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Lawyer sent wrong document: BGH refuses reinstatement!
The BGH denies reinstatement after an error in PDF transmission. Lawyers have deadlines to meet and documents to review.
Lawyer sent wrong document: BGH refuses reinstatement!
The Federal Court of Justice (BGH) has once again sent a clear message to lawyers: The responsibility for properly adhering to deadlines lies entirely with the legal representative. In particular, a recent decision dated July 8, 2025 emphasized that lawyers must exercise the utmost care when transmitting documents. This comes against the background of a case in which a lawyer submitted an incorrect PDF document to the appeal court, which ultimately led to the rejection of reinstatement LTO reports that ....
The specific case occurred when the plaintiff's legal representative sent a written statement to the appeal court via the special electronic lawyer mailbox (beA) on December 23, 2025, shortly before the deadline. The title was “Grounds of Appeal,” but it quickly became apparent that the document contained incorrect content. The impugned judgment was misleadingly named, unsigned, and contained no appeals or substantive discussion of the original judgment.
Mistakes and consequences
The lawyer explained the error with an incorrect conversion of a Word file into a PDF document by the “RA Micro” software. However, the Federal Court of Justice showed no mercy and pointed out that the legal representative was responsible for missing the deadline to give reasons for the appeal. According to Section 85 Paragraph 2 of the Code of Civil Procedure (ZPO), the attorney's negligence is attributed to the plaintiff. The BGH made it clear that the lawyer had to ensure before sending that the PDF document sent corresponded to the content of the original Word file. The lawyer's mistake was obvious, after all, the document sent only contained three pages instead of the required 19 pages Stollfuss describes the details as ....
In addition, the BGH criticized the fact that the transmission took place at 10:29 p.m., which precluded checking the outgoing mail in the evening. The Court emphasized that lawyers must review the converted PDF files before transmission, similar to sending pleadings by fax. It's not just about checking the file name, but rather a comprehensive check of the content Addlegal has clearly outlined the requirements....
Organizational requirements for lawyers
This decision is consistent with previous rulings that emphasize lawyers' duty to monitor deadlines. Every lawyer must organize his office in such a way that effective exit control is guaranteed. The completion of deadline-bound matters should be checked by an office worker at the end of each working day using a deadline calendar. If the law firm fails to take these control steps, the lawyer must bear the consequences.
In this specific case, the late submission of the grounds of appeal led to high legal hurdles that the plaintiff was unable to overcome. The BGH rejected the application for reinstatement because the lawyer was under obligation due to incomplete checks and inadequate office organization. Therefore, it remains to be noted: the lawyer's responsibility for adhering to deadlines, due diligence and proper communication with the courts are essential in order to avoid streaks of bad luck in legal disputes. Lawyers should always be aware of this obligation and take appropriate precautions to eliminate unnecessary risks.