LD Hamburg, 4 October 2023, final order, UPC_CFI_278/2023

Here, a total of nine defendants are represented by the same representative. Appointment of the same representative helped to provide for a prompt and successful service of the statement for all Defendants via electronic service.

Whereas there is no necessity that each and every deadline have to be aligned for all parties on the claimants’ or the defendants’ side, there is still a procedural advantage especially in the beginning of the work of the Court as it streamlines the work-flow for all users with regard to the still developing nature of the Case Management System.

Defendants requested (i) extending the deadline for lodging the statement of defence and (ii) extending the deadline for lodging a preliminary objection. Claimant was invited to comment on these requests and consented to request (i), but did not consent with request (ii) apart from alignment of the due date for Defendant 5. Judge-rapporteur considered the extension of request (ii) allowable because all defendants appointed the same representative, which helped to provide for a prompt and successful service of the statement for all Defendants via electronic service.