The fees and costs of the lawyers are determined as follows, apart from specific agreements (including hourly rate or fixed amount) to be agreed in writing and per file:
1. Services are invoiced, on the one hand as costs, and on the other hand as fees. The costs consist of the specific costs attributable to a file and the fixed and variable office costs, which cannot be specifically assigned to a file, and are therefore objectively distributed over all files. All amounts are excluding VAT.
2. The following costs will be invoiced:
- Opening a file (flat fee of €75.00 / file)
- Correspondence (€12.00 per page)
- Typing procedure (for procedural acts: conclusion, summons, inventory, petition... at €14.00 per page)
- Registered mail (€25.00)
- Photocopy (€0.12 per page, subject to specific copies for third parties, at actual cost)
- Emails (€7.00 sent or received by email)
- Consultation of the national register (€15.00)
- Financial transaction (€2.00)
- Court costs and related costs at actual cost
- Mileage allowance (€0.50 / km) in principle to be invoiced according to the fastest route
- Vacations (waiting time at the session or elsewhere, travel time, at €80.00 / h)
3. The basic fees vary between €125.00 and €175.00 / h, depending on the complexity of the file. For a first consultation of approximately 60 minutes, without opening a file, a flat fee of 100 euros (VAT included) will be applied.
4. Fees and costs may be adjusted by applying coefficients due to, among other things: the urgency, the importance or the specificity of the file; price increases or market developments.
5. The lawyer will invoice the fees and costs in the interim, subject to the request for provision invoices. The first provision invoice is due upon opening the file. After termination of the mission for any reason, the client will receive the final invoice for services provided and costs incurred, up to and including the effective date of termination. All invoices are payable in cash. In case of non-payment, they will be increased by legal interest and an indemnity of 10%, in accordance with the law on combating late payment in commercial transactions.
6. In cases benefiting from legal aid, the legal aid insurer and the client are jointly and severally liable to pay the costs and fees.
7. Any comments on invoices must be made within 15 days, otherwise they can no longer be taken into account. The lawyers are the first point of contact. In case of a dispute, the client can contact the Antwerp Bar Association (Bolivarplaats 20/15, 2000 Antwerp, Tel: 03 / 260.72.50 and Fax: 03 / 260.72.74, email: info@countersupport.be). However, the client always reserves the right to initiate legal proceedings.
8. In case of non-payment of an invoice, the lawyers have the right to suspend their work by right and without formal notice.
9. The courts of the district of Antwerp, Mechelen section and the justice of the peace of the Mechelen canton are competent to collect invoices or contest them. This is without prejudice to the possibility - by mutual agreement - of submitting the case to a third-party arbitration expert.
10. The liability of the lawyers is limited to the coverage and the ceiling of the insurance policy taken out by its lawyers through the Bar Association.
11. If any of the above provisions is null and void, the others will remain valid.