General Terms and Conditions

1. ORYS Advocaten BV / ORYS Avocats SRL, hereinafter referred to as ORYS Lawyers, – is a private company with limited liability under Belgian law. ORYS Advocaten BV is registered with the Crossroads Bank for Enterprises under number 0848.073.176. ORYS Lawyers provides its services through its lawyers and employees under these general terms and conditions.

Each time a client solicits ORYS Lawyers, the client is deemed to have read these general terms and conditions and to accept them without reservation. Deviations from these terms and conditions will only be applicable subject to prior written and express acceptance by ORYS Lawyers. ORYS Lawyers is subject to the Act of 18.09.2017 on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and on the restriction of the use of cash, as well as to the relevant ethical rules set out in the Code of Ethics for Lawyers. Pursuant to these regulations, the firm is obligated to identify its clients and to maintain supporting documents.

2. All new assignments will be accepted and executed exclusively by ORYS Lawyers, even if it is the client’s express or tacit intention to entrust the assignment to one of the ORYS Lawyers’ lawyers. ORYS Lawyers is entitled to appoint the assignment to any lawyer who is part of ORYS Lawyers and is also free to replace one lawyer with another without the client being able to oppose such a decision.

ORYS Lawyers also has the possibility to outsource certain specific assignments to other lawyers who are not part of ORYS Lawyers in accordance with the provisions of article 13.

3. The client undertakes to provide all data and information, supported by documentation where necessary, for a proper assessment and handling of the case. The client guarantees the accuracy, completeness, and reliability of the information provided to ORYS Lawyers by or on behalf of the client. The client shall also spontaneously inform ORYS Lawyers of all new facts and circumstances, of whatever nature, relating to the performance of the assignment. If such information is not provided in a timely and/or complete manner, ORYS Lawyers is entitled to charge additional costs if applicable.

All information and documentation obtained are considered confidential by ORYS Lawyers and will not be disclosed to third parties without the client’s consent. Personal data provided in the context of case management and/or of the procedure and/or of any other service provided by ORYS Lawyers will be treated confidentially and appropriately, in accordance with our privacy statement, available via the following link: https://orys.be/privacy.

4. In the event that the client fails to provide the cooperation necessary for the handling of the case, or fails to provide such cooperation in a timely manner, insufficiently or in accordance with the agreements made and/or is insufficiently available or unavailable, ORYS Lawyers shall be at liberty, in accordance with article 10 of these general terms and conditions, to cease providing any further services for the client and to withdraw from the case altogether. ORYS Lawyers shall in no way be liable for any loss or damage which may arise for the client as a result of such withdrawal.
5. The execution of the assignment is carried out exclusively for the benefit of the client and in compliance with applicable professional regulations. ORYS Lawyers’ obligation in this regard is a best-efforts obligation, which it will perform to the best of its ability, but is under no circumstances an obligation to achieve a specific result. ORYS Lawyers never guarantees a specific result. ORYS Lawyers will inform the client on a regular basis and, in any case, at the first request of the client, about the execution of the assignment and about the progress of the handling of the case.
6. All intellectual property rights and copyrights relating to – in particular, but not limited to – advice, agreements, summons, conclusions, notices of default, company documents, drafts, correspondence, disclaimer and conditions, … (hereinafter the “Works”) – which ORYS Lawyers creates or designs in the execution of the assignment entrusted to it, belongs exclusively to ORYS Lawyers. Except with the express prior written consent of ORYS Lawyers, the client is not permitted to distribute, disclose or exploit the Works executed by ORYS Lawyers in any way whatsoever, neither to third parties nor to associated or related (legal) persons, including family members or affiliated companies. The client is only permitted to use the Works for its own purposes, in a normal and customary manner, for the purpose for which they were executed.
7. ORYS Lawyers charges its fees based on the number of hours worked multiplied by the hourly rate, which is indexed annually on January 1st (consumer price index). A summary of the hourly rates is available upon request, free of charge. The following elements may justify an increase in the fee: the importance of the case, a favorable outcome, urgency, or the specific nature of the assignment. Fees and costs can be charged from the first oral or written consultation. If a consultation requires substantial preparation, this may also be charged at the time of invoicing. Fees and costs are due on the due date, regardless of any insurance intervention to cover such fees and/or costs. Discussions with insurers regarding such intervention are the exclusive responsibility of the client and are not opposable to ORYS Lawyers.

ORYS Lawyers’ fees and expenses are subject to 21% VAT. General administrative costs are included in the fee charged. Special costs, such as, but not limited to, bailiff’s fees or fees of other service providers, translation costs, fees for drawing up the statement, fees or compensation payable in connection with files (e.g., court fees), etc., or other special administrative costs, will be invoiced separately. ORYS Lawyers is entitled to settle unpaid fees and/or costs against funds received on behalf of the client. ORYS Lawyers shall inform the client thereof, and such notification will not affect the client’s right to contest these statements of costs and fees.

8. ORYS Lawyers is entitled to request advance payments in the form of commissions, which are payable immediately. ORYS Lawyers charges its` services periodically through invoices. Commissions paid shall be taken into account and deducted from the subsequent invoice. In the event of non-payment of invoices, commission bills, and expense claims, ORYS Lawyers may suspend its services until all outstanding amounts have been settled.
9. Invoices and/or expense claims must be paid within 15 days of dispatch. After this period has expired and in the absence of a justified objection, ORYS Lawyers is automatically entitled to charge contractual default interest of 1% per commenced month, plus a fixed penalty clause of 12% of the outstanding principal amount, with a minimum of €125.00 per fee statement and/or expense claim, without prejudice to legal and extrajudicial costs and the right of ORYS Lawyers to prove and recover from the client any additional damages suffered.

