The law firm GRAND LAWYERS (hereinafter referred to as “the office” is a limited company (BV) with registered office at 9050 GHENT, Brusselsesteenweg 101a, which is known by the Central Business Registration Body under the registration number 0737.938.683. The managing director is Mr. Louis R. DE GROOTE, lawyer at the Bar of Ghent. The office is established at the aforementioned address, can be reached by telephone on the number (09) 396.60.30 or by fax on the number (09) 396.60.31 and/or by email at info@grand-lawyers.be.

The lawyers working at the office are all members of the Bar Association of Ghent. They are subject to the extrajudicial dispute resolution that is anchored in the Arbitration Rules for fee disputes of the Ghent Bar of February 17, 2009 and the Codex of the Ghent Bar of March 29, 2018. For more information you can consult www.balie-gent.be.

The professional liability of the lawyers is insured through AMLIN INSURANCE (as main insurer), established at 1210 Brussels, Koning Albert II-laan 9, under the policy civil liability of lawyers, the Flemish Bar Association, policy number LXX034899 for a maximum amount of € 2.500.000.00. The insurance broker is VANBREDA RISK & BENEFITS.

These general terms and conditions apply to all services provided by the firm’s lawyers to clients. Other (if applicable conflicting) general terms and conditions, belonging to third parties or to clients, will only apply subject to prior explicit or written acceptance thereof by the lawyers of the firm. The firm’s lawyers are not liable to any person to whom services are rendered for loss or profit or any other indirect loss, regardless of the foreseeability of such loss or damage. In any case, the liability of the firm’s lawyers will be limited to the amount actually paid out by the insurance company in a specific case, if for whatever reason, no payment is made by the insurance company, then the liability of the lawyers and employees of the firm will be limited to three times the total amount of fees that were invoiced and paid by the client in the period of 1 year prior to the claim. Any event that could lead to liability of the lawyers of the firm must be reported in writing by the client, under penalty of forfeiture, at the latest within three months of its occurrence.

The acceptance of a mandate to act for and on behalf of the client in a specific file does not entail an obligation for the lawyer of the firm to provide assistance in other files without express agreement in this regard in the event that the law firm is requested by another law firm to provide services for a client of the latter, this does not create a direct relationship between the law firm and the client of the requesting law firm. The firm’s lawyers are committed to carry out a conflict check without delay and confirm that there is no conflict of interest or any other obstacle to acting. Both the law firm on the one hand and the client on the other hand have the right to terminate the cooperation at their own discretion. Upon such termination, the outstanding fees and costs of the office will be immediately due and payable.

All lawyers of the firm are bound by professional secrecy. All documentation, such as correspondence, draft procedural documents and advice in any form, has a fundamentally confidential character that will be kept by the client and is protected by intellectual property law. Any disclosure to third parties will only be possible with the explicit permission of the firm’s lawyers. The firm’s lawyers will make all reasonable efforts to maintain confidentiality, but cannot be held accountable in the event of disclosure due to force majeure or error. The documentation will, in principle be kept for a period of 5 years after the case has been closed.

The statement of costs and fees of the lawyer is divided into three parts: the fee, the costs related to your file and the court costs. (i) The fee is the remuneration for the services rendered by the lawyer. This includes meetings with clients (by telephone/physical), searches, the drafting of official documents (such as correspondence, conclusions, summonses) and the representation before courts and tribunals. (ii) The specific file costs relate to the creation and closing of the file, the sending of simple emails (without advisory content), photocopies, correspondence, short telephone calls (less than 10), registered mail, mileage allowances, fixed office charges (staff, energy, connections, subscriptions). This does not include the occasional costs (for example for travel or accommodation) which will be invoiced separately. (iii) The court costs are those which the lawyer has had to pay in advance to third parties, such as the bailiff, the court registry, translators and public authorities. These costs are stated separately in the statement of costs and fees.

