General Terms and Conditions

General Terms and Conditions Stijl B.V.

    1. Stijl B.V. (“Stijl”) is a private company with limited liability incorporated under the laws of the Netherlands, the object of which is to practice the legal profession in the broadest sense of the words.
    2. mr. dr. L.J.A. Damen is associated with Stijl as of counsel (“adviseur”).
    3. These general terms and conditions are applicable to all assignments, including supplementary assignments and follow-up assignments. All assignments shall be accepted and executed by Stijl, also if and in so far as it is the express or tacit intention that an assignment is to be executed by a certain person. The applicability of sections 7:404 and 7:407 paragraph 2 of the Dutch Civil Code (“CC”) is expressly excluded.
    4. Stijl shall be at liberty to have assignments awarded under its responsibility executed by persons who are affiliated to it, and/or, in the event Stijl deems such necessary, by engaging the services of third parties.
    5. Stijl shall, in the execution of the assignments awarded to it and at the selection by it of third parties to be engaged, observe the duty of due care which may reasonably be expected of it under the given circumstances. Stijl shall not be liable for a shortcoming or unlawful act of an engaged third party.
    6. Stijl, as well as all the natural persons and/or legal entities whose services are directly or indirectly engaged in the executing of an assignment, may invoke these general terms and conditions. These general conditions are to be considered as a third party clause (“derdenbeding”) in their favour as stipulated in article 6:253 Dutch Civil Code.
    7. In the event that, in the carrying out of its assignment, Stijl should engage services of third parties, the principal shall now for then accept all limitations of liability invoked vis-à-vis Stijl by such third parties.
    8. Stijl’s liability shall always be limited to the amount which is to be paid out to Stijl in the case concerned under the applicable liability insurance of Stijl, to be increased with the amount of the policy excess which pursuant to the applicable insurance agreement in the case concerned shall be for the account of Stijl. In the case of a cyber incident, Stijl’s liability shall always be limited to the amount that is to be paid out under the applicable (cyber) insurance policy of Stijl, to be increased with the amount of the policy excess which pursuant to the applicable insurance agreement in the case concerned shall be for the account of Stijl.
    9. If for whatever reason no payment by virtue of the insurance(s) referred to under 8 should be made, each liability shall be limited to the fee charged in the case concerned in the year concerned, exclusive of VAT and office costs, up to a maximum of EUR 75,000 and in case of a cyber incident up to a maximum of EUR 25,000.
    10. In the event of a conflict regarding the (execution of the) assignment and/or any liability to the client and/or third parties arising therefrom that cannot be solved amicably, the principal shall initiate legal actions against Stijl exclusively and never against the natural persons and/or legal entities whose services are directly or indirectly engaged in the executing of an assignment. This includes, but is not limited to, the companies that directly or indirectly participate in Stijl.
    11. Without prejudice to that determined in section 6:89 CC, the right of the principal to damages shall lapse in all events one year after the date of the event from which the damages arose directly or indirectly and for which Stijl is liable.
    12. The principal indemnifies Stijl against all claims of third parties as well as against all additional costs, that bear relation to services provided by Stijl to the principal.
    13. Invoices of Stijl must be paid within fourteen (14) days of the invoice date. If this term is exceeded, the client will be in default without any notice of default being required and without recourse to suspension or set-off being permitted. From the moment of default, the client shall owe default interest (equal to the statutory interest) and collection costs. If the client is in default, Stijl may terminate the assignment immediately and unilaterally, without this leading to liability for damages.
    14. Stijl may retain funds within the framework of the execution of the assignment. Stijl will deposit these monies in a trust account with a bank established in the Netherlands. Stijl shall not be liable for costs or liabilities caused by acts or omissions by the bank, or failure to comply with the bank’s obligations. If this bank charges Stijl negative interest on the monies deposited by the client or a third party, such negative interest shall be charged to the client or third party respectively and shall be deducted from the amount deposited.
    15. The services provided by Stijl are subject to the Money Laundering and Terrorist Financing (Prevention) Act (Wwft). In that context, Stijl is obliged, among other things, to conduct a client investigation, which investigation includes establishing and verifying the identity. In addition, Stijl is obliged to report unusual transactions to the competent authority or authorities. If Stijl proceeds to report an unusual transaction, it is not allowed by law to inform the client(s) thereof.
    16. Stijl processes the personal data of its clients and persons working there for the purpose of providing the best possible service and complying with legal obligations. For more information see the privacy statement and cookie statement on the website of Stijl: www.stijladvocaten.nl.
    17. These general terms and conditions have been drawn up in the Dutch and English languages. The Dutch text is binding.
    18. Deviations from these general terms and conditions are only possible in writing. Stijl may amend these general terms and conditions from time to time and without prior notice. The amended terms and conditions shall apply to all subsequent legal relationships with the client.
    19. The legal relationship between Stijl and the principal shall be governed by the laws of the Netherlands. Disputes shall exclusively be settled by the competent Dutch Court at Amsterdam.

These general terms and conditions have been filed with the clerk’s office of the Amsterdam District Court under number 18/2021 and can be consulted at www.stijladvocaten.nl.