Legal services based on special expertise Registration of persons providing legal services in a foreign law 
If you wish to provide extrajudicial legal services in a foreign law on a commercial basis, you must register and be entered in the legal services register.
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Basic information
Anyone wishing to provide extrajudicial legal services in a foreign law must register with the competent authority. You must be personally suitable and reliable. Important criteria for the required reliability are previous experience (in particular any criminal offenses) and financial circumstances. Furthermore, you need proof of special expertise (theoretical and practical) in the relevant areas of law. Professional liability insurance with a minimum sum insured of 250,000.00 euros for each insured event must be taken out. Natural and legal persons as well as companies without legal personality can be registered. The application can be limited to one or more of the above-mentioned areas of law. If necessary for the protection of legal practitioners or legal transactions, registration may be made subject to conditions or linked to requirements.
Requirements
- Personal suitability and reliability,
- theoretical and practical expertise in the area or sub-area of Section 10 (1) RDG in which the legal services are to be provided
- professional liability insurance,
- Legal entities and companies without legal personality must appoint at least one natural person who meets all the necessary requirements (qualified person).
- The qualified person must be permanently employed by the company, be independent of instructions and authorized to issue instructions in all matters relating to the company's legal services and be authorized to represent the company externally.
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Procedure
You apply for registration in the legal services register in the area of legal services in a foreign law and submit the application together with the other documents to the competent authority.
The competent authority will review your application. As soon as all requirements have been met and all evidence has been provided, the competent authority will register you and publish the registration in the legal services register. You will receive notification as to whether registration has taken place.
More information
Prohibition:
Persons or associations pursuant to Sections 6, 7 (1) and Section 8 (1) No. 4 and 5 RDG may be prohibited from providing legal services for a maximum of five years if unqualified legal services are provided on a permanent basis to the detriment of those seeking legal advice.
- Legal services register and public announcement:
Pursuant to Section 16 RDG, a transnational legal services register will be established. This serves to provide information free of charge to those seeking legal services, persons offering legal services, the legal profession and other public bodies. Persons who are permitted to provide legal services in one or more of the areas or sub-areas specified in Section 10 (1) RDG (debt collection services, pension advice and legal services in a foreign law) and persons or associations who have been definitively prohibited from providing legal services in accordance with Section 9 (1) RDG are publicly announced in the legal services register. The public announcement pursuant to section 16 para. 3 sentence 1 RDG is made several times a day by means of a central publication of all registration authorities on these pages. The publicly published data will be deleted if the requirements of Section 17 RDG are met.
Legal remedy/means of appeal:
Objection within one month
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Necessary Documents
- A completed application form for registration in accordance with the Legal Services Register, together with any attachments.
The forms can be found on the federal and state justice portal (rechtsdienstleistungsregister.de).
- A completed application form for registration in accordance with the Legal Services Register, together with any attachments.
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Competent Department
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Bundesamt für Justiz (BFJ) | Rechtsdienstleistungsregister
- +49 228 99 410 40 Zentrale Rufnummer
- Adenauerallee 99-103, 53113 Bonn
- Website
- rdg
@bfj. bund. de
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Fees / Costs
The fees for matters under the Legal Services Act are determined in accordance with Section 1 (2) No. 3 of the Administration of Justice Costs Act.
150,00 EUR No. 1110 Registration in accordance with the RDG. If a legal entity or a company without legal personality is registered, the fee also covers the entry of a qualified person in the legal services register.
150,00 EUR No. 1111 Registration:
Entry of a qualified person in the legal services register, if the entry is not covered by fee 1110 (per person)
75,00 EUR No. 1112 Revocation or withdrawal of registration. -
Deadlines & processing time
What deadlines must be paid attention to?
The exercise of an activity according to the Legal Services Register may only take place after registration. There are no application deadlines for registration.
How long does it take to process
Approximately 4 weeks from receipt of the complete documents.
A decision on the application must be made within 3 months. -
More Information
This page has been automatically translated by DeepL. We cannot guarantee that the translation is correct.
The official information in German is complete and correct. 20.03.2025