After 01.01.2018 in the course of communication with the court (and the other lawyers) every lawyer in Germany will be obligated to provide the possibility of delivering electronic consignments to him or her through the closed system of the Federal Bar Association (Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer) and the Federal Notary Association (Bundesnotarkammer).

Unlike some countries’ more progressive regulations, the process won’t be completely electronic; for the time being the courts’ and the lawyers’ obligations include only passive use. Nevertheless the fact that from now on the lawyers will have a chance for a “paper-free” connection with the court means a step forward. Other benefits are the relatively simple, manageable and universal user-interface where the common standard is PDF/A, and the system’s compatibility with most legal management software.

The electronic process is not a novelty for us: we have used safe electronic communication for many years in our contact with the Austrian and Hungarian authorities. From now on this will be a possibility in German legal proceedings too.

For our clients there is another advantage: since the new system can be synchronized with WebAkte too, the clients will be able to access their own files faster, more comfortably, and much more efficiently. In the case of full digitalization the electronic word search can be used in WebAkte too, so the desired file can be found in literally just seconds, even if the case is extremely complicated or large.

After 01.01.2018 in the course of communication with the court (and the other lawyers) every lawyer in Germany will be obligated to provide the possibility of delivering electronic consignments to him or her through the closed system of the Federal Bar Association (Bundesrechtsanwaltskammer) and the Federal Notary Association (Bundesnotarkammer).

Unlike some countries’ more progressive regulations, the process won’t be completely electronic; for the time being the courts’ and the lawyers’ obligations include only passive use. Nevertheless the fact that from now on the lawyers will have a chance for a “paper-free” connection with the court means a step forward. Other benefits are the relatively simple, manageable and universal user-interface where the common standard is PDF/A, and the system’s compatibility with most legal management software.