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Data protection8 min

PHP alert of 21 October: is this already a data breach under the GDPR?

A critical security vulnerability in PHP, the technology behind roughly seven out of ten websites, became public today (21 October 2026). Attackers can execute code on the web server without logging in, the first attacks are already under way, and updates have been available since the afternoon. Does this already amount to a data breach that has to be reported within 72 hours? This article explains when such a vulnerability becomes a personal data breach and what companies should do now.

The painter, the emperor and AI: what clients still pay for

Anyone with a legal question today often asks an AI and gets an answer within seconds. In the past, this required a lawyer. In 2020, the Leverkusen Local Court justified a lawyer's fee with a parable about a Chinese emperor and a painter: a lawyer is not paid for their time, but for their knowledge. That knowledge, however, is now supplied by AI. So what will clients still be paying a lawyer for in future?

Four citations nobody can find: the ruling of the Celle Higher Regional Court

Four cited decisions, none of them traceable in juris or beck-online: in April 2025, the Celle Higher Regional Court (OLG Celle) recorded false citations in a pleading four times over, without a word about AI. The link to AI hallucinations comes from the legal press. What the ruling actually says, why the opposing party loses anyway, and what check small law firms should derive from it for every citation.

Winning private clients: instructing a lawyer from the client's perspective

The matter was lucrative, the law firm perfectly qualified, and yet it went to the colleague two streets away. Anyone running a small, regional law firm who wants to win consumers as clients needs to understand that the decision is usually made before the first conversation. And it is made on trust, because a private client cannot assess professional quality in advance.

34 cameras, 22 months: 15,000 euros in damages

A company filmed its entire production hall around the clock with 34 cameras, in HD and with a live feed. The Regional Labour Court of Hamm awarded a production worker 15,000 euros in damages for this. The ruling shows what hurdles apply to video surveillance in the workplace and what the lack of a proper concept can cost.

Real post or AI fake? Screenshots as evidence in employment law

During a works council election campaign, an employee is said to have posted a colleague's election poster on Facebook, doctored with a Hitler-style moustache. He claims the screenshot is an AI fake. The Duisburg Labour Court dismissed his claim against the written warning; the Düsseldorf Regional Labour Court now intends to hear witnesses. The case shows what a screenshot is worth as evidence and how companies should preserve social media incidents.

Equal pay: one better-paid colleague is enough for comparison

If a male colleague earns more than a female employee for the same work, there is a presumption of discrimination on grounds of sex. In 2025, the Federal Labour Court (BAG) clarified on equal pay that a single comparator colleague is sufficient for this. For companies, this means that every pay difference must be justifiable on gender-neutral grounds.

Why social skills in a team matter more than expertise

Teams rarely fail because of a lack of expertise. They fail because of how the people involved treat one another. Why social skills in a team often matter more to the outcome than an individual's qualifications, and what companies can do about it.

OpenAI's AI agents put ChatGPT images online

On 25 September 2026, OpenAI admitted that AI agents in its research environment had uploaded 53 users' ChatGPT images to third-party image portals. The images came from training data, and according to the company, OpenAI is unable to identify those affected. The case shows what happens when AI agents act independently on the internet, and where the company's explanation leaves legal questions unanswered.

Discriminatory rejection: liability ends with the new job

An applicant rejected in 2009 claimed around 236,000 euros in lost earnings for the years 2020 to 2023, even though he had long been working elsewhere. In 2026, the Federal Labour Court (BAG) ruled that although damages for applicants under the General Equal Treatment Act (AGG) are not capped from the outset, they end as soon as the person concerned has found a suitable new position and that position has become established. For employers, this means the liability risk has a foreseeable end.

Happy employees: what really keeps people in a company

84 per cent of employees in Germany are satisfied with their job, yet only one in ten feels genuinely attached to their employer. Pay is the most common reason to leave, but rarely the reason to stay. A piece on employee retention: why colleagues, appreciation and your direct manager hold people more than any pay round.

AI agents in the office: what already works today and where the limits are

AI agents are meant to carry out research, maintain spreadsheets and answer emails on their own in the office. The major providers now ship them with their office suites, yet according to Bitkom only around one in ten companies engaging with AI actually uses such agents. This article sets out what the technology can do today, how widespread it is, and why hidden instructions in emails are its biggest risk.

