GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
Definitions
In these General Terms and Conditions, the following terms are defined as stated below:
1. Arslan Lit Immigration and Labor Lawyers is the trade name of law firm Arslan Lit Advocaten BV and its affiliated companies Advocatenpraktijk mr. E. Arslan B.V., Advocatenpraktijk mr. V. Arslan B.V. and Mr. B.D. Lit Advocatuur B.V., whose purpose is to perform the legal profession.
2. Arslan Lit Advocaten B.V. and its affiliated companies are private companies with limited liability (BV) and each lawyer will also practice his profession for his own account and risk in his own BV.
3. Lawyer: the lawyer who enters into the assignment agreement referred to below
4. Client: the principal for the provision of services of a legal nature.
5. Agreement: Assignment agreement.
6. Legal assistance: the legal aid financed by the Legal Aid Board.
Assignment agreement
7. All assignments are entered into exclusively with the law firm (BV) with whom an assignment agreement has been made.
10. All assignments are accepted only if confirmed in writing by the lawyer to the client.
8. The effect of article 6:6 paragraph 2 of the Civil Code, article 7:404 of the Civil Code and article 7:407 paragraph 2 of the Civil Code is explicitly excluded. This shall also apply if the client gives the assignment explicitly or tacitly with a view to performance by a particular person
9. These general terms and conditions also apply to additional and follow-up assignments. In that case the client is assumed to be familiar with these general terms and conditions of Arslan Lit immigration and Labor Lawyers
10. These general terms and conditions shall apply not only for the benefit of the lawyer, but also for any substituting lawyer and all persons involved in an assignment and/or who can be held liable in connection therewith, including (former) employees of the firm and/or lawyer, including their heirs.
Fees
11. The client owes the lawyer a fee for the execution of the assignment. The lawyer will agree on the fee at the start of the assignment. The lawyer may agree with the client on a basic hourly rate or on a fixed fee for carrying out the entire assignment. If the client is to be charged on the basis of an hourly rate, the fee will be calculated on the basis of the number of hours worked, with a minimum of 6 minutes per activity. In addition, the lawyer may charge the client for other costs, such as disbursements, court fees, office expenses (5%), bailiff fees, translation costs and travel expenses
12. The lawyer may require an advance payment on the principal’s fee. The advance payment will be settled with the final declaration.
13. The lawyer may demand an advance on the client’s fee. The advance payment will be settled with the final declaration.
14. The agreements on the fee shall be confirmed in writing by the lawyer to the client. The basic hourly rate may be indexed annually. The client will be informed in writing.
Funded legal aid
15. At the start of the assignment, the lawyer will assess with the client whether the client is eligible for government- funded legal aid. If the client is eligible, the lawyer will apply to the Raad voor Rechtsbijstand (Legal Aid Board) for financed legal assistance.
16. At the moment the Legal Aid Board has granted legal assistance to the client, the lawyer will charge the client for the personal contribution established by the Legal Aid Board. The client shall owe no fee to the lawyer. In addition to the personal contribution, the lawyer may charge the client for court fees, translation costs and other costs not to be reimbursed (by the Legal Aid Board)
17. The lawyer will apply for compensation from the Legal Aid Board after the assignment is finished. The Legal Aid Board will assess, based on the financial outcome of the case, whether the client is able to pay the lawyer’s fees. Depending on the result, the legal assistance may be withdrawn with retroactive effect by the Legal Aid Board. If the decision to withdraw the legal assistance is final, the client will be charged the fee and any other expenses with retroactive effect in accordance with the provisions of Articles 11 and 13.
18. In consultation with the client, the lawyer may decide not to apply for legal assistance, even though the client
may qualify for legal assistance, and to carry out the assignment on the basis of an hourly rate or a fixed fee. The lawyer shall always confirm this to the client in writing.
Payment conditions
19. Payment of bills of the lawyer shall be made within 14 days after the date of the bill.
20. If the term of payment is exceeded, the client shall be legally in default and shall owe the statutory interest ex art. 6:119 of the Dutch Civil Code. The lawyer is entitled to charge the client the statutory interest
21. As soon as the client is in default, the lawyer is authorized to suspend his activities until all outstanding bills are paid.
22. In case the lawyer is forced to take collection measures against the defaulting client, the costs related to the collection, with a minimum of 15% of the outstanding balance, will be at the expense of the client.
Third-party account
23. Stichting Beheer Derdengelden Arslan Lit Advocaten is registered in the Commercial Register under Chamber of Commerce number 81637969.
24. Funds kept in custody by the lawyer for the benefit of the client shall be deposited in the bank account of Stichting Beheer Derdengelden Arslan Lit Advocaten, established in Amsterdam.
25. To compensate for the costs of administration and management of the client’s funds and the third-party account for that purpose, no interest and/or other compensation shall be paid to the client on the client’s funds as referred to herein.
Professional liability
26. Each lawyer has taken out professional indemnity insurance, which meets the requirements set by the Dutch Bar Association
27. Arslan Lit Advocaten B.V. and its affiliated companies are private companies with limited liability (BV) and each lawyer will also practice his profession for his own account and risk in his own BV. Only the lawyer who entered into the contract for services can be held liable. Liability shall be limited to the amount paid out by the professional liability insurance in the relevant case.
28. If and insofar, for whatever reason, no payment is made under the professional liability insurance, the lawyer’s liability shall be limited to the invoiced fee, which is maximized to an amount of € 50,000
29. Any claim against the lawyer will expire one year after the day on which the person to make the claim was aware or should reasonably have been aware of the facts on which the claim is based.
30. The lawyer is authorized to assign any assignments under his responsibility to third parties, such as financial advisors, accountants, bailiffs, couriers and the like. Any liability of the lawyer for any shortcomings of these third parties is excluded.
31. When engaging third parties, the lawyer will exercise due care. However, the lawyer shall not be liable for any shortcomings of these third parties. The client shall indemnify the lawyer against all claims by third parties that are in any way related to or arising from activities performed for the client.
Client Information
32. The client shall provide all information and documents required for the execution of the assignment to the lawyer in a timely manner, in the desired form and in the desired manner.
33. At the moment that the client fails to provide the required data in time, in the desired form and in the desired manner, all damages resulting from the delay, including additional fees, shall be at the expense and risk of the client 34. The client shall warrant the accuracy, completeness and reliability of the information provided to the lawyer. 35. Client gives Arslan Lit explicit permission to save the personal data provided, or to have them saved.
36. The Client agrees that Arslan Lit will correspond with him/her and/or third parties digitally (by e-mail or otherwise), including digital transmission of (procedural) documents/attachments. Arslan Lit shall not be liable for any damage, of whatever nature and/or extent, resulting from faults in the digital transmission and/or receipt of correspondence, (procedural) documents and/or attachments
37. At the request of the client and after closing the file, the lawyer will return the information provided by the client. The client agrees that the lawyer may keep photocopies of the returned documents in his file.
Archiving
38. The lawyer will archive the file after its closure for five years.
39. At the end of the aforementioned storage period, the lawyer may destroy the file, without notifying the client.
Complaint handling
40. Arslan Lit Advocaten has an internal complaints procedure. Any complaint must first be submitted in writing to the lawyer concerned.
41. Arslan Lit Advocaten participates in the Complaints and Disputes Procedure for the Legal Profession. This means that you may submit complaints about the services or the amount of the invoice to the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession
42. Complaints may also be submitted to the Dean of the Amsterdam district.
Applicable law
43. The legal relationship between the client and the lawyer is governed by Dutch law.
44. The District Court in Amsterdam has exclusive jurisdiction to hear all disputes arising from the assignment agreement between the client and the lawyer.
