Terms of service
GENERAL TERMS OF ENGAGEMENT FOR LEGAL SERVICES
Berník & Partners 2024
I. SCOPE OF APPLICATION
These General Terms apply to all legal relations between Berník & Partners and their Clients, exclusively and automatically, without the need for specific reference. Any other terms which contradict or deviate from them shall not be applicable unless explicitly agreed upon in writing between Berník & Partners and the Client.
These General Terms, in their currently effective version, shall also apply to all further engagements between Berník & Partners and its Clients without the need for further specific reference.
Inquiries submitted to Berník & Partners by the potential Clients are non-binding and are to be understood as requests for quotation which Berník & Partners reserves the right to provide or not provide upon its discretion. Quotations submitted to potential Clients by Berník & Partners are non-binding and are to be understood as mere invitations to grant a mandate. No quotation shall be interpreted in such a way that its acceptance constitutes a Client-Attorney Engagement Agreement unless explicitly stated otherwise in the quotation. Brochures, presentations and other materials of Berník & Partners have no legal content and are not legally binding.
II. ATTORNEY-CLIENT ENGAGEMENT AGREEMENT
By granting a mandate, the Client irrevocably and unconditionally accepts these General Terms unless otherwise explicitly agreed in writing between the parties. The Attorney-Client Engagement Agreement (hereinafter referred to as “Agreement”) shall be concluded upon acceptance of the mandate by Berník & Partners in writing, by fax or e-mail. Unless otherwise agreed by the parties in writing, the decision to accept or reject a mandate shall in any case lie upon Berník & Partners’ sole discretion regardless of any previous relations with the Client (a particular engagement of Berník & Partners under Agreement hereinafter referred to as “Engagement”).
The acceptance of a mandate by Berník & Partners shall be effective upon its delivery to the Client and its content shall be decisive for the content of the Agreement. Should the acceptance include any modifications to terms of the original mandate (i.e. precision of the scope of engagement), the Agreement shall be deemed concluded upon the expiry of 5 days after the acceptance, unless the Client within the same period notifies Berník & Partners that he is not interested in the Agreement under the terms included in the acceptance.
III. MUTUAL OBLIGATIONS
Berník & Partners shall act with due diligence in accordance with the interests and instructions of the Client, with the applicable legislation of Slovak Republic as well as with applicable standards of the Slovak Bar Association.
For the handling of Engagements, Berník & Partners may also involve employees or other carefully selected qualified third parties.
The Client shall provide Berník & Partners with all the necessary assistance and support, such as providing complete and accurate facts as well as submitting all relevant documents related to the Engagement and/or requested by Berník & Partners in the required form.
Berník & Partners shall consider the Client’s statements as factual and shall not be required to conduct its own investigations. The Client is obliged to carefully review all information, communications, account statements, letters, and documents provided by Berník & Partners, and to ensure that the factual information contained therein is accurate and complete. If the content does not reflect the current facts or is incomplete, the Client shall promptly notify Berník & Partners of any necessary corrections or additions.
The Client shall promptly inform Berník & Partners of any changes to their address, communication details, or bank account information. The same obligation applies to any periods during which the Client is unavailable. The address, communication details, and bank account information provided by the Client shall be deemed correct until Berník & Partners is notified of any changes.
During the term of the attorney-client relationship, the Client shall contact courts, authorities, the counterparty, or relevant third parties only in coordination with Berník & Partners.
The Client shall not solicit or hire any employee or subcontractor of Berník & Partners without the prior written consent of Berník & Partners.
IV. ATTORNEY FEES & COMPENSATIONS, EXPENSES
The Client shall duly and timely pay to Berník & Partners the agreed attorney fees, compensation, and expenses. If no explicit agreement on the amount of the attorney fees has been made between Berník & Partners and the Client, either before or after the Engagement, Berník & Partners shall be entitled to invoice either (a) attorney fees calculated according to the applicable Slovak standards on the remuneration of attorneys, or (b) a general hourly fee of € 120.00 (+ VAT, if applicable).
