Terms & Conditions

General terms and conditions 

 

1.       General information 

1.1. The law firm Dear Willez Masson & Costantini (hereinafter called “DWMC”) is organised in the legal form of a limited liability company under Belgian law, registered with the Crossroads Banks for Enterprises under N° 0777.276.044 and with VAT number BE 0777.276.044. The list of shareholders is available upon request. 

1.2. DWMC has its registered office at Emile Francqui, 1, building B, zone 1, 1435 Mont-Saint-Guibert. DWMC also has an establishment in Brussels, avenue de Tervueren 295, 1150 Woluwé-Saint-Pierre. 

For any further information and/or complaint you can contact us at:

info@dwmc.legal

www.dwmc.legal

Tel: +32 10 43 47 80

1.3. Within DWMC, the case is entrusted to one (or more) of the following associate lawyers (hereinafter the “Lawyer” or the “Lawyers”): 

 

Laurent Dear 

Laurent Dear Avocat

Limited liability company 

CBE/VAT: 0811.404.604

Registered office: Rue Notre-Dame 27, 1360 Perwez

Email: laurent.dear@dwmc.legal  

Direct phone number: + 32 10 41 71 86

 

Olivier Willez and/or Emilian Cojocaru

Olivier Willez Avocat

Limited liability company

CBE/VAT: 0480.216.613

Registered office: Avenue de Tervueren 295, 1150 Woluwé-Saint-Pierre

Email: olivier.willez@dwmc.legal  

Direct phone number: + 32 10 41 71 99

 
Laurent Masson 

Laurent Masson Avocat

Limited liability company

CBE/VAT: 0859.631.321

Registered office: Avenue de Tervueren 295, 1150 Woluwe-Saint-Pierre

Email: laurent.masson@dwmc.legal 

Direct phone number: + 32 10 43 47 88

 

Nicolas Tancredi

Nicolas Tancredi Avocat

Limited liability company

CBE/VAT:  0674.776.936 

Registered office: Rue de Longueville 21 à 1315 Incourt

Email: nicolas.tancredi@dwmc.legal

Direct phone number: + 32 10 43 46 77

 

Alain Costantini 

Alain Costantini Avocat

Limited liability company

CBE/VAT: 0463.794.018

Registered office: Drève Aleyde de Brabant 6, 1150 Woluwe-Saint-Pierre

Email: alain.costantini@dwmc.legal 

Direct phone number: +32 10 41 72 97 

 

Sarah Ghislain

Sarah Ghislain, Société d’avocats

Limited liability company

CBE/VAT : 0737.409.143

Registered office : Rue de la Colline 4, 5000 Namur

Email : sarah.ghislain@dwmc.legal 

Direct phone number : +32 10 43 47 87

 

1.4. The lawyers who practise within DWMC are registered with the French Order of Lawyers of the Brussels Bar or with the Order of the Walloon Brabant Bar and are subject to the Code of Ethics established by Avocats.be which can be consulted by clicking here. They also bear the title of lawyer, patented in Belgium. 

1.5. The lawyers have professional indemnity insurance cover: Ethias (rue des Croisiers 24, 4000 Liège – the geographical insurance cover is worldwide, with the exclusion of the U.S.A. and Canada).

1.6. In principle, your case will be handled by one or more of the above-mentioned Lawyers in collaboration with other DWMC lawyers. 

1.7. Unless otherwise agreed, the services will be provided by and/or for the account of one or more of the above identified legal persons who will be identified by the signatory(ies) designated as responsible for all exchanges and communications.  

1.8. These general terms and conditions and the special terms and conditions accompanying them (hereinafter referred to as the “Conditions”) apply to all services provided or to be provided by or on behalf of DWMC or its Lawyers and to all legal relationships emerging between DWMC/its Lawyers and third parties. The fact of entrusting a case entails compliance with the Conditions for that case and subsequent cases, subject to modifications that may be made thereto at regular intervals and of which the client will be duly informed; if the client has not received communication of the Conditions until after he has entrusted the case, compliance shall be deemed to result from the absence of withdrawal from the case after said communication. 

2.       Object of the assignment

2.1. The client entrusts the Lawyer with the defence of his interests in the context of an assignment of advice, assistance, negotiation, defence or representation before the courts and tribunals, or the bodies before which the client is summoned to appear (characteristics of the service: activities of lawyers - NACEBEL code 2008: 69101). 

2.2. The specific object of the Lawyer’s assignment shall be laid down, depending on the circumstances, in the special terms and conditions issued by the Lawyer at the start of the contractual relationship with the client, or in any other communication between the Lawyer and the client. 

