Successful MI referral between Germany and Switzerland

Case
A German company trading with heavy metal, chemical substances etc. entered into a sales agreement construed under Swiss Law for a certain amount of a specific metal and a fixed delivery term with a Swiss trading company with final customer domiciled in Japan. Since the supplier of the German company fell in breach of contract and the Swiss company nevertheless requested the execution of the sales agreement the affair was referred to Peyer Partner.

Support
Peyer Partner advised the German company on the general situation regarding the sales agreement at stake especially the possibilities of cover purchases, the extent of damages at stake in view of the general conditions of the sales agreement in question, drafted response letters and supported insofar the finding of an amicable solution with corresponding settlement agreement. After the settlement the client was advised on possible improvements of its general sales conditions.

Lessons learned
• It shows to be of importance to refer delicate issues on an early stage of a dispute in which foreign law is applicable in order to avoid that the client gets unconsciously caught into traps of the applicable foreign law and in order to guarantee the chances of the client in a possible court affair remain as intact as possible. This condition was fulfilled in the present case as much as possible.
• In the substance Swiss Law shows to be helpful in international trade agreements insofar as damage interests can to a large extent be denied by the agreement itself or by general terms and conditions of the agreement.

October 7th, 2009 / AH
 

Author: Dr Andreas Haffter
Firm: Peyer Partner Rechtsanwälte

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