Unless otherwise agreed, Kirk Larsen & Ascanius’ (CVR-no. 33 64 69 25) terms and conditions are applicable to legal counselling and the services provided by Kirk Larsen & Ascanius to the client.
These terms and conditions shall apply to all assignments accepted by Kirk Larsen & Ascanius after 1 January 2023.
1.1 Kirk Larsen & Ascanius and the client agree on the legal counseling and the scope of each assignment on an ongoing basis as well as the participation and services of the client and other parties.
1.2 Kirk Larsen & Ascanius undertakes to provide qualified legal counselling to the client to be delivered at the agreed time and at the agreed scope. All assignments are performed in accordance with the provisions of the Danish Administration of Justice Act (“Retsplejeloven”) regarding lawyers, including the Code of Conduct for the Danish Bar and Law Society and other relevant legislation.
1.3 Kirk Larsen & Ascanius stores all files in an (electronic) archive for a period of at least five years from the closure of the matter. Original documents will be returned to the client no later than at the time of closure of the matter.
1.4 The client is granted the necessary rights to use all written material delivered by Kirk Larsen & Ascanius to the client in connection with the matter, but Kirk Larsen & Ascanius has and retains all copyrights and other intellectual property rights to the material.
2.1 Kirk Larsen & Ascanius determines the fee based on several different parameters. The amount of time consumed, the nature of the specialist knowledge and expertise of the involved lawyers, the complexity of the case and its importance/value to the client, the assets involved, the result achieved, and the responsibility associated with the solution of the assignments are all taken into account. In specific situations, the parties may enter into a special agreement concerning the fee, for example based on “no cure, no pay” principles.
2.2 All relevant costs and expenses related to the performed assignments will be debited the client separately.
2.3 It may be difficult to determine a fee on receipt of an assignment. If requested, however, we are prepared to provide information as to how the fee will be calculated, or a substantiated estimate and information concerning the expected costs and expenses, in addition to which we will notify the client should it subsequently be expected that the total fee will exceed the estimate.
3.1 Kirk Larsen & Ascanius usually issues an invoice after the conclusion of the matter. With respect to ongoing counselling, Kirk Larsen & Ascanius normally invoices one month in arrears.
3.2 In general, the client will be invoiced major external costs prior to payment.
3.3 Dependent on the nature of the assignment, prepayment may be required in connection with the commencement of the assignment and when it is otherwise deemed appropriate.
3.4 Terms of payment are 10 days net from the invoice date. In the event of late payment, interest is calculated in accordance with the provisions of the Danish Interest Act (“Renteloven”).
4.1 All client funds entrusted to Kirk Larsen & Ascanius are administered in accordance with the rules of the Danish Bar and Law Society and are deposited into client accounts. Accrued interest is assigned to the client in accordance with the rules of the Danish Bar and Law Society, and negative interest will also be assigned to the client.
4.2 Kirk Larsen & Ascanius is entitled, without the written consent from the client, to freely place the client’s funds in a client account in a bank selected by Kirk Larsen & Ascanius. We have created group client accounts in a number of banks and saving banks, including among others Danske Bank, Sydbank, Nordea, Skjern Bank, and Nykredit Bank.
4.3 Client funds are protected under the Danish Act on Depositor and Investor Guaranty Scheme ("Lov om indskyder- og investorgarantiordning”) in the event of financial breakdown of a financial institution. The coverage is limited to an amount of EUR 100,000 per client per financial institution. The limit applies to the total deposit in the financial institution. In the event that the client has funds deposited in the financial institution in addition to the funds deposited in the client account, the maximum limit will consequently apply to the total deposit. Kirk Larsen & Ascanius assumes no liability for the funds placed in client accounts. It is the responsibility of the client to ensure that the funds deposited with Kirk Larsen & Ascanius are placed in a client account with another bank than the one used by the client, in the event that the client’s total deposit with the bank thus exceeds EUR 100,000. The client may contact the partner responsible for the client in order to receive information as to which bank the client’s funds are deposited in.
5.1 Kirk Larsen & Ascanius is subject to the rules of the Danish Money Laundering Act (”Hvidvaskloven”) and we must therefore procure and store information concerning the identity of our clients. The client consents that we may disclose such information to any other person or entity subject to the same rules and obligations.
5.2 Personal data procured according to the Danish Money Laundering Act is stored for five years from the end of the client relationship, after which period the data is deleted.
6.1 In accordance with the rules of the Danish Bar and Law Society and our legal competence procures, Kirk Larsen & Ascanius will ensure that there are no potential conflicts of interests or loyalty before we finally accept an assignment. Should we be forced to give up the matter due to legal incompetence or conflict of interests arising during the course of the matter, we would be pleased to recommend another lawyer.
The EU has introduced new disclosure requirements – DAC 6 – for cross-border arrangements which are applicable to companies, taxpayers and intermediaries, including lawyers.
7.1 Consequently, in case of a cross-border and reportable arrangement we are obligated to notify the tax authorities about the matter in which we assist our client.
7.2 With respect to matters in which we, as lawyers, are subject to a duty of confidentiality according to the Code of Conduct and where our services are subject to a reporting duty according to DAC 6, we will draw up and deliver the reportable information to our client and request our client to personally report the matter to the authorities within the fixed deadline. In the event that the client does not personally notify the tax authorities about the arrangement, we are obligated to submit the relevant information to the authorities.
7.3 The time spent in connection with our considerations as to whether the matter is subject to the duty to report according to the rules as well as procurement and submission of the reportable information to the client will be included in our fixation of fee.
8.1 All employees at Kirk Larsen & Ascanius are subject to client confidentiality. All information from or concerning a client at Kirk Larsen & Ascanius, which becomes known to us in connection with an assignment, is of course treated in the strictest confidence, unless it is apparent from the circumstances that the information is not of a confidential nature.
8.2 Everyone at Kirk Larsen & Ascanius is subject to applicable legislation concerning the prohibition of disclosure of internal knowledge on listed companies and restrictions on transactions with listed securities.
9.1 Kirk Larsen & Ascanius is liable for the counselling provided in accordance with the general rules of Danish law, and professional indemnity insurance has been taken out with a recognised insurance company.
9.2 For Kirk Larsen & Ascanius, its partners and employees, liability is, however, limited to a maximum of DKK 10 million per assignment, although such that the total indemnity which a single client is entitled to receive may not exceed DKK 15 million with respect to all claims raised by the client within the same calendar year or the calendar year immediately following that calendar year.
9.3 The client is only entitled to raise claims against Kirk Larsen & Ascanius and not against the individual partners or other legal employees.
9.4 Kirk Larsen & Ascanius, its partners and employees are not liable for indirect losses or consequential losses, including business interruption, loss of data, loss of profits, goodwill, image, etc.
9.5 We are not liable for any advice or other services provided or delivered by others, including external advisers, from whom we have requested assistance by agreement with the client, or to whom we have referred the client.
10.1 Kirk Larsen & Ascanius is entitled in its marketing to make reference to a closed matter, if it is publicly known, or by agreement with the client.
11.1 The counselling of Kirk Larsen & Ascanius and these Terms and Conditions are subject to Danish law.
11.2 Any dispute may only be brought before a Danish court of law.
11.3 In the event that the dispute is related to the conduct or fee of a lawyer, the client may file a complaint to the Disciplinary Board of the Danish Bar and Law Society (“Advokatnævnet”) at the address Kronprinsessegade 28, DK-1306 Copenhagen K, or by email klagesagsafdelingen@advokatsamfundet.dk. You will find further information at the website of the Society.
January 2023