Do we still need developers if AI writes the code?

Four out of five developers now work with AI, and the number of vacant IT positions in Germany has halved since 2023. Even so, almost every company with open IT roles complains about how hard they are to fill. My thesis: the demand for software developers remains, it merely shifts. AI has made code cheap; judging that code costs as much as it ever did.

AI in the German justice system: what the courts are already trialling

German courts have long been trialling AI in their day-to-day work: the software pre-sorts diesel emissions claims, drafts judgments in air passenger rights cases, structures files running to thousands of pages and reads incoming electronic mail. This article sets out where AI in the justice system stands today, what the federal and state governments have planned for it and which questions remain open, from judicial independence to the AI Act.

Programming with AI: describing instead of typing

Programming with AI increasingly means describing what the software should do, letting the assistant or agent write it and checking the result. This post looks at how developers' way of working is changing as a result, what surveys and studies say about the benefits and pitfalls, and what companies having software built should prepare for.

Who reviews the code the AI writes?

AI assistants write code in seconds, and according to current studies almost every second suggestion contains a security flaw. The people who are supposed to review it often trust it too much. This article sets out what is known about the quality and security of AI-generated code, what the BSI and OWASP recommend and why responsibility stays with the company.

Stuttgart Higher Regional Court: image PDF not enough for data portability

A player asked an online betting provider for his complete payment and gaming history and received 62 pages of image PDF. In 2026, the Stuttgart Higher Regional Court ruled: that is enough for a GDPR access request, but not for the right to data portability. What this means for companies that have to hand over customer data on request.

CEO fraud: manager liable for 50 million euros

Fraudsters posed as a superior on the phone, and the senior employee responsible for finances transferred more than 50 million euros within 25 days. Following this case of CEO fraud, the Cologne Regional Labour Court has held the summary dismissal to be effective and made the manager liable for the full amount. Of all things, it was the D&O insurance meant to protect him that tipped the scales.

GEMA v Suno: When the AI model knows the pop song by heart

Enter nothing but the lyrics and the AI music generator Suno produces a recognisable version of “Atemlos durch die Nacht”. The Regional Court of Munich I sees this as a reproduction within the model that no exception covers, and holds the provider responsible. For companies training AI models or using AI generators, the GEMA v Suno ruling means: protected training data needs a licence, and the AI Act is no substitute for one.

Chatbots in client communication: useful or risky?

A chatbot in a law firm answers at eleven at night, sorts enquiries by area of law and collects the first few details. That saves time at reception, but it brings three problems with it: the chatbot can say the wrong things about the firm, it hears confidential information before any matter exists, and from August 2026 it has to identify itself as a machine. It makes sense wherever its task is narrowly defined.

Parental leave in instalments: the protection against dismissal starts afresh each time

Anyone who splits parental leave into several periods is newly protected against dismissal before each period. The Federal Labour Court (BAG) has ruled that protection against dismissal during parental leave begins up to eight weeks before each individual period, even if all the periods were applied for in a single letter and the employment relationship has not yet lasted six months. What this means for parents.

Building a website with AI: what worked and what didn't

I rebuilt my website with AI, including its own content management system and blog. This account tells you what went surprisingly well, where things got stuck and what I'd advise anyone who wants to build a website with AI. In short: AI is fast, but it needs clear rules, and someone has to keep an eye on it.

GEMA v OpenAI: song lyrics in an AI model are copies

The Regional Court of Munich I has ruled in the case of GEMA v OpenAI: song lyrics that a language model reproduces on a simple request are reproduced within the model itself. The exception for text and data mining does not protect the provider, and it is liable for the outputs itself. The judgment affects every company that trains or offers AI models or uses their content.

GDPR fines in court: 14.5 million becomes 900,000 euros

Berlin's data protection commissioner sought around 14.5 million euros from Deutsche Wohnen, and the Lower Saxony authority around 10.4 million from notebooksbilliger.de. In court, 900,000 euros remained in both cases, while the breaches themselves were confirmed. What the two decisions reveal about how GDPR fines are calculated, and why cooperating with the authority is worth hard cash.

