General Terms and Conditions of Lexys Advocaten B.V.

1. Lexys Advocaten B.V. (hereinafter: Lexys) is a limited liability company incorporated under the laws of the Netherlands. Lexys is registered in the trade register of the Chamber of Commerce in Rotterdam under number 85769347.
2. These general terms and conditions apply to all work performed by Lexys and its affiliated lawyers on behalf of third parties, including follow-up assignments.
3. Exclusively Lexys will count as the contractor in assignments that Lexys performs for its clients, even if a certain lawyer associated with Lexys performs (part of) an assignment. Both the attorney who directly or indirectly holds shares in Lexys and the attorney employed by Lexys shall act exclusively on behalf of Lexys. Articles 7:404 and 7:407 paragraph 2 of the Dutch Civil Code expressly do not apply to the services of Lexys.
4. Any liability of Lexys and its affiliated lawyers and employees shall be limited to the amount paid by Lexys' insurer in the case in question. If, for whatever reason, no payment is made by Lexys' insurer, the liability of Lexys and its affiliated lawyers and employees will be limited to the fees charged in the case concerned, with a maximum of EUR 25,000.
5. Without prejudice to the provisions of article 6:89 of the Dutch Civil Code, any claim against Lexys and/or its affiliated lawyers or employees shall in any event lapse twelve months after the event causing the damage was discovered or reasonably should have been discovered.
6. Lexys is entitled to involve third parties in the execution of assignments if it deems this necessary. Lexys and its affiliated lawyers and employees are not liable for shortcomings of these third parties.
7. Except for claims resulting from intent or gross negligence on the part of Lexys, the client shall indemnify Lexys and its affiliated attorneys and employees against all third-party claims related to the assignment.
8. Unless otherwise agreed, Lexys' fee shall be calculated on the basis of an hourly rate set by Lexys, plus the sales tax due thereon. In addition, to cover general costs (such as postage, telephone, printing and copying costs, etc.), a percentage of the fee shall be charged. Lexys is entitled to adjust its hourly rates and the surcharge for office expenses periodically. This is also possible for ongoing assignments with consumers, provided these have been concluded with Lexys three months or longer before the adjustment.
9. In principle, Lexys will charge the client on a monthly basis for fees due and expenses incurred that are not included in its rates.
10. Expenses paid by Lexys on behalf of the client (such as court fees, travel, bailiff, courier, delivery, interpretation and translation costs) will be charged separately - and at Lexys' discretion: in advance.
11. Lexys applies a term of payment of eight (8) days. If the client fails to pay the invoices within this period, Lexys is entitled to suspend its work immediately without being obliged to compensate any damage that may arise as a result.
12. Lexys is entitled to require the payment of an advance. A paid advance shall be offset against the final invoice at the conclusion of the case.
13. If Lexys has agreed with the client that an advance will be paid, Lexys shall be entitled to set off this advance against the final invoice.
14. From the moment Lexys has access to an account to hold third-party funds (the Third-Party Funds Account), it will be held by a foundation to be set up for that purpose, which will then be called ‘Stichting Beheer Derdengelden Lexys Advocaten’ (hereinafter referred to as 'Third-Party Funds Management Foundation'): the Foundation). These conditions are agreed with regard to the management of third-party funds also for the benefit of the Foundation. Management of third-party funds shall be for the account and risk of the client: Within that framework, Lexys and the Foundation shall be entitled, among other things, (1) to charge any negative interest on the funds managed, as well as bank and transaction costs entirely to the account of the client and at the expense of the management of third-party funds (2) to charge a management fee on the basis of the agreement in force between the Foundation and Lexys, which, where appropriate, shall be provided upon first request as well as (3) to set off third-party funds at the client's disposal against a Lexys bill for which the payment period has expired, unless the bill has been disputed with reasons within a reasonable time (but in any case within the due date). Neither Lexys and its affiliated attorneys and employees nor the Foundation are required to set aside managed funds interest-bearing.
15. If the client fails to object in writing to the amount of the fee charged, or at least to the amount of the bill in general, within two months of the date of the bill, the bill is thereby irrevocably fixed.
16. If the client acting in the exercise of a profession or business fails to pay the invoices on time, he shall be liable to pay the statutory commercial interest from the due date and Lexys shall be entitled to charge extrajudicial collection costs estimated at 15% of the principal amount.
17. Lexys is entitled to retain case records in the form of a digital copy or scan only and to destroy scanned case records. Lexys shall be entitled to destroy the file five years after closing a case without further notice. If the client wishes to retain a document issued to Lexys in original form, the client must indicate this in writing at the time of issue. The document in question must be requested from Lexys without delay, but no later than three months after the closing of the file.
18. Pursuant to the current personal data protection legislation, professional use and processing of client data within the framework of the execution of the assignment(s) is permitted without notification. In addition, this data will be used in new cases to check for possible conflict of interest (with the client). Lexys' privacy statement can be accessed at: https://lexysadvocaten.nl/privacy-policy/
19. The legal relationship between the client and Lexys is governed by Dutch law.
20. Furthermore, all assignments entered into between Lexys as contractor and third parties are subject to the Lexys Office Complaints Procedure. This Office Complaints Procedure will be sent free of charge upon request and can be consulted via: https://lexysadvocaten.nl/kantoorklachtenregeling/
21. If internal complaint handling does not lead to a solution, all disputes related to the services of Lexys, including invoicing disputes, shall be settled according to the Rules of the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession, without prejudice to the authority of Lexys to go to court if the client has not submitted a possible invoicing dispute to the Disputes Committee within fourteen days after having been requested to pay. If the client is a consumer, the Disputes Committee shall decide by way of binding advice, unless the client who is a consumer turns to the court within one month after the complaint has been handled by the lawyer. If the client who is a consumer does not deposit the outstanding amount with the Disputes Committee in accordance with the provisions of the aforementioned Regulations, arbitration will apply. Disputes with business clients will be settled by arbitration. The Rules of the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession will be sent upon request.
22. The court in Rotterdam shall have jurisdiction in the event a dispute is submitted to the ordinary court.
23. The Dutch text of these terms and conditions shall be binding in case of any difference with the text of the terms and conditions in a foreign language.

Version number: 0.1

Date: Feb. 7, 2023