The present General Terms and Conditions determine the content of contracts on legal services' provision concluded between *Templates - LIVE (the Law Firm) and its Clients (the Principal) unless the other terms and conditions were agreed on in a written agreement between the Law firm and the Principal.
1. Scope of services
1.1. The object of the Law Firm's services to the Principal is to provide legal consulting concerning the Principal's economic activity or the other assets-related matters of the Principal within the scope of a mandate given to the Law Firm by the Principal (legal services). The legal assistance is aimed to ensure the proper protection of the Principal's legal interests within the boundaries arising from the scope of legal services in the given case, which the Law Firm was given a mandate to.
1.2. The legal services will be performed within the scope of the law. Within the remaining scope, the Law Firm will act, as far as possible, as a middleman at the provision of the legal assistance by foreign lawyers to the Client.
1.3. The legal services shall, in particular, consist of drawing up opinions as well as legal and tax analyses, preparing draft legal documents, reviewing draft legal documents put forward by other persons, representing the Principal towards parties he contracts with or towards employees during negotiations, mediation talks and disputes and in providing the Principal with current legal advice as well as in representing the Principal in all court and administrative proceedings whatsoever, with the reservation that the representation in criminal proceedings shall be limited to the extent specified by the counselors' at law professional entitlements.
1.4. When providing legal services, the Law Firm shall be obliged to exercise due diligence compliant with standards of rendering professional legal services.
1.5. The Law Firm shall also ensure to its Clients such an organization of the services' provision to guarantee reliable and prompt services in all cases in which it undertook to provide legal services.
1.6. If the Principal entrusts the Law Firm with legal services permanently, the Law Firm shall be obliged to maintain permanent readiness to provide legal assistance to the Principal.
1.7. The Law Firm declares to be ready to perform supplementary services of organizational and business-related support for the Client's benefit within the scope agreed on by both parties.
2. Giving the mandate to provide legal services
2.1. The agreement on the provision of permanent legal services between the Principal and the Law Firm shall be concluded in the first case commissioned by the Principal after the Principal provides his identification data.
2.2. The Principal may give the Law Firm a mandate to develop cases to advise on or instructions in respective cases in writing, by phone, e-mail, fax, or in person at a meeting.
2.3. A mandate to develop cases to advise on or instructions in respective cases may be given by all employees and permanent collaborators of the Principal unless the Principal sets out unilaterally a list of names or positions of persons authorized to develop mandates.
2.4. Mandates concerning develop cases to advise on or instructions in respective cases may be made to each lawyer belonging to the Law Firm's permanent team; however, as far as possible, contact with the lawyers who are have already been involved in the Principal's legal issues is preferred.
2.5. In the case of giving the Law Firm a one-time mandate to conduct a given case, the contract of legal services between the Principal and the Law Firm shall be concluded after the Principal provides his identification data referred to in point 2.1, and following the specification of the object of the case, an agreement on the principles of the Law Firm's remuneration for the legal services and following the Office's confirmation to accept the case to advise on.
3. Manner of performing legal services
3.1. The manner of performing legal services in a case entrusted to the Law Firm, particularly time limits for performance of respective activities, shall result from the kind of the case, the scope of the mandate, and current arrangements with the Principal.
3.2. The Law Firm shall decide on its own on entrusting the provision of legal assistance in respective cases or of entrusting the performance of respective activities in a given case to lawyers who are members of the Law Firm's permanent team, taking into account the type of the case or the activity, the time limit for its performance, qualifications of a given lawyer and their knowledge of the Principal's matters, however, the overall organization of work on the Principal's matters will ensure the organizational and cost-related optimization of legal services.
3.3. The Law Firm may make the provision of legal services in a given case depends on having been made available the access to documents or information held by the Principal while specifying at the same time the required method of making those documents or information available. The Principal shall be exclusively liable for the accuracy and completeness of the documents or the information provided and for effects arising from failure to forward to the Law Firm the information or documents of significance for a given case.
3.4. Representing the Principal, particularly in civil law, penal or administrative proceedings shall require a written power of attorney to be granted to counselors at law or other persons indicated by the Law Firm.
3.5. Law Firm's seat shall provide legal services unless given their nature; respective activities must be performed at a different place.
3.6. Where a conflict of interests arises between the Principal and another Client of the Law Firm, the Law Firm shall be obliged to notify the Principal of such a situation and ensure such a manner of providing legal services to the Principal and the Client, who the Principal is in a conflict of interests with, especially through the application of internal confidentiality procedures, in such a manner that the Principal's legal interests be fully protected.
3.7. The Law Firm shall be obliged to keep confidential the information about the Principal's enterprise or his other assets-related matters obtained in connection with providing legal services. This obligation shall not apply to information that is generally available.
3.8. The Law Firms shall have the right to disclose the fact of providing legal services for the Principal's benefit and to put the Principal on its reference list.
4. The Law Firm's remuneration
4.1. In exchange for the provision of legal services, the Law Firm shall receive a remuneration calculated based on the actual time of performing the services and hourly rates agreed on with the Principal unless a flat-rate remuneration given service has been agreed on.
4.2. The hourly remuneration shall be paid monthly in arrears for the activities performed in a given calendar month, based on VAT invoices issued by the Law Firm by the end of the given calendar month. A detailed summary containing all cases mandates were given for, persons who gave the mandates, activities performed, and their duration, and the incurred costs shall be attached to each invoice.
4.3. The flat-rate remuneration shall be paid monthly in arrears based on a VAT invoice issued by the Law Firm after providing the service unless the parties agreed that an advance payment on account of the remuneration would be made. A detailed summary containing supplementary costs connected with legal services incurred by the Law Firm shall be attached to the legal services' invoice.
4.4. The remuneration shall be paid within 14 days from the date of an invoice's issue to the Law Firm's bank account indicated in the invoice, in the same currency in which hourly rates have been specified.
4.5. The Law Firm represents and warrants that it is an active VAT taxpayer, authorized to issue VAT invoices. The Principal authorizes the Law Firm to issue VAT invoices without his signature.
4.6. In providing the Client with supplementary services connected with organizational and business-related support within the framework of the legal services, the Law Firm's remuneration for such supplementary services shall be settled according to real working time, using hourly rates agreed on for legal services.
5. Final provisions
5.1. An agreement to provide legal services shall be concluded for an indefinite period of time unless it stems unequivocally from the scope of the mandate that it has been concluded for the period of duration of the legal services' provision in a given case.
5.2. Each of the Parties shall have the right to terminate the agreement concluded for an indefinite period of time with one month's notice, to be effective at the end of the calendar month. The termination of the agreement due to its termination by notice shall not influence the manner of settling the activities performed in the last month of the agreement's duration, which shall be made following the principles outlined in Chapter 4 above.
5.3. The Parties undertake to resolve any disputes connected with the agreement's interpretation or performance to provide legal services by way of mutual negotiations. If it is impossible to resolve a dispute amicably, the court of law with exclusive geographic competence for the Law Firm's seat shall settle the dispute.
5.4. Throughout the period of duration of the agreement to provide legal services as well as within the period of three years from its cessation, the Principal undertakes not to hire employees or permanent collaborators of the Law Firm nor to enter with them into direct cooperation within the scope of providing legal services.