If your are involved in a traffic accident with no fault on your own, your are entitled to numerous claims against the insurance  of the owner of the car that caused the accident. In case of an accident, the mandatory  liability insurance  follows the car and not the driver. 

Especially, you do not have to make use of your own car insurance, even if you are offered that service by your insurance.

On March 3, 2015, "The Atlantic" published an article on the website Popcorn Time, noting Popcorn Time isn't necessarily doing anything illegal.

In Germany, this does not apply to the users of Popcorn time! 

Using Popcorn Time or any other torrent network for copyrighted material is illegal as it is not just a stream, but illegal file sharing and can be quite costly, as the user might receive a letter to cease and desist and pay legal and license fees of up to 1000 EUR.

So it's a good idea, not to use Popcorn Time or similar torrent stream websites in Germany.

Once a tenant moves out of an house or apartment, he/she may ask the landlord to pay back the security deposit, if there were no damages done during the time the tenant lived on the property. This article shall outline the basics in German tenancy law regarding this issue.

If you have been involved in a car accident in Germany (also as a pedestrian or a cyclist or if your car was parked and hit by another vehicle) and you are not at fault, you have the right to an attorney, whose fees are fully covered by the opposing car insurance. That means, that you may hire an attorney of your choice to represent you and assist you on your claims, without having to pay for the fees.

If your are involved in a traffic accident with no fault on your own, your are entitled to numerous claims against the insurance of the owner of the car that caused the accident. Please see my article for more information "Road Traffic Accident Compensation Claims in Germany ".

Recently, the law firms Sasse and Fareds stopped providing a sample cease and declaration with their warning letters for file sharing.

As I pointed out in my previous blog entry, I always advise to take an Abmahnung for copyright infringements seriously, as ignoring it might lead to greater and especially avoidable costs.

However, on 5 and 6 December a wave of warning letters by a German law firm by the name of U+C Rechtsanwälte has swept across Germany with - what it seems like - thousands or even tens of thousands of warning letters.

The U+C lawyers argue that the recipient of the letter has watched a video on the plattform redtube.com and thus infringed the copyrights of their client as by a stream of the video also a copy is made onto the hard driveof the user. They ask for a compensation of 250,- EUR and a cease and desist declaration. 

I would neither make a payment nor sign a cease and desist declaration.

If a house or an apartment was financed by a German bank or Sparkasse at a fixed interest rate for a fixed duration of the loan agreement, the loan agreement may be terminated early, if the property is sold. This is clearly stated in § 490 Par. 2 German Civil Code.

If you would like to sue somebody or you are being sued in Germany, this overview of the legal proceedings should give you a broad idea of what to do and what to expect.

Germany has rather strict laws and regulations, which protect employees from wrongful dismissals. If you have received a termination of employment notice and the employment contract is governed by German law (which is more often the case many would think - click to find out why), you may want to consider challenging the termination in German court.

If you have discovered a legal letter consisting of up to 15 pages under the subject Abmahnung by a German law firm named Waldorf Frommer or Daniel Sebastian or Fareds or Rasch etc. in your mailbox, you have realized - even if your German is not perfect  - that you are accused of and fined for file sharing. Here you will find answers to the most frequently asked questions:

If you are travelling by plane within, from or to the European Union (or Switzerland, Iceland or Norway) your rights as a passenger in case of cancellations, overbookings or delays are laid out in the European Union’s Regulation 261/2004.