1 Introduction
These General Terms and Conditions apply to all assignments undertaken or performed by Gram, Hambro & Garman Advokatfirma AS ("GHG") their lawyers or employees.
These general terms and conditions are made publicly available on our website www.ghg.no and are considered adopted by the client unless the client within a reasonable time announces to the responsible lawyer that the terms are not accepted.
Unless otherwise agreed, the general terms and conditions will also apply to repeated assignments for the same client.
GHG shall promote the client's interests in the best possible way, within the framework provided by the assignment, the general conditions, the law of the law, the legal regulations, the rules of good practice, GHG's internal procedures and other relevant regulations.
All attorneys and attorneys at the firm are authorized or authorized to conduct legal activities in Norway, issued by the Norwegian Bar Council.
2. Establishment and execution of the assignment
The assignment's description and expected duration are stated in the assignment confirmation, and / or the agreements that result from other oral or written correspondence between GHG and the client. The duration of the assignment will depend on the case, including the other party's circumstances.
In all assignments, GHG appoints a responsible attorney, who will be able to obtain assistance from the company's other employees for the execution of parts of the assignment.
GHG's counseling is limited to Norwegian legislation. If GHG obtains information about foreign law, we do not vouch for the accuracy of such information. The GHG mission is further limited to legal advice and will not include commercial, financial or other matters.
In accordance with the Money Laundering Act, customer control must, as a general rule, be carried out with identification checks. The client is obliged to contribute to such identification checks. It should be noted that, on suspicion that transactions are linked to proceeds of criminal action, etc., GHG is required to notify ECO CRIM about this, nevertheless without notifying the client or third parties.
Before an assignment is established, it will be sought to clarify whether there is a conflict of interest or other circumstances that indicate that GHG cannot or should not undertake the assignment. The client is obliged to contribute to such clarification. The same assessment is made in established assignments upon the entry of new parties into the case. If the client's interest so dictates and there is unthinkable, the assignment can be started before the clarification is completed. In such cases, GHG may have to abandon the assignment later because of this.
In order to best promote the client's interests, GHG is dependent on the client fully and promptly providing information on the facts of the case and what results the client wants to achieve in the case.
All inquiries to and from the counterparty must be clarified with or go through GHG. GHG and the client shall keep each other informed of the communication that takes place with the parties involved.
3. Fees calculation and invoicing
Unless otherwise agreed, the starting point for invoicing the assignment is the time spent on efficient and professional work on the assignment. Our indicative hourly rates are stated in the order confirmation and are also available on our website or can be provided on request.
Minimum hourly unit is 0.25 hour (15 minutes). Telephone calls and the like that do not consist of very short messages are settled with a minimum of 0.25 hour.
In final determination of fees, we will also exercise a discretion, taking into account the nature and complexity of the work, the outcome of the case, as well as how effectively the assignment has been carried out in accordance with the lawyer's experience and special expertise. The fee shall be in reasonable proportion to the assignment and work performed by the lawyer and the rest of the firm's employees.
The client is responsible for legal fees, expenses and other costs related to the execution of the assignment. The client is also responsible for the counterparty's legal costs if they are incurred.
GHG's fee claim against the client is not limited by the fact that the client is awarded less in compensation for legal costs than the face value of the fee claim.
Legal restrictions on the client's access to claim reimbursed legal aid costs from the counterparty do not limit GHG's claim against the client. Such restrictions have been set, among other things, in cases before the Conciliation Council and in the small claims process.
The invoice must follow the specified overview of work performed, expenses, etc.
All costs and expenses that GHG offsets will be invoiced together with a claim for fees. Value-added tax will be levied in accordance with current legislation. Further invoicing of expenses may result in VAT on the expense.
In some cases, GHG will require a down payment before the assignment can be performed. The advance will be settled against future invoices.
In case of late payment, the interest rate is accrued in accordance with the provisions of the Delay Interest Act. GHG reserves the right to stop work if an invoice is not paid within due time.
4. Insurance
The client's possible legal aid insurance, home insurance, travel insurance or other insurance schemes may cover the costs of legal assistance in certain types of cases, depending on the terms of the insurance contract. The client is obliged to provide GHG with the necessary information for an assessment of the coverage of the insurance contract. The client is responsible for any deductible or intermediary between GHG's fee requirements and the amount covered by the insurance company.
5. Responsibility of the Law Firm
GHG is responsible under the general rules of professional liability of attorneys and is covered by the statutory security for practicing law, which applies without geographical limitation.
Unless otherwise agreed, the assignment does not include counseling in relation to the legal and tax aspects of the case.
Any liability for GHG incurred as a result of GHG's errors or omissions in connection with the performance of the assignment is limited to direct loss and does not in any case include consequential loss or consequential damages. The liability is further limited to the amount corresponding to the higher of five times the commission fee, or NOK 8 million.
