These general terms and conditions apply to all services that Scandinavian Legal & Finance Services AB (“Scandinavian Legal”) provide to our clients.
General terms and conditions for Scandinavian Legal & Finance Services AB 2021-01-20
​
1. Scandinavian Legal’s services
Scandinavian Legal’s goal is to achieve your goals. We do this by providing you with the expertise and resources required in each assignment. At the beginning of an assignment, we usually agree on our services’ scope and who should work on the assignment. The scope can then be altered, increased or reduced, and we may need to change the members of the team.
The agreement for services (the “Agreement”) is an agreement with Scandinavian Legal and not with any individual associated with Scandinavian Legal. We accept your assignment as a matter for Scandinavian Legal and not for a private individual. This applies even if your express or implied intention is that a specific person or persons must perform the work. These terms and conditions cover all partners at Scandinavian Legal and all persons working for or engaged by Scandinavian Legal. These persons have no personal liability towards you unless otherwise provided by mandatory law.
​
2. Fees, expenses and invoicing
We strive to provide legal services at attractive fees, and we are always willing to discuss these with you. On request, we will provide you with an estimate of our fees and, depending on the nature of the matter, we may also agree on a budget or another fee arrangement. All fees are exclusive of VAT, sales tax and similar taxes, charged under the law. In addition to our fees, costs for travel and other expenses may be charged.
Unless we agree otherwise, Scandinavian Legal will send you invoices monthly. We can also provide you with regular updates on the fees incurred. Unless otherwise agreed, payment of invoices is the due date within 15 days of the invoice date. Scandinavian Legal will charge interest on any overdue amount from the due date until the date of payment, at the applicable rate of interest according to the Swedish Interest Act.
3. Personal data
Scandinavian Legal is data controller of personal data provided in connection with the assignment or in any other way registered in connection with the preparation or administration of a matter, as well as otherwise in the provision of our services. The personal data may be supplemented by us collecting data from private or public registers. The personal data is processed when we evaluate whether or not we can accept an assignment and administrate and carry out assignments. The personal data may form the basis of our market and client analysis and business and methods development and may also be used for statistical and risk management purposes. Besides, we may use the data for marketing purposes. Generally, we will also need to process your representatives’ personal data and beneficial owners for the same purposes. You may read more about our processing of your personal data at https://www.morrislaw.se/en/articles/our-processing-of-your-personal-data/. By engaging us, transferring personal data to us and by assigning us to process personal data in connection with our assignments, you confirm that the personal data in question is collected and transferred to us in a correct and legitimate way, as well as under a purpose that is not incompatible with the purposes described above and referred to at https://www.morrislaw.se/en/articles/our-processing-of-your-personal-data/. If you wish to obtain information about the personal data that we process or if you have other questions about our personal data processing, you are welcome to contact us.
​
4. Advice
Scandinavian Legal’s advice is tailored to the circumstances in the specific matter, the facts presented to us and the instructions you give us. Accordingly, the advice may not be relied on in any other matter or used for any purpose other than that for which it was given. Unless we agree otherwise, our advice in a particular matter does not include advice on potential tax consequences. Our advice includes legal questions in a specific matter, and we take no responsibility for consequences in considerations other than legal.
The lawyers of Scandinavian Legal are only qualified to advise on the legal position in Sweden. Based on our broad experience in dealing with other jurisdictions, we may express views on legal issues in another jurisdiction. This is merely intended to provide the benefit of our experience and does not constitute legal advice. However, we will be pleased to help you obtain the necessary guidance from lawyers qualified in other relevant jurisdictions. While it is our policy in some instances and on a general basis to inform our clients and others of legal developments, the advice we give you in a matter is based on the legal position at the time it is given. Unless we have expressly agreed otherwise, we do not undertake to update the advice we have provided to take account of subsequent changes in the legal position.
​
5. Limitation of liability
Our liability for pure economic loss caused to you due to error or negligence on our part in performing our work is limited to a sum of maximum one million Euros. Our liability is limited to the damage that you suffer. Our liability to you will be reduced by any amount that may be obtained under any insurance maintained by or for you, or under any contract or indemnity to which you are a party or a beneficiary, unless it is contrary to your agreement with the insurance provider or third party or your rights against the insurance provider or third party are thereby prejudiced. We will not have any liability to any third party through the use by you of documents or other advice from Scandinavian Legal. Unless specifically agreed, we will not accept any liability arising from failure to meet any target date(s) or from failure to complete a part of work for you within a proposed time scale, or if, due to events beyond our control, we are unable to start or continue work on a matter.
If we have agreed to advise on potential tax consequences, our liability does not cover any taxes payable by you, unless it was clear at the time of our advice that you could have achieved your commercial objectives using an alternative structure or method at no additional cost or risk and would thereby have permanently avoided the payment of such taxes. Notwithstanding the other provisions of section 7, Scandinavian Legal will always be liable to you for loss or damage caused by an intentional act or gross negligence.
All limitations of liability applicable to Scandinavian Legal under these terms and conditions or any separate agreement with you, will also in all respects to the benefit of, and apply to, any partner or former partner of Scandinavian Legal and any lawyer or any other person who is working or has worked for Scandinavian Legal or who is engaged or has been engaged by Scandinavian Legal. Scandinavian Legal has liability insurance policies adapted to the needs of our business issued by well-known insurance companies.
