Specialist lawyer (Germany)

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Specialist lawyer is a designation that requires a license and that a lawyer in Germany may use if he has acquired special knowledge and experience in a field of law ( Section 43c BRAO ). The approved specialist lawyer designations as well as the prerequisites and the procedure for their award are regulated in the Specialist Lawyers Act (FAO).

As of July 1, 2019, there are 24 different specialist lawyers. According to statistics from the Federal Chamber of Lawyers (BRAK), 56,305 specialist lawyer titles were awarded in Germany as of January 1, 2019 . It should be noted that up to three specialist lawyers may be used, so that the number of specialist lawyers is lower at 44,843. Based on this, however, 27.16% of lawyers in Germany have at least one specialist lawyer designation.

A study by the Soldan Institute shows that specialist lawyers charge an average of fourteen euros higher hourly rates than colleagues without a specialist lawyer designation.

Specialist title

The right to use the title of specialist attorney is granted by the competent bar association in accordance with the Fachanwaltsordnung (FAO). For this purpose, the respective bar associations have formed so-called specialist committees, which are made up of lawyers. These examine the applications for permission to use a specialist lawyer designation and give a vote to the board of the respective bar association to decide on the application. There are specialist committees formed by several bar associations.

A lawyer may use up to three specialist lawyer titles. To acquire them, he must have been admitted to the bar for at least three years within the last six years prior to filing the application and prove that he has special theoretical knowledge and practical experience in the relevant field of law. As a proof of special theoretical knowledge, participation in a 120-hour course and three performance assessments (with usually five-hour exams ) are required. An additionally necessary “technical discussion” (oral examination) can be dispensed with if this does not appear to be necessary according to the general impression of the specialist lawyers' committee. Due to the rulings of the BGH, the technical discussion is of very little importance in practice.

To prove the practical experience, a certain number of processed cases from the respective subject area is necessary. The range extends from 50 cases in tax law or information technology law to 160 cases in traffic law . A certain proportion of these cases must have reached the judicial process. The range of legal cases required ranges from 10 in insurance law to 60 in family and traffic law. If the competent bar association rejects the application after a corresponding vote by the competent specialist committee of the chamber, the trainee specialist lawyer can, on the other hand, sue the competent legal court. In the second instance, the Federal Court of Justice can review the decision of the Higher Lawyers' Court.

History of specialist lawyers

The first specialist attorney was introduced in 1937 for tax law. 1986 followed in the Federal Republic of the specialist lawyers for labor, social and administrative law by the federal legislature. The introduction of these four specialist lawyers was justified by the fact that with the financial, labor, social and administrative jurisdiction and the respective special procedural law, there was a need for appropriately specialized specialist lawyers. The discussions about the additional specializations required resulted in the introduction of further specialist lawyers. Since 1994, the constitutional assembly of the Federal Bar Association has been able to create new specialist lawyers' offices based on the newly created § 43c BRAO. In 1997, the Articles of Association introduced specialist lawyers for family and criminal law, in 1999 for insolvency law and, since 2003, a number of other specialist lawyers.

Tasks and training

With the introduction of specialist lawyers, the lawyers should be given the opportunity for structured specialization and advanced training, which must also be proven annually to the competent bar association. The changes in the legal services market require specialization that is only economically sensible if it can be pointed out. Even the lawyer who does not have a specialist lawyer title is subject to constant further training obligations, but so far there have been no professional legal specifications or documentation obligations. It is being discussed whether here, too, the further training obligation should be specified, but the further training of specialist lawyers should be taken into account. In addition, the opportunity to advertise with the title of specialist lawyer should make it easier for potential clients to select a suitable lawyer. As a result of the obligation for annual advanced training, the range of seminars and seminar providers has grown considerably. The possibility of proving the obligation to further training by means of scientific publications in the respective field of law has significantly increased the willingness to publish in the specialist attorney's office, even if the majority of the legal profession prefers to attend seminars. The increasing number of lawyers who are allowed to lead a specialist lawyer and the increasing demand from those looking for a specialist lawyer show that the market has accepted specialist lawyers as a quality feature.

From the year in which the specialist lawyer course begins, the lawyer must undergo further training annually in the field of the title of specialist lawyer by providing evidence of at least 15 seminar hours (up to January 1, 2015, 10 seminar hours per year) by listening or lecturing or by providing evidence through publications in appropriate specialist journals. 5 of the 15 seminar hours can be completed in self-study, provided that the learning success is checked. The hours allotted to attending the specialist lawyer course are counted towards the further training obligation this year.

Areas of law

With effect from July 1, 2019, there are twenty-four specialist lawyer titles for the following areas of law:

As part of the constitutional assembly of the Federal Bar Association on June 11, 2007, it was decided to ask the Bundestag to tighten § 43c BRAO. It is up to the discussion to grant the bar associations the right to examine the content. The Federal Ministry of Justice has, however, been cautious about these plans.

The 4th statutory assembly of the legal profession decided on June 25, 2010 to request the Federal Ministry of Justice to initiate a legislative procedure, namely to create an authorization basis for the legal profession in the Federal Lawyers' Act (BRAO) to change the specialist lawyer regulations. With the amendment of the specialist lawyer regulations, the nationwide standardization of the proof of special theoretical knowledge is required through an exam system in which the exams are drawn up and assessed nationwide by task committees.

The 5th constitutional meeting of the Federal Bar Association decided on March 16, 2015 with the specialist lawyer for public procurement law to introduce a 22nd specialist lawyer. The 6th meeting of the articles of association followed in November 2015 with the 23rd specialist lawyer, the specialist lawyer for migration law. On April 16, 2018, however, the constitutional assembly rejected the introduction of a specialist lawyer for victim law. In the discussion was the introduction of a specialist lawyer for sports law, the introduction of which was decided by the Articles of Association on November 26, 2018.

Individual evidence

  1. ↑ [1] (PDF; 37.7 kB)
  2. ↑ [2]
  3. ↑ Soldan Institute: Hourly rates (PDF; 3.7 MB) Anwaltsblatt 7/2006
  4. ↑ BGH AnwZ (Brfg) 29/12
  5. ↑ Henssler / Prütting-Henssler, BRAO, 1st edition, § 43c BRAO marginal number 8
  6. ↑ Fachanwaltsordnung of January 1, 2018 (PDF; 61 kB) full text
  7. ^ Contribution from the lawyer gazette on the 6th assembly of the articles of association

literature

  • Hartung, Wolfgang : Commentary on the professional and specialist lawyer regulations . 5th edition. CH Beck, Munich 2012, ISBN 978-3-406-61857-4 .
  • Kleine-Cosack, Michael: BRAO with BORA and FAO. Comment . 7th edition. CH Beck, Munich 2015, ISBN 978-3-406-66508-0 .
  • Offermann-Burckart, Susanne: Become and stay a specialist lawyer. 3. Edition. Publishing house Dr. Otto Schmidt, Cologne 2012, ISBN 978-3-504-18058-4 .

Web links

Wiktionary: Specialist lawyer  - explanations of meanings, word origins, synonyms, translations