Article 1.
Bowmer Nuiten Noteboom Advocaten/Legal, hereinafter referred to as 'BNN,' is a collaborative partnership comprising of three independent offices, namely the private limited liability companies Veldhuijzen & Nuiten Advocaten B.V. (company number: 24319275), Bowmer Legal B.V. (company number: 73766569), and DNA-Legal B.V. (company number: 65266838). The participating legal entities are hereinafter referred to as ‘participants’. The participants each run an independent law practice at their own risk and for their own account and are each an independent contractor with regards to any instructions given by their respective clients.
Article 2.
Instructions can be given to a participant orally or in writing. However, a contract for services only comes into existence when one of the participants of BNN has sent the client a written confirmation of services. All instructions are solely for the participant that has received and accepted that instruction. That participant is the party that is solely obligated to carry out that instruction.
Notwithstanding the provisions of Article 7:404 of the Dutch Civil Code, the participant decides which of its partners and/ or employers carry out work for the client. The operation of Article 7:407, paragraph 2, of the Dutch Civil Code is explicitly excluded.
Article 3.
The participants are each insured for professional liability according to the guidelines of the Dutch Bar Association.
The participant’s liability is limited to the amount that is paid out in a given case by its professional liability insurer, in addition to the amount of excess that the participant carries in connection with such insurance.
In such case where there is no coverage provided by said insurance, any liability is limited to the fee charged in the matter concerned in the relevant year of the incident, up to a maximum of 25,000 Euro only.
Article 4.
The written confirmation of services as described in Article 2 also states the fees applicable to the contract and the other terms upon which the case is accepted. The rates outlined in the confirmation by the participant are always exclusive of disbursements, including fees, court fees, etc., exclusive of the office cost fee amounting to 7% of the hourly fee, and exclusive of VAT, unless expressly stated otherwise. The participant is entitled to periodically adjust the hourly rates and the office cost fee.
Article 5.
Any work by the participant is carried out exclusively for the client. Third parties cannot derive any rights from the content of the work performed. The accepted instruction creates an obligation to perform to the best of the participant’s ability and not an obligation to guarantee any certain result.
Article 6.
The client indemnifies BNN and its participants against claims by third parties relating to work carried out by the participant on behalf of the client. Furthermore, in such cases where third parties are engaged on behalf of the client by the participant, the participant is not liable for shortcomings of these third parties.
Article 7.
The participant is entitled to require the client to pay a retainer before commencement of any work, both in case of paying clients as well in legal aid cases. In legal aid cases, the retainer will be tailored to the expected level of the personal contribution set by the Dutch legal aid board (‘Raad voor Rechtsbijstand’), court fees and other costs.
Article 8.
The client is obliged to pay the participant’s invoices, retainers, disbursements and (advances to) personal legal aid contributions within 14 days after the invoice date, unless another payment term has been explicitly agreed.
Article 9.
If the client fails to pay any invoice within the payment term, the participant can claim statutory interest increased by 2 % per annum, as well as extrajudicial collection costs, calculated in accordance with the amounts stated in the Dutch ‘Besluit vergoeding buitengerechtelijke incassokosten’ (Stb. 2012, 141 and 142).
If the client fails to pay any invoice within the payment term, the participant has the right to suspend further work for the client.
Article 10.
The client gives the participant permission in advance for providing information to other employees of BNN and its participants, not directly involved in the case, which may be useful or necessary for the case.
In legal aid cases, the client gives permission in advance to provide the Dutch legal aid board (‘Raad voor Rechtsbijstand’) with all information and / or documents required for obtaining legal aid and / or compensation under the legal aid scheme.
Article 11.
These general terms and conditions also apply to additional and subsequent assignments/ instructions from the client.
Article 12.
Contracts between the participant and the client shall be exclusively governed by Dutch law.
Article 13.
The complaints procedure of BNN applies to all agreements concluded between the participant and the client. The client must submit complaints about the services or invoices to the complaints officer within two months after the client becomes aware of them, or within two months after the invoice date. The complaints officer, together with the client, will attempt to resolve the complaint. Upon request, the participant will send the complaints procedure to the client free of charge.
If the internal complaints procedure does not lead to a solution, the Rotterdam District Court has exclusive jurisdiction to decide on disputes between the participant and the client. Nevertheless, the participant has the right to submit disputes to a competent judge in the place of residence or business of the client.
Article 14.
The English language version of our general terms and conditions is provided for your information only. In such case that there is a conflict or difference of interpretation between the official Dutch language terms and the English language translation, the official Dutch language terms will prevail at all times.
Dordrecht/ Rotterdam/ Gorinchem, December 1st, 2023.
Filed at the Court of Rotterdam on December 1st, 2023, under deed number 24/2023.