What this site is for
cooperation.law is a knowledge site on how acting together succeeds and how the law sustains it. It is written for people and organisations who work together across borders or intend to: networks, associations, projects, research and learning groups, teams, shareholders and management boards.
The focus is on cooperation online. This is not a restriction but a method: online is where it becomes clearest what cooperation consists of. The site therefore brings together four perspectives: guidance for each phase of a cooperation, the practice of working together online, law as the constitution of every cooperation, and a short section on theory.
The publisher
I am a lawyer (Rechtsanwalt), a certified specialist in information technology law (Fachanwalt für Informationstechnologierecht) and a business mediator. I also do academic work on Hegel’s philosophy of right. The question this site pursues comes from all three directions: what binds people who act together, and what form the law gives to that bond.
Much of what is written here also draws on my own experience of cooperating online: a reading group, language lessons, professional training, video hearings in court and video calls with family. Client matters are never a source for this site.
How the site is written
The texts are my own. The law in force is presented neutrally and with references, and statutory provisions are cited precisely. Where a question is disputed, each view is attributed to those who hold it. My own theses are identified as such.
German law is the starting point. Where a cooperation extends across borders, this is addressed expressly. Every page on law carries a date of currency, because the law changes and a text is only as reliable as its date.
This site does not provide legal advice. It explains general principles; whether and how they apply to a particular case can only be judged individually. See the disclaimer for details.
I use AI, currently Claude by Anthropic, to assist in preparing the texts. I review every text, and I am responsible for it.
Where Hegel is cited on this site, I refer to the edition of his Groundlines of the Philosophy of Right at grundlinien.de.
Contact
Corrections, additions and suggestions are welcome by email: kanzlei@bauer.legal.
Wilko Bauer