3.       Start of the assignment

3.1. Unless otherwise agreed by the Lawyer and the client, the legal assignment shall begin when the client and the Lawyer have agreed on the object of the assignment, its financial conditions, and the application of the Conditions. 

4.       Fees and expenses – billing terms – terms of payment

a)      Billing terms

4.1. Fees are as a rule calculated in units of six (6) or ten (10) minutes, at the hourly rate(s) agreed with the client, and, where appropriate, combined with a success fee. These rates are subject to revision at regular intervals.

4.2. The hourly rate includes the contribution towards the costs incurred by DWMC (notably running of the secretariat, typing services, telephone, fax, ICT and mailings).   

4.3. Fees do not cover travel and/or accommodation expenses outside of Brussels and Walloon Brabant, legal and procedural costs, bailiffs’ or notaries’ fees, specific costs (including costs for paralegals, translation, expertise, consultation of professionals external to our association, creation of data rooms, tax stamps, registered or hand delivered mail, etc.) or disbursements (court fees or other expenses advanced on your behalf and for your account). These expenses are indicated and invoiced separately based on their actual cost price.

4.4. Fees are in principle billed in the form of periodic interim invoices. Prior to the start of the assignment and during the handling of the case, the Lawyer may demand one or more advance payments from the client. An advance shall be understood as a lump sum paid by the client prior to receipt of a detailed statement of costs and fees. These advances are deducted from the final total amount of costs and fees. Provisional invoices are not necessarily representative of the progress of duties or of the amount of costs and expenses incurred. 

4.5. The services provided are subject to Belgian VAT at the applicable rate insofar as pursuant to the Belgian VAT Code they are located in Belgium. For services located abroad, all amounts indicated and invoiced are exclusive of VAT, but these services may be subject to VAT in the client’s country. 

4.6. In contentious cases, the courts may order the losing party to pay to the other party or parties an amount, generally in the form of a lump sum, determined according to a scale established by law, as a contribution to the winning party’s lawyers’ costs. This lump sum does not necessarily correspond to the fees and costs actually charged to the client. 

b)      Terms of payment

4.7.  All invoices are payable in cash (unless otherwise indicated on the invoice) to the bank account(s) mentioned on the invoice.

4.8. Any unpaid invoice shall, without prior formal notice, bear default interest at the rate of 1% per month. The amount of the unpaid invoices shall also be increased by a compensation of 10% of the unpaid amount. The Lawyer reserves the right to suspend the provision of the services or to stop the services subject to a reasonable period of notice due to non-payment of the requested advances or the fees and costs or for any other serious grounds.

4.9. Advances, invoices and costs are payable at the address indicated in the Lawyer’s special terms and conditions.

c)       Deduction of fees from third-party fund

4.10.  The sums that the Lawyer keeps or receives on behalf of the client are transferred by the Lawyer to a special bank account in accordance with the Bar’s regulations. This account is referred to as a third-party account. The client authorises the Lawyer to deduct from outstanding fees and expenses any amounts received on behalf of the client, provided the client is notified thereof in writing.

d)      Third-party payer

4.11.  If the client benefits from partial or total reimbursement by a third-party payer (e.g. an insurance company) of the payment of the Lawyer’s fees, he shall notify that third party as soon as possible of the dispute and the intervention by the Lawyer, and inform the Lawyer of the conditions for intervention of that third party.   

4.12.  The Lawyer shall issue his invoices to the client and the latter shall bear the fees regardless of whether they are reimbursed or not by the third party.  

5.       Use of third parties

5.1. Where the assistance of third parties is required for the performance of an assignment, the Lawyer shall first consult with the client, as far as appropriate, and demonstrate due diligence in the selection of such third parties.

5.2. The DWMC lawyers or DWMC are not liable for errors or shortcomings by third parties in the performance of their services. The Lawyer is authorised to accept, on behalf of the client, any limitations of liability stipulated by such third parties. 

5.3. The client undertakes to immediately pay all invoices sent to him for payment of the fees and expenses of third parties used by the Lawyer in accordance with the preceding paragraphs.

6.       Confidentiality

6.1. All correspondence sent to the client is covered by professional secrecy and reserved for exclusive use by its recipient(s). 

6.2. With the exception of correspondence from a lawyer who is an officer of the court, correspondence from the Lawyer to the client, another lawyer or the authorities of the Bar Association shall as a general rule be confidential. 

6.2. If the client comes into possession of confidential correspondence, he undertakes to preserve its confidential nature, not to transmit it to third parties and not to use it either in the context of the professional relationship with the Firm or outside this context.

