General conditions for all services performed by the law firm

1. INTRODUCTION

1.1. These general conditions apply to all assignments that Bjerke, Lowzow von Ahnen Advokatfirma AS' ("BLvA") lawyers or employees undertake or perform.

1.2. These general terms and conditions are found on our website www.blva.no and are deemed adopted by the client unless the client within a reasonable time indicates to the responsible lawyer that the terms are not accepted.


1.3. Unless otherwise agreed, the general conditions will also apply in the event of new assignments for the same client.

1.4. BLvA's object is to secure the client's interests in the best possible way, within the framework of this contractual agreement, the Court Act, the Lawyers’ Regulations, the Rules of Good Legal Practice, BLvA's internal processing procedures, as well as other relevant regulations.


1.5. All BLvA’s lawyers and associates have a license or authorization act as a lawyer in Norway issued by the Supervisory Board for Advocacy. All lawyers and lawyers are members of the Bar Association and thus subject to the Bar Association's special decisions and arrangements for mandatory further education and the processing of disciplinary complaints.

1.6. In accordance with the Bar Association's guidance on how human rights are expected to be respected in advocacy, the lawyer in charge will take the initiative to discuss current and potential human rights violations that the assignment may entail, with the aim of assisting the client in avoiding such violations. BLvA reserves the right to withdraw from the assignment if the client decides not to follow the lawyer's advice and it is clear to the lawyer that all or part of the assignment may result in human rights violations.

2. ESTABLISHMENT AND EXECUTION OF THE ASSIGNMENT

2.1. The assignment's description is stated in the assignment confirmation, supplemented by the agreements arising from other oral or written correspondence. In the event of a significant change to the assignment, the client shall receive up-dated assignment confirmation.

2.2. All assignments are linked to a responsible lawyer in BLvA, who will be able to receive assistance from the company's other employees to carry out parts of the assignment.


2.3. In accordance with the Money Laundering Act, customer measures with identification checks shall generally be implemented. The client is obliged to contribute to the implementation of customer measures. Please note that BLvA, with suspicion of any transactions relate to the proceeds of criminal offence, etc., is required to notify ØKOKRIM of this, without notifying the client or third parties.

2.4. Before an assignment is established, it will be sought to clarify whether there is a conflict of interest or other circumstances that indicate that BLvA cannot or should not undertake the assignment. The client is obliged to contribute to such clarification. The same assessment is made in established assignments by the entry of new parties into the case. If the client's urgent interest, and the matter is likely to be free of conflict, the assignment may be commenced before the clarification is complete. In such cases, BLvA may have to renounce the assignment later because of this.

2.5. In order to best promote the client's interests, BLvA relies on the client to provide full and urgent information about the actual circumstances of the case and the outcome of the case.

2.6. All enquiries to and from the counterparty shall be clarified with or review BLvA. BLvA and the client shall keep each other mutually informed about the communication taking place with the parties involved.

3. FEE CALCULATION AND BILLING

3.1. Unless otherwise agreed, the starting point for billing the assignment is the time that has been passed to effective and professional work on the assignment. Our indicative hourly rates are stated in the assignment confirmation and are otherwise available on our website or can be provided upon request.

3.2. The minimum hour unit is 0.25 hour (15 minutes). Phone calls and the like that do not consist of completely short messages are calculated by a minimum of 0.25 hours.

3.3. In the event of a final fee determination, BLvA will also exercise a discretion taking into account the nature and complexity of the work, the outcome of the case, and the effectiveness of the assignment dedicated to the lawyer's experience background and special competence. The fee shall be in reasonable proportion to the assignment and the work carried out by the lawyer and the other employees of the company.

3.4. The client is responsible for legal fees, costs to expert witnesses and other costs incurred by a legal process. The client is also responsible for the counterparty's legal costs if they are charged. Legal costs will often, but not always, be charged to the party that is not allowed to comply.

3.5. BLvA's fee claim against the client is not limited by the client being awarded less in compensation for legal costs than the face-to-face of the fee claim.

3.6. Legal limitations in the client's right to claim compensation of legal cost from the counterparty do not limit BLvA's fee claims against the client. Such limitations are established, among other things, in cases before the conciliation board and in the small claims process.

3.7. With invoice shall follow specified overview of carried out work, expenses etc. All costs and expenses disbursed by BLvA will be billed along with fees. Tax on disbursements may be added.