​
6. Working with other advisers
We have an extensive network of other advisers in Sweden and abroad, and we will be happy to help you identify and instruct other advisers for a particular matter. Suppose we instruct, engage and work together with other advisers. In that case, any such advisers are independent of us. We assume no responsibility or liability for recommending them to you or for advice given by them unless we specifically agree otherwise. We do not accept responsibility for fees or expenses charges by such advisers. When we instruct other advisers, we may, at your request, obtain fee quotes from them and agree on fee arrangements with them.
​
7. Communications
We communicate with our clients and other parties involved in a matter in various ways, including via the Internet and e-mail. Although there are effective means of communication, they may involve risks for which we cannot accept any responsibility. If you would prefer that we do not communicate via the Internet or e-mail concerning a matter, please notify your client relationship partner or the relevant matter partner. Our spam and virus filters and security arrangements may sometimes reject or filter out a legitimate e-mail. Accordingly, you should follow up with important e-mails by telephone.
​
8. Intellectual property rights and confidentiality
The copyright and any other intellectual property rights in all work we generate for clients, although you have the right to use such work products for the purposes for which they are provided. Unless agreed, no document or other work product generated by us may be generally circulated or used for marketing purposes. When a particular transaction has become publicly known, we may disclose our involvement on your behalf in our publicity material and on our website. Such disclosure may only contain information that is already in the public domain. If we have reason to believe that you may be concerned about our disclosure, we will seek your permission before disclosure is made. Suppose you permit us to engage or work with other advisers in the matter. In that case, we have the right to provide them with the material, and additional information that we consider may be relevant for the adviser to give advice to or perform services for, you. The same applies to material and other information that we have received due to the checks and verifications that we have carried out under section 4.
​
9. Conflicts of interest
We may be prevented from acting for a party if there is a conflict of interest in relation to another client. We therefore check to ascertain whether there is a conflict of interest in accordance with the codes of conduct applicable to members of the Swedish Bar Association and/or other relevant bar associations. Notwithstanding such controls, circumstances may arise that prevent us from acting for you in an ongoing or future matter. If this occurs, we strive to treat our clients equally, taking account of the codes of conduct applicable to members of the Swedish Bar Association and/or other relevant bar associations. Accordingly, it is important before and during the matter that you provide us with the information you consider may be relevant to determine whether or not there is an actual or potential conflict of interest.
​
10. Document retention
During the life of a matter, we may store documents and work products produced by you or a third party or by us electronically in a matter-centric system to provide the team working for you with easy access to necessary information. After the conclusion of a matter, we will keep (or store with a third party) all documents and work products generated in a matter, whether on paper or electronically, that we consider being significant for a period that we deem adequate that particular type of matter.
​
11. Reporting of VAT registration and fees
In some cases, we are legally obliged to provide information to the tax authorities on your VAT-registration number and the value of the services we have provided to you. By engaging Scandinavian Legal, you are deemed to accept that we will provide such information to the tax authorities under current regulations.
​
12. Claims procedures
We are committed to ensuring that you are satisfied with our services and meet your expectations. If you are dissatisfied or have a complaint, you should notify the client relationship partner or the relevant matter lawyer as soon as possible. We will investigate your complaint and endeavour to answer any questions you may have. Any claim relating to any matter on which any legal entity of Scandinavian Legal has advised you should be made as soon as you have become aware of the relevant circumstances. No claim may be made more than twelve months after the later of (i) the date the invoice was issued for the matter to which the claim refers or (ii) the date the relevant circumstances were known to you or could have become known to you, after reasonable investigations. Suppose your claim against us is based on a claim against you by a third party or any tax authority or other public authority. In that case, we will be entitled to answer and settle such claim on your behalf, provided we indemnify you. If you settle, compromise or otherwise take any action relating to such claim without our consent, we will have no liability for such claim.
If we reimburse you for any claim, then, as a condition for such reimbursement, you will be obliged to transfer the right of recourse against third parties through subrogation or assignment to our insurers or us.
​
13. Amendments
We may amend these terms and conditions from time to time. The latest version can always be viewed on our website: www.scandinavianlegal.se.
14. Governing law and jurisdiction
Our assignment and these terms and conditions are governed by and will be construed following Swedish substantive law. Any dispute connected with these terms and conditions or our assignment for you will be finally settled by arbitration in accordance with the Rules of the Arbitration Institute of the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce. The place of the arbitration will be Stockholm, Sweden. Notwithstanding the other provisions of the paragraph above, we will be entitled to commence proceedings for the payment of any amount due to us in any court with jurisdiction over you or any of your assets.
​
15. Equality and diversity
Scandinavian Legal is a firm believer in equal rights and opportunities for everyone regardless of gender, gender identity or expression, ethnic affiliation, religion or other beliefs, disability, sexual orientation or age. We are convinced that diversity, equality and inclusive culture make people feel better and contribute to increased creativity and accelerated development. Therefore, it is a natural and integral part of our business to work against discrimination and harassment actively. We place high demands on ourselves on these issues and also expect our clients and partners to respect and, through their actions, make positive contributions to these important issues.