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These terms of engagement apply to all legal assistance and all services provided by Advokat Johan Hveding, unless otherwise agreed:

1. Establishment of assignments

Before an assignment is undertaken, we will clarify whether there is a conflict of interest or other conditions that prevent the company from undertaking the assignment. Based on this, it is necessary for the client to disclose counterparties and other stakeholders who may have an interest in the outcome of the case. Parties and interests may also change during the course of the case. Based on this, it may also be relevant to provide such clarification when new actors enter an ongoing case. Should there be circumstances that indicate a conflict of interest, the law firm reserves the right to withdraw from the assignment.

Advocacy is subject to the Money Laundering Act. Which makes it necessary to carry out a client check. Based on this, the law firm will request a company certificate or equivalent identification from public registers at the start of the client relationship. In addition, an ID check may be required. Such control normally takes place through the use of bank ID.

Communication on the occasion of the assignment will normally take place in the most appropriate way possible, preferably by e-mail to the address that was provided when the specific assignment was established. As a general rule, such communication will take place unencrypted, unless encryption is required by law or the client expresses in writing a desire for encryption or another form of communication.

2. The execution of assignments

The law firm undertakes to the client to carry out the agreed assignment in the best possible way with qualified legal assistance at the agreed time and agreed remuneration. All assignments are carried out in accordance with the rules for good legal practice as they appear in Chapter 12 of the Bar Regulations, the Courts Act's rules on lawyers and their activities, as well as other relevant laws and regulations.

The advice is based on the information and documents about actual circumstances that we receive from the client, or from others in agreement with the client. In order for the assessments to be as good as possible, it is important that the client provides us with all information and all documents of importance to the case.

Unless otherwise agreed in writing, the advice does not cover criminal law, tax law and excise law matters or such consequences of the dispositions to which the advice applies. Nor are any assessments of foreign law or the legal consequences of such law covered. Otherwise, advice is exclusively of a legal nature. Here under, any commercial, technical, financial and environmental conditions are excluded.

The client has the right to use the results of the consultancy, including documents and files prepared as part of the assignment, in accordance with the purpose of the assignment. In addition to this, the law firm has all intellectual property rights to the material prepared. Material that we have prepared cannot be made public to the general public without prior written clarification.

3. Fees, invoicing and client funds

The law firm's fee is calculated according to agreed hourly rates. As far as private clients are concerned, the hourly price will normally be stated including VAT. For self-employed people, VAT – currently 25% – is added to the hourly rate.

The hourly consumption is calculated on the basis of elapsed time as far as this is rational and justifiable. Consideration is also given to the nature, size and complexity of the assignment, the need for specialist expertise, the values ​​covered by the assignment and the result achieved.

All time spent in connection with a case is registered, including preliminary work and post-work, participation in meetings, conversations - e-mail exchange and case registration. Unless otherwise agreed, travel to and from external meetings in connection with the execution of the assignment is also charged, however, so that travel time exceeding two hours each way is charged at half time.

The minimum unit for timekeeping is 0.25 hours. Telephone calls that do not only consist of a very short message will anyway be settled at a minimum of 0.25 hours. If it is only a matter of individual telephone assistance - outside of an existing client relationship, the inquiry will anyway be charged with a minimum of NOK. 3200 ex. VAT. for entrepreneurs and NOK 3000 incl. VAT. for private individuals, on the basis that the client and case must be created as part of the invoicing.

Where remuneration has been agreed after elapsed time, the client can, on request, prepare an estimate of the fee to the extent that this is possible based on the nature of the assignment. The estimate is only intended as an indicative estimate.

Any agreement on a fixed price requires a clear written offer and acceptance. The fixed price offer will be based on specified assumptions, and changes to these assumptions, which were not due to the lawyer, will justify an additional fee.

