BGH on Legal Tech When the software replaces the lawyer

Status: 06/17/2021 6:46 a.m.

Anyone who wants to draw up an individual contract goes to a lawyer. That’s how it was before. In the meantime, however, this can also be done online, without legal assistance. The BGH is now examining whether this is permissible. What are the sticking points?

By Kerstin Anabah and Pia Brandsch-Böhm

What is the specific case about?

The publisher Wolters Kluwer offers the legal document generator “Smartlaw”. With the help of the software, private individuals and companies can create and then purchase individual legal documents, such as rental agreements. To do this, customers have to answer 30 to 40 questions. The whole thing was “modeled on the conversation with the lawyer”, according to the original advertisement.

Wolters Kluwer is not admitted to the bar and is not licensed to provide legal services. The Hamburg Bar Association has therefore sued the publisher (Az. I ZR 113/20). She sees the Legal Tech offer as an anti-competitive violation of the Legal Services Act. It regulates who is allowed to provide legal services – for example lawyers or debt collection companies.

How have the courts decided so far?

The Cologne Regional Court gave the Bar Association in law. It saw in the contract generator a violation of the Legal Services Act. Wolters Kluwer appealed against this to the Cologne Higher Regional Court – with success. According to the Cologne Higher Regional Court, this is not a legal service, as there is no human (service) performance. The documents would be created by software. There is no customer contact because the customer operates the software himself. In addition, no legal examination of the individual case is necessary, since the program runs according to a fixed routine and a situation is only inserted into a given grid.

Have there already been judgments in similar cases?

As early as 2019, the Federal Court of Justice ruled on a legal aid program in the ruling on “kleineermiete.de”. At that time the question was whether a rental price calculator represents a collection or a legal service. With this online calculator, customers could see by entering their data whether they were paying too much rent and immediately defend themselves against it. For this purpose, the program directly commissioned the company behind it to enforce the rights. The BGH has declared this rental price calculator to be permissible.

How the first civil senate decides in the case of the contract generator is open. The industry for such offers is booming. The ruling is therefore likely to be another important step towards greater legal certainty.

