Terms and conditions

Executing firm is the civil partnership under Dutch law, Brantjes Advocaten, with its registered office at 33 J.J. Viottastraat, 1071 JP, Amsterdam, The Netherlands (the partnership), the partners being private limited companies with limited liability. Said limited liability companies satisfy the requirements imposed upon them by the Netherlands Bar Association.

These general terms and conditions shall apply to every legal service in which the partnership, its individual partners (or their managing directors), or the employees of said partnership is engaged on behalf of its clients.

In the execution of legal services the partnership shall meet with all due care and attention the standards of competence to be expected from professional attorneysat-law.

The partnership shall not be liable for the acts of any third party of whose assistance it avails itself in the rendering of services, without prejudice to the partnership’s obligation to exercise due care in the selection of such third parties, and to a reasonably feasible extent, to consult with the client concerning the engagement of third parties.

The partnership shall not be under any obligation whatsoever to consult with clients concerning the engagement of such third parties as couriers, court servers, or the engagement of a local attorneys (‘procesadvocaten’) in another judicial district.

The partnership shall provide reasonable measures to prevent damage from viruses and interception or manipulation of electronic manipulation. The partnership shall not be liable for damages as a result from sending viruses and/or other irregularities in the electronic communication, only in as far these damages are a result of intent or gross negligence (‘opzet of grove schuld’) of the partnership or the individual partners.

The partnership charges an hourly fee for services rendered. Unless otherwise agreed in writing, the fees shall not be dependant upon the result of the execution of those legal services. Unless agreed otherwise the partnership shall render a monthly ac-count for, according to their administration, hours spent and the costs incurred in the preceding quarter, which account shall include a fixed percentage covering general office expenses, as well as VAT.

The fees could be adapted on a yearly basis. Out of pock-et expenses are amongst others: translation costs, bailiff’s costs, court fees, attorney of record fees and travel costs. As is common practice among law firms in the Netherlands the partnership reserves the right to demand a retainer for fees and costs and postpone the commencement of its legal services until said retainer has been paid by the client. The retainer serves as a deposit for future accounts.

The retainer is determined by the partnership and shall be the equivalent of fees and costs (such as court registry fees and court server fees) expected to be incurred in the next quarter.

Accounts for services rendered by the partnership must be settled in Euro and paid without deductions or adjustments into the bank accounts indicated by the partnership within the term of payment stated on the account and no later than 14 days after receipt of the account. Payments received shall be booked to the account which is longest due.

Clients who have a query regarding a particular account should submit substantive arguments in writing as soon as possible and in any event not later than 14 days after receipt of the account.

Should an account not be settled within the term allowed, the client shall be considered to be in default by operation of law and without any further notice from the partnership being required. In the event of default on payment the partnership is entitled to suspend or terminate legal services, without prejudice to its right to payment.

Prior to any such suspension or termination however, the partnership shall set a reasonable period of time within which the client can make good payments and, in case of termination of the legal services by the partnership, seek the services of another attorney-at-law.

In case of default on payment the partnership shall be entitled to charge an interest rate of 1% a month (or part of a month) over the outstanding amounts as of the due date until the day of full settlement.

Furthermore the partnership shall be entitled to compensation for any judicial and extrajudicial collection costs incurred. Extrajudicial costs shall be considered any reasonable costs incurred in out-of-court collection, as well as other costs qualifying for compensation under Article 6:96 of the Dutch Civil Code.

Notwithstanding the provisions of Articles 7:404, 7:407 sub 2 7:409 and 7:422 (1)(b) of the Dutch Civil Code all services shall be considered to be rendered by the partnership, regardless of whether the services have been engaged with a view to a specific person, its partners, their managing directors and those persons employed by the partnership shall not be personally bound or liable, nor shall the engagement of legal services terminate as a result of the death, guardianship or bankruptcy of any of the said persons.

Any liability on the part of the partnership of damages arising from the execution of the legal services shall be limited to the proceeds available under the partnership’s professional liability insurance, increased by the amount of any possible deductible under such insurance. Should for whatever reason no proceeds be available under the partnership’s professional liability insurance, any liability on the part of the partnership shall be limited to a maximum of three times the total fees (excluding VAT, office costs and other costs) that the partnership received from the client for the said file during the foregoing 12 months with a maximum amount of € 100,000.-. Any claim for damages against the partners, employees and third parties is excluded.

These persons/entities can rely upon this third party clause as part of this agreement. By granting an assignment that has been accepted by the partnership, the client waives every right to pursue a claim that might come forth out of the execution of the assignment, for whatever reason and based on whatever grounds, including those arising out of tort, against each partner (both through his/her company, or on a private basis), each employee or other third party that has been involved on behalf of the partnership. Each claim for damages shall expire one year from the day the client becomes aware or reasonably can be aware of the damages.

The legal relationship between the partnership and those who engage its services shall be governed by the laws of the Netherlands. Any disputes arising out of this relationship shall be resolved by the competent courts in Amsterdam, without prejudice the right of the partnership to submit a dispute to another competent court.

The Dutch text of these general terms and conditions is applicable in the event of any dispute. These general terms have been drawn up in both the Dutch and English language. In case of discrepancy between the Dutch and English version, the Dutch version shall prevail.

Our terms and conditions are also available for download as a file to your computer in .PDF format.