Standard Terms for Legal Services

These Standard Terms for Legal Services (the “Standard Terms”) apply to all assignments that 1,5 Advokatfirma AS (“the Law Firm”) undertake for you (“the Client”). The Standard Terms are handed over to the Client upon the establishment of the assignment, and they are an integral part of any agreement we may have with you. 

Unless otherwise agreed, the terms and conditions will also apply to repeat assignments for the same Client. 

The aim and obligation of the Law Firm is to look after the Client’s interests in the best possible way, within the framework provided by this assignment agreement, the Courts of Justice Act, the Regulations for Lawyers, the Code of Conduct for Lawyers, the Law Firm’s internal routines, as well as other relevant regulations. 

All lawyers and assistant lawyers associated with the Law Firm have a license or authorization to practice law in Norway issued by the Supervisory Council for Legal Practice. All lawyers and assistant lawyers are members of the Norwegian Bar Association and are thus subject to the Norwegian Bar Association’s special decisions and schemes for compulsory continuing education and handling of disciplinary complaints.

The description of the assignment is stated in the Assignment Letter, supplemented by agreements arising from oral or written correspondence. 

A responsible lawyer will be appointed for each and every assignment and will be able to receive assistance from the Law Firm’s other employees for the performance of parts of the assignment. 

In accordance with the Anti-Money Laundering Act, customer due diligence measures must be taken with identity verification. The Client is obliged to contribute to the implementation of customer due diligence measures. Be aware that if there is suspicion that transactions are related to the proceeds of a criminal offence, etc., the Law Firm is obliged to inform the Norwegian law enforcement agency ØKOKRIM about this, without notifying the Client or third parties.

Before an assignment is established, it must be ascertained that there is no conflict of interest or other circumstances that indicate that the Law Firm cannot or should not take on the assignment. The Client is obliged to contribute to such clarification. The same applies to an established assignment if a new opponent is introduced into the case. Our work may, if the Client wishes and it is found unproblematic, start before the clarification procedure has been completed. In such cases, the Law Firm may have to relinquish the assignment at a later point in time due to conflict. 

In order to be able to look after the Client’s interests in the best possible way, the Law Firm relies on the Client providing complete information as soon as possible about the facts of the case and the outcome the Client wants to achieve in the case. 

All inquiries to and from the opposing party shall be clarified with or go through the Law Firm. The Law Firm and the Client shall keep each other informed about the communication that takes place with the parties involved.

Unless otherwise agreed, our fees will primarily be based on the time spent on the Assignment. 

Unless fixed price or project specific hourly rates are set out in the Assignment letter, our fees will be based on our standard hourly rates, which are normally adjusted as of 1 January each year and which are available on request. Time spent on the case is noted every day, and the minimum hourly unit is 0.25 hours (15 minutes). 

When determining the final fee, the responsible lawyer will assess on a discretionary basis such things as the nature and complexity of the work, the values involved, results that are achieved and how efficiently the assignment has been carried out in accordance with the lawyer’s experience and expertise. Our fee is not contingent upon the outcome of the matter and shall be paid whether or not the work is completed. 

The Client is liable to cover court fees, the costs for expert witnesses and other costs incurred in a legal process. The Client is also liable to cover the opponent’s legal costs if these are imposed. Legal costs will often, but not always, be charged to the losing party. 

The Law Firm’s fee is not limited by the Client being awarded less in compensation for legal costs than our fee.

A specified overview of the work performed, expenditures, etc., shall be attached to the invoice. All costs and expenditures that the Law Firm pays in advance will be invoiced together with the fee claim. Onward invoicing of the expenditures may incur VAT expenses. We normally invoice after the end of each month. Unless otherwise agreed, payment falls due 14 days after the invoice date. 

We assume that the Client does not have any insurance arrangements that will cover all or part of our fees or the potential liability to pay the opposing party’s fees. We kindly ask to be informed if there are any insurance arrangements or if you would like us to investigate whether any particular insurance arrangement may apply.

The assignment is a contractual relationship between the Client and the Law Firm, even if the work is to be carried out by one or more designated lawyers. The Law Firm is a limited liability company with organization number 925 995 711 in the Norwegian Register of Business Enterprises, owned by employees of the Law Firm.

The Law Firm is responsible in accordance with the general rules on the professional liability of lawyers and is covered by the statutory collateral requirements for law practices.  

