The small print

For handling situations where clients have a complaint about NELEOS in the best possible way, the firm works with a complaints procedure. Furthermore, the following general terms & conditions apply to all work done by NELEOS. These terms & conditions may also be found on the reverse of the cover sheet of letters and on the reverse of each invoice.

1. Neleos Legal Services is the trading name of the legal partnership Neleos B.V. (further referred to as: NELEOS). Mr. mr. A.J. van Soelen runs his legal practice through this partnership. The following standard terms and conditions are applicable to all the commissions that have already been fulfilled or yet have to be fulfilled and to all the follow-up commissions that have been or will be given to NELEOS, as well as to all the legal relationships deriving from or relating to them. Departures from them shall be binding on NELEOS only if they have been specifically agreed and set down in writing.
2. Only NELEOS is to be regarded as the contractor in relation to the client. A commission to NELEOS has the effect that the client is only entitled to claim damages resulting from the implementation thereof against her. The client explicitly waives all rights to held liable persons who actually perform a commission personally (whether or not by invoking the Articles 6:162, 7:404 and/or 7:407 paragraph 2 of the Dutch Civil Code) on any ground as well as all rights to take any legal action against these persons. The foregoing does not preclude such persons, and their legal successors by universal title, from appealing to these standard terms and conditions by way of a third party clause.
3. In performing a commission that has been entrusted to it, NELEOS shall as far as is reasonably possible exercise proper care. All the commission contracts shall relate to obligations to perform and never to obligations to produce a result.
4. Persons other than the client can never derive rights from the work performed by NELEOS or from its results. The client shall indemnify NELEOS against all third party claims in the matter.
5. The fee charged to the client by NELEOS shall be calculated on the basis of the number of hours worked multiplied by the agreed hourly rate. When it has been agreed with the client that the latter shall pay an advance before the work is begun, this advance shall be offset against the final invoice for the commission concerned. When NELEOS considers that it is in the interest of the performance of a commission, it shall be entitled to engage third parties in its performance. In so doing NELEOS shall be authorised by the client to accept any terms and conditions of those third parties (such as a limitation of liability) on his behalf. Any costs that NELEOS pays to such third parties for the benefit of the client (such as – but not limited to – court registry fees, bailiff’s expenses, costs for extracts from registers, translation fees, copying costs, couriers’ costs etc.) shall be passed on separately and at cost price. Insofar as this is required, all the invoices shall be increased by the current turnover tax rate. If it is found at a later date that NELEOS has erroneously failed to add on the turnover tax surcharge, the client shall still be bound to pay it.
6. The period within which the client must pay the invoices from NELEOS is fourteen days from their date. At the expiry of this period the client who has not paid promptly shall be legally in default and shall be liable to pay interest at the commercial rate on the outstanding amount. If a lower amount follows from this, the interest rate applicable to non-commercial transactions shall be applied in respect of private persons who are not entrepreneurs. Any objections to invoices shall suspend only the obligation to pay the disputed part thereof if these objections have been notified in writing, stating reasons, within the said period of fourteen days.
7. If payment has still not been made after the sending of a warning, the client shall also owe extrajudicial collection costs on the day following the final payment date named in the warning. The amount of these is set at 15% of the fee, subject to a minimum of € 250. If a lower amount follows from this, the ‘BIK scale’ published on www.rechtspraak.nl shall be applied in respect of private persons who are not entrepreneurs. Turnover tax and the statutory interest are also payable on extrajudicial collection costs.
8. If the intervention of the court is found necessary to secure the payment of an invoice, the client shall be bound to pay all the costs incurred to NELEOS. The lawyer’s costs included in this shall be agreed in advance between the parties at an amount that is not lower – but provided they have been incurred reasonably may therefore be higher – than the amount that is based on the ‘Winding-up Rate’ published on www.rechtspraak.nl.
9. NELEOS shall be entitled to suspend the further performance of ongoing actions in the event of late payment of invoices after it has given prior notification in writing. Any liability for loss arising from this or connected with it shall be explicitly excluded.
10. Any form of liability of NELEOS in connection with the performance of a commission (both those arising from attributable failure in performance and those arising from unlawful act) shall be limited to the amount to which the professional liability insurance policy it has taken out gives entitlement (insured sum: € 5,000,000 per event, being also the maximum applicable to all the combined events for the year concerned), plus any applicable excess. In the unlikely event that this insurance policy should provide no cover for whatever other reason than termination as a result of the failure by NELEOS to pay the premium in due time, the total liability of NELEOS shall be limited to the amount of the fee charged by it for the commission or part-commission concerned up to a maximum of € 25,000. Any liability of NELEOS for failures of third parties it has engaged shall be excluded, on the understanding that NELEOS shall transfer to the client any claims that it consequently obtains itself in relation to that third party. Claims against NELEOS for compensation for whatever loss shall therefore expire – unless they have already legally expired at an earlier date – after the passage of twelve months from the commencement of the day on which the client has become aware of any liability on the part of NELEOS or could reasonably have become aware of it.
11. NELEOS shall be bound on the grounds of legal obligations to supply information to third parties about the client or about transactions it has carried out without it being permitted to inform the client of the fact. The client is aware of these obligations and accepts that NELEOS will comply with them.
12. The client is aware that NELEOS will use his or her personal data professionally and without prior notification in the context of the performance of a commission. In addition, NELEOS shall use these data in new cases to check on any conflicting interest.
13. The client agrees to the use by NELEOS of electronic data exchange (internet and e-mail) and realises that, despite all the security precautions taken by NELEOS, no absolute certainty can be given against consultation by unauthorised persons. NELEOS shall therefore never be liable for damages arising from the loss of data that is sent through public networks or through third party networks and systems, or from unauthorised access to such data via those networks and systems.
14. NELEOS’ complaints procedure (published on the website) is applicable to every agreement concluded with NELEOS.
15. The client is aware that NELEOS grants no ‘subsidised legal assistance’ and therefore expressly refrains from any and all claims to it.The client is also aware that NELEOS does not have a so-called third-party account.
16. The law of the Netherlands is applicable to the legal relationship between NELEOS and the client. The district court at Amsterdam is solely competent to hear disputes with a financial interest above the competence limit of the sub-district court.