In addition, any expenses and outlays in connection with the assignment, such as e.g. travel expenses, fees, costs for translations, major copying and mailing expenses, b li charged the client without surcharge. However, please note that further invoicing of outlays may result in VAT on the outlay. Any driving by car is charged according to the National travel regulations. The client will be consulted in advance if there is a question of incurring expenses of any size that the person in question has no reason to foresee.

The law firm reserves the right to request an advance on fees and expenses to the client account at any time. The law firm can, after prior notification, offset the invoiced remuneration and expenses against the balance on the client account. The amount paid in advance can be required to be maintained as security against payment of the last invoice related to the assignment.

All client funds are handled in accordance with the Norwegian Bar Association's rules and regulations on the handling of entrusted funds. Bankruptcy or upon the opening of debt negotiation with the client is considered extraordinary default. In that case, the law firm has the right to set off all of the client's outstanding balances - including overdue and non-overdue receivables against balances on the client account.

4. Payment provisions

Invoicing normally occurs once per month. This applies even if the assignment has not been completed. Invoicing will, however, be possible earlier - typically at the end of the assignment - where the assignment has a limited duration. The invoice, and specification of the work carried out in case of remuneration after elapsed time, is sent by e-mail. The payment deadline is normally 10 days from the invoice date. In the event of delayed payment, interest accrues in accordance with the Late Interest Act, and possibly debt collection and recovery costs.

Any objections to the invoice amount must be made by e-mail or in writing no later than the payment deadline. If no such objection is raised, the invoice is considered accepted.

The law firm reserves the right to suspend further work for the client and to withhold documents if objections are not raised and payment does not take place, if security is not provided for disputed fees or disbursements or an advance is paid where this is required. Amounts that are not in dispute must under any circumstances be paid by the due date. Where the work is continued despite the fact that objections have been raised against the accrued fee, the client is also obliged to pay for further work until the assignment is finished.

5. Confidentiality

Lawyers have a statutory duty of confidentiality in addition to a special duty to show confidentiality and discretion with regard to matters entrusted to them in connection with the performance of the assignment. The duty does not prevent the law firm from providing information to authorities where this is required by law, such as in the case of suspicion of money laundering. It may also be appropriate to share information with other employees of the firm or other advisers engaged by the client or by the law firm on behalf of the client, as far as this is necessary as part of the execution of the assignment.

The law firm and its responsible lawyer reserve the right to refer to completed assignments (reference assignments) in law surveys such as Legal 500, Chambers  or similar, or in bidding processes. Where the circumstances of the case indicate that the client may wish to oppose this, the client will be asked in advance. We also reserve the right to disclose assistance for marketing purposes where information about such assistance is publicly available based on the fact that it is a process assignment for the courts or a case that has received mention in the media.

6. Personal data

By using our legal services, the client agrees that we can process personal data about the client and the client's contact persons in our computer systems, see our privacy statement at www.advokathveding.no. As it appears, it will be appropriate to send electronic newsletters, invitations, etc. via the client's email address(es). If this is not desirable, this can be communicated to the person responsible for processing personal data, via e-mail  Denne e-postadressen er beskyttet mot programmer som samler e-postadresser. Du må aktivere javaskript for å kunne se den..

7. Liability, limitation of liability and insurance

The law firm is responsible for ensuring that the advice provided complies with general law. In general, lawyers do not have the risk for the outcome of the case or to achieve a certain result, but for the advice to be careful advice. The law firm is only responsible to the client. Third parties are not entitled to rely on the advice. The law firm and its lawyer responsible for the case are also not responsible for any errors committed by advisers or other law firms they have recommended or to which the client is otherwise referred. This also applies to any errors committed by subcontractors who have carried out parts of the work after prior clarification with clients.