Unless otherwise agreed, the assignment does not include advice in relation to the tax law aspects of the case.

The Law Firm is not liable for errors made by advisors or foreign lawyers to whom the Law Firm has referred or for subcontractors to whom the Law Firm has entrusted parts of the performance of the assignment in agreement with the Client. 

The Law Firm is not liable for any loss as a result of the outcome of the case not corresponding to the assessment the Law Firm has made in advance of the possible outcome of the case. 

The Law Firm is not liable for any loss of managed Client funds as a result of bankruptcy or other circumstances on the part of the bank. The Law Firm points out that the banks’ guarantee fund does not guarantee more than NOK 2 million in deposits per depositor (Law Firm) per bank. Only by special agreement will the Law Firm take measures that can increase the degree of guarantee coverage for the Client’s funds.

The Law Firm is not liable for indirect losses, including lost profits. 

The aggregate total liability of the Law Firm and individual lawyers for financial loss incurred by the Client in connection with the assignment, is limited to the coverage pursuant to our professional liability insurance at any given time. The insurance sum is disclosed at the establishment of assignments. This liability limitation does not apply if we have acted with gross negligence or with intent. 

Lawyers in the Law Firm are prohibited from disclosing trusted information.  In addition, the lawyers are obliged to keep information beyond this confidential.  In certain statutory cases, exemptions from the duty of confidentiality apply.  

Unless otherwise agreed, the Law Firm’s lawyers have the right to share information with other employees of the firm as far as necessary. The Law Firm’s other employees are subject to the same duty of confidentiality as the lawyers.  

The Law Firm will process personal data received from the Client and/or the Client's contact person in connection with the assignment, in accordance with the applicable privacy legislation, the General Data Protection Regulation (Regulation (EU) 2016/679 – the "GDPR") and our privacy statement. We will normally act as a parallel, independent controller, when we process personal data received in connection with the assignment. The foregoing is due to the fact that we do not process personal data on behalf of the Client when we provide legal services to our clients, as we determine the purpose and means of such processing in accordance with the applicable legislation governing our provision of legal services. However, please note that the Client will be regarded as a controller for the processing activities the client conducts independently of the Law Firm. The Client must in any event ensure that the data subject receives information about the processing, that personal data are updated and accurate, and that the Client otherwise complies with the requirements in the GDPR and applicable privacy legislation, including with respect to fulfilment of requests for access to and rectification and/or erasure of personal data.

The Client accepts that the Law Firm uses email in its communication with the Client and third parties, even if this is not a 100 % secure method of communication, since confidential information may disappear, be misplaced etc. We use security solutions which may result in emails sometimes not reaching us. If you do not want to communicate via email please inform us as soon as possible. We use third party service providers (including those that offer cloud services) in order to facilitate the provision of legal services to our clients. 

Unless otherwise agreed, the Law Firm has a right to use the Client's name and list our contact person with the Client as a reference in the marketing of the Law Firm to bureaus that conduct surveys of legal practices, in connection with tenders or similar. Furthermore, the Law Firm has the right to inform third parties about our assistance in already public assignments, including use of the Client's logo, provided that we do not provide any information that is not publicly known.

The Law Firm has electronic archives and store all documents for as long as we see fit (normally for 10 years). The Law Firm is obliged to store certain documents and information after the end of the assignment, within the framework of applicable regulations. Provided that our fees have been paid in full, the Client has the right to use any documents prepared by the Law Firm for the intended purpose. 

If the Client is dissatisfied with the performance of the assignment or the fee calculation, the Client is requested to raise this matter immediately with the responsible lawyer or the CEO. The Law Firm will immediately consider the complaint. 

The Norwegian Bar Association’s disciplinary committee deals with complaints alleging that lawyers have acted in violation of the Code of Conduct for Lawyers or has demanded an excessive fee. The decision of the disciplinary committees may be appealed to the Disciplinary Board. The Code of Conduct for Lawyers and more information about complaints on lawyers can be found at the Bar Association’s web page www.advokatforeningen.no. 

Disputes related to the assignment and these Standard Terms are settled under Norwegian law and may only be brought before the Norwegian courts, with Oslo District Court as the agreed venue. 

These Standard Terms may be revised by us when needed. Changes to the Client’s disadvantage, which are not necessary due to binding regulations, can only become effective after written notice.