SQ is a grouping (groepering – groupement) of lawyers without legal personhood registered at the Dutch speaking Brussels Bar , each lawyer having his independent practice and independent financial structure and clients. The individual contractual relation between each lawyer and his/ her client is represented by the invoicing towards that client by his lawyer. SQ as such cannot be held liable towards any client of any lawyer. No individual lawyer of SQ can he held liable for any intervention of any another lawyer of SQ unless this other lawyer of SQ actively intervened for that client and consequently billed his or her interventions to that client accordingly. Geert Lenssens organizes his services through his company BV Lenssens KBO 0819.391.464 Atlantis Building | 584 Charles Quint Avenue |1082 BRUSSELS and Niels Van Campenhout organizes his services through his company BV Advocatenkantoor Van Campenhout 0890.384.873 Atlantis Building | 584 Charles Quint Avenue |1082 BRUSSELS.
1 – THE COSTS OF THE LAWYER
The back office costs of the lawyer are the fixed general expenses for office operations and they are calculated on 20 % of the fees plus VAT. All external costs such as bailiffs and experts , also called litigation expenses (see sub 2) are being excluded.
2 – THE LITIGATION EXPENSES
The litigation expenses are the expenses that the client must pay to third parties such as process servers, the experts , the office of the court, translators and public authorities. The client pays these expenses directly to these third parties. If the lawyer pays litigation expenses on the client’s behalf, these will be listed accurately and in detail in the fee and cost statement.
3 – THE LAWYER’S FEE
The lawyer’s fee is the remuneration for services rendered by the lawyer or his staff.
In principle, it is fixed orally or by writing at the start of the cooperation in which way the fee will be charged and the rate is always confirmed in the invoice and/or the time sheet.
One either agrees on an hourly rate or on a fixed amount agreed upon for a specific task, procedure or a specific part of a procedure. One can also agree on an additional success fee on the hourly fee in case of a positive result. A lump sum is possible e.g. for the review of a contract or for a due diligence. As the lawyer cannot predict all interventions in litigation nor the time needed or the result, it is impossible to assess the time needed and the result. However if the lawyer makes an estimation , this estimation never will be binding as such.
For establishing the hourly rate or the lump sum, the significance of the case, the experience and specialty of the lawyer, the urgency and the financial position of the client are taken into account. Regular clients with at least five new cases on a yearly base also can benefit on request of a Client Reward Program (CRP) meaning that special lower rates can apply.
In general, services and performances are charged at an hourly rate between 150 EUR and 480 EUR, exclusive of VAT (21%), unless it is agreed upon or established otherwise. The nature of a file can be decisive to establish a fixed amount, a percentage (e.g. for debt collections) or a success fee.
The fee can be incremental depending on the level of difficulty of the actual services rendered and the experience of the lawyer or a flat-line, uniform rate can be applied as an average value for all services to be rendered. All time needed for research, study, strategy and all time needed directly or indirectly for the case will be billed. All time needed for transport and travelling is consistently charged at the hourly rate because the lawyer is indeed active in this file at that moment and this time must be remunerated as well, the compensation, if any, being incorporated in the hourly rate itself.
4 – THE AMOUNTS REGARDING THE PROCEDURAL COSTS
In Belgium a party winning a process is entitled to recover (part of) the fee and costs of his lawyer from the party losing the process (= ‘recoverability of fees’).
This concerns a fixed compensation, the exact amount of which is established by the judge. The amounts regarding the procedural costs, both the basic amount and the minimum and maximum amount, are established by law. More information can be found on: www.advocaat.be.
In principle, the judge awards the basic amount. If at least one of the parties so asks, the judge may, based on 4 grounds listed in the above-mentioned decree, lower or raise the basic amount within the limits of the minimum and maximum amount. If the judge decides to increase or lower the basic amount, he must motivate this.
5 – GENERAL CONDITIONS
The general conditions remain in full force in relation to the rates SQ and in case of conflict the general conditions will prevail.
