Transport Law
Thanks to decades of experience SKW Schwarz is familiar with all facets of national and international transport law.
On the ground, in the air, on the sea, on the railway, the road or on rivers and channels, in domestic or cross-border transport – our clients can rely on our specialist knowledge of all relevant laws and agreements and our knowledge of relevant judgements at home and abroad. We know how brokers work and how insurers handle damage claims; we know how financial provisions are made and reversed, how loss ratios are handled and how forwarders’ risk insurance and cargo insurance work.
With this experience we work on settling transport damage suffered by our clients, conduct recourse proceedings on behalf of the transport insurers and brokers we represent and offer damage management for transport companies.
Recourse proceedings aim to enforce recourse claims of insurers which have made damage payments to their clients and want to get the money back from the person who caused the damage. We founded Brenken Recoveries GmbH, an independent company for recovery proceedings, more than 20 years ago because the fee system did not permit lawyers to take fees based on success at the time, but transport insurers expect billing on a “no cure – no pay” basis.
Transport law is an area which requires highly specialised knowledge. International civil law plays an important role because the cases regularly cross several jurisdictions. Recourse claims are often based on multilateral or international agreements and on German as well as foreign legal structures. And differentiating between these areas of law requires particular expertise, which SKW Schwarz can provide.
Transport law often requires litigation. And the proceedings are rarely limited to one location. In that respect, SKW Schwarz offers the advantage that it is present at major economic hubs in Germany.
Examples
On behalf of a Japanese transport insurer we worked on a case in which a complete container with flat screens got lost on the transport from Hamburg to Moscow. Since it is quite common that deliveries are made to the wrong recipient at the import customs, the sender had torn a banknote in two, given one half to the truck driver and sent the other to the recipient. The latter was to show his half of the banknote to the truck driver and thus identify himself as the intended recipient. Despite this precaution the delivery did not reach the recipient. Thorough research in Russia showed that an employee of the recipient had fraudulenly collaborated with the driver, brought the banknote in his possession and taken the delivery for himself. We were able to claim damages for the value of the complete delivery in court.