- Applicability
- All-Right Advocatuur is a sole proprietorship under Dutch law with the object to practise the legalprofession or to have it practised, in particular the profession of lawyer.
- These general terms and conditions shall apply to each engagement granted to All-Right Advocatuur,including any follow-up engagement or amended or additional engagement.
- All terms in these general terms and conditions shall also apply in respect of any person working at All-Right Advocatuur, any person engaged by All-Right Advocatuur, and any person for whose acts or omissions All-Right Advocatuur is or may be liable.
- The applicability of any other general terms and conditions is hereby expressly excluded.
- The engagement
- The operation of articles 7:404, 7:407 and 7:409 of the Dutch Civil Code is hereby expressly excluded. This means that all engagements from clients for the provision of services shall be deemed to have been given exclusively to All-Right Advocatuur, also if it is the express or implied intention that the engagement be carried out by a particular person, also with a view to substitution in connection with illness or vacation, etc.
- Not only All-Right Advocatuur, but also all persons involved in the performance of an engagement from a client can invoke these general terms and conditions. This also applies to employees and former employees and their heirs, if any, if they are held liable upon termination of their employment with All-Right Advocatuur.
- The limitation of liability included in the second paragraph of this article shall also apply in the case where an engagement has been wrongly refused and where there may be damage or loss as a result thereof.
- All-Right Advocatuur shall be entitled to engage third parties in the performance of the engagement. The choice for a third party to be engaged by All-Right Advocatuur shall, where possible, take place in consultation with the client and with the necessary care. All-Right Advocatuur shall not be liable for any failures of such third parties, except in the case of intent (opzet) or gross negligence (grove schuld) of All-Right Advocatuur.
- The client may terminate the engagement at any time by giving written notice.
- All-Right Advocatuur is authorised to terminate the engagement in writing with due observance of such a term and in such a way as to safeguard the client’s interests to the greatest extent possible.
- Fees and disbursements
- The fee to be charged to the client by All-Right Advocatuur shall, unless expressly agreed otherwise, be calculated on the basis of time spent, multiplied by the hourly rate, to be determined annually.
- The fee to be charged is calculated on the basis of the time spent on an engagement in units of 6 minutes and the agreed hourly rates. All rates are exclusive of VAT, unless explicitly stated otherwise. All-Right Advocatuur shall at all times be entitled to adjust the hourly rate during the term of the engagement, unless expressly agreed otherwise.
- All-Right Advocatuur does not charge office expenses.
- In principle, fees will be billed monthly for the previous month. All-Right Advocatuur shall at all times be entitled to apply a different period. All-Right Advocatuur shall at all times be entitled to require the client to make an advance payment, in which case All-Right Advocatuur shall not be obliged to perform work until the advance payment has been made and received. Advance payments shall be set off against the final invoice.
- If a client withdraws an engagement, payment for the part of the engagement already performed shall be due at all times.
- To assess whether or not the client is eligible for subsidised legal aid, please refer to the website of the Legal Aid Board (Raad voor Rechtsbijstand) (rvr.org). All-Right Advocatuur shall not be obliged to perform work on the basis of government-subsidised legal aid and the client shall not be obliged to have work performed by All-Right Advocatuur on the basis of subsidised legal aid.
- If assistance on a subsidised basis is waived, such agreement shall be recorded by the parties in writing. If All-Right Advocatuur decides to assist the client on this basis, All-Right Advocatuur shall be entitled to require an advance payment of the expected personal contribution and court fees before commencing/carrying out the agreed work.
- If, following an application to that effect, no subsidised legal aid is granted to the client, or if the subsidised legal aid is withdrawn at any time, the work shall be charged at the hourly rate applicable at that time as yet.
- In addition to the fee, All-Right Advocatuur will also charge for any out-of-pocket expenses incurred in the performance of the engagement. Disbursements consist of the actual costs incurred/advanced by All-Right Advocatuur on behalf of the client in connection with the engagement (such as court fees, bailiff fees, travel expenses and costs of experts). Court fees and other disbursements and direct costs in excess of €50 may be charged to the client in the interim.
- Payment
- Payment of invoices must be made in full within 14 days of the date of the invoice, unless a different payment period has been agreed upon in writing. Any invoice in respect of a retainer must be paid immediately. If this period is exceeded, the client will be in default.
