Eine sehr interessante Checkliste haben die Kollegen von Cross-Channel-Lawyers am Wochende gepostet: Woran erkennt man, ob eine englische Limited seriös ist?“. In der anwaltlichen Praxis erstaunt mich immer wieder, wie selten geprellte Mandanten vorher wenigstens die grundlegendsten Informationen über den Geschäftspartner einholen. Oft werden blindlings Verträge abgeschlossen, ohne jede Prüfung. Wenn man dem Mandanten dann sagen muss: Die Gesellschaft gibt es gar nicht und die Hintermänner finden wir nicht raus, dann ist irgendwie der Anwalt schuld – wie im alten Lawyer Joke über die verirrten Ballonfahrer:

George and Lenny decide to cross North America in a hot air balloon. However, neither were particularly experienced balloonists so they got lost. Far below, they could see a man on the ground. George lowered the balloon, to ask the man their location. When they were low enough, George called down to the man, “Hey, can you tell us where we are?” The man on the ground yelledback, “You’re in a balloon, about 100 feet up in the air.”
 
George Called down to the man, “You must be a lawyer.” “Gee, George,” Lenny replied, “How can you tell?” George answered, “Because the advice he gave us is 100% accurate, and is completely useless”.
 
The man called back up to the balloon, “You must be a client.” George yelled back, “Why do you say that?” “Well,” the man replied, “you don’t know where you are, or where you are going. You got into your predicament through a lack of planning, and could have avoided it by asking for help before you acted. You expect me to provide an instant remedy. The fact is: You are in the exact same position you were in before we met, but now it is somehow my fault.”

Die von den Kollegen erstellte Checkliste sollte also das Pflichtprogramm vor jedem Vertragsabschluss sein, übrigens auch vor jeder Mandatsannahme. Und weitere Lawyer Jokes gibt’s übrigens hier