GENERAL TERMS AND CONDITIONS
of legal services provision by ADVISER Armknecht & Partners,
attorneys at law with a registered office in Gdynia (Poland)

 

1. Scope of application

1.1.  These general terms and conditions provide legal services provision ("GTC"/“GT&C”) determine the conditions of legal services provisions by ADVISER Armknecht i Partnerzy, Radcowie Prawni sp.k. (ADVISER Armknecht & Partners attorneys-at-law) with its registered office in Gdynia, at the following address: 815 Generała J. Bema Street, suite 3, Gdynia, 81386 – POLAND, NIP: 586-229-51-83 (“Law Office”) for natural persons, legal persons or organizational entity (“Client”).

1.2.  GTC are an integral part of the contract of legal services provision to the Client to the extent to which they have not been explicitly waived or changed in writing.

1.3.  GTC shall be binding upon the Client if:

1.3.1. they are delivered before the agreement to provide legal services is concluded,

1.3.2. they are made available to the Client in electronic form also by indicating that they are available on the Law Office website at www.adviser.law. Provisions of order contrary to GTC demand express acceptance by the Law Office, however, the provisions of Article 682 and 3854 of the act of 23 April 1964 Civil Code (Dz.U. z 2018r., poz. 1025 – t.j.) shall not apply.

 

2. Scope of order and its performance.

2.1. In a situation if the Law Office has not concluded a contract with the Client for the provision of legal services in writing, such a contract may be concluded by exchanging declarations of will in any form (for example: by telephone or e-mail) and each time requires an express acceptance of the order by the Law Office. The acceptance of the order by the Law Office may take place only in writing, by document, by e-mail, or implicitly by the beginning of providing legal services in the scope indicated by the Client in his order.

2.2. Our Law Office provides legal services in the scope explicitly commissioned by the Client, in particular, the Law Office is not responsible for all the Client’s cases or for other cases not covered by the order, for example, tax cases, unless the Law Office receives an express order to conduct such a case.

2.3. The scope of the order may change, with condition that in case the Law Office does not consent to change the scope of the order, the Law Office will immediately inform the Client.

2.4. The Law Office provides legal services of tax consultancy in the scope of Polish law. If it ensues from the express order of the Client or nature of the order, the Law Office, for the accomplishment of the order, can engage a foreign tax adviser. In this case, the foreign tax adviser is not a subcontractor of the Law Office, the Law Office only coordinates the cooperation with such a foreign tax adviser and does not take responsibility for his advice.

2.5. The Law Office provides legal services based on the received order only to the Client or to the final recipient of services indicated by the Client, and third parties may use such services only upon separate consent of the Law Office. If the Client indicated other final service recipients than himself, the legal relationship between the Law Office and such a final service recipient shall be regulated by GTC, and the Client shall take the responsibility for the Law Office, including the responsibility for the fee payment and repayment of the Law Office costs.

2.6. The Law Office decides, at its own discretion, how to perform the order, taking into account applicable legal provisions and relevant professional practices as well as the Client's instructions,
if it considers them advisable, possible, or necessary.

2.7. Execution of services for the Client is directed by a person responsible for the Client's order, indicated by the Law Office, which establishes the organization of the provision of legal services to the Client, including the selection of persons entrusted with the performance of such services.

2.8. The Law Office may request from the Client, at any time, an appropriate advance, the amount of which will reflect the type of order and expected involvement of the Law Office. The advance payment will be settled, without interest, on the last invoice, after completion of services provided to the Client.

 

3. Communication.

3.1. The Client may indicate a person or persons who, acting in the name of the Client, can change the scope of the order.

3.2. The Client expresses his consent that the Law Office will use electronic means of distance communication or data storage services in the cloud, in particular e-mail and transfer of data in the cloud, regardless of whether they are provided by third parties.

3.3. The Law Office shall not be liable for damages resulting from the use of electronic communication, including damages resulting from non-delivery or delay in providing electronic communication, before interception or manipulation of electronic communication by third parties or computer programs.

3.4. The Law Office may, at the client's request, provide legal advice online using means of distance communication, i.e. e-mail, Skype, MS Teams or other platforms enabling contact with the client.