6.3. The result of the services, in any form or by any means whatsoever, is provided for the exclusive benefit and information of the client. These documents may not therefore be copied, quoted or made public in whole or in part (subject to communications for the client’s internal use) without the prior consent of the Lawyer, unless disclosure is required by law or by a competent authority (in such cases, the client is required to inform the Lawyer in advance, unless prohibited by law). The Lawyer reserves the right to confidentially disclose to the press or otherwise his intervention for a client in a transaction or court proceedings. As soon as such transaction or court proceedings become public, such disclosure may be made on a non-confidential basis.

6.4. The professional rules authorise the Lawyers, in strict compliance with professional secrecy, to accept cases for other clients whose activities may be competitive with those of the client. The Lawyers may also accept to represent other clients whose interests are opposed to those of a client, in matters where the latter does not regularly consult one or more Lawyers.

7.       Protection of personal data

7.1. DWMC and its Lawyers are committed to transparency with regard to the way in which the client’s personal data is collected and used. DWMC and its Lawyers undertake to comply at all times with all applicable laws and regulations governing the protection of personal data. For detailed information on how DWMC and its Lawyers process your personal data, please read our Privacy Policy by clicking here. 

8.       Liability

8.1. Any contractual or non-contractual liability of the Lawyers or of DWMC itself for loss, damage, costs or expenses caused by the provision of services shall, with the exception of fraud, be limited to the amount of the insurance cover of the Lawyer or Lawyers concerned. 

8.2. The Lawyer cannot be held liable for any loss, damage, expenses or costs arising in whatever manner from (misleading) actions or acts of negligence, omissions, false or incomplete declarations or any other irregular act on the part of the client, its management, employees, agents or subcontractors. The Lawyer reserves the right to recover any loss or damage from the client.

8.3. The Lawyer shall not be held liable for actions or acts of negligence that occurred before the provision of the services. Even where the Lawyer has provided advice based on information or recommendations made by external lawyers or advisers or others used by the Lawyer without having been ordered to by the client, any liability of the Lawyer for loss, damage, costs or expenses arising directly or indirectly from an action or act of negligence by a third party shall be excluded. 

8.4. The Lawyer declines any liability for damage caused by the use of documents in a form other than that handed over by the Lawyer or in situations other than those for which these documents were prepared. 

8.5. The Lawyer declines any liability for delays or non-fulfilment of his obligations due to circumstances beyond his reasonable control.

9.       Prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing

9.1. If the Lawyer assists the client in the preparation or execution of certain transactions related to the purchase or sale of real estate or companies, management of securities, funds or other related assets, opening or management of bank, savings or portfolio accounts, organising contributions necessary for the incorporation, management or direction of companies, the incorporation, management or direction of companies, trusts, or similar legal structures, or interventions in the name and on behalf of the client in any financial or real estate transactions, the Lawyer undertakes to strictly comply with legislation and the Bar’s regulations on the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing (in particular the provisions of the Law of 18 September 2017 on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing).. In accordance with the applicable rules in this respect, the Lawyer shall check the identity of his client and exercise vigilance in this matter.

9.2. This procedure requires the cooperation of the client and requires clients operating as a company to provide their Lawyer with the identity of the ultimate beneficiary of that company or succession of companies, and also to notify the Lawyer of any change of situation in this structure. If within two weeks following the request for mandatory information by the Lawyer, the client refuses to furnish the information, the Lawyer may terminate his intervention pursuant to Article 2.10 of the Bar Association Regulations of 21 December 2011. In addition, under the money laundering legislation, the Lawyer is required, in certain circumstances, to inform the head of bar association of possible money laundering and terrorist financing operations in which the client might be involved. 

10.   Exchange of information in the field of taxation

10.1.  Services involving a cross-border aspect may fall within the scope of the law of 20 December 2019 transposing Council Directive (EU) 2018/822 of 25 May 2018 amending Directive 2011/16/EU as regards mandatory automatic exchange of information in the field of taxation in relation to reportable cross-border arrangements (hereinafter “DAC 6”). Under DAC 6, each intermediary intervening as from 1 July 2020 may be required to report a structure that it advises or applies when such structure qualifies as a “cross-border structure”.  

10.2.  An exemption applies to this legal reporting obligation when the intermediary is bound by professional secrecy organised by a law (including lawyers) and intervenes in the context of the analysis of the taxpayer’s legal situation or in the defence of his rights in the event of a dispute, both as concerns dispute initiation and avoidance. The relevant reporting obligation for the qualified “cross-border structure” will then pass onto another intermediary and, in the absence thereof, to the taxpayer, who shall be informed by the Lawyer. Although this reporting obligation enters into force on 1 July 2020, certain qualifying structures must be reported retroactively if they occurred since 25 June 2018.    

