Kim Meijer

General terms and conditions

Article 1 Applicability
These general terms shall apply to all services performed by Kim-Meijer Advocatuur.

Article 2 obligation of best effort
Kim-Meijer Advocatuur is commited to optimal performance in delivering the professional care and legal expertise in services provided as per the agreement with the Client. However Kim-Meijer Advocatuur cannot guarantee achiving the desired result.

Article 3 The assignment
All assignments will be, with overriding article 7:404, 7:409 and 7:422 paragraph 1 sub b of the Dutch Civil Code, exclusively accepted and as much as possible carried out by Kim-Meijer Advocatuur. Kim-Meijer Advocatuur is, if necessary, free to make arrangements concerning substitution/replacement to represent clients legally.

Article 4: Liability
All right to claim for damages from Kim-Meijer Advocatuur is limited to the amount that is claimable under the professional liability insurance and that will be paid out in lieu of this insurance, including the amount in excess (for which insurers are consequently not liable). The liability claim is limited to a maximum of € 10.000,= in the case concerned.

Any claim by the client against Kim-Meijer Advocatuur lapses after 12 months after the last billing date.

Article 5: Involving of third persons/parties
The choice of third parties to be consulted by Kim-Meijer Advocatuur shall, if possible, be made in consultation with the client and with due caution. Kim-Meijer Advocatuur is not responsible for failure, fault or shortcomings made by this third party. The client agrees that Kim-Meijer Advocatuur accepts, on behalf of the client, liability restricting clauses of third parties.

Article 6: Advance
Kim-Meijer Advocatuur is entitled, to ask the client to pay an advance, during its activities and before starting its activities. The exact amount will be determined by Kim-Meijer Advocatuur in all fairness. Kim-Meijer Advocatuur will start and / or continue its activities for the client first after the client has paid an advance or, if necessary, provided security.

Article 7: Rates and fees
Unless agreed differently, the fee that the client ows Kim-Meijer Advocatuur, is calculated based on the total of hours spent, multiplied by Kim-Meijer Advocatuur yearly determined fee per working hour plus VAT. The costs that Kim-Meijer Advocatuur incurs on behalf of the client, to third parties, will be separately charged to the client. A percentage of 5% of the fee will be calculated to cover general costs (for example telephone costs, paper, copying, etc.).

Article 8: Storage of documents
After closing the file it will be stored in our archives for a period of 5 years. If the client wishes to retrieve documents from this file, we will be able to provide these provided it is within this 5 year period. After this retention period Kim-Meijer Advocatuur is authorized to destroy the file. Fees can be charged for retrieving documents from the archive.

Article 9: disorders-and dispute agreement Kim-Meijer Advocatuur
All disputes as a result of the formation and/or execution of the services of Kim-Meijer Advocatuur, including any disputes regarding invoices, shall be resolved pursuant to the Regulations of disputes committee for the legal profession (“Reglement klachten- en geschillen comissie Advocatuur”). In case of a complaint, the client will first file the complaint with Kim-Meijer Advocatuur. The complaint needs to be raised within three months from the moment when the client has learned from the actions or lack thereof giving rise to the complaint. Kim-Meijer Advocatuur can decide to submit unpaid invoices to the dispute committee (“geschillen commissie”) for collection.

Kim-Meijer Advocatuur will handle the complaint as per the guidelines from the Regulations of disputes and will address your complaint within 4 weeks of the complaint being filed to Kim-Meijer Advocatuur. The first step in complaint handling is a written reply to the complaint. In the event a deviation on the term occurs a memo will be issued substantiating the reasoning as well as a new target date by which finding concerning the validity of the complaint will be made available.

The complaint handler of the sole proprietorship Kim-Meijer Advocatuur is Mr drs E.J. Kim-Meijer. No costs directly related to the complaint handling will be reimbursed.
If and when Kim-Meijer Advocatuur cannot resolve the complaint or dispute within a reasonable time, the client may submit his complaint to the Dispute Committee for Legal Profession.

Any disputes that may arise further to the agreement and/or performance of our services, including all disputes in relation to invoices, and any resulting claims for damages (for an amount of up to € 10.000,-) shall be settled in accordance with the complaints and disputes regulation set out by the Disputes Committee for the legal profession as from the moment of filing the complaint.

This scheme provides for arbitration on the understanding that, in certain cases advice may be chosen in the form of a binding recommendation. The regulation Dispute Committee for Legal Profession can be sent on request at the Dispute Committee for Legal Profession (Geschillencommissie Advocatuur) Postbus 90600, 2509 LP Den Haag. The client can only submit claims within a 12 month period after the written response to the complaint was made by Kim-Meijer Advocatuur.

The complaint committee will pass judgement by ways of arbitral award over professional services. The client can only submit higher claims to the Dispute Committee for the Legal Profession when the claim is restricted to the amount of € 10.000,- and the client has given his written approval to surrender to the above.

Statements by the Disputes Committee about the quality of the services do not have the authority of res judicata in any legal proceedings before the ordinary courts about claims for damages in excess of € 10,000. This means that the client cannot appeal to a decision of the Disputes Committee in a possible dispute with the ordinary court about a claim of more than 10,000 euro.

The disputes committee rules to the exclusion of the ordinary judge. No appeal is possible against the decision of the Disputes Committee.

Article 10: Legal practice and replacement
Kim-Meijer advocatuur is a one-man practice in which Mr. drs. E.J. Kim-Meijer works as a lawyer and is involved in the execution of the assignment. Mr. drs. E.J. Kim-Meijer has provided an external observation or replacement for a longer (unscheduled) absence.

Article 11: Applicable law, competent court
Dutch law applies to the legal relationships between Kim-Meijer Advocatuur and its clients. Disputes arising from the legal relationship between the client and Kim-Meijer Advocatuur can only be submitted to the competent court in The Hague for settlement, unless statutory provisions oppose this.