 

4. Fee payment, cost repayment.

4.1. The Law Office calculates the rate on the basis of the number of pleadings/other written materials that will be drawn up by the Law Office, the number of legal advisory services provided, or hearings at which the Law Office will legally represent the Client. If an hourly remuneration is not agreed with the Client, the Law Office is entitled to remuneration not lower than the amount of the costs of legal representation awarded in court and/or enforcement proceedings.

4.2. The hourly rate applied by the Law Firm is accepted by the partners of the Law Office. The basic hourly rate applied by the Law Office is accepted by the Partners of the Law Firm, in particular, it is agreed with the Client when receiving the order. In the case of undertaking urgent activities, or performing the service immediately, including outside the established working hours of the Law Office, the hourly rate is established at 150% of the basic hourly rate. 

4.3. In addition to the fee payment, the Law Office is entitled to receive repayment of individualized costs incurred in connection with the execution of the order for the Client, such as court fees, tax and notary fees, tax on civil law transactions, translation costs, accommodation and travel costs, courier shipments, etc. These expenses will be returned based on the relevant bills and invoices. In cases where the expected amount of these expenses is significant, the Law Office may ask the Client for an appropriate advance payment for this purpose. The Law Office is also entitled to repayment of the costs incurred directly when carrying out the activities under the order (such as telephone conversations, communication by fax, e-mail, postal service, photocopying of documents, and similar activities), which for technical reasons cannot be documented with separate receipts. In the case of returning the documents, the Law Office determines the remuneration due for completing the documentation, not lower than for one hour according to the agreed remuneration rate, and additionally, if the Client agrees on a method other than collecting the documents at the Office's office, the amount of the reimbursement of the costs of delivering the documentation. The Client releases the Law Office from liability for any liabilities incurred by the Law Office towards third parties in order to properly perform the services ordered.

4.4. Amounts of fee payment and expenses due to the Law Office will be increased by the tax on goods and services (VAT), in accordance with the rate applicable on the day of issuing VAT invoice.

 

5. Settlement of fee, VAT invoices.

5.1. The Client is bound to inform the Law Office about his status, in particular, if he is an entrepreneur, an active taxpayer of goods and services tax (VAT) and to provide his Tax ID if he has one.

5.2. The settlement of services provided by the Law Office (fee payment and repayment costs) will be based on VAT invoices issued on a monthly basis at the end of the month unless the nature of the order justifies a different settlement period. VAT invoices issued by the Law Office are payable by the Client without deductions, within 14 days from the date of their issue, by transfer
to the bank account indicated on the VAT invoice.

5.3. VAT invoices will be issued and delivered to Clients in electronic form, according to information received from them about their tax status and Tax ID and according to the tax rules in force within the territory of the Republic of Poland.

5.4. VAT invoices will be sent in the electronic form to the address indicated by the Client.

5.5. The VAT invoice may be accompanied by the description of time and activities, which is not an accounting document and should be stored by the Client separately from accounting documents, as it may contain confidential information.

5.6. In case of the Client’s remarks or reservations regarding the invoice or the description of time and activities attached to it, the Client is expected to notify the Law Office about them within 7 days from the receipt of the VAT invoice. After the expiry of this period, it is considered that the Client has accepted the VAT invoice without reservations.

5.7. In case of a delay in the Client’s payment for the services provided, the Law Office may, in particular, charge statutory interest for the delay or suspend the provision of services that do not constitute the provision of legal assistance in the meaning of the Act of 6 July 1982 on legal advisers (Journal of Laws 1982 No. 19 item 145) and in the meaning of the Act of May 26, 1982, the Law on the Bar (Journal of Laws 1982 No. 16 item 124)  until the payment is settled, informing the Client in advance about this fact.

 

6. Protection of personal data and storage of documents.

6.1. The Parties declare that in the meaning of Article 4 point 7
of the Regulation of the European Parliament and of the Council (EU) No. 2016/679 of 27 April 2016 on the protection of individuals with regard to the processing of personal data and on the free movement of such data and repealing of Directive 95/46 / EC (General Data Protection Regulation - GDPR) - Official Journal of the European Union No. L 119 of 4 May 2016 they are administrators of data, including personal data of persons indicated in the order as persons representing the Client, contact or responsible for the implementation of individual tasks resulting from the content of the order (for example name and surname, Pesel number, NIP, e-mail address, address, telephone number, etc.)