GHG's liability is reduced by any amount that the customer can receive according to the insurance the client has taken out.
GHG has no liability to any third party because of the client's use of documents or other advice from the law firm. GHG is not responsible for the company not being able to start or continue its work due to circumstances beyond GHG's control.
If GHG agrees upon the customer's request that a third party can rely on a document obtained from GHG or advice provided by GHG, this shall not increase or affect GHG's liability. Under no circumstances will any customer relationship arise between GHG and such third party.
The limitation of liability that applies to us through these terms or in a separate agreement also applies to partners or former partners of GHG, lawyers and other persons who work for, have worked for or been involved with.
GHG is not responsible for errors made by advisers to whom the law firm has referred or for subcontractors to whom GHG has, in agreement with the client, entrusted parts of the performance of the assignment.
GHG is not responsible for the actual outcome of the case.
GHG is not responsible for loss of managed client funds as a result of bankruptcy or other matters on the bank's part. GHG points out that the banks' hedge fund does not guarantee more than NOK 2 million in deposits per depositor (law firm) per year. bank. Only by special agreement on it will GHG take measures that can increase the degree of guarantee coverage for the client's funds.
6. Processing of information
Lawyers in GHG are subject to the duty of confidentiality and confidentiality under current rules. Unless otherwise agreed, GHG's attorneys have the right to share the information with other employees of the firm as far as necessary. GHG's other employees are subject to the same duty of confidentiality and confidentiality as the attorneys.
Once a transaction or other assignment has become widely known, GHG may provide information about our assignment in our marketing material and on our website. Such information can only contain information that has already come to the public's knowledge. If the client does not want GHG to publish such information, this must be communicated to GHG.
To the extent necessary for the fulfillment of the assignment, the client agrees that voluntarily disclosed personal data, including sensitive personal data, will be processed by GHG in accordance with the Personal Data Act. The information will only be communicated to other parties, such as counterparties, courts and public bodies, to the extent that this is in accordance with the fulfillment of the assignment. The client has the right of access to and information about the processed information, as well as the right to demand rectification of defective information. Responsible for processing under the Personal Data Act is GHG's board of directors and in case of questions about our processing of personal data, a responsible lawyer can be contacted.
GHG points out that electronic data communication (e-mail, fax, etc.) generally suffers from weaknesses, which means that unauthorized persons under the given conditions can gain access to the communication. To the extent that confidentiality is required, security measures (including encryption and recharging) may be taken to prevent unauthorized access to such communications. As a step in the assessment of confidentiality is necessary, emphasis will be placed on the client's transmission of unsecured electronic information to GHG.
GHG complies with the requirements for security measures imposed by the Personal Data Act and the Personal Data Regulations. includes routines and documentation of these, to prevent and capture possible nonconformities. The controller will send any nonconformity reports to the Norwegian Data Inspectorate.
At the conclusion of the assignment, any original documents in the case will be archived, returned to the client or shredded by further agreement. GHG can retain a copy of case documents after the end of the assignment.
7. Intellectual property rights
Copyright and other intellectual property rights to the work results we generate for our clients belong to GHG, but we give the client the right to use the results for the purposes for which they are intended. Unless otherwise agreed, no document or other work result generated by GHG may be made publicly available or used for marketing purposes.
8. Complaint
If the client is dissatisfied with the performance of the assignment or the fee calculation, the client is urged to immediately bring this up with the responsible lawyer or general manager. GHG will immediately assess the conditions complained of.
The Norwegian Bar Association's disciplinary committee deals with complaints that the lawyer must have acted in violation of the rules of good practice or have demanded a high fee. The complaint must, as a general rule, be made within six months of the complainant becoming aware of or should have become aware of the circumstances on which the complaint is based. The disciplinary committees have the competence to provide criticism, reprimand and warning to the lawyer, and to reduce the fee requirement against the client. The decision of the disciplinary committees may be appealed to the Disciplinary Board.
More information can be given by contacting the Norwegian Bar Association's secretariat or on the internet: www.advokatenhjelperdeg.no.
9. Revision of terms and conditions
The general terms and conditions of the assignment are normally revised once a year and otherwise when needed. Changes to the client's disadvantage, which are not necessary due to binding regulations, can only become effective after one month's notice.
10. Law and jurisdiction
These terms and all matters relating to our assignment, as well as any dispute against GHG and / or any of its partners or employees, as well as others covered by the limitation of liability in Article 5, are governed by Norwegian law.
Any dispute relating to the terms or conditions of breach of the Terms or any other matter related to our assignment, as well as any dispute against GHG and / or any of its partners or employees, as well as others covered by the limitation of liability in Article 5, shall be settled by Norwegian courts with Oslo District Court as exclusive venue.