Notes
When an expert provides information in the exercise of his profession, this type of liability is included in the professional liability of members of individual occupational groups, e.g. lawyers, architects, auditors, tax advisors, and real estate appraisers. It is characteristic of these members that they work in the liberal professions, which is why they prepare expert opinions for their clients for their clients or clients based on contracts. Given this, there is no doubt that an expert is liable to his client for damages if he produces a deficient expert opinion under the contract. The question is, however, whether an expert can be liable for damages under those contracts to third parties who are not in a contractual relationship with the experts but who have relied on these opinions. There are different solutions in comparative law. If a third party relied on an expert opinion, it is not excluded that he is in a family, kinship, or employment with the client of this opinion. In these cases, the relationship between the contracting authorities and third parties is based on comparable interests, which is why the contracting authority acts in relation to the expert as a representative of a third party and on this basis asserts the interests of third parties. These are tripartite relationships with comparable interests between contracting authorities and third parties, based on a contract for the preparation of an expert opinion. Such cases are common in tax advisory contrats. Based on such a contract, the client instructs teh tax advisor to take into account the tax matters of family members or partners in addition to his tax matters, because the legal relationship between the client and third parties must be designed to be as tax-friendly as possible. Because the tax structure in favor of one party generally has no shortcomings for the other party, as usually the cases with a miscalculation of the object of purchase, e.g. housing, residential houses, or business, does not serve to protect against one´s contractual partner, but against the tax administration. In these cases, the third party, who may be a family partner, a relative of the client of the tax expertise, or his partner, will leave the expert opinion to the client to take into account his interests when claming damages. The client will usually claim the contractual liability of the expert due to breach for the preparation of tax expertise. In doing so, it will also assert the protection of the interests of third parties. Similar relationships are given in testamentary cases. When the testator orders the composition of the testament from the lawyer and hands him notes on the testament, it is possible that the lawyer will draw up his notes after consulting with the testator and that the final content of the testament will deviate from the testator´s testament. However, it is possible that the lawyer will be late in compilling the testament and that the testator will pass away before the will is written. It is also often said that the testator signs the will, even though he has not studied its contensts carefully. Disappointed heirs who are left empty-handed are equated with third parties in these cases, given that they have not established a contractual relationship with the lawyer, and usually the testator is no longer alive. In all these cases, the contractual protection of third parties based on a contract for the preparation of a professional exchange was formed in German law, e.g. contracts on the preparation of tax expertise, or lawyers´ contracts on the composition of the will. The protection of third parties under such contracts shall be justified by the protective of those contracts vis-á-vis third parties. Protection of third parties is based on the recognition that contractual obligations contain, in addition to primary obligations aimed at fulfilling the contract, also a group of auxiliary or secondary duties with the function of protecting the creditor of the contract or third parties in certain relations with the creditor.