General terms and conditions of Yspeert advocaten

1. Yspeert advocaten N.V. is a public limited company also acting under the name yspeert advocaten and focuses on the provision of legal services to corporate, institutional and private individuals. Yspeert has offices in Groningen, Drachten and Emmen.

2. These general terms and conditions are applicable to all engagements, quotations and/or contracts concluded between yspeert and its clients and extend also to all lawyers (and/or their personal companies) that are currently employed or have worked for yspeert, as well as other (legal) persons who have been engaged for the execution of an engagement. These general terms and conditions are applicable also to additional engagements and subsequent engagements.

3. All engagements of yspeert or its individual lawyers are accepted and executed exclusively by yspeert, even if the intention is for an engagement to be executed by a certain individual lawyer. The individual lawyers working for yspeert are not personally bound nor personally liable for the provision of their services. The applicability of Sections 7:404, 7:407 (2) and 7:409 of the Netherlands Civil Code is expressly excluded.

4. If necessary for the purpose of effective professional practices, yspeert is authorised to engage third parties. This ought to be done with due care. Yspeert cannot be held liable for damages resulting from any errors or breaches by these third parties. Yspeert is authorised to accept limitations of liability of third parties on behalf of its clients.

5. As a result of current legislation, including the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (Wwft), under certain circumstances yspeert is obliged (a) to establish the identity of its clients and other beneficiaries; and (b) to report unusual transactions to the authorities. If yspeert reports an unusual transaction, it is not permitted under the Wwft to inform the client in question.

6. a. The client will be liable for the payment of a honorarium plus disbursements, office expenses and turnover tax for the execution of the engagement. The calculated fee will be agreed upon accepting the engagement and can be adjusted by yspeert, which will be communicated in writing. Disbursements are payments made to third parties for their services; office expenses are a fixed surcharge over the calculated fee to cover the costs of the office facilities.

b. Yspeert will send its invoices monthly.

c. Invoices are payable within fourteen (14) days of the invoice date. If this period is exceeded then the client is in default, without any further notice of default being required.

d. If yspeert takes debt collection measures against a defaulting client, all extrajudicial and judicial costs will be charged to the client. The payable extrajudicial costs will amount to at least 10 % of the outstanding balance when the client is held in default.

e. At all times Yspeert reserves the right to require the client to pay an advance fee. Advance fees will be set off against the final settlement of the engagement.

7. The work can be suspended if the client defaults on the payment of any fee or advance invoice.

8. The client indemnifies yspeert against all claims of third parties, including the reasonable costs of legal assistance for putting up a defense against such claims, which are related in any way or arise from the activities in the context of an engagement, other than in cases of an intentional act or omission or gross negligence on the part of yspeert.

9. Yspeert’s liability for damages suffered by clients and/or third parties is limited to the amount paid out by its professional liability insurance in that particular case. Information about the content of the policy and applicable conditions will be provided on request. The following limitation of liability will apply if no payment is made under the insurance for any reason. For engagements for which a fee in total of no more than € 10,000 has been charged to a particular client, Yspeert’s liability will be limited to a sum equal to twice the amount of the fee. For all other engagements Yspeert’s liability is limited to a sum of € 100,000. Claims for the compensation of damages shall be null and void if not brought before the court with competent jurisdiction within one year of the client becoming aware of any claim.

10. Yspeert processes personal data in connection wilt the execution of the contract in compliance with applicable privacy legislation. The text of Yspeert’s privacy statement can be consulted on our website.

11. All engagements are subject to the yspeert complaint procedure. The regulations applicable to that procedure are available for viewing on our website.

12. The legal relationship between the client and yspeert shall be governed by Dutch law. The District Court for the Northern Netherlands has exclusive jurisdiction to hear disputes arising from or related to the relationship between yspeert and its client.