General terms and conditions.

1. SILK Advocaten & Mediators B.V. (hereinafter called SILK) is a private company with limited liability under Dutch law, established in Amsterdam, whose object is to practise law. A list of persons who hold shares in SILK through their respective partnerships and who are called “partners” in accordance with common usage shall be sent at your request. SILK has been entered in the Commercial Register of the Chamber of Commerce. In these general terms and conditions, the term SILK also includes all lawyers and other employees employed by this company.
2. These General Conditions apply to all work performed or to be performed by or on behalf of SILK and to all legal relations of SILK with third parties connected therewith. Deviations from these general terms and conditions are only valid if they have been expressly agreed in writing.
3. These General Conditions are also stipulated for the benefit of the partners, as referred to above , and also for the benefit of every third party that is engaged in the performance of any order, whether or not in employment, or is or may be liable in that connection.
4. Not only SILK, but also all persons who are engaged in the execution of any assignment of a client, can invoke these general terms and conditions. The same applies to former employees of SILK, including their heirs, if any, if the are held liable after leaving SILS’s office.
5. All assignments shall only be accepted and executed by SILK, even if the explicit or tacit intention is that an order will be executed by a particular person. The orders shall be acknowledged by SILK in writing. The General Conditions shall also apply to supplementary orders and follow-up orders. Orders shall only be accepted with exclusion of the sections 7:404 and 7:407 (2) of the Civil Code.
6. When third parties are engaged, SILK shall observe due care and consult with the client about the selection of these third parties if possible within reason. Any liability for shortcomings of these third parties shall be excluded. SILK shall be authorized by the client to accept any limitations of liability of third parties on the client’s behalf.
7. SILK does not guarantee the correct and complete transfer of the contents of an e-mail sent, or its timely reception.
8. Any claims of the client for any shortcoming on the part of SILK shall lapse if they have not been reported to SILK in writing, stating reasons and motivation, within one year after the client has become aware or could have been aware in reason of the facts on which he bases his claims.
9. The client shall indemnify SILK against all claims of third parties and the costs to be incurred by SILK in that connection, including the costs of legal aid, which claims follow, directly or indirectly, from work performed by SILK for the client
10. In the performance of all work SILK shall observe all required care. In the event of complaints of the client SILK shall endeavour to remove these complaints by means of consultation or to reach a settlement with the client. For a careful handling of complaints SILK uses an internal complaints procedure. A copy thereof will be sent to the client on request. If after consultation the client’s complaints have not been removed, the client shall be empowered to submit the complaint to the Legal Complaints Board (Geschillencommissie Advocatuur). The Regulations of the Legal Complaints Board may be requested from the secretary of the Board (address: Bordewijklaan 46, 2nd floor, 2591 XR The Hague, P.O. Box 90600, 2509 LP The Hague, telephone 070-3105310).
11. Any liability of SILK, its partners and its employees shall be limited to the amount that is paid out in the relevant case under the professional liability insurance(s) taken out by SILK. If and in so far as for any reason no payment by virtue of the professional liability insurance(s) should be made, the joint liability shall be limited to three times the fee charged in connection with the order, with a maximum of €25,000,-. unless on the part of SILK it is a matter of wilfulness or gross negligence to be equated with that. The personal liability of the lawyers affiliated with the SILK office, (legal) employees and partners/shareholders (and their practice companies) is expressly excluded. SILK is exclusively liable for any errors made during the execution of the order. Liability for indirect damage or consequential damage is excluded under all circumstances.
12. SILK shall invoice its work and costs incurred periodically, in principle every month. In principle the work shall be done on the basis of an agreed hourly rate (excluding VAT), which may be adjusted annually by SILK. As a rule an advance payment and other direct costs will be charged, the amount of which shall be determined in consultation. Such direct costs include, but are not limited to, court fees, agents’ or other outside expert fees, travel and accommodation costs, translation costs, and courier costs. SILK will also charge VAT to the client if and insofar as this is due.

13. Insofar as a fixed price has been agreed for the performance of certain services and the provision of the services leads to extra work or performances that cannot reasonably be considered to be included in the fixed price, SILK will inform the client of the financial consequences of this extra work or performance.
    
    The term of payment shall be a maximum period of 14 days after the invoice date, unless another term of payment has explicitly been agreed. If no payment is made within that period, the client will automatically be in default, without further notice of default being required. SILK shall be entitled to charge the statutory interest to the client after expiry of the term of payment. If no payment should follow a reminder, SILK shall be entitled to claim compensation of the extrajudicial collecting charges in conformity with the Decree on Compensation for Extrajudicial Collecting Charges of 27 March 2012 (Bulletin of Acts and Decrees 2012-141). In the event of non-payment SILK shall be entitled to suspend its work until payment has been made, with the exclusion of any liability of SILK for any damage that should result therefrom. SILK may submit unpaid bills for assessment and/or collection to the Legal Complaints Board mentioned in article 10 or to the competent court.

14. The legal relationship between SILK and the client shall be governed exclusively by Dutch law. Any disputes shall be settled exclusively by the competent court of Amsterdam, unless provisions of coercive law resist this and subject to the client’s power referred to in article 10 of the General Conditions to submit a complaint to the Legal Complaints Board and subject to SILK’s power referred to in the last sentence of article 10 of the General Conditions.
15. In the event that these General Terms & Conditions and the acknowledgement of the assignment contain contradictory provisions, the conditions included in the acknowledgement shall apply.
16. These General Conditions have also been drawn up in the Dutch language. In the event of any difference between the contents, tenor or interpretation, the Dutch text shall prevail.

These General Conditions (as of 1/11/2020) have been included on the website of SILK Advocaten & Mediators: silkadvocaten.nl