Business Terms
August 2024
Unless otherwise agreed, the following business terms shall apply to any assignment undertaken by Christensen Partners Advokatpartnerselskab, CVR no. 40636552 (hereafter "Christensen Partners", “we” or “us”). These business terms may be updated or amended by Christensen Partners from time to time by prior notice to the client.
The term “unless otherwise agreed” means an agreement in writing between Christensen Partners and the client.
UNDERTAKING OF ASSIGNMENT, IDENTITY INFORMATION AND PREVENTION OF MONEY LAUNDERING
As a law firm Christensen Partners is subject to the Danish Act on Measures to Prevent Money Laundering. Accordingly, we are obliged to obtain and keep identity information on any client. This information is requested in connection with the undertaking of the assignment and subsequent update or re-confirmation of the information may be required at a later point in time. Reference is made to the below section on Data Protection and Information on the Data Subjects’ Rights.
CONFLICT OF INTEREST OR OF LOYALTY
Christensen Partners provides legal services in accordance with the rules of the Danish Bar and Law Society, including the rules on professional conduct and ethics. In accordance with these rules and Christensen Partners' internal procedures as to impartiality, we ensure that no conflict of interest or of loyalty exists before we finally undertake an assignment. If a conflict of interest or impartiality should arise subsequently, causing us to discontinue our work, we shall be pleased to recommend and establish contact to another law firm.
FEES AND PAYMENT
Our legal fees in respect of a given assignment are based on various parameters, such as the time spent, the expertise and experience of the attorney(s) involved, the complexity of the assignment and its importance to the client, the values involved, the outcome of the assignment and the liability exposure. Our fees are exclusive of relevant costs and disbursements.
We will provide an estimate of the expected fees and costs involved with the assignment if requested by the client, and we will do our best to inform the client as early as possible in the event that the total fees are likely to exceed the estimate. Such estimate will always be provided to consumers, also without specific request. Any estimation of fees and costs is non-binding but is always made to the best of our ability on the basis of our experience and the information provided by the client in relation to the assignment.
INVOICING
We generally invoice the client when the assignment is completed. Ongoing assistance and assignments of long duration are invoiced at regular intervals. The terms of payment are two weeks of the date of invoice and VAT is added pursuant to applicable rules.
PREPAYMENT AND DISBURSEMENTS
We reserve the right to ask for prepayment of disbursements and costs. In rare cases we may also ask for prepayment of fees (a retainer) before performing the assignment.
Prepaid fees, disbursements or costs are paid into our client account, and the amount inclusive of any interest accrued may be used to settle future invoices, disbursements and costs.
Disbursements and costs in connection with the assignment are charged separately to the client.
CLIENT FUNDS
Christensen Partners handles funds held on behalf of clients in compliance with applicable law and in accordance herewith client funds are deposited on a separate client account. Any and all interest (positive as well as negative) accrue for the credit or debit, respectively, of the relevant client, and are calculated as per the terms and conditions applicable to the client account.
Client funds are protected by the Act on Guarantee Scheme for Depositors and Investors (in Danish "Lov om indskyder- og investorgarantiordning"). Such protection is subject to a general maximum of EUR 100,000 per client in respect of each deposit bank. Christensen Partners is not liable for any loss of client funds, which may result from the bank not being able to pay the deposit to the client. For further information about our handling of client funds, protection of deposits and risk please see below section on Mandatory Information.
CONFIDENTIALITY
Everyone at Christensen Partners is subject to a duty of confidentiality. Any information received from or regarding clients is treated as confidential, unless it appears from the circumstances that the information is non-confidential.
The duty of confidentiality is, however, subject to rules imposing a duty of disclosure on lawyers towards public authorities and similar institutions.
INSIDER TRADING
Everyone at Christensen Partners is subject to applicable rules on the prohibition against disclosure of inside information regarding listed companies and the prohibition against insider trading as well as to Christensen Partners' internal rules in this respect. Christensen Partners has established internal procedures to prevent insider trading.