6.2. In the scope necessary for the performance of the order by the Law Office, the Client will entrust the Law Office with the processing of personal data of its employees, associates, clients, debtors, witnesses, and other persons. The rules regarding data processing by the Law Office are defined in the Procedure for processing and protection of personal data adopted by the Law Office in the resolution No. 01/05/2018 of 14 May 2018.

6.3. The Law Office applies procedures for personal data protection and processing in accordance with the GDPR and fulfills the information obligation stipulated in Article 13 of GDPR, the content of which has been made available at: www.adviser.law/en/privacy-policy

6.4. The Law Office stores the Clients' documents in accordance with Article 5 of GDPR, in particular, Article 5 paragraph 1, letter e) of GPDR and Article 45 of the Act of 14 July 1984 on the national archival resources and archives (Journal of Laws of 1983, No. 38, item 173, as amended).

6.5. The Client acknowledges that the Law Office will store his documents for a period of 5 years from the date of the order completion and undertakes to collect the documents within this period. After the above-mentioned deadline, the Law Office is authorized to permanently destroy the documents submitted to it.

 

7. Termination of contract and conflict of interest.

7.1. Both, the Client and the Law Office may terminate the contract on the provision of legal services at any time, with immediate effect, or upon the lapse of the specified time. Termination of contract by the Client does not exempt him from the obligation to pay the amounts due to the Law Office for the services provided by the time of the termination. In addition, the Client shall be obliged to pay to the Law Office an equivalent amount to the outlays (including the cost of additional legal services) and expenses incurred by the Law Office in the interest of the Client, during the time from the notice of termination to the time when the case was transferred to another legal adviser. For the termination of the contract by one of the Parties, the other party is not entitled to claim any damages, even if the termination was not based on a valid reason. Termination of contract by any of the Parties shall include termination of all powers of attorney granted to partners, employees, or associates of the Law Office.

7.2. The Law Office reserves an exclusive right to resolve the issue of so-called "Conflict of interest", respecting the professional ethics of legal counsels or lawyers, and taking into account the justified interests of the Client or the Law Office.

7.3. The Law Office can refer to information about the provision of consultancy services to the Client in its marketing materials and information as well as commercial offers.

7.4. The Law Office's liability towards the Client for any reason, including non-performance or improper performance of the contract on provision of legal services is limited to the amount of damage suffered by the Client, but no higher than twice the amount of the Law Office's fee payment.

 

8. Final provisions.

8.1. Legal relationship between the Law Office and the Client and GTC is governed by Polish law, in particular the Act of 23 April 1964 Civil Code (Dz.U. z 2018r., poz. 1025 – t.j., the Act of 6 July 1982 on legal counsels/attorneys at law (Dz.U. z 2018r., poz. 1870 - t.j.), and the Act of 26 May 1982 on advocates (Dz.U. z 2018 r., poz. 1184 – t.j.).

8.2. In case any provisions of GTC are recognized as invalid or ineffective by law or decisive judgment of any administrative unit or court, other provisions of GTC remain in force and are effective. Provisions of GTC recognized as invalid or ineffective shall be replaced by provisions of lawful rules closest in their purpose to the original provisions of GTC.

8.3. Except in situations where the Client is a customer, all disputes arising in the background or in connection with the acceptance of GTC will be settled by a competent common court of local and factual jurisdiction for the registered office of the Law Office.

8.4. During the time of the agreement with the Client, the Law Office may change the content of the provisions of GTC, informing the Client about such a change and its content. The changed GTC is binding upon the Client if he does not terminate the contract within 14 days from the date of the receipt of such information.

8.5. GTC has been made available at www.adviser.law Each person has the opportunity to familiarize themselves with their content.

 

These General Terms and Conditions (version 1.1 of 31/01/2022) were adopted by the partners of the Law Office on 31 January 2022 and are effective as a resolution.