Child's nursery records: GDPR access request only with both parents

A separated father asks his son's nursery for the developmental records, invoking the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The nursery wants to see the mother's consent first, the Berlin data protection commissioner finds no breach, and the Berlin Administrative Court agrees. Where parents share custody, a GDPR access request to the nursery is a matter that separated parents can only decide together.

Fragrance dupes in Google's AI Overview: no trade mark infringement

When users search for fragrance dupes, Google's AI Overview names the branded perfumes and links to the sellers of the imitations. A perfume group wanted to stop this by way of an interim injunction. The Regional Court of Berlin II found neither a trade mark infringement nor a breach of competition law on Google's part, and the reasoning shows where brand owners will have to start in future.

Programming with Claude Code: how my work has changed

For over twenty years I typed code line by line. Since I started programming with Claude Code, I describe what the software should do, run several sessions side by side and read more than I write. What has changed, what went wrong, and why rules and review now matter more than the keyboard.

Collective redundancy notification: mistakes render dismissals invalid

Anyone planning a collective redundancy must involve the works council and inform the Federal Employment Agency, and in that order. In 2026, the Federal Labour Court (BAG) made it clear that if the collective redundancy notification is missing or filed too early, the dismissals are invalid. At the same time, a later ruling shows that minor errors in the notification need not be harmful.

The digital law firm in 2030: how matters will run five years from now

Electronic case files, video hearings and online proceedings have been decided on or are already up and running, and clients sort out the basics themselves with AI. My take: by 2030, a matter at a digital law firm will run from first enquiry to judgment without paper, and clients will pay for outcomes and responsibility rather than hours. What speaks for it, what against, and where small law firms stand today.

Salary expectations to the wrong recipient: annoyance alone is damage

A bank accidentally sends its reply to an applicant's salary expectations to his former colleague as well. The Court of Justice of the European Union (CJEU) has ruled that worry or annoyance about such a slip-up is in itself damage for which compensation is available under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) closed the case in 2026, showing what HR departments can learn from it.

What successful entrepreneurs have in common

The young genius founder in a garage is the most popular story told about entrepreneurship. Research paints a different picture: successful entrepreneurs are usually in their mid-forties, have known their industry for years and often start out alongside a day job. What studies and documented examples tell us about the things successful entrepreneurs share.

Leading without the hierarchy theatre: what really holds teams back

In many meetings, rank prevails before the best argument has even been heard. Company cars, inflated titles and lengthy approval chains cost time and trust without creating any order. What the research on flat hierarchies shows, and why leadership still needs clear responsibility.

Being found when the AI answers: search engines in transition

Google is answering more and more search queries itself, with AI overviews above the results and a dedicated AI mode. Studies measure significantly fewer clicks through to websites, while Google speaks of stable figures and better-quality clicks. This piece sets out what the evidence shows, who stays visible and what it all means for businesses.

An AI assistant on your own website: what I'm considering before launch

My website features Eora, my AI assistant. Anyone who talks to her currently sees a preview, not a real AI. Before she actually starts answering, I want to know what she may say, what she may not, and who is liable if she gets it wrong. A planning report that applies just as much to an AI chatbot on a law firm website.

ALeKS: how the courts plan to publish more judgments with AI

Fewer than three per cent of all court decisions in Germany are published, because every judgment has to be anonymised by hand first. ALeKS, a project from the judiciary's digitalisation initiative, is meant to hand that work to an AI. Bavaria and Lower Saxony are developing it together, and Bavaria has been testing it at the Munich Higher Regional Court since March 2026.

Registered post with proof of delivery does not prove receipt

Anyone sending a dismissal or an invitation to company integration management by registered post with proof of delivery has not yet proved that it arrived. In 2026, the Federal Labour Court (BAG) ruled that even the postal service's delivery receipt does not establish prima facie evidence, because the delivery worker signs before putting the letter through the letterbox. Back in 2025, the court had already held the posting receipt and tracking status to be insufficient.

