General Terms of Engagement for Advokatfirmaet Berngaard AS
1 INITIATION OF THE ENGAGEMENT
Before the engagement is confirmed the lawyer will consider the case and possible conflict of interests or other circumstances suggesting the law firm Berngaard (hereafter Berngaard) should not undertake the engagement. If such circumstances should occur after the engagement has been established, Berngaard reserves the right to withdraw from the engagement and charge for the work performed. In connection with the establishment of the engagement an identification control in accordance with the Money Laundering Act will be performed.
2 LAWER IN CHARGE
The lawyer in charge will be the contact person for all communication regarding the case. The lawyer in charge will continuously consider to which extent it is in the best interest of the client to have parts of the engagement performed by other lawyers, legal associates, assistants/students or secretary.
3 COMPLETION OF THE ENGAGEMENT
Berngaard will provide the client with copies of all correspondence. If the client wishes to preapprove any or all correspondence, this must be agreed in advance. The client may terminate the engagement at any time. Berngaard may terminate the engagement in situations where the engagement may come in conflict with the Code of Ethics, if the client fails to pay the invoiced fees or other special circumstances arises which mean that the engagement should be terminated.
4 THE CLIENT’S OWN CIRCUMSTANCES
The better the clarification of the case and the better the case is prepared on the client’s side, the more effective our services will be. This will be of significance to the size of the fee.
All contact with and by the opposing party should go through us, and the client must inform us immediately in the event of direct contact from the opposing party or the opposing party’s legal representative.
5 BILLING
Unless otherwise is agreed in the specific case, our fees are calculated based on the time spent on the engagement. The minimum unit of time is 0.25 hour (15 minutes). Time spent and expenses are normally invoiced monthly. For expenses of a certain size, the client may be requested to make an advance payment. Our fees are exclusive of value added tax (VAT). To the extent required by law, VAT will be charged in addition to our fees and the expenses incurred by us. If VAT has not been added to our invoices and the authorities subsequently require us to pay VAT, we are entitled to charge the client for such VAT payable by us.
Payment of invoices is due 14 days from the date of the invoice. In case of late payment, interest at the prevailing rate under the Norwegian Act relating to Interest on Overdue Payments will be charged. Berngaard reserves the right to request an advance payment and may halt further work until such advance and/or outstanding amounts has been paid.
6 CASE COSTS ETC
Even if we have stated our opinion as to what may be the outcome of an engagement involving proceedings before the courts or arbitration proceedings, this does not mean that we have any legal liability for achieving such outcome.
If a case is lost, the client may be at risk of being liable for the opposing party’s costs and the court or arbitration fees and costs. The client is solely liable for paying such amounts. If a case is won and the other party is ordered to pay the client’s costs, the court’s or tribunal’s assessment could be lower than the fees and expenses charged by us. The client is nevertheless responsible for paying our fees and expenses in full. For cases regarding disputes concerning less than NOK 250 000, there is a limit for case costs. The losing party will normally not be held liable for case costs of more than 20 % if the disputed sum, and maximum NOK 50 000. In such cases, the client will be liable for any remaining fee.
7 DUTY OF CONFIDENTIALITY
Lawyers have a duty of confidentiality and professional secrecy concerning the information they learn in a case, with those exceptions stipulated by law (e.g., the Money Laundering Act). All staff in the firm have authorised access to such information and have signed written confidentiality agreements. Personal ata will be processed in accordance with the provisions of the Personal Data Act and our Privacy Statement.
Unless otherwise agreed, Berngaard use electronic communication where this is possible. The client is hereby expressly informed that such communication is not always secure, making it possible for others, under certain circumstances, to gain access to the communication.
8 LIABILITY INSURANCE AND LIMITATION OF LIABILITY
Legal advisors are obliged to provide security for any liability they may incur in the provision of legal services. Berngaard has furnished security as required by the Legal Practitioner Regulations. Berngaard has also taken out professional liability insurance with a coverage limit for liability on the part of the firm.
In any case, liability for damages is limited to three times the agreed fee, and no more than NOK 8 000 000.
9 COMPLAINTS
The client is entitled to an independent disciplinary committee assessment of whether an engagement has been performed in compliance with the Norwegian Code of Ethics for lawyers. The client may also lodge a complaint with respect to the fees charged. The quality of work provided is normally outside the scope of the disciplinary committee. Complaints must normally be lodged within six months after the client became or should have become aware of the circumstances on which the complaint is based. In the first instance, the complaint will be handled by one of the seven regional disciplinary committees of the Norwegian Bar Association, with a right of appeal to the Disciplinary Council.
The Norwegian Code of Ethics for lawyers and further information about the complaint procedures can be found on the Norwegian Bar Association’s website at: www.advokatforeningen.no.
Any dispute relating to the engagement, the confirmation of the engagement and these terms of engagement shall be governed by Norwegian law, with Oslo District Court as the exclusive legal venue.
10 AMENDMENTS TO THE TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT
These Terms may be amended from time to time with one months’ prior notice for ongoing engagements.
Contact information
If you have any questions regarding general terms or to how we process personal data, you can contact us via:
E-mail: post@berngaard.no
Phone: +47 22 94 18 00
Address: Beddingen 8, 0250 OSLO