Unless prior written agreement, all bills, invoices and notes shall be due and payable within eight days. All payments shall be made with the mandatory indication of the file number and the note number. The sum due shall be paid at the initiative of the debtor regardless the possibility of the creditor – lawyer to enforce payment legally. The prescription period to file a professional liability legal action before the courts against the lawyer shall be conventionally limited and determined at two years following the last intervention of the lawyer and three years after the facts on which the claim has been based, without the possibility that the latter time limit exceeds the first. In case of any dispute between the attorney and the client, only the Dutch speaking chambers of the Brussels’ courts shall be competent. In any case of late payment, an interest of 12 % per annum shall automatically be due. The interest is due starting from the due payment date until the date of full payment. In addition, a lump sum compensation of 10 % of the total amount shall be due, with a minimum of EUR 450, and it is subject to the provision of proof of more extensive losses. This 10 % compensation clause applies to all agreements between clients and lawyers, but only mutually in both directions between lawyers and consumers. Any protest and or complaint relating to a provision request or statement of fees and charges or relating to liability, shall, on pain of forfeiture, be duly motivated and made in writing. The protest and/ or complaint shall, subject to forfeiture, be made within 8 days upon receipt or knowledge of facts possibly leading to liability and be made by registered mail. The liability of the lawyer is at all times limited to the sum covered by the professional liability insurance. The Client expressively waives any and all claims exceeding the coverage of the professional liability insurance and also in any case any form of indirect damage. In addition, any liability shall be expressly limited to the lawyer -titular of the file. All fees and charges shall be subject to VAT. The expenses are to be added to the fees, even to the conventional and the lump sums ones and without the lawyer having to provide any further proof. The fees shall be calculated separately and invoiced in an amount of 20% of the amount of benefits and fees. If the fees, benefits and expenses included in the interim invoice are incomplete, we reserve the right to complete them later. The invoice and the always accompanying time sheet, mentions and proves the hourly rate agreed upon by lawyer and client. In case the client has an insurance for legal assistance, client and lawyer agree that the maxima provided by the Royal Decree of 28 th of June 2019 are not applicable and the client will pay all exceeding fees and costs to the lawyer. The lawyer and the client expressly agree that the client is prohibited to make any audio or video recording of the contact between the lawyer and the client including telephone conversations, interviews, consultations and discussions and/or in addition of pleadings. The client expressly confirms the lack of legal probative value of any of such recordings. If all the above mentioned conditions are contrary to any provision of mandatory law, then the provisions of mandatory law shall replace any contradictory provision without affecting the validity of this agreement or of the other provisions.
This document contains the Privacy Policy of the website www.sq.legal
SQ uses your personal data with care. This document contains information in regards to how the SQ website manages your personal data and provides her services to you by using your personal data.
SQ is part of the Legal Netlink Alliance, a global alliance of carefully selected, midsized, general practice, independent law firms. SQ has an office in Brussels, Belgium. SQ might share your personal data with other SQ entities, partners and subcontractors.
1 – USE OF PERSONAL DATA
The SQ website automatically processes personal data for its technical and functional management as well as to ensure its fluent use. The SQ website may process your personal data such as your IP-address, the webpages you visit, the browser you are using, the website you have previously visited, demographic information, and the time and duration of your visit on the website.
2 – USE OF COOKIES
The SQ website uses cookies. Cookies are small files which are installed on the device in order to store data which is used by the server of the domain name that placed the cookie. The SQ website uses cookies and similar technologies for the storage and saving of your preferences and settings. Cookies also allow the SQ website, amongst other legitimate purposes, to avoid fraud, analyse its services and improve this service by enforcing modifications.
Cookies and similar technologies can be controlled by the user of the SQ website in different ways, for example by changing the settings on the applied internet browser.
3 – SECURITY MESURES
SQ secures your personal data through various technical and organisational measures, such as antivirus protection, secured servers and data processing agreements with third parties hosting this website.