Incorrect chatbot answers: liability as for your own advertising

An AI chatbot on the website of a provider of aesthetic treatments awarded the managing directors specialist medical titles they do not hold. The Higher Regional Court of Hamm attributes such answers to the company as its own commercial act, just like an advertising statement. Liability for chatbot answers therefore falls on the operator, even if it supplied the software with correct data.

What can be standardised in a law firm and what cannot

Templates, deadlines, client correspondence: a lot in a law firm repeats itself, and that is exactly what can be standardised. This article sets out which processes small law firms can unify with little effort and where the individual case marks the limit.

Trust instead of control: leading remote teams working from home

A quarter of people in employment in Germany work from home at least some of the time, and that share has remained stable for years. Anyone who nevertheless orders their team back into the office is, according to recent surveys, sending one signal above all: mistrust. This article sets out what studies by Destatis, the ifo Institute, the WSI and Fraunhofer reveal about leading at a distance, and where it really goes wrong day to day.

Abusive GDPR access requests: CJEU permits refusal

The Court of Justice of the European Union has ruled: a company may refuse a request for access under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) if the request is made solely to provoke a claim for damages, and this applies even to a first request. The threshold is high, and the burden of proof lies with the company.

Checking deadlines: the case file is enough, the wrong inbox is not

The Federal Labour Court (BAG) has clarified a lawyer's duty to monitor deadlines in two respects: anyone who checks deadlines against the case file put before them need not also check the deadline calendar. Anyone who sends grounds of appeal via beA to the inbox of the court administration misses the deadline and will not be granted relief from default. Both decisions show where the lawyer's responsibility lies: with the case file and with sending.

AI essay in an application: university may refuse the master's place

An applicant for a master's programme at TU München submitted an essay that detection software classified as 71 per cent AI-generated text. The university excluded him from the application process, and the Administrative Court of Munich held this to be lawful. What makes the decision worth reading is above all how the examiners spotted the AI, and why the software's figure was only the starting point.

Diagnoses from medical invoices: insurer needs consent

A private health insurer analysed the medical invoices submitted by its customers for diagnoses and invited suitable policyholders to join preventive care programmes. The Federal Administrative Court has ruled: without consent, it may not use health data for this purpose, even if the programmes serve preventive care. What privately insured people can take away from the judgment.

What makes an entrepreneur: responsibility, not titles

Managing director, CEO, founder: on a business card, an entrepreneur is quickly made. What really makes an entrepreneur shows elsewhere: in decisions made under uncertainty, in dealings with the people in the business and in the effect it has on the outside world. A piece about responsibility as the core of entrepreneurship.

The metrics a managing director really needs

More than 80 per cent of the corporate insolvencies in 2025 hit businesses with no more than ten employees, and insolvency administrators cite a lack of controlling as the most common cause. Yet a managing director does not need a collection of formulas. Five metrics on a single sheet show whether the company can pay its bills, is making money and can survive a bad month.

Good bosses listen: communication as the most important leadership task

Many managing directors see communication as a soft side issue next to strategy, figures and product. That is a mistake: a boss who doesn't listen loses trust, ideas and, eventually, staff. Communication as a leadership task is therefore the core of the job.

Undisclosed AI in an exam counts as deception

Two students at the University of Kassel are said to have used AI in their assessed work, one of them in his bachelor's thesis. The Administrative Court of Kassel has confirmed that undisclosed AI amounts to a particularly serious case of deception, and neither student may resit the exam. The court also explains why using AI in a bachelor's thesis is different from a Google search, and how examiners spot AI-generated text.

No copyright for AI logos: the Munich Local Court ruling

A man has a generative AI create three logos for him, an acquaintance copies them onto his website, and the Munich Local Court dismisses the claim for injunctive relief. Neither a prompt of 1,700 characters nor several rounds of corrections turn an AI logo into a protected work. For businesses that design with AI, this means: without a defining human contribution there is no copyright, and other routes to protection become important.

Why digital projects fail at the implementation stage

Surveys with a transparent methodology show why digital projects fail: rarely because of the software, usually because of time, decisions, organisation and the involvement of employees. This article puts the figures from Bitkom, McKinsey, BCG and Koblenz University of Applied Sciences into context and uses the example of Lidl to show what implementation actually means.

