General terms and conditions of Knoops’ advocaten

Article 1. General Information

In these general terms and conditions is understood to mean:

Knoops’ Advocaten: Knoops Advocaten N.V., registered in the Register of Companies of the Dutch Chamber of Commerce under number 33302019;

client: the person who commissioned Knoops’ Advocaten;

person associated with Knoops’ Advocaten: all former, current and future (i) direct or indirect shareholders of Knoops’ Advocaten (“Partners”); (ii) group companies of Knoops’ Advocaten or its partners; (iii) any ‘Stichting beheer derdengelden’ related to Knoops’ Advocaten; and (iv) employees, directors, interns and freelancers associated with Knoops’ Advocaten;

person: natural person or legal entity;

These general terms and conditions are applicable to any agreement of assignment between the client and Knoops’ Advocaten as well as to any legal relationships (contractual or otherwise) arising therefrom.
If the agreement of assignment between the client and Knoops’ Advocaten contains conditions that are in conflict with the conditions in these general terms and conditions, the conditions in the agreement of assignment shall prevail.
Electronic communication, including e-mail, is deemed to be in writing. The client agrees and acknowledges that electronic communication is not secure. Knoops’ Advocaten is not liable if electronic communication is intercepted, manipulated, delayed, misdirected or infected with a virus.
Pursuant to applicable laws and regulations, including the law for the prevention of money laundering and financing of terrorism (“Wwft”), Knoops’ Advocaten is obliged to establish the identity of its clients and their final beneficiary, and, under circumstances, Knoops’ Advocaten must report unusual transactions within the meaning of the Wwft to the authorities. The Wwft prohibits Knoops’ Advocaten from informing the client or others that it has made such a report to the authorities.
These general terms and conditions have been drawn up in Dutch and in English. The Dutch wording shall be binding.

Article 2. Client assignments

All client assignments are exclusively accepted and carried out by Knoops’ advocaten. This also applies if there is an explicit or implied intention for the client assignment to be carried out by a specific person. The applicability of Section 7:404 Dutch Civil Code, containing rules for the latter case, and Section 7:407 Dutch Civil Code, imposing joint and several liability if a client assignment is given to two or more persons, is explicitly precluded. The persons associated with Knoops’ Advocaten are not personally bound by the client assignment.
In many cases Knoops’ advocaten work as a team. Knoops’ advocaten reserves the right – in addition to or in place of the attorney who initially began the execution of the assignment – to engage other lawyers and/or legal associates and/or researchers.
If Knoops’ advocaten acts as a lawyer for the client in civil-law or administrative-law proceedings, the client shall pay the related court fees due to Knoops’advoaten in a timely manner. Under penalty of inadmidssibility, these court fees must be paid in due time to the court handling the case. Knoops’ advocaten reserves the right not to pay the court registry fees to the handling court and to disqualify as a lawyer if the client has not paid the due court fees to Knoops’advoaten in time.
The client must take into account that in civil-law or administrative-law proceedings, a (partially) unsuccesful party may be ordered to pay the other party’s costs of the legal proceedings. Such an order to pay the legal costs is not be eligible for compensation by the Dutch Legal Aid Board or by Knoops’ advocaten.
Engagements will be carried out exclusively for the benefit of the client. Third parties cannot derive any rights from their contents. If clients inform third parties of results of work done by Knoops’ advocaten, they are required to inform such third parties thereof in writing.
For five years after the conclusion of a case, the relevant file will be kept in the archives of Knoops’ advocaten, after which it will be destroyed without further notice.

Article 3. Remuneration and debt collection

3.1 The fees of the lawyers and staff working for Knoops’ advocaten vary according to experience and specialist knowledge. Knoops’ advocaten is entitled to change its fees periodically. Clients shall owe Knoops’ advocaten a fee calculated on the basis of the number of hours spent multiplied by the applicable hourly rate of the lawyer or staff member who spent the relevant hours. In addition, the client shall owe Knoops’ advocaten 8% of the fee in fixed office expenses, turnover tax at the applicable rate and disbursements.

3.2 Invoices must be paid within 7 days of being sent. If the client is a legal entity, it will be in default without further notice of default if payment is not made on time. Clients who are legal entities shall also reimburse Knoops’ Advocaten for all legal fees incurred for the collection of outstanding invoices in respect of which the client is in default. The above is without prejudice to the right of Knoops’ Attorneys to claim all other judicial and extrajudicial collection costs as well as statutory interest.

3.3 Knoops’ advocaten shall at all times be entitled to request advance payments for work to be carried out and costs to be incurred and shall, in principle, do so. These will be settled at the end of the assignment or, as the case may be, in the interim.