47 minutes ago Squad: Vietnam: Tan Truong, Duy Manh, Ngoc Hai (C), Tien Dung, Van Hau, Trong Hoang, Xuan Truong, Hoang Duc, Van Duc, Quang Hai, Tien Linh. UAE : Ali Khaseif Humaid, Abbas, Shaheen Abdalla Almaazmi, Ali Hassan Alblooshi, Ali Ahmed Mabkhout, Majed Hassan, Bandar Mohammed Al Ahbabi, Khalil Ibrahim, Fabio Virgini De Lima, Abdalla Ramadan Bekheet, Mahmoud Khamis Alhammadi. Vietnam’s squad has only one change compared to the 2-1 victory over Malaysia, which is Quang Hai’s return to the main squad after suspension for Cong Phuong. 1 hour 13 minutes ago Award for Vietnam team The Vietnamese team received a mental “doping dose” before the match. PHOTO: ANH THANH In order to encourage the spirit of the Vietnamese team before the key match against the UAE, Hung Thinh Corporation offers a reward of 2 billion dong for the teachers and coaches of Park Hang-seo if they draw or win the UAE. 1 hour 16 minutes ago The referee controls the match The referee controls the match between Vietnam and the UAE. The Asian Football Confederation (AFC) has appointed Iraqi referee Ali Sabah Adday Al-qaysi to start the match between Vietnam and the UAE. The two assistant referees, Mr. Hayder Abdulhasan Ali Ubaydee and Ammer Dawood Hussen, are both Iraqi. The fourth referee is Mr. Ammar Ebrahim Hasan Mahfoodh of Bahrain. Mr. Ali Sabah, 44 years old, has been a FIFA referee since the age of 25 and has a lot of experience in catching international tournaments. Most recently, he controlled the match UAE beat Malaysia 4-0. Referee Ali Sabah was born in 1977, became a FIFA referee at the age of 25 and has a lot of experience in international tournaments. Most recently, he was the moderator of the match between the UAE and Malaysia on June 3. Mr. Ali Sabah has also held the whistle many times in matches of Vietnamese football at all levels, typically Vietnam’s 0-2 loss to Australia in the 2016 Asian U-23 group stage or 3-0 victory over Laos in the group stage. AFF Cup 2014. He served as the table referee (the fourth referee) in the matches Vietnam drew 2-2 Indonesia in the AFF Cup 2014, beat Kyrgyzstan 1-0 at Asiad 2014 and won Macau 7-1 in the 2014 World Cup qualifiers. 1 hour 17 minutes ago Confrontation history The race between the UAE and Vietnam promises to be dramatic. PHOTO: ANH PHUONG According to statistics, Vietnam and the UAE have met a total of 13 times at all levels of the team. Vietnam only won the UAE 2 times, but those are all important matches. It was a 2-0 victory in the 2004 Asian Cup group stage at home to help Vietnam eliminate the UAE and for the first time in history to participate in the quarterfinals of the biggest tournament in Asia at the team level. At the end of 2019, the Vietnamese team also defeated 10 UAE players 1-0 at My Dinh home in the first leg of the 2022 World Cup qualifying round thanks to Tien Linh’s only goal. Notably, under Coach Park Hang-seo, Vietnam has never lost to the UAE in the official 90 minutes. In addition to the victory in the first leg of the 2022 World Cup qualifiers, Mr. Park’s U-23 Vietnam drew 0-0 with U-23 UAE in the 2020 Asian U-23 group stage. In the 2018 Asian Games, the Vietnamese Olympic Games Men and UAE drew 1-1 after 90 minutes of play. Olympic Vietnam only accepted defeat on penalties against UAE with a score of 3-4. 1 hour 18 minutes ago What did the coaches of both teams say? Vietnam coach Park Hang-seo, “We will face a team that is significantly different from the one we have faced and won in Hanoi before. At the moment, the UAE is progressing a lot and they have excellent players. Namely the trio of Ali Mabkhout, Fabio Lima and Caio Canedo. These are the most dangerous players in the world. In the UAE squad, they have not only stars that endanger opponents, but also other players that surprise anyone.” Coach Bert Van Marwijk was forced to find a way to help the UAE win against Vietnam. PHOTO: ANH PHUONG Coach Bert Van Marwijk of the UAE, “Although Vietnam is a very strong team, we are confident that we will leave with 3 points. They beat us in the first leg. But if we compare that match with the current lineup, I think we are stronger than the loss in the first leg. Everyone is aware of their responsibility in the game. And all the players are ready to deliver a winnable performance against strong opponents. The pre-tournament training helped us a lot. We worked hard to develop our game and it paid off. The UAE scores quite a few goals but what’s important to me is the result, not the goal.” 1 hour 19 minutes ago Force situation Tuan Anh could not rematch UAE because of injury. PHOTO: ANH PHUONG Coach Park Hang-seo crossed 6 names before this decisive match. Accordingly, 6 players who are not in the Vietnam squad to meet the UAE are defenders Le Van Xuan, Bui Hoang Viet Anh, Ho Tan Tai, midfielder Ly Cong Hoang Anh along with 2 players who are being treated for injuries. guards Nguyen Tuan Anh and Nguyen Hai Long. Meanwhile, the UAE has the strongest force to confront Vietnam, most notably the three naturalized names of South American origin including Debastian Tagliabue, Fabio Lima and Caio Canedo. In addition, the UAE also owns a very formidable striker who is constantly “shooting” Ali Mabkhout. Ali Mabkhout was absent from the first leg due to suspension. 1 hour 20 minutes ago At 23:45 tonight (June 15), the Vietnamese team will meet the host UAE in the final match of Group G of the second qualifying round of the 2022 World Cup at Zabeel Stadium, Dubai. Vietnam is at the top of the table with 17 points, while the UAE is second with 15 points. Only 1 victory will help the UAE continue, while Vietnam only needs a draw. Vietnam is getting very close to the ticket to the final qualifying round of the World Cup 2022. PHOTO: ANH THANH With the back of the wall and the home field advantage, the UAE will definitely set the highest determination to defeat the Vietnamese team. In this match, coach Park Hang-seo of Vietnam was disqualified from directing because he received two yellow cards earlier. Mr. Park’s No. 1 assistant, Deputy Prime Minister Lee Young-jin will take over the leadership of the Vietnamese players on the field. According to FIFA, the UAE owns two great strikers Fabio Lima and Ali Mabkhout. Lima has scored 23 goals in his last 21 matches for club and country. Mabkhout scored 25 goals in the last 15 international matches, of which he scored… 5 hat-tricks. Prediction: Both teams draw 2-2