Terms and Conditions

1 Applicability

BV/bvba Mploy hereinafter referred to as “the law firm”, offers her services through her lawyers and other associates in accordance with the following terms and conditions. Deviations are only possible through written agreement. These general terms and conditions are applicable to all orders given to the law firm, unless there is a written agreement containing deviating conditions. 

2 Execution of orders and revocation

All assignments are intrusted to and excecuted by the entire law firm, even if the client expressly or tacitly whishes to entrust one specific partner with the case. The law firm will designate one or more lawyer who will handle the case.  When doing so, the law firm will take the subspecialty of the lawyers and the optimum service for the client. By working as a team, the law firm is able to enhance the quality of its service while controlling its fees. The execution of the order happens solely to the benefit of the client. Third parties will not be able to derive any rights from the execution. 

The client can revoke the order given to the law firm within a period of 14 days, in accordance with the following terms. This cooling-off period starts running when the law firm accepts the order. To revoke the order, the client can use this template, or he can deliver a statement which clearly says he wishes to revoke the order. The revocation is valid when it reaches the law firm within 14 days of the acceptance of the order. Revocation is no longer possible if the order has already been executed. 

3 Mutual accountability 

The client commits himself to provide the law firm with any and all required information and documents. The client is responsible for the accuracy, integrity and reliability of the information and documents he provides, or others provide on his behalf. The law firm cannot be held liable for any damages that may arise from incorrect or incomplete information it received from the client. The law firm informs the client on the progress of his case. 

4 Reliance on third parties

4.1 The law firm is allowed to contact third parties, such as other lawyers, bailiffs, translators..., for any specific tasks without prior consent by the client for all tasks that are not regularly performed by the law firm itself. The law firm may choose freely who they contact for these tasks. 

4.2  Other third parties, such as notaries, experts or accountants, will only be contacted with the consent of the client. The client and the law firmwill coordinate when choosing this third party. 

4.3  The law firm is never liable for the actions of these third parties, regardless of whether they were contacted with or without prior consent of the client and regardless of whehter they charge their fees directly to the client or to the law firm. 

5 Intellectual rights

All rights concerning the intellectual achievements developed by the law firm when executing the order, such as advice given, petitions, contracts, templates etc. (non-exhaustive list), remain property of the law firm. It's prohibited to use, publish or exploit these intellectual achievements, unless he has the written prior consent of the law firm.

6 Fees and expenses

6.1 Our invoice can contain 3 elements: the firm's expenses, judicial costs and our fee.

6.2 Judicial costs or costs advanced by the firm (e.g. bailiff fees, translators...) are listed in the overview of our invoice. 

6.3 The fee is the compensation for the services provided by the law firm. The fee is in principle calculated per hour worked or per performance. The hourly rates can be adjusted annually. The following elements may justify an additional fee or another calculation method (possibly in the form of a percentage of the amount awarded or rejected): the importance of the case, the favorable result, the urgency or the specificity of the assignment.

6.4 The firm may ask a deposit before starting the assignment, or during the  course of the case. A deposit is a flat-rate sum the client must pay before any invoice is made. The deposit will be deducted from the final invoice. 

6.5 Deposits and invoices are to be paid within a period of fifteen days following the date on the deposit or invoice. In the absence of a valid protest or payment after this period, interests will be due based on the legal interest rate. 

6.6 If the client does not agree with the requested advance payment or the final statement, he must protest this in writing and by registered letter within a period of fifteen days after the date of the advance payment invoice or the statement of costs and fees.

6.7 If the client is a consumer, the following special rules apply regarding the collection of the statement of costs and fees. If the statement of costs and fees is not paid on time, a free reminder will be sent, after which the client has 14 days to pay.  In the event of late payment of the entire statement of costs and fees within the period of 14 working days, is due, estimated as follows:  if the amount of the outstanding debt is less than or equal to 150 euros: 20 euros ;  if the amount of the outstanding debt at least 150.01 euros but less than 500 euros: 30 euros , plus 10% of the outstanding debt;  if the amount of the outstanding debt is higher than 500 euros: 65 euros , plus 5% of the outstanding debt in the bracket above 500 euros with a maximum of 2000 euros. 

These amounts are primarily intended to cover late payment interest and all costs of amicable collection of the unpaid debt.  Damages clauses and in specific agreements that exceed the limits set above are deemed not to have been written.  These general terms and conditions remain applicable.

The late payment interest starts to accrue from the calendar day following the day on which the reminder was sent. The late payment interest is equal to the interest at the reference interest rate increased by 8% referred to in Article 5, second paragraph, of the Act of 2 August 2002 on combating late payment in commercial transactions.

7 Third-party funds

7.1 All amounts received by the firm for its clients will be wired to the client as soon as possible. 

7.2 The law firm is allowed to deduct outstanding amounts from a deposit or invoice from the amounts paid to the thrid-party fund. He will alert the client of this in writing. This provision is without prejudice to the right of the client to protest the deposit or invoice and to demand the payment of the deducted amount. 

7.3 All amounts received by the firm from its clients shall be wired to the correct third party as soon as possible. 

8 Liability

8.1 All individual lawyers of the law firm have a professional liability insurance for 2.500.000,00 EUR (each). 

8.2 The client accepts the insurance ceiling of 2.500.000,00 EUR for every lawyer individually, and accepts that his claims based on professional misconduct shall be limited to this amount. This limit does not apply in case of intent or grave error by the lawyer in question.

8.3 If the insurance company refuses to pay the damages, and the lawyer in question is not accountable for this refusal, the client isn't entitled to any compensation. 

9 Termination of the order

9.1 The client can terminate the order at any point in time by sending a written notice to the law firm. The firm will send the client or his new lawyer its final invoice after receiving this written notice. The client is obligated to pay for all the work the law firm performed on his case up until the termination of the order. The firm is not allowed to ask compensation. 

9.2 The law firm will send all necessary documents back to the client on first request. 

9.3 The law firm can terminate the order at any point in time by sending the client a written notice, without being liable for any damages. The firm will make sure the client will have sufficient time to consult with another lawyer when terminating the order. 

10 Electronic communications

10.1 All electronic communication coming from the law firm is merely indicative, and can in no way, compromise the liability of the firm, except for annexes in pdf-format signed by a partner. 

10.2 The law firm will make reasonable efforts to ensure the safety of any e-mails or annexes it sends, to the best of its ability. It remains the responsibility of the client to take all necessary measures to protect his/her IT systems from viruses etc. 

10.3 The law firm cannot be held liable for any losses or damages that have occurred after receiving or using electronic documents from the firm. 

11 Nullity of one or more clauses

Nullity of one or more clauses of these general terms and conditions do not affect the validity and enforceability of any of the other clauses. 

12 Applicable law and competent courts

Only Belgian law is applicable. Solely the courts of the judicial district of Turnhout are competent to settle disputes between the law firm and the client. 

13 Archiving

The law firm archives and stores all files after the termmination of an order, and saves the files for five years. After this five-year period, all files will be destroyed.