3.4 Only for specific payments in respect of which Knoops’ advocaten have notified the client in writing that use can be made of the trust account of Stichting Derdengelden Knoops’ advocaten, the aforementioned trust account can be used. As compensation for the costs of administration and management of the account, clients shall not be entitled to reimbursement of interest on amounts deposited in the account.

Article 4. Engagement of third parties

Knoops’ advocaten is authorized to engage third parties (e.g. couriers, bailiffs and translators), in its own name or as proxy on behalf of the client, in the context of the execution of the assignment.

The client shall be bound by the terms and conditions agreed by Knoops’ advocaten (in its own name or in the name of the client) with the third parties it engages. Knoops’ advocaten shall not be liable for any damage resulting from any act or omission of third parties it engages.

4.2 The client shall be bound by the conditions agreed by Knoops’ advocaten (in its own name or on behalf of the client) with third parties it engages. Knoops’ advocaten shall not be liable for any damage resulting from acts or omissions of third parties it engages.

4.3 The costs of third parties engaged in connection with the execution of assignments shall be borne by the client. These costs will not be eligible for reimbursement by the Legal Aid Board. The costs of third parties engaged in connection with the execution of assignments shall be borne by the client. These costs will not be eligible for reimbursement by the Legal Aid Board.

4.4 If Knoops’ Advocaten holds funds of a client or a third party, the client shall be bound by the conditions of the bank where the funds are held. Knoops’ Advocaten shall not be liable for damages arising from any act or omission of the bank. The previous two sentences shall apply accordingly if The Stichting Beheer Derdengelden Knoops’ Advocaten holds funds. The previous sentence is an irrevocable third-party clause for the benefit of Stichting Beheer Derdengelden Knoops’ Advocaten.

Artikel 5. Termination of the client assignment

The client may terminate the assignment at any time by written communication to their contact person at Knoops’ Advocaten
Knoops’ advocaten can always prematurely terminate the assignment, without needing to have a reason to do so, by means of a written communication to the client with due observance of a notice period of 14 days or with immediate effect if the client is in default with regard to a fee note.
If the client assignment is terminated prematurely, the fee due will be determined in accordance with Article 3.1 of these general terms and conditions.

Article 6. Liability, indemnification and forfeiture

The joint liability of Knoops’ advocaten and that of persons associated with Knoops’ advocaten, irrespective of the legal basis, shall at all times be limited to the amount paid out in the relevant case under Knoops’ advocaten professional liability insurance policies in the case in question, increased by the applicable exess. These insurances have limited coverage, inter alia with respect to the amount of damages and the number of claims per year. The policy terms and consitions can be inspected upon request.
In the event no payment is made under the aformentioned insurances, for whatever reason, the joint liability of Knoops’ advocaten and the liability of persons affiliated with Knoops’ advocaten, irrespective of the legal basis, shall be limited to twice the fee charged by Knoops’ advocaten in connection with the assignment in question and paid on time in the twelve months preceding the moment when the event giving rise to liability occurred, with a maximum of €100,000.
Clients shall indemnify Knoops’ Advocaten and persons associated with Knoops’ Advocaten from third party claims and related costs for which Knoops’ Advocaten’s liability is excluded in this article. The indemnification shall not apply if the claim or damage results from intent or deliberate recklessness on the part of Knoops’ Advocaten. All rights of action of clients vis-à-vis Knoops’ advocaten in connection with services rendered by Knoops’ advocaten shall lapse as soon as a period of one year has elapsed after the day the client became aware or could reasonably have become aware of the existence of such rights and powers. In all cases, these rights of action shall expire two years after the assignment has been completed.
This article is an irrevocable third-party clause for the benefit of any person associated with Knoops’ Advocaten.

Article 7. Applicable law, complaints and disputes

The assignment and resulting (whether or not contractual) legal relationships between the client and Knoops’ Advocaten to which these general conditions apply, shall be governed by Dutch law.
The competent court in Amsterdam shall have exclusive jurisdiction to take conginzance of disputes arizing in connection with the the assignment and resulting legal (wether or not contractual) relationsbetween Knoops’ advocaten and the client. If Knoops’ advocaten acts as plaintiff, it shall also be entitled, notwithstanding the above, to bring the dispute before the court of law appropriate to the client.
Our services are subject to an office complaints procedure as required by the Dutch Bar Association. This regulation can be consulted via www.knoopsadvocaten.nl/nl/klachtenregeling. If a complaint is not resolved after treatment in accordance with the office complaints scheme, it may be submitted to the court mentioned in article 6.2.
4 Articles 6.1 and 6.2 shall apply mutatis mutandis to non-contractual obligations of persons associated with Knoops’ Advocaten arising from or related to the assignment. This paragraph is an irrevocable third-party clause for the benefit of each person associated with Knoops’ Advocaten.

Last edited: February 2023