General conditions

BV Artes

1. Company and activities: BV Artes, Pourbusstraat 25, 2000 Antwerp, (‘Artes’) is a private company with limited liability under Belgian law offering services as a lawyer, mediator and / or legal counsel.
2. Services: all services are entrusted to Artes as a company and are carried out by an employee and / or a person appointed by Artes. All services or work that is carried out shall exclusively be governed by the general terms and conditions of Artes. The general conditions are available in Dutch and in English.
3. Questions: Artes strives to offer its clients the best possible service. If you, as a client, are not satisfied with the service, you can mail your questions to .
4. Information: the client undertakes to provide Artes as soon as possible with all information and documents that are necessary to guarantee the quality of the service.
5. Fees / costs: the rate that applies to your file or question is determined by the urgency and complexity of your file or question and the experience and specialization required for its handling. The applicable rate is communicated in advance. The rates, administrative costs and VAT are stated separately on the fee statements.
6. Payment: unless otherwise agreed, the client undertakes to pay an advance for the fees and the administrative costs borne by Artes. Fee statements are sent monthly by regular mail or electronically to the client. Fees must be paid within fifteen (15) days and no later than the due date, which is stated on the fees. After the expiry date, a default interest of ten (10) percent per year is payable by law and without prior notice of default. Protests against a fee statement by Artes must be sent in writing within fifteen (15) days of receipt. Protests after the expiry of the fifteen (15) day period will not be accepted.
7. Discontinuity: if there are any indications that the client has credit problems or is in a situation of discontinuity, including but not limited to a judicial reorganization, liquidation and / or bankruptcy, Artes has the right to suspend the services or to demand immediate payment from the outstanding fees, without prejudice to its expiry date.
8. Liability and insurance: Artes is not liable for services provided by an independent party, government agency and / or administrative organization that provides services in the context of a file entrusted to Artes and for any possible direct or indirect damages a client may incur, including but not limited to loss of production, contracts, clientele, data, turnover, etc. The lawyers of Artes are affiliated to a professional organization, more specifically at the Antwerp Bar (www.balieantwerpen.be). They are insured for their professional liability in accordance with the ethical rules.
9. Privacy: Artes, with contact details as mentioned above, is the data controller. Careful handling of personal data is of great importance to Artes. Artes will carefully process and secure your personal data. Artes will strictly comply with the applicable regulations regarding privacy and data protection. In the context of the service, your personal data are processed as laid down in these general terms and conditions and in accordance with the privacy policy of Artes (www.artes.law). You give your express permission for the processing of your personal data, but you can withdraw this permission anytime. Withdrawal of consent does not affect the legality of the processing on the basis of the permission Artes had become before the withdrawal. Within the framework of the service, the following personal data can be collected: first name, name, address, telephone number(s), professional job(s), gender, date of birth, bank account number and e-mail address(es). Artes uses this information to manage your personal account, for customer administration, to improve the content of the service, to manage the website and to conduct market research. Artes also uses your personal data for direct marketing purposes, for instance to inform you about legal changes and alert you for possible (legal) consequences (client alert). You give your explicit permission, but you can withdraw this permission anytime by sending an e-mail to . Artes stores your personal data in its databases until they are deleted. Artes reserves the right to provide information to public authorities based on a legal or an obligation imposed by a court. You can ask Artes anytime to view, update your personal data, rectify incorrect data, delete and / or limit its processing. If you wish to exercise the mentioned rights, we would like to receive a copy of your identity card via . You can express your objection to the processing anytime and you have the right to obtain your data in a structured, standard and machine-readable form as well as to transfer this information to another data controller. If you have questions or complaints about the exercise and / or processing of your personal data, you can always obtain further information by sending an e-mail to . You also have the right to file a complaint with a supervisory authority, this is in Belgium the “Data Protection Authority” (www.gegevensbeschermingsautoriteit.be).
10. Applicable law and competent court: The relationship between Artes and the client shall exclusively be governed by the Belgian law. In case of dispute, only the courts of Antwerp, Antwerp section, are authorized to take cognizance of the dispute.
11. Enforceability: If one of the aforementioned provisions is wholly or partially invalid and / or unenforceable, this does not affect the validity and / or the enforceability of the other conditions.