GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS UITEEN ADVOCATEN & MEDIATORS FAMILIERECHT EN ERFRECHT
Article 1 – General terms and conditions
The stipulations of these general terms and conditions are applicable to every assignment, including every amended, supplementary or follow-up assignment and all other work, given to Uiteen, as well as to all legal relations as a result thereof or in connection therewith.
Article 2 – Cooperation
a) Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht is a trade name of a partnership between two different legal entities and companies which practice law for their own account and risk. The services of the law firms affiliated to Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht are subject to these general terms and conditions.
(b) The partnership consists of:
– partnership Uiteen Advocaten, established in Rotterdam, registered as such with the Chamber of Commerce under no. 67011993. The partners of this partnership practice law and mediation for common account and risk. A list of the partners will be sent upon request.
– Sole proprietorship Wampie van Arkel, formerly h.o.d.n. Van Arkel Familierecht advocaten en mediation, established in Rotterdam, which is registered as such with the Chamber of Commerce under no. 53353900.
Article 3 – The assignment
a) All assignments are accepted exclusively by the relevant member of the partnership Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht, mentioned above, even if it is the explicit or tacit intention that an assignment will be carried out by a specific person. The confirmation of assignment shall state which member of the Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht partnership has accepted your assignment.
b) The applicability of articles 7:404 and 7:407 paragraph 2 of the Dutch Civil Code is excluded. Without prejudice to the other provisions of the law, both the client and each of the members of the Uiteen partnership may terminate the commission at any time by giving notice, provided this is done with due observance of a reasonable period of notice, given the circumstances.
c) The assignment given to Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht creates for Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht an obligation of effort and not an obligation to achieve a result.
d) The execution of the assignment given shall take place exclusively for the benefit of the client. Unless expressly accepted in writing by Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht or one of the members of the partnership, third parties may not derive any rights from the content of the work performed for the client and/or the performance thereof.
e) The client shall provide all data and information relevant to the performance of the agreed work to Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht. The client warrants the accuracy and completeness thereof. The client shall at all times promptly inform Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht of all facts and circumstances relevant to the performance of the work, including a change of address and contact details. If the information referred to in this paragraph is not or not timely provided to Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht, Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht has the right to suspend the execution of the assignment and/or to charge the client for the additional costs resulting from the delay according to the usual rates.
f) Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht is not obliged to follow a direction given by the client if, in its judgment, this would be in conflict with the proper handling of the case and/or with the rules of conduct, laws and regulations applied by persons working within Uiteen.
g) Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht is authorized to terminate the commission granted if, in its opinion, there has been a breakdown in the relationship of trust with the client, without being obliged to In the event of termination of the commission by Uiteen, it shall exercise the necessary care and ensure that no irreparable damage is caused to the client as a result.
h) After termination of the assignment contract, the file will be archived for at least 5 years. During this period the client may request that the file or documents from the file be made available to him. Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht may charge a reasonable fee for this.
Article 4 – Third parties
a) Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht and each of the individual members of the partnership is/are entitled to engage the services of third parties, who may or may not be directly or indirectly connected with Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht. This will be agreed upon in advance with the client.
b) Neither Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht, nor the members of the partnership, is/are liable for the errors or shortcomings of these third parties.
c) Uiteen and the individual members of the partnership is/are authorized to accept, also on behalf of the client, a limitation of liability of the third parties engaged.
f) Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht shall not be liable for damages of any kind arising out of the fact that the firm has relied on inaccurate or incomplete information provided by the client, unless such inaccuracy or incompleteness should have been apparent to the firm.
g) Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht is not liable for damage resulting from a suspension of activities for the client, if such suspension is the result of the client’s failure to pay the invoices of Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht on time.
h) Third parties cannot derive any rights from the content of the work performed. The client shall indemnify Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht against claims of third parties who claim to have suffered damage through or related to the activities performed by Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht for the benefit of the client.
i) Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht shall not be liable for any shortcomings of third parties engaged by it.
j) The provisions of this article may also be invoked by or for the benefit of the legal entities mentioned in article 2, other persons for whom Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht could be liable as well as by the Foundation for the Administration of Third Party Funds Uiteen Advocaten. Limitations of liability in favor of Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht also extend to the employees of (the members of) Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht.
k) Claims of the client for compensation for damages shall expire after one year from the day on which the client became aware of the damage and the possible liability of the contractor involved for that damage.
Article 5 – Liability
a) The personal liability of lawyers and other employees working at Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht and/or at one of the members of the partnership is excluded for any damage allegedly caused by another member or employees of the member in question. Only an individual member of the partnership may be held liable in such a case.
b) All claims against an individual member of the partnership shall lapse if they have not been submitted to the individual member in writing, stating reasons, within three months after the client could reasonably have become aware of the claim in question.
c) The liability of the individual member of the partnership shall in any event be limited to the amount paid out in the case in question by its professional liability insurer, plus the amount of the deductible borne by the individual member of the partnership in connection with that insurance.
d) If, for whatever reason, no insurance payment is made, the liability of the individual member of the partnership shall be limited to the invoice – amount relating to the part of the assignment concerned, with a maximum of €10,000.
