Koblenz judgment: Lawyer has to repay 23,800 euros to client!

In a current decision by the Koblenz Regional Court, a legal dispute on the admissibility of an additional remuneration agreement between a client and her legal representation was decided. The case revolves around a matter of damages and pain and suffering in which the law firm represented a woman out of court.

In the mandate, an “additional agreement on the legal remuneration” was concluded, which provided additional remuneration in the event of success. The firm finally reached a comparison that the woman should receive 150,000 euros. In a subsequent telephone call about the voluntary additional remuneration, there were disagreements about their content.

judgment of the district court Koblenz

The law firm has an invoice of EUR 20,000 plus 19% VAT, which results in a total of 23,800 euros, and retained this amount of the 150,000 euros. After a text message from the law firm, in which the "oncoming and appreciative payment" was thanked, the client did not agree with the withdrawal and complained of payment of the 23,800 euros and interest.

The law firm argued that a bonus agreement had been made that did not provide any formal regulation. However, the district court of Koblenz decided that there was no success fee because no remuneration was agreed that dependent on success. The taking of evidence showed that a telephone agreement on the additional remuneration of 23,800 euros was made, which requires the text form in accordance with Section 3a RVG. Therefore, the oral agreement was considered to be effective.

The client was allowed to rely on the formation of form without violating faith. The court ruled that the law firm in accordance with Section 4b RVG could no longer request more than the legal remuneration and sentenced the law firm to the return of the 23,800 euros to the client. The judgment of the LG Koblenz dated December 18, 2024 (Az.: 15 O 97/24).

requirements for remuneration agreement

The decision is in accordance with the existing legal requirements that prescribe a remuneration agreement in text form. This includes that the agreement must be clearly identified as a "remuneration agreement" and must clearly stand out from other agreements. Furthermore, it must not be included in the power of attorney. An indication that in the event of reimbursement of costs is generally nothing more than the statutory remuneration is required, as well as the regulations of bourgeois law on unjustified enrichment remain unaffected.

These regulations are intended to create transparency in dealing with remuneration issues in the legal area and ensure that clients are protected against illegal claims, as they are defined in the details of the ongoing legal discussion about this topic.