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Unlike the former registered mail with peel-off label, the new digital registered mail is no longer suitable as prima facie evidence. This is the result of a decision by the Hamburg Regional Labor Court (July 14, 2025 – 4 SLa 26/24). Facts The Hamburg Regional Labor Court had to rule on the validity of a...

FGvW provided comprehensive legal advice to the Zürcher Group on the acquisition of all shares in BM Bahndienste GmbH and its subsidiary, BM Bahnberufe GmbH. The Zürcher Group, based in Meißenheim, has been active for nearly 70 years and has approximately 200 employees at six locations. The Group opterated in the fields of track construction,...

Whether public figure or private individual – unauthorized access to one’s own voice, its misuse, and the resulting consequences can affect anyone. Such misuse also leads to a general loss of trust and a decrease in the value of audio recordings of all kinds. It is therefore more than welcome that the Berlin Regional Court...

The current JUVE Handbook of Commercial Law Firms 2025/2026 has been published and with it the associated TOP 50 ranking. As in previous years, Friedrich Graf von Westphalen & Partner is represented in this national overview of leading law firms. JUVE particularly recommends our firm in the areas of labor and employment law, corporate law, healthcare, dispute resolution (product liability...

Whether an agreement is a commercial agency agreement is determined by the actual content of the agreement. The name of the agreement is not relevant. Instead, the overall picture of the circumstances is decisive. This is the result of the judgement of the Higher Regional Court (OLG) Frankfurt am Main of 8 July 2025 (Case...

The unlawful and almost complete video surveillance of an employee at work over a period of 22 months has resulted in the employer being ordered to pay damages of €15,000. In the absence of any legal justification, the intensive video surveillance constituted a serious infringement of the employee’s personal rights. This was decided by the...

If a clause triggers the reimbursement of training costs when the employment relationship is terminated “at the request” of the employee, this means the indiscriminate termination of the employment relationship by the employee giving notice. With this content, the clause is unreasonably disadvantageous within the meaning of Section 307 (1) sentence 1 of the German...

We are further expanding our real estate law practice group and strengthening our Frankfurt office with the addition of Professor Dr Martin Meißner and Cihangir Agdemir as partners in October. The experienced real estate lawyers are joining from Reed Smith. Professor Dr Martin Meißner was a founding partner of Reed Smith’s Frankfurt office and a...

The question of whether external applicants who were not previously employed by the employer and have already reached the standard retirement age may be rejected on the basis of their age was recently decided by the Federal Labor Court (BAG) (judgment of May 8, 2025 – 8 AZR 299/24). The BAG concluded that although age...

A Team from FGvW advised Carl Stahl Holding GmbH on the acquisition of a 50 percent stake in fiber rope manufacturer Gleistein GmbH. Carl Stahl Holding GmbH is the central management and holding company of the long-established Carl Stahl Group, an internationally active family-owned group based in Süßen, Baden-Württemberg, which, with around 2,100 employees and...