Jens Lehmann: Lawyer sues for salary from the “chainsaw trial”.

It was a bizarre incident that cost ex-national player Jens Lehmann a lot of money. In 2022, he sawed a roof beam in his neighbor’s garage with a chainsaw – allegedly because it blocked the view of the lake. Lehmann was filmed by a surveillance camera. He is also said to have cheated in the parking garage at Munich Airport and not paid the parking fees. At the end of 2023, the former goalkeeper was sentenced to a fine of 420,000 euros by the Starnberg district court. Reduced in the appeal process The Munich II Regional Court increased the fine to 135,000 euros for damage to property and attempted fraud.

Now the “chainsaw trial” caught up with Lehmann again because the 55-year-old is said to have refused to pay the legal fees of 24,000 euros. Lehmann also did not want to pay a reduction of 10,000 euros at the beginning of the year. From the appointment on Munich Regional Court II Lehmann was released, his lawyer and the plaintiff’s lawyer were only connected via video.

Lehmann had given the lawyer a mandate in August 2023 in advance of the trial; the remuneration agreement stated an hourly rate of 550 euros. There were allegedly differences between Lehmann and his ex-lawyer over the defense strategy, as a result of which the lawyer resigned from his mandate. The hourly rate in particular was a thorn in the side of Lehmann’s defenders. According to the “Süddeutscher Zeitung”, this would exceed the usual amounts by “more than ten times”. It is also unclear how many hours were billed for the activity.

An argument that the presiding judge agreed with. He also found the hourly rate to be too high and complained that the lawyer’s activities were only a “point-based list”. He suggested reducing the amount from around 15,000 euros to 5,000 euros. A proposal to which the plaintiff’s representative agreed with some reluctance. However, the settlement can be revoked until November 4th. If that happens, the case will end up in court again.

The ex-national goalkeeper has repeatedly made negative headlines in recent months and years. In May he won a celebrity tournament in Hong Kong sent off after a few minutesin April he was imprisoned for one Drunk driving in the dock at Oktoberfest. Even during his playing days, Lehmann always caused a stir, including repeatedly flying in a helicopter from Lake Starnberg to Stuttgart for training.