Terms and Conditions
Moree Gelderblom Advocaten (also known as ‘Moree Gelderblom Lawyers’) in Rotterdam and Hendrik Ido Ambacht
1. Moree Gelderblom Lawyers is a partnership of legal entities with limited liability. Natural persons may also be partners. A list of partners is available on request.
2. The provisions of these General Terms and Conditions have been made partly on behalf of the partners in Moree Gelderblom Lawyers, the managers of the participating legal entities and all parties working for the partnership.
3. These General Terms and Conditions apply to all instruction contracts, including supplements and extensions, unless otherwise agreed in writing prior to contract closure.
4. An instruction contract is closed only upon the acceptance of an instruction by the partnership. A contract may be closed on behalf of the partnership only by a lawyer attached to the partnership.
5. The client, being the party with whom the partnership enters into an instruction contract, agrees that the partnership is responsible for arranging fulfilment of the contract by internal personnel or by a third party or third parties. Article 7:404 and Article 7:407, clause 2, of the Dutch Civil Code are not applicable.
6. In the fulfilment of its instruction contracts, in the performance of its activities and in the selection of auxiliary personnel, the partnership will exercise all due care.
7. In return for fulfilment of an instruction contract, a client will be liable to pay a fee (a sum of money specified as payable in respect of the amount of time expended or the interest involved), plus expenses (costs arising out of fulfilment of the contract incurred by the partnership), plus an administration charge (the surcharge calculated as a fixed percentage of the fee to cover the cost of maintaining office facilities) and Value Added Tax, unless agreed otherwise.
8. If the fulfilment of a contract covers a period of more than one month, interim invoices may be raised for activities undertaken.
9. The partnership is entitled to require a client to pay an advance (deposit), which will be offset against the final invoiceable sum.
10. In cases that are funded through the statutory legal aid system, the foregoing provisions apply only to those expenses for which the client is liable under the terms of the legal aid award.
Payment
11. A client is deemed to have settled a payable sum only when payment has been made into a specified bank account or giro account in the name of the partnership or the associated Stichting Derdengelden Moree Gelderblom (a foundation that handles third-party funds for the partnership), or when payment has been made in cash and a proper receipt obtained.
12. All invoices issued by the partnership are payable within 14 days of the date of issue. If payment is not made within this period, the client will be in default and liable to pay interest on the outstanding amount, at a rate equal to the statutory rate of interest effective at the time.
13. If the partnership takes action to recover a debt from a client that is in default, the client will additionally be liable to pay the recovery costs, which will be deemed to be at least 10% of the outstanding sum.
Liability
14. The total joint liability of the partnership, the partners, the managers of the participating legal entities and all parties working for the partnership, is under all circumstances limited to the sum payable by the partnership’s professional liability insurers in the relevant case, plus the excess amount for which the partnership is liable under the terms of the liability insurance policy.
15. If the partnership engages auxiliary personnel or a third-party service provider, the partnership will exercise all due care. However, the partnership is not liable for any damages arising out of the shortcomings of auxiliary personnel or third-party service providers.
16. The liability limitation applies equally in circumstances where the partnership is liable for the errors of third parties engaged by the partnership or for the malfunction of equipment, software, databases, registers or other resources used by the partnership in the fulfilment of the contract.
17. The client indemnifies the partnership against all third-party claims, including associated expenses incurred by the partnership, arising in any way out of the work undertaken for the client, except in the event of malicious action or gross negligence on the partnership’s side.
Complaint and dispute resolution mechanism
18. A complaint and dispute resolution mechanism operates in the context of the legal relationship. A copy of the rules governing this mechanism is available free of charge from the lawyer dealing with a given case, and will be sent immediately to the client on request. A complaint regarding the services of the partnership may be addressed to the lawyer dealing with the case or to the partnership’s appointed complaint-handler, Meester S Visser. A client who makes a complaint will receive a written response within four weeks of the complaint’s receipt.
19. Disputes relating to the partnership’s services, including invoicing disputes of any kind, which cannot be resolved without outside intervention will be resolved in accordance with the Reglement Geschillencommissie Advocatuur (Regulations of the Advocacy Disputes Committee). A copy of those regulations is available free of charge, and will be sent immediately on request. The regulations may also be read at www.advocatenorde.nl or www.sgc.nl and may be obtained from the Advocacy Disputes Committee, PO Box 90600, 2509 LP The Hague.
20. If or insofar as the Advocacy Disputes Committee is not competent to settle a dispute, the dispute may be referred only to the competent court of law in Rotterdam, notwithstanding the partnership’s right, in any case where it is the claimant, to bring the case before a court of law in whose jurisdiction the client is resident or registered.
21. The legal relationship to which these General Terms and Conditions apply is governed by Dutch Law. Only a court of law in the Netherlands is competent to pass legal judgement on any dispute pertaining to that relationship.
These General Terms and Conditions have been deposited with the clerk of the Rotterdam High Court.