General Terms and Conditions

1. These terms and conditions apply to all current and future agreements between Ferrmons Law Firm and its client.
2. Any assignments are only considered given when they have been granted by you and accepted by Ferrmons Law Firm. The applicability of Article 404, book 7 of the Dutch Civil Code, as well as the applicability of Article 407, paragraph 2, book 7 of the Dutch Civil Code are hereby expressly rejected.
3. Any liability of Ferrmons Law Firm is always limited to an amount that is equal to the amount paid out by the professional liability insurance of Ferrmons Law Firm in the case in question.
4. If, for any reason, there is no payout based on the above-mentioned insurance, any liability will be limited to an amount equal to that of the fees paid, excluding VAT.
5. If Ferrmons Law Firm engages the services of a third party, Ferrmons Law Firm is not responsible for any supply disruptions from this third party. In the performance of its duties, Ferrmons Law Firm will show the care of a prudent contractor.
6. All claims and other rights of the client against Ferrmons Law Firm related to its work, will expire after a period of one year from the day that the client became aware of or could have reasonably been expected to know about such rights.
7. The client gives Ferrmons Law Firm permission in advance to forward necessary data that is relevant to third parties.
8. The client indemnifies Ferrmons Law Firm against any claims from third parties resulting direct or indirectly from the work performed by Ferrmons Law Firm for the client or related to that, including any costs incurred by Ferrmons Law Firm as a result thereof.
9. Insofar as not agreed otherwise, Ferrmons Law Firm will receive a fee from the client in the amount of the usual rates charged by Ferrmons Law Firm, including VAT, administrative costs, and expenses. Ferrmons Law Firm has the right to regularly change the time taken into account for calculating the fee, the hourly rates, the percentage of the firm's expenses and travel reimbursement for new assignments and assignments that have already been accepted.
10. Advances paid for the client by Ferrmons Law Firm will be charged separately. To cover general office costs (such as postage, phone, fax, and copier expenses) 6% of the fee is charged. All prices are excluding VAT.
11. For assignments that are taken on based on the legal system for financed legal aid, the provisions in Article 10 only apply to the costs that are borne by the client based on the legal aid decision.
12. The work, office costs, and are normally due monthly, to be paid by the client within a payment period of 14 days after the invoice date. In the absence of a payment, Ferrmons Law Firm will be forced to take appropriate measures regarding debt collection and thus to collect all associated costs at the expense from the client, including a fixed amount of 15% of the sum for internal administration and debt collection costs.
13. Ferrmons Law Firm reserves the right to accept assignments only with advance payment or to only continue with the performance of assignments that have already been accepted if the client has paid the expected reimbursements, expenses, and office costs. If, after performance of the assignment and settlement of the fees, there is still money from the advance payment left, this amount will be refunded to the client by Ferrmons Law Firm.
14. In the absence of timely (advance) payment, Ferrmons Law Firm has the right to temporarily or permanently suspend work activities on the case.
15. Ferrmons' activities are subject to the Identification (Provision of Services) Act ('Wet identificatie bij Dienstverlening') and the Dutch Disclosure of Unusual Transactions (Services) Act ('Wet Melding Ongebruikelijke Transacties'). Pursuant to this, Ferrmons has the right to require clients to identify themselves. In addition, Ferrmons is obligated to disclose so-called unusual transaction if advice is given in the following areas of law: Tax law, purchasing and selling of properties, management of funds, the founding and management of companies, and the purchasing and selling of businesses.
16. The legal relationship based on these terms and conditions is subject to Dutch law. Disputes will be brought before the Dutch court in Almelo (District Court of Overijssel), unless otherwise dictated by law or if Ferrmons or its client bring a particular dispute to the Consumer Complaints Board. In addition, as claimant in a dispute, Ferrmons may apply to the competent court according to the statutory competence rules, unless Ferrmons or client brings a specific dispute to the Consumer Complaints Board.
17. Ferrmons is a member of the Consumer Complaints Board for the Legal Profession. This Consumer Complaints Board was founded on 1 June 1999 and is part of the Dutch Foundation for Consumer Complaints Boards (SGC) and Professional and Business Complaints Boards (SGB), registered in The Hague.
18. If a client is not satisfied with the quality of Ferrmons or has complaints regarding the fee, the client will first contact their own Ferrmons lawyer about the complaint. Client also has the option to contact Ms T. Demirdag LLM. If our consultation, against expectations, does not lead to a satisfactory result in your opinion, you can bring your complaint to the Consumer Complaints Board for the Legal Profession. That is only possible after you have first submitted your complaint to our law firm. You can also exercise this option if our firm has not responded to your complaint in writing within four weeks of submitting it.
19. The client can submit the complaint to the Consumer Complaints Board for the Legal Profession up to 12 months after the date of the written response from our law firm. It is not possible to appeal a ruling by the Consumer Complaints Board for the Legal Profession.
20. If the client has been sent the English translation of these general terms and conditions, the Dutch wording will prevail.​
21. After a case has been concluded, all the documents in the file are kept in Ferrmons' archives for a period of five years. After that, all documents will be destroyed.
22. The clauses in these general terms and conditions also apply to all employees and assistants of Ferrmons Law Firm.

FERRMONS ADVOCATENKANTOOR, January 2015