The hotline's legal
advice is not necessarily better than the legal advice of an average lawyer.
Finally, the choice of
"special interest" (Interessenschwerpunkt) telephone numbers, for
example, for "labor" or "criminal law," suggests that the
caller will be connected to a qualified specialist. Most lay callers are
unaware that "special interest" is not an objectively verifiable
qualification for lawyers — the designation "Specialized Lawyer"
(Fachanwalt) is the proper term for true specialists.
The court therefore enjoins the
defendant from advertising legal consultations through a for-pay telephone
service.
[Editors' Note: In a 1992
opinion, the Kansas Bar Association held that a 900-telephone service called
"Dial-A-Lawyer" is not per se unethical, but noted that the practice
lends itself to abuse such as fee-splitting with non-lawyers. See KBA Ethics
Opinion No. 92-06 (August 19, 1992).]
Citation: Landgericht
Moenchengladbach (Federal District Court Moenchengladbach), Urteil vom 20. Mai
1999, 8 O 29/99 - Anwalts-Hotline. [German text of court decision is available
through website: www.netlaw.de].
**** Mr. Richard Ehrlich is a specialist in Corporate, Estate and Personal Financial Planning in Florida. In the course of his career, he has prepared hundreds of estate plans and helped hundreds of small businesses navigate the various issues involving insurance, retirement and employee retention. He has helped numerous families deal with the difficulties of taking care of elderly relatives and assisted with all of their long-term planning and long-term care needs. Finally, he has helped investors with their losses in unsuitable investments. LinkedIn Profile: https://www.linkedin.com/in/richard-ehrlich-777b513/; Attorney Profile: http://www.eldercounsel.com/profile/richard-ehrlich-ehrlich-law-center-pa/; Attorney Profile: https://solomonlawguild.com/richard-ehrlich%2C-esq; Attorney News: https://attorneygazette.com/richard-ehrlich%2C-esq#c35a1098-f039-43ab-b0dc-06cff6dabf61
