Complaints Settlement

Complaints and Dispute Settlement Scheme Cordemeyer & Slager Advocaten B.V.

Our firm is dedicated to the satisfaction of our clients. We will do our utmost to be of service. Nonetheless, you might be dissatisfied with our services. If you should be dissatisfied with the quality of our services or with our invoices, the following provisions will apply.

1. The Complaints and Dispute Settlement Scheme for the Legal Profession (Klachten- en Geschillenregeling Advocatuur) applies to all our services.

2. If you are dissatisfied with the quality of our services or with any of our invoices, you can submit your objections to the attorney in question or to the complaints officer of Cordemeyer & Slager Advocaten, mr. B.A.M. Cordemeyer. You must file your complaint within three months of the time you have become aware or should have become aware – within reason – of the act or omission that gave rise to your complaint. Submitting your complaint to our firm is free of charge.

3. We will contact you as soon as possible to try to find a solution to the problem that has arisen. We will always confirm the proposed solution in writing. If you are dissatisfied with our response, you can file a complaint with the Disputes Committee for the Legal Profession (Geschillencommissie Advocatuur). The Disputes Committee can only be addressed if you have first filed your complaint at our firm. However, you can file your complaint directly at the Disputes Committee if our firm has failed to react, in writing, to your complaint within four weeks after it has been submitted.

4. The Disputes Committee will handle the case in accordance with the Legal Profession Disputes Committee Rules (Reglement Geschillencommissie Advocatuur) in force at the time the complaint is filed. You can request a copy of these Rules by contacting the Disputes Committee at PO Box 90600, 2509 LP The Hague.

5. You can file your complaint at the abovementioned address within twelve months following the date of our firm’s written response. Upon the expiration of this term, you will no longer be entitled to file your complaint.

6. Our firm is entitled to submit unpaid invoices to the Disputes Committee.

7. If you are a private person, the Legal Profession Disputes Committee Rules provide for a binding opinion, unless you have filed your complaint at a the Court within one month after it has been dealt with by our firm. In the event the claim is to be collected from a private person, binding advice can only be provided if the outstanding amount has been paid into the Disputes Committee’s account. If the outstanding amount is not paid to the Disputes Committee, the complaint will be settled by arbitration.

8. The Disputes Committee is authorized to decide on complaints about the quality of legal services and about the sums invoiced. In addition, the Disputes Committee is authorized to decide on claims for damages to a maximum of € 10,000. Larger claims can only be submitted to the Disputes Committee if the amount of the claim is reduced to € 10,000 and the excess is waived in writing.

9. Decisions of the Disputes Committee about the quality of our services will not be seen as final in Court proceedings on claims larger than € 10,000. This means that you cannot rely on the Disputes Committee’s decision in Court proceedings on claims for damages amounting to more than € 10,000.

10. The Disputes Committee will decide to the exclusion of the Court. The Disputes Committee’s decision cannot be appealed against.

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