Recovering unpaid invoices in Germany

[jimbo]

My company represented a raw material supplier in Germany. They have refused to pay a number of invoices dating back to 2006. These are for commissions and other services provided under contract. The contract is under German law.

The amount is over USD 40,000.
What is the statute of limitations?
How do I go about recovering my money?

It is a well established company and is not bankrupt. They have never challenged my incvoices.

[olive]

You should have a suit filed asap. Is there any reason they give?

It would seem easy to win and collect if no real dispute exists.

You should be able to file suit in Germany without much of a problem other than probably having to go there on occasion to attend court hearings. Remember that in Germany, losers pay the winners' counsel fees (unless the contract provides otherwise, which is unlikely).

What area of Germany?

Have you written a demand letter? If not, it would be most effective to have a local attorney send a detailed demand letter. If that doesn't work, the local German attorney can sue them. The litigation process is quite a bit different in Germany than in the U.S. -- very limited discovery (evidence from the other side) as compared to here, and in Germany the judge rather than counsel controls what happens in court. But if you win your judgment should be easy to enforce if the defendant is solvent.

Good luck! -Bob Ellis, Columbus OH attorney