General terms and conditions PHAROS advocaten

(The general terms and conditions in the Dutch language shall prevail over the general terms and conditions in the English language, which only serve as a free explanatory translation of the original text in Dutch)
  1. PHAROS advocaten is the name of the partnership comprising the firms N.A. Luijten Holding B.V., MN Advocatuur B.V. and BDS Advocatuur B.V., the entities under which N.A. Luijten LL.M, M. Niermeijer LL.M and B. de Smit LL.M, respectively, operate their legal practices.
  2. An assignment is entered into between the client and either N.A. Luijten Holding B.V., or MN Advocatuur B.V., or BDS Advocatuur B.V. Wherever this document mentions PHAROS advocaten, it refers to N.A. Luijten Holding B.V. and/or MN Advocatuur B.V. and/or BDS Advocatuur B.V. The application of article 7:404 and 7:407(2) Dutch Civil Code is hereby precluded.
  3. These general terms and conditions will apply to all assignments, supplementary assignments, follow-up assignments and other activities and operations. The applicability of the client’s terms and conditions is hereby expressly precluded.
  4. PHAROS advocaten only accepts liability to the extent that the professional liability insurance pays out in the case in question. On pain of forsaking all rights, any claims for compensation for damage and loss must be lodged within 1 year after the client (or the victim, if the two are not identical) becomes aware of the damage and/or loss and suspects or could reasonably be expected to suspect that PHAROS advocaten could be liable for it.
  5. PHAROS advocaten will act with due care when hiring third parties. PHAROS advocaten shall not be liable for failures, criminal offences or illegal acts perpetrated by these third parties. Client authorises PHAROS advocaten to accept on client’s behalf any liability limitations stipulated by these third parties. In case of holidays, illness, or other types of absence, PHAROS advocaten will make due effort to observe the third party’s duties, if deemed necessary.
  6. These general terms and conditions can be invoked against the client not only by PHAROS advocaten but by all (legal) entities that have been hired by PHAROS advocaten in the execution of any client assignment as well. The same applies to the boards of directors and the employees of the legal entities listed in Article 1.
  7. The activities are executed solely for the client’s benefit. No third party can derive any rights from them. Client hereby indemnifies PHAROS advocaten against all claims and demands by third parties, including but not limited to the costs for legal aid, which are related to the activities of PHAROS advocaten in any way.
  8. The fee is calculated on basis of the number of hours worked multiplied by the hourly rate that was agreed upon, unless parties have agreed upon another kind of remuneration. PHAROS advocaten is entitled to adjust the hourly rates according to developments in the market every year, and is furthermore entitled to at any time adjust rates on basis of the number of years of experience of any involved associate lawyer/trainee lawyer. Any costs and expenses made in the context of client’s assignment, including but not limited to taxed and untaxed disbursements, will be charged to client. Travel expenses will be charged to client by means of a fixed rate ex. VAT per kilometre.
  9. Activities are charged per month at the end of each month. The payment term is 14 days counted from the date of invoice. If the client fails to pay within this period, he will automatically be in default and will owe the legal interest. If after a notice of default, client still has not paid its debts, client will owe an additional 10% for extrajudicial costs.
  10. PHAROS advocaten shall at all times be entitled to send invoices for advances, including during the execution of the assignment. This advance will be settled in the final invoice. No interest will be owed over the advance amount. Advances pertaining to several cases for the same client can be settled against each other, in that sense that an advance for one case can be used in another case for which no advance was charged.
  11. If no timely payment is made, including payment of the advance, after due notice PHAROS advocaten shall be entitled to not commence the activities, to suspend the activities, or to cease them. PHAROS advocaten cannot be held liable for any damage ensuing from any of these actions.
  12. All email communications, data traffic, audio traffic, and fax and telephone communications by PHAROS advocaten takes place in un-coded form, unless the client has expressly and in writing requested that measures be taken in this respect and PHAROS advocaten has confirmed in writing to accept this.
  13. PHAROS advocaten has a Complaints Procedure in place, which can be inspected on the PHAROS advocaten website. This procedure among others includes the provision that any complaints that cannot be resolved according to the Complaints Procedure can be submitted to a competent court.
  14. These general terms and conditions have been drawn up in Dutch and in English. In the event of different opinions regarding the contents and purport of these general terms and conditions, the Dutch text will prevail and be binding.
  15. Dutch law applies to the agreement. Any disputes will be submitted to the competent court in the Netherlands.