General Terms & Conditions

1. The law firm Arteo Law SRL/BV (Arteo) is a limited liability company (société à responsabilité limitée/besloten vennootschap) incorporated under the laws of Belgium, has its registered office in Brussels and registered in the RPM/RPR Brussels under number 0736 373 124. A list of its shareholders is available upon request. All lawyers who work in this law firm are registered with the Ordre des avocats à la Cour de cassation (the Order of lawyers at the Belgian Court of Cassation), the Ordre français des avocats du Barreau de Bruxelles (the French-speaking Order of the Brussels Bar) or the Nederlandse Orde van Advocaten bij de Balie te Brussel (the Dutch-speaking Order of the Brussels Bar). Arteo and its lawyers are bound by strict professional secrecy in accordance with applicable legal and ethical rules.

2. These General Terms & Conditions apply to all work performed or work that will be performed by or on behalf of Arteo and to all legal relationships between Arteo and third parties arising from or in connection with such work. Entrusting Arteo with a matter implies the client’s acceptance of the General Terms & Conditions for this first matter as well as for matters which the client will assign to Arteo later, without prejudice to any amendments that will be made to those Conditions from time to time of which the client will be informed about them in due course. However, if the client only read or received the General Terms & Conditions after having entrusted a matter to Arteo, the client’s non-withdrawal of the matter from Arteo after having read or received the General Terms & Conditions will be considered its acceptance of Arteo General Terms & Conditions.

3. Law firms are obliged to comply with specific legal and ethical rules aimed at preventing money laundering and terrorist financing.

   Before accepting a client in certain cases, Arteo is obliged to verify the identity of the client and that of its possible agents and beneficial owners (UBOs). Arteo is also obliged to assess the client’s characteristics and the purpose and nature of the assignment. These vigilance obligations also apply during the performance of the assignment, and any other assignments the client entrusts to Arteo.

   To allow Arteo to fulfil these obligations, the client must, upon request, provide Arteo with the necessary information without delay. If any changes occur that may affect its status, the client has to inform Arteo without delay. Arteo processes and stores the information communicated for a period of 10 years from the end of the business relationship with, or the last mission that was entrusted to, Arteo.

   If Arteo has not received the requisite information and documents, Arteo may refuse the assignment or suspend or terminate its services. The fees will remain due for all services already performed and Arteo cannot be held liable for any compensation as a result of such refusal, suspension or termination.

   If, in carrying out its assignment, Arteo discovers facts that are (suspected to be) related to money laundering or terrorist financing, Arteo is obliged to report it to the President of the Order(s) of lawyers that have jurisdiction on the matter, except when it is providing the client with legal advice or defending or representing the client in connection with a lawsuit. The President of the relevant Order’s may report the file to the Financial Intelligence Task Unit, in which case Arteo must terminate its work without being allowed to inform the client of the reason. Arteo cannot be held liable for reports transmitted to the Financial Intelligence Task Unit in good faith.

   Arteo reserves the right to proceed with internal screenings based on ethical principles and/or policies it may adopt from time to time. For that purpose, Arteo may request additional information and documents which shall be covered by the duty of professional secrecy. Based on such screening, Arteo may in its own discretion refuse any assignment or suspend or terminate its services and the client will not be entitled to any compensation as a result of such refusal, suspension or termination.

   Arteo might be legally obliged to share other information with the authorities.

4. The law of 20 December 2019 implementing the EU Council Directive 2018/822 of 25 May 2018 (DAC6 Law) requires qualifying intermediaries to disclose reportable cross-border arrangements to the tax authorities. As Arteo is bound by legal professional secrecy rules, Arteo will upon its intervention as intermediary in a reportable cross-border arrangement notify the client in writing indicating that the client is obliged to fulfil the reporting obligation himself/herself. The reporting obligation under the DAC6 Law then shifts from Arteo to the client.

5. If third parties are called upon to provide services in connection with the assignment, Arteo may select and instruct such third parties on behalf of the client.

   Arteo is not liable for any failure or default by any such third party in the latter’s performance of its services. Arteo has the right to accept, on behalf of the client, any terms and conditions (including any limitation of liability) stipulated by any such third party.

6. Advice and opinions given by Arteo are covered by our duty of professional secrecy and are reserved for the exclusive use of those to whom such advice and opinions are addressed. Any product of Arteo’s services released to the client in any form or medium is furnished by Arteo on the basis that it is for the benefit and information of the client only. These documents may not be copied, referred to, or disclosed, in whole or in part (except for the client’s own internal purposes), without Arteo’s prior written consent unless such communication is required by law or by a competent regulatory authority (in which case the client agrees to inform Arteo in advance unless such informing is prohibited by law). Arteo reserves the right to mention confidentially to the press or other source about its involvement in a transaction or proceedings for a client. Once the transaction or proceedings become public, such mention can be made in a non-confidential manner.

7. The ethical rules allow Arteo, subject to strict compliance with the rules of professional secrecy, to accept matters for other clients whose activities could be competing with those of the client. Arteo may also represent other clients (whose interests might conflict with those of the already existing client) in matters for which the already existing client does not consult Arteo on a regular basis.

8. Any and all liability of Arteo in respect of any work performed by or on behalf of Arteo or otherwise relating to an assignment given to Arteo is limited, except in case of willful misconduct, to the amount which is effectively covered in the particular case under the professional indemnity insurance program taken out by Arteo. The limit of indemnity under this program is currently EUR 30,000,000.00 per loss. For the US and Canada, and matters subject to the law of a State of the US or Canada, this limit of indemnity of EUR 30,000,000.00 also applies, but such coverage is capped at EUR 60,000,000.00 per year.