Meta tracking: 1,500 euros in damages for Instagram users

Through its so-called business tools, Meta also collects data about users on third-party websites. The Higher Regional Court of Dresden has awarded four Instagram users 1,500 euros each in damages from Meta, because the required consent was missing. This post explains the court's reasoning and what affected users can do with it.

From programmer to architect: the new role of developers

AI tools produce code, tests and standard logic in seconds. This shifts the work of software developers: away from writing, towards goals, architecture, review and responsibility. Why this matters more to companies than any productivity figure, and where the limits of this shift lie.

Paid debts at Schufa: how long entries may remain

Anyone who has paid off old debts would ideally like the corresponding Schufa entry to disappear straight away. At the end of 2025, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled that Schufa does not have to delete data on settled claims immediately, and at the same time set out which storage periods it considers appropriate. What the judgment means for everyone who wants to have their Schufa entry deleted.

Data breach after the contract ends: company liable for its service provider

A service provider announces that it will delete the customer data, and for three years the company never follows up. Then the data surfaces on the dark web. In 2025, the Federal Court of Justice (BGH) ruled that the company is liable for the data breach at its former processor, because it never verified the deletion.

Political posts: dismissal of a professional footballer invalid

A Bundesliga club summarily dismissed a player over political posts published after 7 October 2023. The Regional Labour Court of Rhineland-Palatinate held both dismissals to be invalid: by issuing a public warning, the club had waived its right to dismiss him over the earlier posts, and the final post, construed in the light of freedom of expression, was not a ground for dismissal. What employers can learn from this.

Invented citations: what courts hold against lawyers using AI

A pleading cites a Federal Court of Justice (BGH) decision that never existed. In 2025, the Kammergericht, Berlin's higher regional court, reprimanded a lawyer for precisely that, and the Cologne Local Court and the Frankfurt Regional Court had already commented clearly on similar cases before. Why an AI hallucination in a pleading is no excuse, and what checks courts expect from law firms.

Probationary periods in fixed-term contracts: no rigid 25 per cent limit

Probationary periods in fixed-term contracts: the lower court had applied a standard figure of 25 per cent of the contract term. In October 2025, the Federal Labour Court (BAG) rejected this rule of thumb. What matters is the expected duration of the fixed term and the nature of the work, and an induction plan can justify a four-month probationary period in a one-year contract.

Text snippets, templates or AI: what makes pleadings faster

Anyone wanting to draft pleadings faster has three tools to choose from today: classic text snippets, automated templates and generative AI. All three save time, but in quite different places. And only one of them can invent court rulings.

Checking AI answers: how to spot fabricated content

A chatbot replies within seconds and sounds more confident than many an expert. Yet some of these answers are pure invention, complete with sources and quotations. This article explains why language models hallucinate, which warning signs point to fabricated content and how to check AI answers in just a few minutes.

Error culture: teams only learn when nobody is afraid

The best-run hospital wards reported the most errors. That observation launched the research into psychological safety thirty years ago, and it has been confirmed ever since in factories, at Google and in meta-analyses: teams only learn from mistakes when nobody is afraid to report them. Why a good error culture is more than leniency, and why employment law is further ahead here than some management floors.

Client intake: where most of the time is lost

In many law firms, days pass between a prospective client's first call and a complete file, often more than a week. Client intake consists of many small steps, each harmless in itself, which together tear apart the working day. This article shows where the time is lost and how a fixed process brings it back.

Sick note from the internet: summary dismissal valid

An IT consultant submits a sick note he bought online by filling in a questionnaire. No doctor spoke to him, neither in person nor by phone nor by video. The Regional Labour Court of Hamm holds the summary dismissal to be valid, without any prior warning, and explains why such an online sick note amounts to deceiving the employer and what companies can take from this for their own practice.

Why legal tech projects fail in law firms

The software has been bought, the training went well, and six months later the firm is working exactly as it did before. Legal tech projects rarely fail because of the technology. They fail because of a lack of time, a lack of knowledge, unclear processes and people nobody asked.

Do lawyers need to learn to code?

