Specialist for cross-border cases with a broad spectrum of activities

Those who have cross-border bases, whether professionally or privately, need legal counsel devoid of national blinkers. In this, the following should be understood: In Germany in 2018 there were almost 170,000 lawyers for more than 82 million inhabitants, in Italy even more, with around 240,000 lawyers for over 61 million inhabitants. In contrast, Austria had only an estimated 6,000 lawyers for almost 9 million inhabitants.  It is then no wonder that, with such a high density of lawyers in Germany and Italy (as opposed to Austria), specialisation in typified fields of law (in Germany known as “Fachgebiete“, in Italy so-called “settori di specializzazione“) can be expected to channel the legal market to a certain extent. This, however, does not work across borders. In any event, life can clearly not be typified by a concrete individual case. For this reason, Dr. Strauss is, by intent, not a “Fachanwalt for inheritance law, family law, international business law, etc.” or “Specialista for civil law, family law, international law, EC law etc.”, although he is active as a single lawyer in Germany, Austria and Italy in many corresponding, mostly cross-border, sub-areas, among others as:

  • Simultaneous bilingual attorney for general Civil Law (negotiation, drafting and execution of contracts, deeds, enforcement and defence of claims arising from goods and services, particularly damages claims; preparation and assistance with notarial certification; handling of traffic accident damages; collection).
  • Simultaneous bilingual lawyer for Labour Law (employment contracts, posting, protection against dismissal, international labour law, etc.).
  • Simultaneous bilingual attorney for Real Estate Law (residence, “codice fiscale” -Italian tax code -, acquisition or purchase, management and disposal, or sale or transfer, of house, apartment, land and other real estate rights, Tenancy Law, Residential Property Law, Real Estate Agency law, Neighbouring Rights, land acquisition and property transfer taxes) and construction law (building contract law).
  • Simultaneous bilingual lawyer for Family Law (marital status, descent, right to a name, matrimonial matters, divorce, child support, non-marital partnerships, civil partnership, matrimonial property regime, pension adjustment, spousal separation support, post-marital support, child support, right to information, modification of existing maintenance orders, custody, determination of residency rights, rights of contact, surrender of the child and child abduction, international family law and family law proceedings, child care, guardianship, trusteeship, family court authorisations, other property law, separation and divorce agreements, living wills, health care proxy, etc.).
  • Simultaneous bilingual attorney for Inheritance Law (estate, probate, drafting of wills, legal inheritance, compulsory portion rights, will disputes, execution of wills, settlement of estates, inheritance and gift tax law, certificate of inheritance proceedings and European Certificate of Inheritance, international inheritance law; EU Inheritance Regulation, estate administration, distribution of estates, etc.).
  • Simultaneous bilingual attorney for Commercial Law (e.g. commercial register extracts, company register extracts, general terms and conditions, commercial agency law, international sales law, service contract law, work contract law; export procedure support, import procedure support; customs law).
  • Simultaneous bilingual attorney for enforcement law (investigations of debtors – e.g. on residents’ registration information, commercial register extracts – enforceable assets – including real estate, motor vehicles, ships, bank accounts – including enforcement – furniture, real estate and claims enforcement including attachment of accounts – of domestic and foreign court rulings – verdicts, interim injunctions and measures, court orders, etc.) and Insolvency Law (e.g. settlement of contractual relationships, insolvency appeals, international insolvency law, insolvency proceedings rights, filing of claims).
  • Simultaneous bilingual lawyer for International Commercial Law, International Private Law and International Civil Procedure Law (e.g. which national courts have jurisdiction, which law is applicable, recognition and enforcement of foreign decisions, etc.) and Comparative Law.
  • Simultaneous bilingual attorney for legal representation of domestic and foreign clients (in Austria in conjunction with a locally established lawyer is mandatory)

Despite the greatest attention being paid to such a broad range of activities and the gratifying appreciation of clients for being looked after relatively comprehensively by one person, the involvement of specialised colleagues may be necessary or useful in specific individual cases, even if they focus only on partial areas. One person cannot know everything.