General terms and conditions
Algemene voorwaarden
GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS of Van Zon en Quint Advocaten, having its registered office and principal place of business in Eindhoven and registered with the Chamber of Commerce no. 66310199
ARTICLE 1 APPLICABILITY
1. These general terms and conditions are applicable to all offers of and all agreements concluded with Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V., unless otherwise agreed in writing prior to the offer or the conclusion of the agreement. In particular, these general terms and conditions shall apply to all assignments given to Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. These general terms and conditions shall also be deemed applicable to additional assignments and/or follow-up assignments.
2. Deviations from and/or additions to these general terms and conditions are only valid insofar as they have been agreed upon in writing.
3. The version of these general terms and conditions that was filed with the Chamber of Commerce and Industry in Eindhoven at the time the offer was made or the agreement concluded with the client will apply.
ARTICLE 2 ASSIGNMENT
1. An assignment shall only come into being after it has been accepted by Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V.
2. Every assignment is accepted and carried out exclusively by Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V., notwithstanding the articles 7:404 and 7:407 paragraph 2 of the Netherlands Civil Code, and therefore not by an individual lawyer associated with Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. This means that the other party consents to Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. having the assignment carried out under its responsibility by a lawyer associated with Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. or, if necessary, by third parties on the instructions of Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V.
ARTICLE 3 INVOICING
1. For the implementation of an assignment, the client shall owe the fee plus disbursements, office expenses and turnover tax. Disbursements are understood to mean the costs paid or to be paid to third parties. Office expenses are understood to include postage, paper, copying, telephone, fax, e-mail, travel and accommodation expenses, as well as expenses for the perusal of registers or databases.
2. Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. is authorised to charge the other party for the costs owed by the client pursuant to paragraph 1 during the execution of the assignment.
3. Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. is always entitled to request the payment of an advance from the client. Any advance payment received shall be set off against the next interim statement of account or the final statement of account for the assignment.
4. Unless the parties have expressly agreed otherwise in writing, Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. will invoice the client on an hourly basis. In so far as the amount of the hourly rate has not been agreed upon, Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. shall charge the basic hourly rate used by Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. for the calendar year in which the work is performed, with due observance of the adjustment factors mentioned in the following paragraph. Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. may increase the basic hourly rate each calendar year by a percentage to be determined by Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. itself.
5. The adjustment factors referred to in the previous paragraph are: o for an indefinite value or a financial interest up to € 250,000.00: 1.00 o for a financial interest higher than € 250,000.00: 1.25 o for a financial interest higher than € 500,000.00: 1.50 o for a financial interest higher than € 750,000.00: 1.75 o for a financial interest higher than € 1,000,000.00: 2.00 o for cases that do not tolerate delay 1.50 o for cases requiring specialist knowledge: 1.50 o for cases whose size or complexity justifies this: 2.00
6. In cases that are handled on the basis of the statutory system of financed legal aid, the provisions of this article shall apply only to the costs that are to be borne by the other party on the basis of the decision granting the right to counsel.
7. The records of Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. relating to the nature and duration of the work performed, as well as the out-of-pocket expenses and office costs paid, shall serve as prima facie evidence for the client, unless the client provides evidence to the contrary.
ARTICLE 4 PAYMENT
1. Payment of invoices of Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. must be made within 14 days after the invoice date, unless otherwise agreed upon in writing.
2. If the payment term of 14 days or the term of payment otherwise agreed is exceeded, the client shall be in default by operation of law and shall owe default interest at the statutory rate.
3. Van Zon en Quint Advocaten shall maintain a separate escrow account. Van Zon and Quint Advocaten has placed this account in the Stichting Beheer Derdengelden Van Zon & Quint Advocaten Eindhoven. Because all financial transactions with third party monies take place through this account, the safety of the client’s money is guaranteed. As these funds are received in the separate third-party funds account, they cannot be used for any other purpose. Furthermore, lawyers are obliged to transfer monies received in the third-party funds account to the client as soon as possible.
4. If Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. takes collection measures against a client who is in default, the collection costs shall be entirely borne by the client. The collection costs are set at 15% with a minimum of € 125,00 and will be increased by the disbursements.
ARTICLE 5 LIABILITY
1. Any liability of Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. is limited to the amount that is paid out in the matter concerned under the professional liability insurance taken out by Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V., plus the amount of the deductible in accordance with the policy. Any further liability is excluded, as is the applicability of Section 7:407 of the Dutch Civil Code.
2. This limitation of liability shall not apply in the case of intent or wilful recklessness on the part of Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V.
3. Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. accepts no liability whatsoever for the incorrectness of information it has obtained from written and/or electronic data files, including handbooks and/or on-line databases, unless it is a matter of common knowledge that the source of information in question contains incorrect and/or incomplete information.
4. Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. shall not accept any liability for mistakes made by third parties engaged on behalf of the client, such as accountants, tax advisors, other (foreign) lawyers, bailiffs, procurators and/or experts. On request, Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. shall be obliged to assign to the client any claims for errors made by these third parties.
ARTICLE 6 CHANGE OF ADDRESS
1. Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. is authorised to consider the last address and/or known address as the correspondence address of the client. The client must notify Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. of any changes of address in writing.
2. If the client no longer has a known address for Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V., or does not respond (anymore) to (written) communications and/or requests, Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. is authorised to suspend its activities with immediate effect and, if necessary, terminate them after notification in writing.
ARTICLE 7 SUSPENSION AND PROVISION OF SECURITY
1. Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. is entitled to suspend its activities immediately, without further notice, or to terminate them after written notification, if the requested advance payment has not been received in time or if 14 days have passed since the periodic, interim or final invoice became due and payable and no payment has been made.
2. Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. is authorised to suspend the issue of the file and/or the delivery of the documents originating from the client or third parties, until all the amounts owed by the client, including interest and costs, have been paid in full.
3. If the client has not paid on time, Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. is authorised at all times to demand security for the payment of invoices.
ARTICLE 8 THE FILE
1. If and to the extent that the documents originating from the client or third parties are not taken back by the client at the end of the handling of the case, the documents left in the custody of Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. shall be retained for the account and risk of the client for a period of five years after the date of the last invoice at the latest.
2. After the expiry of the period referred to in paragraph 1, Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. is authorised to destroy the file and all documents contained therein, or to have them destroyed, without notifying the client.
3. In the event of force majeure, Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. shall not accept any liability for the loss of the file and/or the documents handed over. Force majeure shall include theft, burglary, fire, flooding and vandalism. In all other cases, the liability of Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. on account of custody shall be limited to a maximum of € 200.00.
ARTICLE 9 LIMITATION PERIOD
1. Any right of action of the client against Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. shall lapse 12 months after the last invoice date.
ARTICLE 10 APPLICABLE LAW AND DISPUTES
1. The legal relationship between Van Zon en Quint Advocaten B.V. and the client is subject to Dutch law.
2. Disputes will be exclusively settled by the competent Dutch court in the district of Oost-Brabant, unless mandatory law would oppose this choice of forum.