1. Introduction
These standard terms apply to all assignments undertaken or conducted by the law firm Vogt & Wiig AS or the company's lawyers or other employees.
The law firm Vogt & Wiig AS is registered in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises. Our Oslo office is registered as the main office.
The law firm Vogt & Wiig AS will strive to safeguard the client's interests in the best possible way. The assignment will be carried out according to our quality assurance routines.
In addition to these standard terms the Norwegian Bar Association's regulations for fee estimation, the code of conduct and the Regulations pursuant to the Courts of Law Act ("the Attorney Regulations") are also applicable.
All attorneys connected with the law firm are members of the Norwegian Bar Association and are thus subject to the regulations of the Norwegian Bar Association in addition to the relevant statutes and public regulations covering legal practices.
2. Establishing the assignment
Before an assignment is finally accepted, we will seek to uncover any conflict of interest or other issues that mean that our firm cannot or ought not to take on the assignment. Such assessment is also continually carried out if new parties come into the case. If consideration for the client so dictates and it is considered prudent, the assignment may be commenced before the assessment is completed. We emphasise that this may result in us later having to terminate the assignment.
In relation to the assignment we will also conduct identity checks pursuant to the Act on Money Laundering.
Should the assignment later be extended to more than was originally agreed upon, we will issue a confirmation of this, unless the extension is apparent from other correspondence between the parties.
3. Responsible partner
A responsible partner will be appointed to all assignments, pursuant to Section 232 of the Courts of Law Act. In addition, other lawyers or other employees may work on the case to the extent that this is considered expedient.
The responsible partner will ensure that the assignment is carried out in accordance with the client's best interests, and will assess whether it would be most expedient for part of the assignment to be carried out by a senior associate, a paralegal or a secretary.
Should the client have particular preferences as to which attorney is to carry out the assignment, these preferences will as a rule be respected.
4. Invoicing
The basis for our invoicing routines is the time spent working on your case in a professional and efficient manner. Time spent will usually be invoiced according to the following hourly rates (excluding VAT):
Partners NOK 2.300 - 3.500
Senior associates NOK 2.200 - 2.800
Associates NOK 1.600 - 2.400
Paralegals NOK - 1.500
Our rates are adjusted yearly on 1st January each year.
Our fees will be calculated within these rates. Variations may thus occur for individual clients and fields of responsibility.
8 hours per day will be charged for travel, unless the actual absence exceeds this.
Our hourly rates include secretarial services and general clerical services. An additional administration fee of NOK 300 per case will be charged for telephone and fax use. The hourly rate/administration fee does not, however, include copying, unusually large communication expenses, overtime pay for secretaries, courier services or travelling and meeting expenses.
When determining the final fee, the sum obtained by time spent will be estimated in conjunction with other aspects of the case. The following elements may be emphasised when the fee is determined:
- Whether the assignment has required particular legal expertise,
- Whether the legal questions considered have been unusually complicated,
- Whether the client has wished to be assisted at particularly inconvenient times of day, or with particularly short time limits,
- The responsibility following from the work performed (particularly related to declarations of warranty, legal opinions etc.) and in particular instances the results achieved.
External assistance (experts, appraisers, medical statements etc.) will be invoiced to you directly or through us unless otherwise agreed. Such disbursements will normally have to be prepaid. Our firm does not charge fees for the administration of external aid, as this work is charged according to our ordinary hourly rates.
Pursuant to the rules of the Norwegian Bar Association, no fee agreements based on percentages or shares of the results obtained will be entered into. You may, however, on request be informed of the stipulated cost of the case, or a cost limit may be set so that further work on the case is stalled awaiting your renewed approval. Such an agreement must be explicitly made and must be included in the assignment confirmation or submitted as a separate, written confirmation in order to be valid.
As a rule, invoicing will take place monthly. If a different invoicing routine is desired, this must be explicitly agreed. The invoice will normally fall due after 14 days and delayed payment will entail the addition of default interest.
Each invoice will be accompanied by a specification detailing the work performed in the period concerned. The specification will list the number of hours spent by each lawyer involved in the case, as well as the number of hours spent on the various sides of the case, if the client so wishes.
If several assignments for the same client are charged on the same invoice, the specification will identify which parts of the fee and expenses are related to which case.
As of 1 July 2001 legal services are subject to value added tax (VAT). This means that VAT is added to the fees and disbursements accrued in the undertaking of the assignment.
