As a business, you have dealings with a range of business partners. This sometimes leads to disputes that can only be settled through the courts. A corporate legal protection policy safeguards your interests in the event of litigation and covers your financial risks. Take the following examples of situations that could quickly arise:
- A supplier falls behind with a delivery, resulting in a delay in delivering to the end customer,
- You buy some raw materials that fall short of the agreed quality requirements,
- A flight is canceled and an important business meeting has to be called off,
- Or employees claim payment for overtime they never worked.
In addition to these examples, the business world is seeing an increase in global risks, business interruptions, ever changing legal requirements, reputational risks, and fraud. In the event of a legal dispute, having legal protection insurance will allow you to concentrate on your core business and save you a great deal of time, money, and stress.
AXA-ARAG looks after your legal interests, takes care of any costs incurred, and ensures that you are not only in the right, but that you win your case.
Real-life case study relating to contract law
Our policyholder signed a contract with a software company based in Greece. This contract contained a choice of law and jurisdiction clause stating that in the event of a dispute a Swiss court would have local jurisdiction over the case and that Swiss law would apply. In the contract it was agreed that software/an application would be developed that would give our policyholder's customers easy access to its services. Our policyholder agreed with the Greek software company that the data and information exchanged would not be shared with or disclosed to third parties. Despite this, the Greek software company used the data received to develop its own software and launch it on the market in cooperation with another company operating in a similar sector to our policyholder.
Our policyholder reported the case to us. The legal expert in charge at AXA-ARAG immediately recognized that there was a choice of bases for making a claim (contractual claim, claim under the Unfair Competition Act (UCA), claim under copyright and trademark law). As the case involved a cross-border dimension, the primary objective was to take action against the breach of contract as swiftly as possible. To determine the best way of achieving this, we engaged the services of a law firm with an international focus from the AXA-ARAG network of lawyers. In consultation with partner law firms in Greece, this law firm defined an effective strategy and initiated the appropriate proceedings. Once the risks involved in enforcing a Swiss judgment in Greece had been clarified, the law firm in question took precautionary measures in Switzerland. This swift and clear approach enabled the breach of contract to be settled quickly and without major damage to our policyholder.
As a matter of principle, issues relating to international contract law need to be clarified in detail in each individual case, as such disputes are highly complex and do not lend themselves to general solutions. The first step is to establish which country and which court has jurisdiction. The legal position and the correct legal procedure will differ depending on which law is applicable.