Coding courses for lawyers have been around for years, and the question of whether lawyers need to learn to code has been debated for almost a decade. My answer: no. A law firm doesn't need a lawyer who writes Python. It needs lawyers who can describe their work precisely enough for software to model it. That is harder than it sounds.

AI in the small law firm: getting started without an IT department

To get started with AI, a small law firm needs neither an IT department nor a project budget. What it needs is a clearly defined first task, a tool that client data may be entrusted to, and the habit of checking every result. This article shows what the beginning looks like in practice and which obligations already apply today.

Cloned AI voice: 4,000 euros for Bruce Willis' dubbing artist

A YouTuber had two videos narrated by an AI voice that sounds like Manfred Lehmann, the German voice of Bruce Willis. Regional Court Berlin II held this to be an infringement of the right to one's own voice and ordered him to pay 4,000 euros as a notional licence fee. The ruling affects anyone using AI voices in videos, podcasts or advertising.

Abuse of power by the managing director: EUR 68,153.80 in compensation

A managing director makes sexist and humiliating remarks to an employee and, out of resentment about a private relationship, threatens her with disciplinary measures under employment law. The Cologne Regional Labour Court dissolves the employment relationship upon her application and awards her EUR 68,153.80 in compensation. This article explains when returning to the workplace is unreasonable and how the courts calculate the compensation.

Build or buy software? A decision guide for companies

Off-the-shelf software, in-house development, or a customised package somewhere in between: whether a company should buy or build software depends less on price than on maintenance, vendor lock-in and data protection over the years. AI tools make getting started with building cheaper, but not running it. This article shows which criteria matter and in what order to assess them.

45 million euros against Vodafone: partner agencies and the eSIM loophole

In 2025, the Federal Commissioner for Data Protection imposed two fines totalling 45 million euros on Vodafone. Partner agencies had not been monitored adequately, and a loophole in authentication via the customer portal and hotline allowed unauthorised parties to retrieve eSIM profiles. What the Vodafone fine means for companies with sales partners and customer portals.

Reviewing contracts with AI: what the tools can and cannot do

AI tools read contracts in minutes and spot standard clauses as reliably as junior lawyers. But studies also show where AI contract review falls short: with rare clauses, with the legal position, and with gaps that nobody flags. What this means for small law firms.

No waiver of statutory minimum holiday in a court settlement

Settlement agreements on termination deal with the dismissal, the severance payment and holiday entitlement in one go. For the statutory minimum holiday, this does not work while the employment relationship is still in place. In 2025, the Federal Labour Court (BAG) held that the clause "holiday entitlements have been granted in kind" does not exclude payment in lieu, even if the employee was unable to work throughout.

Workday test with real data: 200 euros in damages

An employer tested the HR software Workday using real employee data and, in doing so, transferred more data than the works agreement permitted. The Federal Labour Court (BAG) awarded an affected employee 200 euros in damages under the General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR). The Workday ruling shows what companies should bear in mind when testing new HR software.

Pregnant after dismissal: the medical finding is what counts

An employee only learns that she is pregnant after her dismissal, by which time the deadline for filing a claim has already passed. The Federal Labour Court (BAG) nevertheless allows her claim, because certainty only comes with a medical examination and a self-test is not enough. What this means for a dismissal during pregnancy and what matters afterwards.

Data protection breach as unfair competition: competitors may sue

The Federal Court of Justice has ruled in three cases: a data protection breach can also constitute a breach of competition law. Competitors and consumer associations may pursue it before the civil courts. For online retailers and providers in the healthcare sector, this means that incomplete data protection information or a missing consent can trigger a cease-and-desist letter from a competitor.

Garden leave: no duty to look for a job before the contract ends

Garden leave during the notice period: an employer sent an employee he had dismissed 43 job offers and withheld the final month's salary because the employee did not apply quickly enough. The Federal Labour Court (BAG) has ruled that employees on garden leave do not have to start a new job before their contract ends. The salary keeps running.

Virtual options: forfeiture on resignation invalid

Virtual options are meant to retain employees. One company therefore let even options that had already been earned lapse as soon as an employee resigned. The Federal Labour Court (BAG) has held this clause to be invalid: vested options are pay for work performed and may not be forfeited immediately. Forfeiture in instalments over two years also places the employee at an unreasonable disadvantage.

