The Liability of the Management Consultant in Restructuring. Corporate Restructuring

Research Paper (undergraduate) from the year 2020 in the subject Business economics - Law, grade: 1,0, The FOM University of Applied Sciences, Hamburg, course: International Business Law, language: English, abstract: In the course of this work, the liability risks to which a reorganization consultant is exposed during reorganization consulting are examined. The focus of the present study is on German medium-sized companies and disregards the legal regulations for corporate groups. In order to answer the research question "what liability risks does a reorganization consultant expose himself to in the course of a reorganization consultation", the reorganization environment is first explained in detail and the resulting tasks of a consultant are derived. Subsequently, the legislation, primarily the German Civil Code (BGB), the German Commercial Code (HGB) and the German Insolvency Code (InsO), is analysed and relevant case laws are examined and interpreted in the context of the work. During the examination of the possible liability of the consultant, any potential insolvency challenges against him because of already collected fee claims or because of funds passed on to outside third parties must also be considered. The principles and limits of the liability of restructuring consultants based on case law are presented and explained in this paper. In addition to the company management, liability risks can also arise for restructuring consultants in the crisis of the company being advised. The obligation to file for insolvency plays a major role here. If the reorganization consultant concludes that there is a reason for filing for insolvency, the corporate representatives must be informed of the legal obligation to file for insolvency.