Mask lawsuits cause enormous costs - because lawyers are changed too often
In the court proceedings concerning the purchase of corona masks, the Federal Ministry of Health has paid law firms almost 90 million euros for legal advice since 2020.
The ministry made this announcement in response to an inquiry from the business magazine "Capital." It specifically estimated the costs at 88 million euros. According to the ministry, it is currently employing five different law firms in the more than 80 cases.
In some of the cases, the Ministry of Health has already changed its law firm for the second or even third time, thereby incurring additional costs. In several cases with high value in dispute before the Cologne Higher Regional Court, a six-figure fee was incurred simply because the new law firm JBB had been temporarily appointed.
In just four cases in which he represented the plaintiffs, this resulted in additional costs for the federal government of around half a million euros, Berlin lawyer Christoph Partsch told the magazine. Changing lawyers at this late stage would be "a complete waste of money," Partsch said.
In response to Capital's questions about the repeated changes of its lawyers, the Ministry of Health stated that it does not comment on "individual mandates from law firms." The law firm JBB also declined to comment on the mask mandates, citing confidentiality obligations.
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