(e) The execution of the assignment given shall take place exclusively for the benefit of the Third parties may not derive any rights from the content of the work performed towards Uiteen and the members of the partnership. The client shall indemnify Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht and all members of the partnership against all third party claims.
f) Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht is not liable for damages of any kind arising from the fact that incorrect or incomplete information provided by the client has been relied upon, unless the firm should have been aware of such inaccuracy or incompleteness.
g) Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht is not liable for damage resulting from a suspension of activities for the client, if such suspension is the result of the client’s failure to pay the invoices of Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht on time.
h) Third parties cannot derive any rights from the content of the work performed. The client shall indemnify Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht against claims of third parties who claim to have suffered damage by or related to the activities performed by Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht for the benefit of the client.
(i) Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht shall not be liable for any shortcomings of third parties engaged by it.
j) The provisions of this article may also be invoked by or for the benefit of the legal entities mentioned in article 2, other persons for whom Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht could be liable, as well as by the Foundation for the Administration of Third Party Funds of Uiteen Advocaten. Limitations of liability in favor of Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht also extend to the employees of (the members of) Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht.
k) Claims by the client for compensation for damages shall lapse one year after the day on which the client became aware of the damage and the possible liability of the contractor involved for that damage.
Article 6 – Fee and payment
a) In addition to the agreed hourly rate, the client shall owe VAT. Furthermore, the costs of third parties engaged, travel expenses, court fees, costs of experts shall be borne by the client.
b) Payment of the invoices of Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht and the members of the partnership, should take place within the date indicated on the invoice and should be made without recourse to suspension or set-off If payment is not made, administrative costs will be charged for sending payment reminders. The advance invoice will be offset against the final invoice. Failure to pay on time will result in the suspension of work on the case in question. If invoices are not paid on time or in full, 0.66% interest will accrue on the amount due, on a monthly basis. The interest rate will therefore be 8% per year on a graduated basis. Possible (extra)judicial costs related to the collection of invoices – with a minimum of 15% on the amount to be collected – shall be borne by the client(s). Judicial costs are not limited to the costs of the proceedings to be liquidated, but shall be borne in full by the client(s) if the latter is predominantly ruled against.
c) Agreed rates, unless expressly agreed otherwise in writing, shall apply for the duration of the calendar year in which they have been agreed and may be adjusted annually.
d) Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht and the members of the partnership is/are entitled to require the payment of an advance, which advance shall in principle be set off against the last invoice.
e) Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht and the members of the partnership is/are entitled in appropriate cases to work entirely on a retainer basis. If the hours worked in a month exceed the number of hours equivalent to the advance payment made, an additional round of interim declarations may be made and/or an additional advance payment charged.
Article 7 – Third-party funds
a) Third-party funds held by Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht for the benefit of a client will be placed in a bank account of the Stichting Beheer Derdengelden Uiteen Advocaten with account number NL65 ABNA 0580 6644 22.
b) As compensation for the costs of administration and management of the account, no interest shall be paid on the third-party funds as referred to here. Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht and Stichting Beheer Derdengelden Uiteen Advocaten shall not be liable if the bank fails to meet its obligations under the current account agreement with Uiteen or Stichting Beheer Derdengelden Uiteen Advocaten. If the bank charges negative interest to Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht or the Stichting Beheer Derdengelden Uiteen Advocaten on the deposited funds of the client or a third party, this negative interest shall be charged to the client or the third party respectively and the negative interest shall be deducted from the deposited amount.
c) The client expressly, irrevocably and unconditionally authorizes Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht and the Stichting Beheer Derdengelden Uiteen Advocaten, to set off any funds received for or from the client (in the third-party account maintained by the aforementioned foundation) against or apply them to the payment of that which the client owes to Uiteen.
Article 8 – Personal data
Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht collects and processes information concerning its client and officers, members, relations or representatives of the client (personal data) in connection with the management of the relationship with the client and the performance of the agreement. Personal data will be kept by Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht in strict confidence and used only for the above purposes. Client further agrees that Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht may disclose personal data to its suppliers or to third parties, if this is necessary in the context of the aforementioned purposes. The client may indicate at any time by means of a written request to the management of Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht that the client’s data should be removed from Uiteen’s files. The legal relationship between the parties shall also be governed by the Privacy Statement of Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht, which can be found on the website of Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht. Complaints about the processing of (personal) data by Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht can be filed with the Personal Data Authority.
Article 9 – Applicable law and disputes
a) Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht uses an internal complaints procedure, which can be found on the website. If the internal complaints procedure does not lead to a solution, the dispute can, in case of representation by a lawyer, be submitted to the Disputes Committee. It is also possible to opt for the complaints procedure of the NOvA (Dutch Bar Association) by submitting a complaint to the Dean of the Rotterdam district. In case of mediation, a complaint procedure of the vFAS (Vereniging van Familierechtadvocaten Scheidingsmediators) can also be chosen by submitting a complaint to the Disciplinary Board of the Stichting Tuchtrecht Scheidingsbemiddeling. In the case of a collaborative divorce, one may also opt for the complaints procedure with the VvCP (Association of Collaborative Professionals).
b) The services of Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht and the members of the partnership are governed exclusively by Dutch law.
c) In the event of legal proceedings before the court, any disputes between parties shall be submitted to the competent court in the district where the commissioning member of the collaborative partnership has its registered office.
Article 10 – Amendments to the Terms and Conditions
Uiteen Advocaten & Mediators Familierecht en Erfrecht and the members of the partnership reserve the right to amend these general terms and conditions. The most recent version of these terms and conditions will be published on the website www.uiteenfamilierecht.nl.