Unless otherwise agreed between Berník & Partners and the Client, the Client shall be obliged to provide a reasonable advance payment on attorney fees, before commencement of work on the Engagement by Berník & Partners.
The Client undertakes to bear all costs connected with the Engagement, especially costs connected to legal proceedings, such as court and other fees, costs of translations, notarial costs etc. which he shall pay in advance, without undue delay upon Berník & Partners’ request.
In case that the Engagement takes longer than one calendar year, Berník & Partners shall be entitled to unilaterally update the agreed pricing, on yearly basis by reflecting the inflation rate for the previous calendar year in the amount published by the Slovak Statistics Authority.
Berník & Partners shall be entitled to unilaterally set off any of its claims against the Client with any obligations of Berník & Partners towards the Client, including those related to payments collected from third parties on behalf of the Client.
V. LIABILITY
Berník & Partners shall do the very best they can to provide top quality legal services to the Client, but in no way guarantee a successful outcome for the Client.
The contractual and statutory liability of Berník & Partners towards the Client, of any kind, shall in any case be limited to the net invoice value of provided legal services.
Berník & Partners shall obtain and maintain such insurance in accordance with applicable Slovak standards regulating the legal profession.
VI. INTELLECTUAL PROPERTY
All copyrights and other intellectual property rights arising from the provision of legal services belong to Berník & Partners. Where the results of the provision of legal services have been transferred to the Client, the Client has the right to use them for the purpose for which they have been transferred.
VII. DATA PROTECTION & CONFIDENTIALITY
Berník & Partners as a law firm licensed to practice law in Slovak Republic is bound by confidentiality under the Act No. 586/2003 Coll. on Advocacy as well as under other applicable standards of the Slovak Bar Association. This obligation applies to all information provided by the Client to Berník & Partners within the scope of the Engagement. All information received from the Client shall be used solely for the purpose of providing services under this Agreement and shall not be disclosed to any other person without the Client's prior written consent.
Berník & Partners is authorized to collect, store and process personal data entrusted to him or have entrusted personal data processed by third parties in accordance with the applicable legislation.
VIII. MISCELANEOUS
The Client takes into account that Berník & Partners is a law firm licensed to practice law in Slovak Republic, their area of expertise is focused on Slovak commercial, employment law and related branches of law which does not necessarily include expertise in criminal, accounting, tax and similar issues neither in laws of other countries; Berník & Partners hereby reserves the right to refuse to provide legal service insofar as it requires expertise in a field where they do not feel competent.
The Parties agreed that Berník & Partners shall be allowed to perform individual actions of legal services under the Agreement by using a qualified attorney as substitute whereas the liability of Berník & Partners shall remain thereby unaffected.
Berník & Partners reserves the right to suspend performance of his duties under this Agreement by a written notice addressed to the Client in case of any default of the Client with any of his obligations under the Agreement. In such a case, Berník & Partners shall only perform urgent action.
The Client agrees and gives his explicit consent to Berník & Partners to use AI based tools such as ChatGPT, Microsoft Copilot etc. while working on the Engagement, whereas Berník & Partners undertakes to anonymize Client data for this purpose.
For the purposes of these General Terms, the term “written” or "in writing" shall include communications and documents in paper form, as well as those sent via email or fax.
IX. TERMINATION
The Client shall have the right to unilaterally terminate the Agreement upon his sole discretion at any time by means of a written notice delivered to Berník & Partners.
Berník & Partners shall have the right to unilaterally terminate the Agreement by means of a written notice delivered to the Client in case that the default of the Client with fulfillment of any of his obligations under the Agreement lasts without remedy for more than 30 days.
Berník & Partners reserves the right to unilaterally terminate this Agreement in case of an unpredictable impediment incompatible with due performance of his obligations under this Agreement, with a notice period of 3 months. All the
X. GOVERNING LAW & JURISDICTION
The Agreement as well as the pre-contractual legal relations between Berník & Partners and the Client shall be governed by and construed according to the laws of Slovak Republic; in case of any dispute arising out of or in connection with the Agreement, including disputes regarding its validity, effectiveness or interpretation, the regular courts of Slovak Republic shall have the exclusive jurisdiction.