Why good software needs no manual

When staff can only use a piece of software after a training session, the staff are rarely to blame. Usability research has shown for decades that users don't read manuals, skip tutorials and learn only what the interface shows them. This post looks at how to recognise self-explanatory software and what the learning effort costs a company.

Lawyers, developers, sales: leading three professions in one team

Lawyers want certainty, developers want clarity, sales wants a date. In my two legal tech companies, all three sat at the same table. A first-hand account of where the friction arises in an interdisciplinary team, why translating alone is not enough and what I learned from it as a managing director.

Usability beats feature count

At the point of purchase, the software with the longest feature list wins; in day-to-day use, it's the one that's easy to operate. Usability research and employee surveys show why usability decides whether software succeeds or fails in a company, and where the range of features still matters.

Lawyer and programmer: why I do both

I have been programming since 2001 and practising as a lawyer since 2015. Doing both at once may look like a balancing act from the outside. From my point of view, it is the opposite: the lawyer and the programmer make each other better, and it is precisely this combination that is missing from many digital projects in small law firms.

ChatGPT at work: no co-determination for private accounts

A medical technology manufacturer approved the use of ChatGPT, published usage rules on its intranet and did not involve the group works council. The Hamburg Labour Court rejected all of the works council's applications: as long as employees use private accounts in their browser and the employer does not see any usage data, there is no right of co-determination. This does not automatically apply to AI introduced by the company itself.

Incorrect AI company information: the portal operator is liable

A business information portal reported that a family company was to be struck off the commercial register for lack of assets. The report concerned a different company; the portal's AI had attributed it incorrectly. Kiel Regional Court ordered the operator to cease and desist: liability for AI errors lies with whoever uses the software, and a note about possible errors in the terms of use makes no difference.

Asking the right way: how lawyers work with AI tools

A language model doesn't know the file, only the query. Ask vaguely and you get text that sounds good and fits no case at all. This article shows how lawyers in small firms should prompt AI tools: with role, context, task and format, with instructions to flag uncertainties, and without client data.

Sick notes from outside the EU: when doubts are enough

A warehouse worker on holiday sends in a medical certificate stating 24 days of incapacity for work along with a ban on travelling – and books the ferry home the next day. The Federal Labour Court (BAG) has set out when the evidential value of a sick note issued abroad is undermined: when several circumstances, each harmless in itself, together give rise to serious doubts. For employers, this means gathering the irregularities and presenting them as an overall picture.

The law firm without lawyers: vision of the future or wrong turn?

The law firm without lawyers already exists, at least in part: debt collection services enforce tenants' rights, and in the US non-lawyers may own law firms. Even so, it does not work as a vision for the future of legal advice. Because whatever depends on the individual case needs someone who takes responsibility. And to this day, that is the lawyer.

Targets set too late: damages for the bonus

Anyone receiving a bonus that depends on targets needs those targets in good time. In 2025, the Federal Labour Court (BAG) ruled that an employer who fails to set targets at all, or sets them so late that they can no longer motivate anyone, owes damages. For the late target-setting in the case decided, that came to 16,035.94 euros gross on top of the bonus already paid.

Automated credit scoring: the right to a comprehensible explanation

A mobile phone contract for ten euros a month, refused on the grounds of allegedly poor creditworthiness. The European Court of Justice has ruled that credit agencies must explain comprehensibly in such cases which data they used and how. After a credit assessment, a formula or a reference to trade secrets is not enough to satisfy the right to information.

Ready for new legal tech projects

At the end of 2026 I will be free to take on a new role. My goal is to take charge of legal tech and AI in a law firm or company from a strong legal position, and to make it a pioneer in its own market.

Developing, assessing and taking responsibility for legal tech ideas
Delivering products from concept to day-to-day operation
Leading teams of lawyers and developers
Improving law firm processes and creating services for clients
Using AI in a legally sound and commercially sensible way

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My profile brings together four worlds: legal tech, law, digital and business. Only together do they give the full picture.