Civil and Administrative
- Civil and administrative litigation along with international disputes;
- Pre-trial dispute resolution proceedings, such as administrative challenge and public procurement review proceedings;
- Alternative dispute resolution proceedings, such as arbitration;
- Supervision and request for information proceedings;
- Representing clients in enforcement proceedings;
- Developing litigation strategies.
Employment disputes
- Helping to prevent disputes by providing well-crafted documents and prompt daily advice;
- In case of an employment dispute, we outline the potential alternatives and risks to our client;
- Helping to negotiate compromise solutions;
- Acting as representatives in the labor dispute committee and court proceedings.
IP disputes
- Advising in out-of-court proceedings and in court;
- Helping in cease and desist procedures;
- Providing assistance in monitoring and removal of infringing content from social media platforms and stock databases.
Frequently Asked Questions
WHICH COURT TO TURN TO?
Everyone whose rights and freedoms have been violated has the right of recourse to the courts.
To do so, it must first be established which court to turn to. The first-instance civil proceedings (in case of civil disputes and civil non-contentious matters) are initiated in the county courts and administrative court proceedings (in case of protection of rights of individuals against unlawful actions performed in the exercise of executive authority) in the administrative courts.
If a person shall commit an act which comprises the necessary elements of an offense, is unlawful and the person is guilty of commission of the offense, the person shall be punished for such an act during criminal proceedings.
For a criminal proceeding to be initiated against another person, one must turn to an investigative body or the Prosecutor’s Office with a complaint of crime. This also means that a criminal proceeding cannot be initiated directly, and it is up to a competent authority to decide if a criminal proceeding shall be initiated.
HOW LONG WILL THE COURT PROCEEDINGS TAKE?
The length of the proceedings is dependent on many factors, such as the type of the proceeding, the complexity of the case, and mostly, the conduct of the parties. Therefore, each proceeding is unique, and the exact length is universally unpredictable.
Statistically, the civil proceedings with a substantive dispute took 269 days on average to be completed in the first-instance courts. Similarly, the administrative court proceedings take about 246 days to be completed with a substantive decision in the first-instance courts.
The criminal proceedings in the first-instance courts take 242 days on average to be completed under general procedure.
WHAT ARE THE COSTS OF INITIATING CIVIL OR ADMINISTRATIVE COURT PROCEEDINGS?
To initiate a court proceeding, a state fee is required to be paid. The state fee to start a civil proceeding generally depends on the value of the civil matter and is in the range of 10 – 10 500 euros. The state fee to commence an administrative court procedure is predominantly lower and is usually 15 euros.
Although paying the state fee is mainly the only mandatory fee to be paid to initiate a court proceeding, as self-representation is allowed, having a professional legal representative certainly increases the chances of a successful proceeding. Such representation is usually offered on a hourly-fee basis, but fixed or performance fee agreements are also possible.
As the cases vary considerably, the exact costs of legal representation are never fully foreseeable. For our clients, we ask them to consider that a court case will cost at least 3000 – 5000 euros in legal fees alone. This number is sometimes three times lower, but sometimes exceeds our estimates. Disputes are mostly dependent on the behavior and objectives of the parties, which a legal representative cannot predict.
Positively, if you win a court case, the court will usually reimburse your legal fees at the expenses of the other party. This might work against you as well, as losing a case might mean the obligation to pay the legal costs of the other party.