USE AND RELIANCE ON LEGAL SERVICES
Christensen Partners' legal services, including legal advice, are based on Danish law only.
Our legal services are targeted at and rendered in relation to each individual assignment and may accordingly not be used for any other purpose without our explicit prior written consent. We are only liable to the client for the assistance provided and only the client can rely on our legal advice and other legal services.
Christensen Partners renders assistance until the completion of an assignment, unless the client requests that Christensen Partners' assistance is terminated before the assignment is competed. However, we reserve the right to discontinue our assistance immediately if the credit period of our invoices, despite reminders, has been exceeded considerably, or if the client becomes insolvent. We also reserve the right to withdraw from an assignment if, in exceptional cases, we find that we cannot be responsible for handling the assignment or if we believe that it is in the interest of the client that our cooperation is terminated.
Original documents are generally handed over to the client no later than upon completion of the assignment, and we keep the files for at least five years from the date of invoice.
COMPLAINTS
Christensen Partners is subject to the general rules on complaints of the Danish Bar and Law Society.
If the client is not satisfied with our assistance or fees, the client will be asked to contact the partner in charge of the matter. If agreement on a complaint cannot be reached, the client may file a complaint with the Disciplinary Board of the Danish Bar and Law Society.
The contact details of the Disciplinary Board of the Danish Bar and Law Society are:
The Secretariat of the Disciplinary Board of the Danish Bar and Law Society
Kronprinsessegade 28
1306 Copenhagen K, Denmark
E-mail: postkasse@advokatnaevnet.dk
Website: xn--advokatnvnet-edb.dk/the-disciplinary-board/
If the client is a consumer, the Online Dispute Resolution of the European Commission can also be used to file a complaint. This is of particular relevance if the client is a consumer resident in another Member State. The complaint can be filed by using the following link: http://ec.europa.eu/odr. Please refer to our email address contact@christensenpartners.dk when filing a complaint.
LIABILITY, LIMITATION OF LIABILITY AND INSURANCE COVERAGE
Christensen Partners is liable for our legal services to clients in accordance with the general rules of Danish law, subject to the below limitations. We are insured with an insurance company of good repute. For further information about our insurance coverage please see below section on Mandatory Information.
Our liability is limited to a maximum of DKK 15 million per assignment. To the extent permissible under applicable law no individual lawyer or partner shall be liable to the client and the client shall only raise its claim against Christensen Partners and not any such individual. However, in case that a claim can be raised against an individual lawyer or partner, no individual lawyer or partner shall be liable for more than DKK 7.5 million per assignment.
Further, the aggregate liability to a client cannot exceed DKK 15 million for claims made by the client (or any increase of claims) within the same calendar year. Our liability (including liability of any individual lawyer or partner) does not comprise any loss or damage caused by cyber-attacks or IT failure or for any indirect or consequential losses, including, but not limited to, operating loss, loss of data, lost earnings, goodwill, reputation, etc., whatsoever or howsoever arising.
Christensen Partners assumes no liability for advice or services rendered by other advisers, including external advisers, sub-contractors, etc., whom Christensen Partners has engaged as per agreement with the client or to whom Christensen Partners has referred the client.
LAW AND VENUE
Any dispute between a client and Christensen Partners shall be subject to Danish law, disregarding Danish rules on choice of law to the extent that such rules would point to the application of the laws of any other jurisdiction than Denmark, and shall further be subject to the jurisdiction of Danish courts with the City Court of Copenhagen as court of first instance.
DATA PROTECTION AND INFORMATION ON THE DATA SUBJECTS’ RIGHTS
Christensen Partners' processing of personal data is described in "Christensen Partners' Privacy and Cookie Policy" which is accessible at our website, www.christensenpartners.dk.
MANDATORY INFORMATION
At our website www.christensenpartners.dk, see “About us”, we have stated certain information that we are obliged to make available to our clients. This mandatory information includes details about Christensen Partners, the authorization of our lawyers, our insurance company and supervision by the Danish Bar and Law Society as well as further details about our handling of client funds.