5. Advance payment
We reserve the right to collect advance payment to cover our fees, expenses and other disbursements. Such advance payment will be deposited in our clients' account and handled as clients' funds that may not, without instructions from the client, be used for purposes other than coverage of our fees. In the event that such advance payment is requested but not made, we reserve the right to withdraw from the assignment or discontinue our services.
6. Clients' funds
All clients' funds that are deposited with us will be handled in accordance with applicable Norwegian legislation and the regulations governing the holding of clients funds of the Norwegian Bar Association. Currently all funds are deposited in a client account with Nordea Bank Norge ASA in Norwegian currency (NOK). We take no responsibility for loss, attachment, withholding nor appropriation of clients funds, provided they are handled pursuant to the regulations, for example, if the client funds are attached or withheld by court order or regulatory decision, or if a bank, where the funds are held, becomes insolvent, is placed under administration or any similar event renders the client funds unavailable.
Clients funds which are paid to us in Euro are placed in a Euro account. USD are placed in a USD account and all other currencies are converted and placed in the NOK client account.
7. Non-disclosure
All information received by clients or about clients or others in relation to our work will be handled with confidentiality. Exceptions from the confidentiality regulations follow from the Act on Money Laundering. All Vogt & Wiig employees are bound by professional secrecy, and have signed a non-disclosure statement to this effect. Personal data are treated in accordance with the Act on Processing of Personal Data.
There will be a need to disclose some of the information with which you provide us, for instance when applying for legal aid coverage or when employing experts, or in other contexts necessary to safeguarding your interests. We presuppose that we have your permission to disclose information as described in this paragraph. Unless otherwise agreed, Vogt & Wiig shall be entitled to disclose an existing client relationship so as to explain conflicts of interest, or as a reference to potential clients.
We hereby inform you that pursuant to the Act on Money Laundering and the appurtenant Regulations, we may be required to demand the presentation of identification papers and necessary power of attorney from the client in order to conduct identity checks when certain services are provided. Further, we may be obliged to conduct internal investigations if certain criminal offences are suspected, and in certain instances we may be obliged to report the matter to Økokrim (the Norwegian National Authority for Investigation and Prosecution of Economic and Environmental Crime). Such duty to report to Økokrim may arise without us having the right to inform the client that Økokrim has been notified.
8. Liability and insurance/security
The liability of the law firm follows the ordinary compensation rules of Norwegian law. Our liability is, however, limited to a maximum of NOK 50,000,000 (fifty million Norwegian kroner) for each assignment, unless a lower ceiling is agreed for the individual assignment.
The law firm has insurance and obligatory security with Chartis Europe S.A., Box 1588 Vika, 0118 Oslo, Norway.
9. Copyright
Vogt & Wiig AS shall retain all rights related to material developed or employed by us. This applies also to opinions, working methods, agreements etc. used for or delivered to the client. The client shall only be entitled to use such documents etc. for the purpose for which they were created or delivered. Over and above this, it shall not be permitted, without the consent of Vogt & Wiig AS, to use such documents etc. oneself or to deliver them to third parties.
10. Filing
The client will be supplied with copies of all correspondence and relevant case documents during the handling of the case. These should be retained by the client, as subsequent copying and filing will result in further costs that will be charged to the client. Original documents (wills, mortgage bonds, instruments of debt etc.) will be stored only when there is written request and agreement to do so.
Correspondence and documents will not be kept by us for more than 10 years, unless otherwise agreed. After the expiration of this period the documents may be destroyed.
11. Revision
Our standard terms will normally be revised once a year and when the need arises. Updated terms will be published on our web page www.vogtwiig.no.
12. Complaints
Should our aid and services not meet your expectations, we ask you to urgently address this with the responsible partner or with the board of Vogt & Wiig AS. We will promptly assess your complaint and if so needed take the necessary steps to correct the matter.
Complaints may also be submitted to the regional disciplinary panels of the Norwegian Bar Association or to the Disciplinary Council for Advocates. Further information is provided on the Norwegian Bar Association’s web page www.jus.no. The time limit for complaints is normally 6 months.
13. Law and jurisdiction
All of our cases are governed by Norwegian law. The court of domicile shall be the legal venue of the office primarily involved with the case, Oslo, Bergen or Trondheim respectively.
14. Assignment termination
We will carry out the tasks entrusted to us until the assignment is considered completed, unless one or more of the following conditions occur:
- Our assignment is withdrawn
- Substantial lack of payment of one or several of our fee/disbursement invoices
- Our client is subjected to insolvency procedures or is otherwise considered to be insolvent
- The client’s interests are best served by our termination of the assignment.