Category Archives: Law

“East West Street” by Philippe Sands

Posted on 2020-01-12 by

As a lawyer and budding historian, I found Philippe Sands‘ idea of telling the story of international criminal law through the biographies of Hersch Lauterpacht and Raphael Lemkin interesting. But the book East West Street is overloaded with the irrelevant … Continue reading →

Posted in Books, History, Holocaust, Human Rights, Law, Ukraine | Tagged , | 1 Comment

Does the Federal Republic of Germany even exist? A discussion with a “Reichsbürger”.

Posted on 2019-08-07 by

Many years ago, someone walked into my law office, showed me a notice about some traffic fine and explained, confusing our respective roles in the attorney-client relationship, why he definitely wouldn’t need to pay the fine. According to him, the … Continue reading →

Posted in German Law, Germany, History, Law, Military, Politics, World War II | Tagged , , | 10 Comments

Testing a Client’s Sense of Humor

Posted on 2019-02-18 by

Five years ago, an American lady contacted me about applying for German citizenship. She fell into that group of people who could qualify without living in Germany, but she would need to pass the German language test at a high … Continue reading →

Posted in German Law, Language, Law | Tagged , | 12 Comments

Visiting the UK is as cheap as never before

Posted on 2018-11-27 by

Sometimes, particularly when I put on my lawyer hat, I am inclined to think that maybe, just maybe, that whole Brexit thing wasn’t properly thought through from the outset. But big words like “sovereignty” won over practical concerns, and thus … Continue reading →

Posted in Economics, Immigration Law, Law, Politics, Statistics, Travel, UK | Tagged , , , , | 29 Comments

Renting in Germany

Posted on 2018-05-28 by

Rental contracts all over the world: You agree on the monthly rent, the landlord gives you the key, you move in and pay the rent every month. If there is an issue, you call each other and talk about it. … Continue reading →

Posted in German Law, Germany, Law | 45 Comments

GDPR – Privacy Policy

Posted on 2018-05-27 by

Finally, the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) has come into effect, and there is panic all over the continent, as if there hadn’t been any data protection laws in force until now. And it seems like everyone slept through the … Continue reading →

Posted in Law, Technology | Tagged | 6 Comments

How to deal with disorganized clients

Posted on 2018-02-25 by

A lady who already displayed some warning signs wanted me to advise her about a child custody case in Germany. In the following conversation, I am the part in dark blue. I haven’t heard from her again. By the way, … Continue reading →

Posted in Family Law, German Law, Law | Tagged , | 7 Comments