- From the moment of default, All-Right Advocatuur shall be entitled, without any further notice of default being required, to claim:
- a – statutory interest from the due date until the date on which payment is made in full;
- b – the extrajudicial costs calculated in accordance with the Decree on compensation for extrajudicial collection costs (https://zoek.officielebekendmakingen.nl/stb-2012-141.html), which costs shall be at least €40.
- If the client is a private individual/consumer, payment of interest and costs will not be claimed until the client has been reminded in writing by All-Right Advocatuur.
- If an invoice from All-Right Advocatuur is not paid within the agreed payment period, All-Right Advocatuur may, after notifying the client, suspend its services to the client until payment has been received in full. All-Right Advocatuur shall not be liable for any loss or damage caused by such suspension of services.
- All-Right Advocatuur reserves the right to outsource debtor management to a third party, or at least to have a third party take collection measures. The costs of collection measures, if any, shall be borne by the client.
- Liability
- Any liability of All-Right Advocatuur or its former or present employees shall be limited to the amount paid out in the matter concerned under the professional indemnity policy, plus the amount of the excess, which under the policy conditions in the relevant matter shall be borne by All-Right Advocatuur. Upon request, the client shall be provided with a summary of cover and an insurance declaration.
- If, by or in connection with the performance of the engagement for the client by All-Right Advocatuur, damage is caused to persons or things, for which All-Right Advocatuur is liable, this liability shall be limited to the amount of the payment under the general liability insurance taken out by All-Right Advocatuur, including the excess to be borne by All-Right Advocatuur in connection with such insurance.
- The performance of the engagement shall take place exclusively for the benefit of the client, no rights can be derived from it by any third party.
- The client shall indemnify All-Right Advocatuur and its auxiliary persons against any and all claims of third parties, including the costs to be incurred by All-Right Advocatuur in that connection, which are in any way connected with the activities performed for the client.
- Within the context of engagements granted to it, All-Right Advocatuur shall be authorised to accept on behalf of the client a limitation of liability of third parties engaged by it in connection with the performance of the engagement.
- All claims of clients shall lapse if not submitted in writing and motivated within one year after which the facts on which the client bases his claim were, or in all reasonableness could have been, known to the client, and in any case five years after dispatch of the final invoice.
- omplaints procedure
- All-Right Advocatuur shall deal with any complaint according to a procedure, which is described in the complaints procedure. Please refer to the website for the full text of the complaints procedure (all-right.nl).
- In the event of a complaint, the internal office complaints procedure of All-Right Advocatuur must first be followed.
- All-Right Advocatuur is affiliated with the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession (Geschillencommissie Advocatuur). If the internal office complaints procedure of All-Right Advocatuur does not result in a solution, the complaint can be submitted to the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession within one year after the end of the internal complaints procedure. Information about the Disputes Committee and its terms and conditions can be found at https://www.degeschillencommissie.nl/over-ons/commissies/advocatuur/.
- Upon entering into the contract for services (overeenkomst van opdracht) between All-Right Advocatuur and the client, the client accepts the applicability of the internal complaints procedure and of the Complaints and Dispute Settlement Scheme for the Legal Profession (Klachten- en Geschillenregeling Advocatuur).
- Filing and destruction
- Upon termination of the engagement, the client may, within a period of four weeks, request that the documents on file belonging to him be returned to him. On expiry of this period, All-Right Advocatuur shall be free to digitise the documents to the extent possible and subsequently destroy the originals.
- The (digital) file will be retained for a period of five years after the end of the case, after which All-Right Advocatuur will be free to destroy the entire file without further notice.
- A retention period of seven years applies to administrative data – including financial records.
- Changes general terms and conditions
- All-Right Advocatuur reserves the right to amend or supplement these general terms and conditions. Amendments shall also apply to agreements already entered into subject to a 30-day notice after notification to the client. If the client does not wish to accept a proposed amendment, he/she may terminate the agreement with effect from the date on which the new general terms and conditions come into force.
- Applicable law and competent court
- The legal relationship between the client and All-Right Advocatuur shall be governed by the laws of the Netherlands.
- Disputes shall be settled exclusively by the competent court in Rotterdam.
All-Right Advocatuur has its registered office in Bergschenhoek and is listed in the commercial register under no. 55272568.