Holiday, Travel and Foreign law
EUROPE may be united - but it takes 23 different languages to say so. Add at least 27 different legal systems and the aftermath of accidents abroad can be bewildering.
But lawyers Bond Pearce are helping to dismantle one language barrier by providing legal advice in German on UK civil and criminal law.
There are 100 million native German speakers world wide. Over 80 million live in Europe.
"It's inevitable that German speakers, their lawyers and their insurers will need advice," Stephen Covell, an insurance and regulation law expert at Bond Pearce, says.
"It may be the aftermath of a road accident. It could be a health and safety issue involving a German manufacturing company supplying and installing machinery to an English factory.
"A worker might bring a claim against his employer who begins legal action against the machinery supplier."
Stephen specializes in acting for insurers and holiday companies in claims arising from accidents both in the UK and abroad and speaks German fluently.
He has close links with lawyers and insurers across Europe and especially in Germany, Austria and Switzerland.
"We can explain how issues of blame and the quantification of the claim are decided according to English law," Stephen, a member of European personal injury lawyers group PEOPIL, says.
"We'll represent and advise lawyers and their clients in resolving any dispute following the incident.
"That includes the repercussions of fatal accidents such as coroners' inquests or criminal investigations.
Recent Cases:
- On behalf of insurers and a skiing holiday company we successfully defended a claim against a ski host following a skiing accident in France;
- We successfully arranged service of a Part 20 contribution claim out of the English jurisdiction in South Africa and advised insurers on the differences in quantum law between the two jurisdictions.
- We are advising a UK based insurer in relation to proceedings issued in Hungary following the death of a Hungarian national in a road accident in England. We are also advising the insurers' Hungarian lawyers on matters of English law;
- Following a road traffic accident in France involving a British national, we arranged legal representation and the issue of proceedings in France ;
- We provided advice to an insurer based in Switzerland as to a large damages settlement within the English jurisdiction;
- We advised and represented an Italian company and its insurers in a inquest following a fatal accident in England. We also represented the company and its insurers in subsequent civil proceedings ;
- We acted for the prosecuting authority in a successful criminal prosecution of an Italian shipping company following a fatal accident in a British port.
- We are currently advising and acting to recover insurers' outlay in foreign jurisdictions.