In the event of full or partial non-payment of a debt by a client, default interest will be charged equal to the reference interest rate plus eight percentage points as referred to in Article 5, paragraph 2, of the Act of 2 August 2002 on combating late payment in commercial transactions, as well as a lump-sum compensation as stipulated in Article 5. XIX.4, 2° of the ELC. The penalty clause will only be charged to the client after the expiry of a period of 14 calendar days, starting on the third business day after the notice of default has been sent. If this notice of default is sent electronically to the client, the 14-calendar-day period begins on the calendar day following the day of dispatch. If the client fails to pay within this period, the default interest will also run from the calendar day following the day on which the notice of default is sent to the client. If the client disagrees with the invoice(s) or the statement of fees and expenses, he/she must object in writing by registered mail within 15 days, stating their reasons. Failing this, the invoice shall be deemed to have been accepted.

10. If the client fails to comply with its’ obligations, particularly but not limited to paying overdue commissions and invoices, or if the client disputes the fees, invoices, and/or expense billings, ORYS Lawyers has the right to immediately suspend all activities for the client until the client has fully complied with its’ obligations. Any such suspension of work will be notified to the client in advance, to the extent possible.
11. In case the client benefits from an intervention concerning his legal costs, including lawyer fees, and this in the form of a legal aid insurance, the client shall immediately report this intervention to ORYS Lawyers, in order to allow the latter to make the necessary fee arrangements with the legal aid insurer. The client accepts that all fees exceeding the maximum coverage amount will be billed directly to him/her. The client accepts that the fees that would exceed the maximum amount of the cover will be charged directly to him/her. In case a legal expenses insurer would intervene on behalf of the client, ORYS Lawyers is entitled to recover from the client its invoices and fees (as well as any commission bills) not paid by this insurer. In the event of a dispute with the legal expenses’ insurer, ORYS lawyers is entitled to claim the fees directly from the client, after which the client can turn to the legal expenses insurer and invoke the coverage provided. Any limitation of coverage is not opposable to ORYS Lawyers.
12. The client may at any time terminate the assignment entrusted to ORYS Lawyers by informing ORYS Lawyers thereof in writing. Subsequently, ORYS Lawyers shall transfer its final invoice – including services and expenses incurred up to the end of the assignment – to the client or the successor lawyer. ORYS Lawyers will not claim damages for premature termination of the assignment by the client. At the client’s first request, ORYS Lawyers shall hand over the file documents, with the exception of confidential correspondence and/or documents.

In case the file is not collected by the client, ORYS Lawyers will keep it for a period of five years, in accordance with Article 2276bis of the Belgian Civil Code.

ORYS Lawyers may terminate the assignment entrusted to it by the client at any time, without owing any damages, by notifying the client in writing in advance. When determining when to discontinue services, ORYS Lawyers will observe a reasonable period within which the client can, if necessary, request the assistance of another lawyer.

13. ORYS Lawyers has the right to call upon the services of non-lawyers (such as bailiffs, technical advisors, etc.) in the performance of its activities. ORYS Lawyers shall not be liable for any acts or omissions of these third parties, regardless of whether their intervention is charged directly to the client. Whatever the content of the consultation or the performance provided by a third party or expert, their costs and fees will not be borne by ORYS Lawyers, but by the client. ORYS Lawyers is authorized by the client to accept any limitations of liability of third parties on its behalf.
14. The professional liability of ORYS Lawyers, or of any other person authorized to act in the name or on behalf of ORYS Lawyers, is limited to the amount of the effective coverage under the professional liability policy of the Flemish Bar Association (policy LXX034899, currently limited to a maximum of €2,500,000), and is also limited by the terms and conditions of this policy as may be changed in the future.

By mutual agreement, additional professional liability insurances can be taken out, of which the premiums are entirely at the expense of the client. If the professional liability insurance of ORYS Lawyers intervenes, the liability of ORYS Lawyers will be limited to the amount of the intervention of the professional liability insurance.

If ORYS Lawyers’s professional liability insurance does not cover the damages, the client may at most claim damages, the amount of which is limited to the totality of the amounts invoiced to the client by ORYS Lawyers for the case in question. The limitation of liability included in this article applies regardless of the nature of the damage and in the event of one-off or repeated minor and/or serious errors.

15. ORYS Lawyers communicates with its clients by correspondence, e-mail, telephone, or a free videoconferencing platform (e.g., Teams). The method of communication is always freely chosen by ORYS Lawyers. All communications originating from ORYS Lawyers are purely indicative and cannot in any way affect the liability of ORYS Lawyers. ORYS Lawyers makes reasonable efforts to protect e-mails and attachments from viruses or other defects that could damage a computer or IT system. However, it remains the client’s responsibility to take all necessary measures to protect their own computer or IT system. ORYS Lawyers cannot be held liable for any loss or damage that may result from receiving or using electronic documents from ORYS Lawyers.
16. The legal relationship between the client and ORYS Lawyers is governed by Belgian law and the applicable deontological ruleset. In the event of disputes, the courts of Brussels have exclusive jurisdiction, provided that ORYS Lawyers also has the right to bring the case before the court of the client’s place of residence or registered office.

In the event of a dispute between a client and ORYS Lawyers, the latter can also call upon the services of the Consumer Dispute Ombudsman for the Legal Profession, Ligeca, of the Flemish Bar Association. Complaints are to be submitted to this service by letter to Ms. An. De Puydt, Consumer Dispute Ombudsman for the Legal Profession, Staatsbladstraat 8, 1000 Brussels, or via the complaint form available on the website http://oca.ligeca.be.

If one or more stipulations of these general terms and conditions should be invalid or null and void, this shall not affect the validity and enforceability of the remaining general terms and conditions.