In any case, the law firm and the responsible lawyer are not responsible for indirect losses or consequential damages, including operating losses and loss of profits. Nor for losses as a result of payment problems at the company's bank or additional costs and losses associated with the use of electronic means of communication (vi addiction, wrong sending, unauthorized access, stoppage in spam filter or similar). A possible liability is in any case limited upwards to an amount that corresponds to the limitations in the Norwegian Bar Association's insurance scheme which constitutes. NOK 5 million per insurance case under the professional liability insurance and NOK 2 million per assignment in accordance with security provided in accordance with Section 2-5 fifth paragraph of the Bar Regulations.

Where there is a basis for bringing forward a claim against several responsible parties, the share of the law firm and the responsible lawyer shall be limited to what can reasonably be attributed to our services. This applies even if there is no financial basis for collecting the claim against the other parties responsible.

8. Case documents - the relationship to storage

The client is himself responsible for storing documents prepared in connection with the case, as well as ensuring his own storage of the material presented to the lawyer. The same applies to the storage of communications with the law firm. Any originals prepared in connection with the case will be sent to the client unless otherwise agreed. The company has an electronic archive where it may be relevant to store documents and information to the extent that this is compatible and/or necessary, based on legislation and otherwise as far as the company deems it appropriate. However, the law firm undertakes no obligation to such storage towards the client beyond what is required by law.

9. External advisers

When carrying out the assignment, it may be necessary to engage other advisers, for example with assistance in valuation, auditing or other industry-related expertise. Unless otherwise agreed, such engagements will take place on behalf of the client, and the client will be responsible for payment of the engaged advisers' or lawyers' remuneration and expenses. The law firm is not responsible for advice and assistance provided by such advisers. This applies even if the advice is received by the law firm and then passed on to the client, and even if such advisers choose to bill the law firm.

10. Case costs, etc. in case of dispute resolution

Even if we have expressed a process risk or perception of what the outcome of a case may be, it is the client who bears the risk of the outcome of the case. The lawyer's task is to look after the client's interests in the best possible way. Where the client is awarded legal costs or receives acceptance for a claim from the other party or others, the law firm does not bear the risk of their ability and willingness to pay. Nor is the law firm responsible for any costs that the client is required to pay through legal proceedings or that the person undertakes to pay in a settlement where the firm's lawyers have advised.

In connection with court proceeeding assignments, there will, from experience, be some work of relevance to the client, which cannot be claimed to be covered by the other party. If parts of the fee and costs incurred in a procedural assignment cannot or should not be included in the legal costs claim, the client is nevertheless responsible for the entire fee and cost claim vis-à-vis the law firm. This also applies to cases before the conciliation council and to the small claims process. The same applies if the client is awarded legal costs, but with a lower amount than what is required.

10. Termination

The law firm reserved the right to renounce the assignment if such circumstances arise that the lawyer cannot reasonably be required to continue the assignment, for example if the client provides misleading or incomplete information, fails to follow the lawyer's advice or does not pay when due. In such cases, the lawyer is still obliged to carry out the work that is necessary so that the client does not suffer legal loss. Upon termination, the client is obliged to pay for all work that has been carried out.

12. Dispute resolution, choice of law and venue

Any dissatisfaction with the lawyer's work or objections to fees should be made in the first instance directly to the lawyer responsible for the case. Disputes against the law firm or the lawyer responsible for the case must tried to be resolved amicably.

If the client is of the opinion that the fee has been calculated in violation of good legal practice or that the lawyer has acted in violation of good legal practice, the person concerned can submit a complaint to the Norwegian Bar Association's Disciplinary Committee. The quality of the work is not normally subject to complaint. Furthermore, special appeal deadlines apply. More information about the complaints procedure and the rules for "Good legal practice" can be found on the Advokatforeningen's website www.advokatforeningen.no under the "Lawyer ethics" tab.

Disputes that cannot be resolved amicably must be dealt with by ordinary proceedings before the ordinary courts, with the Oslo District Court as the venue. However, in the event of a dispute regarding the recovery of remuneration, the law firm may choose to use the client's domicile.

Subject to changes.

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