General Terms and Conditions (Clients)

These Terms and Conditions govern the use of the Advocato platform between Advocato GmbH (i. Gr.) ("we") and users ("you").

1. Service

Advocato brokers instant contact between clients and independent, licensed lawyers. Advocato does not itself provide legal advice. The mandate agreement is formed exclusively between the client and the lawyer.

2. Plans, credits and emergency add-on

• Plans (FLEX to PREMIUM) can be booked monthly or with a 6/12-month term.
• 1 ticket = 15 min. of video or 1 chat consultation.
• Credits can only be added with an active plan and expire after 12 months.
• The Emergency add-on can only be booked with a 6- or 12-month contract.

3. Prices, taxes and payment

• All prices shown at checkout are net prices. Statutory VAT of the consumer's country (DE 19%, AT 20%) is additionally shown and invoiced at checkout in accordance with the EU OSS procedure.
• The payment service provider is Stripe Payments Europe Ltd., Ireland. Their terms and privacy policy apply in addition.
• Plan fees are billed in advance as of the booking date. In the event of payment default, services (including SOS access) are suspended until payment is received.
• Invoices are provided electronically and can be accessed in the account.

4. Right of withdrawal

Consumers have a 14-day right of withdrawal. It expires prematurely if, with your express consent, we carry out an emergency consultation immediately and you have confirmed the loss of the right of withdrawal.

5. Attorney–client privilege

The lawyer is subject to professional confidentiality obligations. Advocato has no access to video content and only stores metadata (start/end/duration).

6. Liability

Advocato is liable only for intent and gross negligence. For the legal advice itself, only the engaged lawyer is liable within the scope of their professional indemnity insurance.

7. Referral of legal-expenses insurance

Advocato displays offers from legal-expenses insurance partners and redirects you to their website. For a concluded contract, Advocato receives a referral commission from the respective insurer. The insurance contract is formed exclusively between you and the insurer; Advocato is not a contracting party and does not provide insurance advice.

8. Termination

Monthly plans can be terminated at the end of the month, fixed-term contracts at the end of the minimum term. Termination is possible at any time in the user account.

9. Changes to these Terms

We may amend these Terms with at least 6 weeks' prior notice in text form (email). Changes are deemed accepted if you do not object in text form within 6 weeks of receiving the notice of change. We will separately draw your attention to this right of objection and its consequences in the notice of change. In the event of an objection, we are entitled to terminate the contract with ordinary notice as of the time the change takes effect.

10. Country-specific provisions (AT)

• Austria: Consumers within the meaning of the KSchG (Austrian Consumer Protection Act) retain their mandatory rights under Austrian law (incl. § 6 KSchG, FAGG). For consumer contracts, the general place of jurisdiction at the consumer's domicile additionally applies.

11. Online dispute resolution

The European Commission provides a platform for online dispute resolution (ODR): https://ec.europa.eu/consumers/odr. Our email address can be found in the imprint. We are neither obliged nor willing to participate in dispute resolution proceedings before a consumer arbitration board.

12. Applicable law and jurisdiction

German law applies, excluding the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods (CISG). Mandatory consumer protection provisions of the country in which the consumer has their habitual residence (in particular AT) remain unaffected. The exclusive place of jurisdiction for merchants is Berlin.