- Scope
These general terms and conditions, as well as the guiding rules of the Swedish Bar Association regarding generally accepted legal practice, apply to all services that we, Falkenborn Advokatbyrå AB, corp.reg.no. 556798-7184 (below “Falkenborn” or “we”) provide. The guiding rules can be found at www.advokatsamfundet.se. These terms and conditions are subject to change from time to time. The current version is published on our website. Changes only apply to assignments that commence after the amended version has been published on our website.
Deviations from these general terms and conditions shall be agreed in writing in order to apply.
Falkenborn is the contracting party, and not any natural or legal person connected with us. Unless otherwise prescribed in mandatory law, no person, natural or legal, other than Falkenborn has any liability for the services or advice we provide.
- Client identification etc.
Under law, for certain assignments, we must check, inter alia, our client’s identity and ownership structure and inform ourselves of the purpose and nature of the assignment. Thus, we may ask you to provide identity documents together with information and material regarding your ownership structure. We may also request information and documentation evidencing the origin of funds and other assets. We may be required to verify the information provided to us via external sources, e.g. databases. We are required under law to retain all information and documentation we collect in conjunction with these checks.
Under law, we are required to report any suspicion of money laundering or the financing of terrorism to the Swedish Financial Police. Under law, we are prevented from notifying you of the fact that there is such a suspicion and whether such a report has been made or will be made. If there is suspicion of money laundering or the financing of terrorism, we are required by generally accepted legal practice and these terms and conditions to decline or withdraw from the assignment.
Under law, we may be required to report information to the Swedish Tax Agency regarding a client’s registration numbers for value added tax (VAT-number) and information about fees invoiced. By engaging us, our clients are deemed to have consented to our compliance with the aforementioned reporting requirement.
We process personal data in accordance with our privacy policy, which is available on our website.
- Our services
Our business is based on us providing quality advice to our clients. Our services and advice are adapted to the conditions and instructions presented to us before, and in the course of, each assignment. We trust that the circumstances you present to us are complete and correct and we have no responsibility to verify the accuracy of the information provided. As a client, you cannot use or rely on our advice for any purpose other than that for which the advice was intended.
We only provide legal advice and no advice on, e.g., commercial or technical issues. Our advice pertains to Swedish law. We do not provide tax advice.
As a client, you may cancel the assignment at any time by informing us of this in writing . We may withdraw from an assignment when permitted under the rules of the Swedish Bar Association.
When an assignment has been completed, or otherwise terminated, we will retain all relevant documents and results generated by the assignment, in either physical paper format or electronic format. The documents will be retained for at least as long as required by law and generally accepted legal practice.
- Communication
Unless you request otherwise, we will primarily communicate with you via the internet, often via email. Electronic communication poses security and confidentiality risks. We do not take responsibility for these risks.
Our security arrangements such as firewalls and spam filters may also sometimes filter legitimate email. Therefore, you should always make sure that important emails have been received by us, e.g. by giving us a phone call.
- Fees and invoicing etc.
Fees for our services are charged in accordance with generally accepted legal practice. If you so wish, we can provide you with an estimate of our total fees prior to commencing an assignment. Such an estimate is based on a preliminary assessment, made on the basis of the circumstances and conditions known at that time. Fee estimates are not binding. Value added tax will be levied on fees and expenses, to the extent we are required to do so.
Unless otherwise agreed, we will invoice monthly in arrears for work performed in accordance with the applicable hourly rate and for costs necessary for the performance of the assignment (for example, costs for couriers, travel and registration and application fees). Our individual hourly rates are, as a rule, adjusted annually. Adjusted rates are applied to ongoing assignments. The due date of the invoices is normally 20 days from the date of the invoice. In the event of non-payment, penalty interest is charged in accordance with the Swedish Interest Act.
In court cases and arbitral proceedings, the losing party may be ordered to pay the prevailing party’s legal costs, including fees for counsel. However, the prevailing party cannot always have its costs reimbursed in full. Regardless of whether you prevail or lose a case, you must always pay full compensation for the services we have provided and the costs we have incurred.
If our fees and costs are to be financed through a legal-expenses insurance, you must pay the fees and costs which exceed the amount paid under the insurance policy.
- Confidentiality
We observe confidentiality in accordance with the law and generally accepted legal practice. As a starting point, this means that we have a duty of confidentiality concerning such information we come to know of within the framework of the assignment we undertake.
An exception to the duty of confidentiality applies if you consented to us divulging certain information, and to the extent that it is necessary for us to be able to defend ourselves against a claim made by you, or to recover fees you owe us. In the event a claim is made against us, we may also provide information to out insurer. In certain cases, we may be liable under law to disclose information that is subject to confidentiality.
- Insider information
If you wish us to draw up and maintain a register of insiders to be able to fulfil your obligations under the Market Abuse Regulation, (EU) no. 596/2014, you must inform us in writing thereof.
- Limitation of liability
Our liability is limited to the loss you suffer as a result of fault or omission on our part, which means that liability for costs will be reduced by any amount that may be payable under an insurance policy or agreement. We are not liable for any liability you may incur to pay damages to a third party.
We are not liable for the services and advice of other advisers. This applies irrespective of whether we recommended, or engaged on your behalf, the adviser in question.
Our liability is limited to SEK 50 million per assignment. If our fees in the assignment at hand are less than SEK 500 000, our liability is instead limited to SEK 5 million.
If we discontinue an assignment due to circumstances for which the client is responsible, or due to an obligation under law or the rules of the Swedish Bar Association, we are not liable for any loss this may entail.
We hold professional indemnity insurance appropriate to our practice.
- Complaints and disputes
Clients who are satisfied with our services are the foundation upon which our practice is built. If, as a client, you are dissatisfied with the advice we have provided please inform us by contacting the partner-in-charge as soon as possible.
If, as a client, you wish to make a claim against us, this must be done as soon as the circumstances that form the basis of the claim become known to you. To be valid, a claim shall be submitted either (i) one year from the time at which the client knew of the aforementioned circumstances, or (if such point in time is later) (ii) one year from us making out our final invoice for the assignment.
If your demand is based upon a claim from a third party or public authority, we shall be entitled to address, regularise and settle the demand under the condition that we hold you free of harm. If you regularise, reach settlement or take any other measure in respect of such claim without our consent, we have no liability for the claim. If we compensate you for any claim, you shall, as a condition of our compensation, transfer to us or our insurer the right of subrogation to a third party.
If it has not been possible to reach a mutually agreeable solution, the client who is a consumer is able, under certain circumstances, to refer the matter to the Consumer Disputes Committee of the Swedish Bar Association. In this context a consumer is a natural person who acts in a matter that falls outside the realm of commercial or professional business activity. Details of the Consumer Disputes Committee may be found here: www.advokatsamfundet.se/Konsumenttvistnamnden
Disputes arising out of our services shall finally be settled by arbitration under the Arbitration Rules of the SCC Arbitration Institute. The seat of the arbitration shall be Stockholm and the language to be used in the proceedings shall be Swedish. Arbitration that has been invoked under this section; information that emerges during the proceedings; as well as rulings or awards communicated by virtue of the proceedings are subject to confidentiality and may not be disclosed to a third party without the counterparty’s express consent. A party shall not, however, be prevented from disclosing such information that is subject to confidentiality in order to maintain or exercise its rights in respect of the other party or if the party is under a duty to disclose information under law or other applicable, mandatory rules.
Notwithstanding what has been prescribed in the paragraph above, we are always entitled to bring an action against a client at the District Court of Stockholm, or to apply for a payment order from the Swedish Enforcement Authority regarding debts due and unpaid.
