Business Terms of Holst, Advokater

Unless otherwise agreed in writing between Holst, Law Firm (the "Law Firm") and the client, these Business Terms apply to all advisory services provided by the Law Firm at the request of a client.

Our lawyers

All lawyers employed by the Law Firm have obtained admission to practise law granted by the Danish Ministry of Justice, and are members of the Danish Bar and Law Society ("Advokatsamfundet"). The Law Firm and the individual lawyers are subject to the supervisory authority of the Danish Bar and Law Society, including supervision to ensure that the Law Firm and the individual lawyers comply with the rules applicable to Danish legal professionals, e.g. the code of legal ethics. For further information on the Danish Bar and Law Society, including contact details, please see www.advokatsamfundet.dk.

Complaints about the fees charged by lawyers and/or the conduct of lawyers may be brought before the Disciplinary Board ("Advokatnævnet"). Please see www.advokatnaevnet.dk for further information and contact details.

Acceptance of assignments

On receipt of an assignment our internal procedures will be followed to ascertain that the assignment does not involve any conflict of interests. If we find that such conflict does exist we will of course refer the client to an alternative lawyer, if so requested.

We are subject to the provisions of the Danish Act on Measures to Prevent Money Laundering and Financing of Terrorism, as are all Danish law firms, and this means that we are obliged to obtain and keep identity information on all clients.

Consequently we are obliged to obtain information on the client's name, address and civil or company registration number whenever we accept an assignment. As for foreign clients we are obliged to obtain information that verifies the identity of the foreign client comparable to that of a Danish civil or company registration number.

Identity information will be kept for a minimum of five years after the closing of all the client's cases in accordance with the provisions of the Danish Money Laundering Act.

Retainers

Unless otherwise agreed on a case-to-case basis, any handling of consumer law cases by the Law Firm is subject to the payment of a retainer. Such retainer will not exceed the conservatively estimated final fee to be charged in the relevant case, but the retainer will often be smaller than the final fee. The main rule is that no case work will be commenced until the retainer has been paid. All retainers charged by the Law Firm are governed by and subject to interest as stipulated in the rules on trust funds laid down by the Danish Bar and Law Society.
 

Advisory services, closing of cases etc.

All advisory services are provided in accordance with the rules applicable from time to time on the work carried out by lawyers, including the provisions of the Danish Administration of Justice Act and the rules laid down by the Danish Bar and Law Society. To ensure compliance with the said rules, we have laid down a set of internal rules for the prevention of conflicts of interests.

The nature and scope of the legal advisory services to be provided by the Law Firm will be agreed upon with the client on a current basis.

Copyrights and all other intellectual property rights in any written material submitted by the Law Firm to the client for the purpose of the relevant case belong to the Law Firm, unless otherwise agreed in writing between the Law Firm and the client. Consequently the client is only granted the right to use such written material to the usual extent.

We keep all case files for a minimum of five years after the closing of the case. Any original documents will be returned to the client no later than on closing of the case.

Fees

Our fees are fixed on the basis of the scope of the services provided. Moreover aspects such as the client's interest in the assignment, the value of the services provided by the Law Firm, the responsibility involved in undertaking the assignment, the complexity of the assignment, the level of expertise required and the result obtained are taken into consideration when fixing the fee.

All expenses and disbursements incurred in connection with the case will be added to the fee payable by the client, including, but not limited to, registration fees and court fees, additional charges, reasonable travelling, accommodation and food expenses and certain photocopying and postage costs.

When an agreement on the provision of advisory services is entered into, the Law Firm, upon request by the client, will inform the client of the key elements of the expected services to be provided and the amount of the estimated fee. In most cases it will not be possible to quote a fixed fee, but instead we will inform the client of the calculation method applied when calculating our fee, or provide the client with a reasoned estimate of our fee. If so requested, the client will also be informed of the expected disbursements to be incurred in connection with the relevant case.

In consumer law cases, however, the client will always be provided with the above information on fees etc., regardless of whether the client has requested such information.

Confidentiality

The Law Firm is obliged to treat any information received from or about the client as confidential. This duty of confidentiality has no limitation as to time.

 
Insider rules

To ensure compliance with the provisions of the Danish Securities Trading Act, the Law Firm has laid down a set of internal rules governing the securities trading of its employees and the handling of internal information by employees.

Invoicing etc.

Cases extending to a long period of time are usually subject to quarterly on account invoicing. This general rule may be departed from in special cases, e.g. where cases have been "inactive" for a certain period of time, as such cases may for instance be subject to invoicing only every six months. In short-term cases an invoice will usually not be issued until the case has been finalised. Cases brought before the courts will be subject to invoicing for each tier of the legal system, if appeals are lodged in such cases.

Generally, any expenses and disbursements incurred in connection with a case will be added to the on account invoices or final invoices, as the case may be, following the incurring of such expenses. However, large expenses and disbursements incurred in connection with a case will often be charged as prepayments from the client.

Terms of payment are 21 days net from the invoice date. In case of late payment, interest will be charged in accordance with the provisions of the Danish Interest Act.
 
All client funds paid to the Law Firm by the client will be managed in accordance with the rules laid down by the Danish Bar and Law Society. Such funds will be deposited on clients' accounts with our banker and interest accruing will be credited to the client as stipulated by the Danish Bar and Law Society.

Liability, limitation of liability and insurance

The Law Firm is liable for the advisory services provided in accordance with the general rules of Danish law, and the Law Firm is covered by professional indemnity insurance taken out with a recognised insurance company. The same insurance company has also issued a compulsory guarantee for funds held on clients' accounts in accordance with the rules laid down by the Danish Bar and Law Society. Contact details for the Law Firm's insurers may be found on the Law Firm's website, www.holst-law.com.

The professional indemnity insurance covers any practising of law, irrespective of the place of such practising. 

 
The liabilities of the Law Firm and its partners and employees are, however, limited to a maximum of DKK 75 million per assignment. The aggregate amount of damages payable to a single client cannot exceed DKK 100 million for any claim raised by the client in one single calendar year.

If the Law Firm provides advisory services to more clients having common or comparable interests in a coherent assignment, such services will be regarded as if they had been provided for one single assignment so that the total amount of damages payable by the Law Firm to all such clients is limited to a maximum of DKK 75 million. Correspondingly such clients will be regarded as if they were one single client in respect of the above DKK 100 million limitation of liability rule.

The Law Firm and its partners and employees are not liable for any consequential loss or other indirect loss, including loss on operations, loss of profits, data, goodwill, image etc.

The Law Firm and its partners and employees are not liable for any errors committed by advisers recommended by the Law Firm, nor are the Law Firm and its partners and employees liable for any errors committed by sub-contractors to which the Law Firm has outsourced parts of the assignment under an agreement with the client. 

Applicable law and jurisdiction

Any dispute arising out of the advisory services provided by the Law Firm, including disputes pertaining to the interpretation of these Business Terms, is governed by Danish law.
 
The Danish courts have exclusive jurisdiction to settle any dispute.
 
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These Business Terms are applicable as from 1 January 2010. The provision on retainer, however, has been incorporated with effect from 1 February 2011.

Business Terms of Holst, Advokater in pdf.