10.3.  If the Lawyer is unable to report due to professional secrecy and if no other intermediary reports, the client will have to take the necessary action himself. The Lawyer can in neither case be held liable for the absence of reporting or for any irregularity in the reporting. Where appropriate, the client may mandate the law firm to make the reporting on his behalf. The modalities of this additional service shall be agreed by the law firm and the client.

11.   Right of withdrawal

11.1.    Only in the case where the client is a consumer and where the contract is concluded at a distance, does the client have a period of 14 calendar days to withdraw from the contract, without having to justify his decision. 

11.2.    The right of withdrawal expires after a period of 14 days from the contract conclusion date.

11.3.    To inform the Lawyer of his decision to withdraw from the contract, the client may formulate a clearly worded statement outlining his decision, or use the following model text: 

“For the attention of [...], rue Emile Francqui, 1, bâtiment B, zone 1, 1435 Mont-Saint-Guibert

Email: info@dwmc.be  

Date:

I/We hereby notify you of my/our withdrawal from the contract for the provision of services concluded on … … …

Name(s) of the consumer(s)

Address of the consumer(s)

Signature of the consumer(s) (only if the form is provided in paper format)”.

 

11.4.    In the event of withdrawal, the Lawyer will reimburse any advances received without excessive delay and, in any case, no later than fourteen days from the day following the day on which the Lawyer was duly informed by the client of the latter’s decision to withdraw from the contract. The Lawyer shall refund the advances using the same method of payment as used by the client for the initial transaction, unless expressly agreed otherwise. Such refund shall in no case result in any costs for the client.

11.5.    The client acknowledges that he loses the exercise of his right of withdrawal when the performance of the services began after his prior express approval and express waiver of his right of withdrawal.

12.   End of the assignment – archiving

12.1.    The client may terminate the Lawyer's assignment at any time by informing him in writing.

12.2.    However, where the Lawyer's assignment is part of a regular succession of files, the Lawyer may negotiate with the client a period of notice or compensation.

12.3.    The Lawyer shall at the request of the client make the documents in his file available to the client or to the Lawyer designated by the client.

12.4.    The Lawyer may also terminate the contract at any time by notifying the client in writing. When circumstances so require, the lawyer will, on the one hand, take the necessary precautionary measures and, on the other hand, ensure that the client is given a reasonable period of time to organise his defence. 

12.5.    The lawyer keeps the archives of the file entrusted by the client for a period of five years from the date on which: 

-          the client terminated the lawyer’s involvement;

-          the Lawyer ended his intervention;

-          the case is closed by completion of the mission entrusted to the Lawyer.

12.6.    Such storage shall cover correspondence and the main procedural documents, as well as the substantive documents which were entrusted to the lawyer in original form, without prejudice to the Lawyer's right to return such original documents to the client.

12.7.    For cases subject to the Law of 18 September 2017 on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing, the retention period for archives relating to client identification shall be extended to ten years.

12.8.    At the end of the five- or ten-year period, the Lawyer may destroy all the case documents, without exception, after informing the client in writing and giving him a reasonable period of time to recover the documents. It is therefore up to the client, if he so wishes, to ask the Lawyer before the expiry of the five- or ten-year period to return all or part of the case documents. The documents shall be returned to the Lawyer’s office.

12.9.    If the client asks for the case documents to be sent to him, this shall be done at the client's expense. The Lawyer may require prior payment of costs before returning the documents to the client.

12.10. If payment of the costs of returning the documents is not made within one month of the request for their payment, the client shall be deemed to have waived the return of the documents, of which the Lawyer will notify the client in writing with a notice period of eight working days. 

13.   Miscellaneous

13.1.  The parties agree that the Conditions, any related agreements and the assignment in general shall be governed solely by Belgian law. The Walloon Brabant Court of First Instance and the Brussels Court of First Instance shall have exclusive jurisdiction for any dispute in connection with the interpretation or enforcement of the Conditions and any related agreement, without prejudice to the jurisdiction of the professional bodies to which the Lawyers belong. In addition, the parties expressly and conventionally agree that any court other than those referred to in the preceding paragraph shall be deemed incompetent for the matter indicated in the said paragraph.

13.2.  The provisions contained in the Conditions are also agreed and stipulated for the account and benefit of the directors, and shareholders of DWMC, of the directors of its shareholders and of any persons that are or have been active within DWMC as shareholder, lawyer, counsel, collaborator, intern, employee, adviser, subcontractor, or in any other capacity.