Exclusive
As of: 04/17/2023 6:00 p.m
Former “Bild” boss Reichelt has a new lawyer to take action against unwelcome reports of allegations of abuse of power. But his office colleague is representing an alleged victim. According to the woman, she was not informed in advance.
Two lawyers from a media law firm: Christian-Oliver Moser on the one hand. Boris Becker’s longtime lawyer, he has already represented him against “Bild”. Cathy Hummels and Heidi Klum were also among his clients.
Ben Irle on the other side. Apparently he hasn’t just shied away from controversial mandates since yesterday: he had already represented Austria’s former Vice Chancellor Heinz-Christian Strache after falling out of favor with the Ibiza affair. Most recently, he campaigned for the interests of the operators of the Berlin brothel “Artemis” and the spiritual sect “Bhakti Marga”.
Together they are the two lawyers whose name the law firm bears: “Irle Moser Rechtsanwälte”. Now one represents the alleged victim, the other the alleged perpetrator – in the case of the former “Bild” editor-in-chief Julian Reichelt, who is accused of various affairs and abuse of power by subordinate women.
“Check all media coverage”
Irle is currently going against numerous statements by Reichelt under press law ARD-Program “Reschke Fernsehen” before. Under the title “Fuck, lie, throw away: Julian Reichelt and the women”, the program reported on the allegations against Reichelt in mid-February.
In the “Zeit” Irle now also announced that he wanted to take legal action against the Axel Springer Group. In a press release, he said: “I am commissioned to examine all media coverage and to take decisive action against any violation of my client’s rights”.
The reason for the announcement is the publication of the novel “Still awake?” announced for this Wednesday. by Benjamin von Stuckrad-Barre, which is said to be based on the scandal surrounding Reichelt.
Perpetrator and victim sides represented in parallel?
On the other hand: Christian-Oliver Moser has been the lawyer for one of the women who made allegations against Reichelt since the beginning of 2021. He is currently representing her to Axel Springer with her demand for an apology from the publisher. Now Julian Reichelt is one of the clients of his law firm colleague. Can a law firm – to represent the alleged perpetrator and victim side in parallel?
The Berlin Bar Association does not want to comment specifically on the law firm “IrleMoser Rechtsanwälte”, but reports that “representing conflicting interests” for “lawyers from a law firm is fundamentally prohibited”. There are exceptions, according to the chamber, with reference to the existing legal situation. This states that for any exceptions, the disputing parties must be informed in writing of the mandates and must agree to them.
Neither Irle nor Moser want to comment on whether this formal step was taken in their case. On NDR-Request, Irle did not respond to any of the questions asked, which refer to a possible incompatibility of the mandates, with reference to his legal obligation to maintain confidentiality. In general, he explained that the law firm always acts in the knowledge and in compliance with the professional code.
Moser’s client told that NDRthat she did not agree with Irle’s mandate and was not informed of this in advance.
Irle, who is also Reichelt’s landlord, was also involved in another case, which may now conflict with the interests of his current client. In 2016, he acted as a lawyer for a former “Bild” employee who had accused Reichelt’s predecessor, Kai Diekmann, of rape.
“Reschke Fernsehen” picked up the case because Reichelt, together with colleagues, had prepared a dossier about the alleged victim: about alleged character defects, lies and other material intended to cast doubt on the woman’s credibility. Reichelt is said to have said afterwards: “I saved Kai’s ass.”
Irle had written to “Reschke Fernsehen” on Reichelt’s participation in the dossier on behalf of Reichelt and stated: “There was no need for our client to participate in shattering the credibility of the complainants, and there was none” – without doing so to refer to its previous mandate. Irle did not comment on this either when asked.
Positions could hardly be further apart
One thing is certain: In terms of content, the positions of the two lawyers Irle and Moser on the Reichelt case could hardly be further apart. Irle’s press release is headlined “Allegations of abuse of power demonstrably fictitious” and states that the allegations made by the former “Bild” employee, who sued Axel Springer in the USA, are untrue. It recently played a rather subordinate role in reporting.
Irle’s colleague Christian-Oliver Moser said on “Reschke Fernsehen” that he had only spoken to a double-digit number of women: “So it’s not the case that this was an isolated case or very few isolated cases, but in my opinion it was This is already the case of a systematic abuse of power.”
Moser now says that NDR: “I continue to stand by what I said publicly about the case 100 percent.” He declined to comment further on the conflict of interest issue. He had previously told the “Süddeutsche Zeitung” that “he only represents his client against Axel Springer SE, so there is no conflict of interest for him either.”