4 – LINKS TO OTHER WEBSITES
The SQ website may provide referrals – including hyperlinks – to websites offered by other companies/entities, people or by social media. SQ is not responsible or liable for any processing of your personal data through these websites. This Privacy Policy does not apply to the use of such websites.
5 – YOUR RIGHTS
You have the right to access, correct, delete or transfer your personal data processed by the SQ website at any time. You also have the right to object to or limit the processing of your personal data, for example for direct marketing purposes.
If you wish access to your personal data processed by SQ or have your data updated, corrected or deleted, please send your request to Niels VAN CAMPENHOUT. You can also sent your request by post to SQ.
You can exercise your rights free of all chargers, unless the requests are disproportionate in which case the a cost might be charged.
Should you have any questions or complaints about this Privacy Policy, please email Niels VAN CAMPENHOUT.
6. RESPONSIBILITY FOR YOUR PERSONAL DATA
SQ, located at Charles-Quint Avenue 584, 1082 BRUSSELS will be responsible for your personal data.
SQ website
The information on the SQ website is for general purposes and guidance only and does not purport to constitute legal or professional advice. For specific legal advice, please contact the SQ group in the relevant jurisdiction. Except as required by law, SQ nor its subsidiaries , lawyers or staff shall not be liable for any losses or damages whatsoever, whether in contract, tort (including negligence) or otherwise arising from reliance on information contained in this website, or from any interruption or delay in access to the website for whatever reason.
Copyright
This website, and the copyright in the materials on this site, are owned by SQ and/or its subsidiaries and lawyers. SQ and any other names, images and logos identifying SQ offices are proprietary trademarks of SQ. You may print or otherwise store, temporarily, extracts from this website without alteration for the purposes of your own personal use, provided you keep intact all and any copyright and proprietary notices. Neither this website nor any part of this site may be otherwise copied, reproduced, modified, publicly displayed, republished or distributed in any media (including without limitation via any other website) without the prior written permission of SQ. Requests for permission should be addressed to brussels@sqlawoffices.com. All rights reserved.
Third party websites
This website contains links to other websites over which SQ has no control. SQ does not accept responsibility or liability for the operation or content of such websites. Links to this website are not permitted without the prior and express written consent of SQ.
Applicable law
This website (including this Legal Notice) shall be governed by Belgian law. The Belgian courts shall have exclusive jurisdiction over any disputes arising from this site. Please note that SQ terms and conditions may be amended from time to time, so please ensure that you check them when you use this site
Accessibility
SQ is committed to ensuring that the pages within this website are accessible to all individuals including those with disabilities.
Throughout the design process SQ has ensured that this website meets accessibility standards.
Cookie Policy
We use a small number of cookies to help us give you a better site experience. These cookies are non-intrusive and are used by most web sites. You can control the use of cookies on your device, including deleting and blocking the cookies we and other sites use, through the browser settings on your device.
This web site uses a small number of non-intrusive cookies. Cookies are small text files that are placed on your computer, mobile phone or tablet by web sites that you visit. They are widely used in order to make web sites work more efficiently, as well as to provide information to web site owners.
We use cookies to (a) remember your browsing preferences when you visit the site so that we can give you a better site experience and (b) collect anonymous statistical information about the way you use the web site so that we can improve the way the site works (for example, we collect information about the number of visitors to the various parts of the site).The cookies we use are nonintrusive and are used by most web sites. None of your personal details are held in these cookies.
Most web browsers (including Chrome, Internet Explorer, Firefox and Safari) allow you to control your cookie settings and to delete any cookies already stored on your computer or other device. You can control the use of cookies on your device, including deleting and blocking the cookies we and other sites use, through the browser settings on your device. Please note that any changes you make may affect your ability to properly use this web site.
To find out more about the way cookies work, how to see what cookies have been set and how to manage and delete them, visit: www.allaboutcookies.org