   If the liability is not covered for whatever reason by the insurance, Arteo covers its own liability, but this is, except in case of willful misconduct, limited to three times the amount of the fees that the client effectively paid to Arteo during the year preceding the realization of the loss, with an aggregate maximum liability of EUR 200,000.00.

   The client shall hold Arteo harmless against all claims, demands, and actions of any nature (together with any costs and expenses relating thereto) exceeding this limit. Upon written request, Arteo can take out supplementary insurance for the purpose of a particular file, and if it chooses to do so, any additional cost resulting from this will be charged to the client.

   The directors (administrateurs/bestuurders) and shareholders of Arteo (and, if any of those are legal entities, the directors and shareholders thereof), and all persons who work or have worked for Arteo, whether as partner, of counsel, counsel, lawyer, associate, trainee or employee (and, if any of those are legal entities, the directors and shareholders thereof), shall, except in the case of willful misconduct, not be held liable on any ground whatsoever in relation to the services provided.

9. The contract or relationship between the client and Arteo does not create or give rise to — nor is it intended to create or give rise to — any third-party rights. No third party has any right to enforce or rely on said contract or relationship which does not confer any right or benefit to any third party, directly or indirectly, expressly or implicitly.

10. The fees are in principle calculated per units of ten minutes based on hourly rates combined, as the case may be, with a success fee determined in agreement with the client. The hourly rates depend on and evolve with the seniority of the lawyers performing the services. Arteo may change these rates from time to time.

    To cover sundry expenses (i.e. secretarial work, typing, telephone, fax, ICT and postal services) Arteo’s fees shall be increased by a 5% office surcharge. The office surcharge does not cover the costs of travel and/or accommodation outside the Brussels area, the judicial and procedural costs, the specific expenses (amongst others translation, expert assessments, consultation of professionals outside of the firm, creation of data room, fiscal stamps, registered mail, express courier, etc.) nor the outlays (court fees and other expenses advanced by Arteo in the client’s name and for the client’s account.).

    In principle, the fees are invoiced by means of intermediary statements. Arteo’s fees may also be invoiced by means of provisional statements which do not necessarily reflect the status of the work Arteo has performed or is performing. Nor do these provisional statements reflect the amount of costs and expenses already incurred on the client’s behalf.

    All invoices and statements of fees and expenses of Arteo must be paid within thirty (30) days from the invoice or statement date. If an invoice or statement is not timely paid, interest will be charged to the client automatically and without prior notice starting from the due date and at a yearly rate of 8.5%. In addition, a fixed amount equal to 15% of the invoiced amount (with a minimum of EUR 500 and a maximum of EUR 12,500) will be charged to the client as fixed damages without prejudice to Arteo’s right to seek compensation for the effectively suffered damage and costs incurred.

    All services that Arteo renders are subject to Belgian VAT at the applicable rate on condition that such services, under the Belgian VAT Code, are considered to have been supplied in Belgium. If Arteo’s services are considered to have been supplied abroad, all sums quoted and invoiced do not include VAT, but such services can be subject to VAT in the country where the client is located.

11. The client might possibly benefit from the (partial or full) financial contribution from a paying third party (for example, an insurance company) in paying Arteo’s fees and expenses for a particular matter. If it does, the client must inform that third party about the matter and about Arteo’s involvement in it as soon as possible. The client should inform Arteo about the conditions of that third party’s financial contribution. Arteo will still issue its statements of fees and expenses in the client’s name, and the client remains responsible for paying the fees and expenses regardless of whether such fees and expenses have been or will be settled eventually by a third party. Arteo may request this third party to confirm its financial contribution and communicate to this third party, in view of the settlement, the statements of fees and expenses issued in the client’s name.

12. In litigation matters, courts may order the non-prevailing party to pay to the prevailing party (parties) a lump sum. This lump sum is determined according to a scale fixed by law or regulation and represents the non-prevailing party’s contribution to the prevailing party’s (parties’) lawyer fees. This lump sum does not correspond to the fees and costs actually charged by Arteo for the litigation matter.

13. Arteo is obliged by law to archive all files once the matter is closed. The original evidence or documents that have been entrusted to Arteo are returned to the client. Archives are kept for a period of five years from the matter’s closing date.

14. In accordance with the applicable legislation Arteo’s privacy policy is explained in detail in a separate document. This document constitutes an annex to these General Terms & Conditions and is to be considered as an integral part thereof.

15. These General Terms & Conditions apply to the exclusion of all other conditions. Each clause or term constitutes a separate and independent provision. If any provision is judged to be invalid or unenforceable, it shall be replaced by a valid and enforceable substitute provision which corresponds as closely as possible with the intent of the provision, while the remaining provisions continue to be valid.

16. All disputes arising from or in connection with (i) the work performed by or on behalf of Arteo or commissioned to Arteo and/or (ii) the legal relationship between Arteo and the client or other third parties involved in the client’s matter are governed by Belgian law to the exclusion of all other laws. All disputes are to be submitted to the exclusive jurisdiction of the competent courts in Brussels which will exclusively hear and decide on the dispute. The applicable law and competent courts apply to counterclaims, side claims, or claim for indemnification, without prejudice to the competence of any professional organizations that have authority over Arteo.

17. These General Terms & Conditions apply also to the advantage of the directors, (administrateurs/bestuurders) and shareholders of Arteo (and, if any, of those are legal entities, the directors and shareholders thereof), and all persons who work or have worked for Arteo, whether as partner, of counsel, counsel, lawyer, associate, trainee, employee, advisor, third party agent, or in any other capacity whatsoever (and, if any of those are legal entities, the directors and shareholders thereof).

Privacy Policy