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FEES

Because trust is at the heart of the client-lawyer relationship, VERSCHUEREN & Partners makes it a point of honour to practice a policy of total transparency in terms of fees.

Each situation being particular, it is difficult to fix in advance the quantity and duration of the services that will have to be rendered for the proper conduct of a case. However, VERSCHUEREN & Partners intends to guarantee its Clients a perfect control of the cost of its interventions.

Any assignment entrusted to VERSCHUEREN & Partners is therefore governed by a fee agreement, concluded after consultation with the Client. This agreement clearly sets out the terms and conditions for the determination of the fees, the possible application of a success fee and the taxation of administrative costs according to a precise scale.

And because it is essential to call upon a lawyer who is able to justify that his fees are in line with the work carried out, each case handled by VERSCHUEREN & Partners is systematically subject to a detailed and timed encoding of the services provided.

For Clients who benefit from legal protection insurance (car, family, professional, all-risk or other), VERSCHUEREN & Partners shall be responsible for taking all steps with the company with a view to its intervention in the payment of costs and fees.

In contentious matters, VERSCHUEREN & Partners always requires that the opposing party or parties be ordered to pay a procedural indemnity to cover its fees and the costs incurred.

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THE RETAINERS

The guarantee of a budget that is always under control means regularly reviewing the work carried out by the Lawyer and the costs incurred.

To this end, VERSCHUEREN & Partners periodically sends out requests for retainers, which are detailed and timed, so that the client has complete and accurate information about the services performed and the costs incurred.

These requests for advance payments, which are also an opportunity to oversee the progress of the case, are intended to cover as far as possible the services and costs already incurred, as well as those which the Lawyer envisages in the near future.

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THE FEES

The fees cover the work of consultations, correspondence, telephone calls, study of files, research, meetings, expert opinions, preparation of hearing notes, motions, summonses, submissions and other procedural acts, appearances at hearings, travel, waiting time in the courtroom, and all other usual procedures carried out by the Lawyer, including the operations necessary for invoicing.

Unless otherwise agreed, the fees of VERSCHUEREN & Partners shall be invoiced on the basis of an hourly rate fixed by agreement with the Client within the limits of fair moderation, taking into account in particular the importance of the dispute, its complexity, the degree of urgency, the personal situation of the Client, or the specialisation and experience of the Lawyer.

According to this method, the time spent by the Lawyer in handling the case is scrupulously accounted for and then invoiced according to the hourly rate agreed upon in the fee agreement. In this respect, it should be remembered that Clients can contribute to limiting fees and expenses, in particular by favouring negotiation/conciliation or by preparing complete files and precise summary notes as soon as possible.

The basic hourly rate may be increased in certain special circumstances, in particular for duties carried out in an emergency, for services requiring expertise in a specialised matter, due to the difficulties encountered, the responsibilities to be taken on by the lawyer or the exceptional results obtained. This basic rate may also be reduced, on an exceptional basis, according to criteria to be assessed by the lawyer in charge of the case.

It may also be agreed that the fees will be, depending on the result obtained and the interest of this result for the Client, increased by a « success fee » premium.

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ADMINISTRATIVE FEES & DISBURSEMENTS

The administrative costs are fixed either at a flat rate (10% of the fees) or according to the following scales:

File opening : 50,-€.

Correspondence and typed pages: 10,-€/page

Photocopies: 0,50€/page

Email printing: 0,25€/page

Telephone and fax costs: 0.50€/call.

Travel expenses are fixed at 0.50€/Km; they are calculated from the Lawyer’s actual place of departure, wherever it is located.

Archiving (for 5 years and then destruction): 50,-€.

Disbursements are always invoiced at cost price.