Unless expressly agreed otherwise, the firm’s lawyers invoice their services at an hourly rate agreed with the client. The calculation is done in minutes and starts as soon as work is started on the specific file, with the exception of simple emails or short telephone calls (see above). This may include for example the time of creation/processing of a document until its end or, in the case of a transfer from leaving the office until the time of return. The file-specific costs referred to above are charged at a fixed rate, i.e. a pre-communicated percentage of the total fees. The court costs as described in number 7 are charged separately. The hourly rate can be adjusted by the office after some time, without the client having to be notified of this change in advance. The lawyer’s fees and certain costs are subject to VAT (21 %). All fee proposals are always exclusive of VAT, unless expressly stated otherwise. Depending on eventual factors, such as the urgency of the case, its complexity or the result obtained, different fee agreements can be made between the firm and the client. Upon request of the client, an overview of the services provided and the costs incurred can be provided at any time.

The office shall be entitled to charge a fee before the service is started. Each invoice from the office is expressed in euros and must be paid to the account number stated on it, within 14 days of the invoice date. In the absence of payment at the latest on the due date of the invoice, the lawyers of the firm have the right to suspend and/or terminate their services with immediate effect, in accordance with the applicable deontological rules applicable to them. In the absence of timely payment, interest will be due from the due date without prior notice by operation of law, according to the case calculated in accordance with the Belgian law of 2 August 2002 on late payment (for professional clients) or at a conventional interest rate of 7 % (for consumers). Any comment regarding an invoice must be notified in writing to the office within 14 days of receipt thereof. After the expiry of this term, the invoice is deemed to have been definitively accepted.

The client will make available the information and documents that must be kept by law at the firm’s first request (more specifically know your client’s requirements (KYC). The firm is also bound by anti-laundering legislation, which may require it to request additional information (for example regarding the ultimate beneficiary of a company (UBO). The client will also comply with relevant requests and will provide the requested information in good faith.

In the exercise of its activity as a law firm, GRAND LAWYERS BV (controller) processes personal data of its clients in accordance with the General Data Protection Regulation (2016/679) and the National Legislation of 30 July 2018 on the protection of natural persons with regard to the processing of personal data. More specifically it’s in principle about the first and family name, gender, date and place of birth, address details, telephone and/or fax number, e-mail, account number and any other public or confidential information provided by the client, necessary for the provision of services. If the management of the file so requires, other special and/or sensitive date can also be processed that were brought to the attention of the client or obtained in the course of office activities (for example judicial or medical information). The processing of personal data only takes place for one of the following purposes: a) when necessary in the exercise of the mandate given by the client and in the exercise of the activities as a law firm, (b) in the context of the organization of the office in its contacts with associated suppliers, trainees, staff, members of staff and, where appropriate, other related third parties, and (c) when the processing is required to comply with legal obligations (e.g. accounting). The duration of processing and storage is no longer than absolutely necessary. In general, case-related documentation must be kept for 5 years after the closure of the file. However, some personal data, which allow for identification and contact details afterwards, are kept for longer periods, even if only with the intention of excluding any potential conflicts of interest afterwards. In the case where the person concerned is a correspondent belonging to the firm’s network of experts, the data will be kept for as long as our activities take place. The personal data of those who maintain a contractual relationship with the office are kept as long as this relationship exists. Except in the case of a legal obligation or if the handling of the case requires disclosure to third parties (in particular correspondents), the personal data shall be kept confidential at all times within the office. The client has the right to view, change, delete or limit the storage of personal data that has been stored. The client can also request to obtain the personal data processed in readable form. There is the possibility to formulate an objection to the processing of personal data. Such initiative must be addressed in writing to the aforementioned data controller via info@grand-lawyers.be. The request is granted within one month. However, the office reserves the right to extend this period by two months and will notify this extension with one month of receipt of this request. Finally, in the event of complaints about the processing of personal data, the client can always contact the data protection authority (for more information: https://www.gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit.be/verzoek-klacht-indienen).

The agreement between the firm and the client is governed by – and must be interpreted in accordance with Belgian law. In the event of a conflict arising from the client-lawyer cooperation, the courts and tribunals of Ghent shall have exclusive jurisdiction, although the firm reserves the right to initiate proceedings before the courts and tribunals of the place of residence of the client and with the nuance that the applicable deontological rules (in particular with regard to the intervention of bodies that monitor the professional practice) are always respected.

The eventual invalidity and/or unenforceability of one of the above provisions does not affect the validity of the other conditions.