3.8. In case of delayed payment, the interest rate incurred in accordance with the provisions of the Delay Rate Act.

4. INSURANCE

4.1. The client's legal assistance insurance, housing insurance, travel insurance or other insurance schemes may cover the costs of legal assistance in certain types of cases, depending on the terms of the insurance agreement. The client is obliged to provide BLvA with the necessary information for an assessment of the scope of the insurance agreement. The client is responsible for any deductible or intermediary between BLvA's fee claim and the amount covered by the insurance company.

5. BLVA'S RESPONSIBILITIES

5.1. BLVA is responsible in accordance with general rules concerning the professional responsibilities of lawyers and is covered by the statutory security for the exercise of advocacy, which applies without geographical limitation.

5.2. BLvA is not responsible for indirect losses, including lost profits, consequential losses and consequential damages.

5.3. BLvA is not responsible for errors committed by advisors to whom BLvA has referred or for subcontractors to whom BLvA has, by agreement with the client, left part of the assignment execution.

5.4. BLvA is not responsible for any loss as a result of the result of the case not matching the assessment given by BLvA in advance of the possible outcome of the case.

5.5. BLvA is not responsible for the loss of managed client funds as a result of bankruptcy or other matters on the bank's part. BLvA notes that banks' security arrangement do not guarantee more than NOK 2 million in deposits per depositor (law firm) per bank. Only by special agreement on that will BLvA take measures that may increase the degree of warranty coverage for the client's funds.

5.6. Any liability for BLvA, which is inflicted as a result of errors or misconduct on the part of BLvA in connection with the commission execution and not due to gross negligence or intent, is limited to NOK 20 million.


6. PROCESSING OF INFORMATION

6.1. Lawyers at the BLvA have a ban on legally disclosing trusted secrets. In addition, the lawyers also have to process information beyond this confidential. In certain statutory cases, exceptions to the duty of confidentiality and confidentiality apply.
1.2. Unless otherwise agreed, BLVA's lawyers are permitted to share the information with other employees of the firm as far as is necessary. BLVA's other employees are subject to the same duty of confidentiality and confidentiality as the lawyers.

6.3. To the extent necessary for the fulfilment of the assignment, BLvA will process personal data, including special categories of personal data if necessary, in accordance with the Personal Data Act and other regulations. Other parties, such as counterparties, courts, and public bodies, will only be able to access the personal data to the extent necessary for the assignment. The client has the right to access and information about the processed information, as well as the right to require correction of inadequate information. The data controller pursued by the Personal Data Act is BLvA by the general manager and when asked about our processing of personal data, the case manager can be contacted by the lawyer. See also about the processing of personal data in the BLvA Privacy Policy on the website.

6.4. BLvA notes that electronic data communication generally suffers from weakness-es that mean that unauthorized persons under certain conditions can gain access to communication. To the extent that confidentiality is required, safeguarding (including encryption and blacking out text) may be taken to prevent unauthorized access to such communications. When assessing whether confidentiality is required, the client's sending of unsecured electronic information to BLvA will be emphasized.

6.5. Upon termination of the assignment, any original documents in the case are given back to the client or shredded upon further agreement. BLvA is required to store certain documents and information after the mission's conclusion. BLvA may retain copies of other case documents after the conclusion of the assignment, within the framework set forth by the law. Copies can be disclosed for consideration.

7. COMPLAINT

7.1. If the client is unsatisfied with the performance of the assignment or the fee calculation, the client is encouraged to immediately address this with the responsible lawyer or general manager. BLvA will immediately consider the com-plaint.

7.2. The Bar Association's disciplinary committee deals with complaints that the law-yer should have acted in violation of the rules of good legal practice or should have demanded too high fees. As a rule, the complaint must be made within six months of the complainant becoming aware of or should have become aware of the circumstances on which the complaint is based. The disciplinary committees have the expertise to provide criticism, rebuke, and warning to the lawyer, and to reduce the fee claim against the client. The disciplinary committee's decision can be appealed to the Disciplinary Board. More information can be provided by contacting the Bar Association or at www.advokatenhjelperdeg.no.

7.3. Disputes relating to the contract are settled under Norwegian law and can only be brought before Norwegian courts.

8. REVISION OF CONTRACTUAL TERMS

The general conditions of the assignment are normally revised once a year and oth-erwise when there is a need for it.