Terms & Conditions

General terms and conditions Elmzell Advokatbyrå

These general terms and conditions shall apply when Elmzell Advokatbyrå AB (hereinafter "Elmzell" or "we") enters into an agreement where Elmzell shall provide legal services. Deviations from these terms can only be made with Elmzell's written consent. We reserve the right to change these general terms and conditions and the change applies automatically as from the day we publish the new terms on our website, www.elmzell.se.

In addition to these conditions, the Code of Conduct of the Swedish Bar Association also applies.

Contractual relationship

We always strive to have a personal relationship and an understanding of your business and  we will appoint a lawyer  as responsible for you as a client. The responsible lawyer has the overall responsibility for our services to you. The contractual relationship is entered into with Elmzell and not with any natural person associated with Elmzell. This applies even if it is your expressed or implied intention that the work is to be performed by one or more specific lawyers. Everybody working at Elmzell are subject to these terms and conditions and these persons shall under no circumstances have any personal liability towards you unless otherwise provided by mandatory legislation.

Our advice

Our advice is provided taking into account  the conditions in the individual assignment, the facts presented to us and the instructions you give us. Thus, you cannot rely on our advice in other assignments or use our advice for a purpose other than that for which the advice was provided.

Our services only include advice regarding employment law and Swedish law. Based on our general experience of other jurisdictions, we may express views on legal matters in other jurisdictions. However, we do this only to share our experiences. Consequently, our statements regarding other jurisdictions do not constitute advice as such. Therefore, we are not responsible for such statements. We are happy to assist you in obtaining the necessary advice from our colleagues in other relevant jurisdictions, primarily through the alliance we are a member of, Ius Laboris, https://iuslaboris.com/ or within other fields of law in Sweden, e.g. tax, pension and company law. Such use is made on your behalf and Elmzell is not responsible for recommendations or for the advice or services provided by our colleagues. This also includes the fees and / or costs they charge. This applies regardless of whether our colleagues report and/or invoice through us at Elmzell or directly to you.

Confidentiality 

We protect the information you provide to us in an appropriate manner and in accordance with the Code of Conduct of the Swedish Bar Association. We will not disclose any circumstances to a third party that are not public unless it is done as part of the performance of the assignment, or with your consent. In some cases, we may be obliged to provide information to third parties in accordance with law or the Code of Conduct of the Swedish Bar Association.

Fees and expenses

Elmzell's fees are charged in accordance with the Code of Conduct of the Swedish Bar Association.

This means that Elmzell, unless otherwise agreed, have the right to determine the fees considering several factors, such as time spent, degree of difficulty, required expertise and experience, resource consumption, the values ​​the assignment concerns, Elmzell's risk exposure, urgency and achieved results. Elmzell charges compensation for costs, such as courier costs, travel and subsistence.

Invoicing

Our invoicing is normally monthly. If specifically agreed, or in cases where one or more previous invoices have not been paid by the due date, Elmzell has the right to request an advance for fees and costs with a reasonable amount. The advance payment will then be used to settle future invoices. Instead of invoicing work done during the current time period, we can issue a preliminary invoice "on account" for our fee. In such cases, the final invoice for the assignment shall state the total amount of our fee from which the fee paid "on account" is deducted. Our payment terms are 20 days. We will charge default interest on late payments as from the due date to the date of payment in accordance with the applicable interest rate according to the Interest Act. If the assignment has involved representing you in court proceedings or arbitration, the losing party may have been ordered to pay all or part of the winning party's costs. However, it is rare that all the winning party's legal costs are reimbursable in full. Regardless of whether you are entitled to compensation for your costs from the other party or not, you must always pay us for the services we performed and for the costs we incurred in connection with our representation in a court proceedings or arbitration.

Limitation of liability

Elmzell is only liable for loss or damage caused by us through error or negligence in our advice. Our liability is always limited to the maximum amount paid out of our liability insurance in such a situation, as a maximum of SEK 10 million. We are not responsible for the cause of loss or damage or amounts that are not covered by our liability insurance. We accept e.g. no liability to pay penalties or liquidated damages.

Our liability shall be reduced by amounts that you can obtain from insurance that you have taken out or that you are otherwise covered by, or in accordance with an agreement to that effect.

Our colleagues from other law firms are considered independent of us (regardless of whether we have hired them or if you have contracted them directly). We are therefore not responsible for the advice of others, either for the choice of them, because we have recommended them, or for the advice and other services they provide. This applies regardless of whether they report to us or to you.

We are not responsible for loss or damage that arises as a result of you using our work results or advice in any other context or for any other purpose than for which it was given.

Because we do not provide tax advice, we are not liable for loss or damage caused to you by, as a consequence of the services we have provided, being taxed or at risk of being taxed or losing deductions.

Complaint

If for any reason you are dissatisfied with Elmzell's services and wish to make a complaint, we ask you to contact the lawyer responsible for the assignment as soon as possible. If you are to make a claim against us, it must be done in writing and contain an account of the alleged error or omission and the damage you have suffered as a result. In order to be enforceable, the claim must be made within a reasonable time after the time you became aware (or, after reasonable investigation, could have become aware) of the damage and that the damage may have been caused by our alleged fault or negligence.

A claim may under no circumstances be made later than twelve months after the latter of (i) the date of Elmzell's last invoice in respect of the assignment to which the claim relates and (ii) the date on which the circumstances on which the claim was based became known or could have become known to you if you have carried out reasonable research.

Copyright

Elmzell has copyright and other intellectual property rights to the work results created in a case. However, you have the right to use the result for the purpose or purposes for which it was produced in the case.

Communication

We communicate with our clients and others who are involved in an assignment in several ways, including via e-mail. E-mail is an effective way of communicating, but involves risks from a security, communication and confidentiality point of view. We assume no responsibility for these risks. You should therefore follow up important e-mails by telephone.

Conflicts of interest

We are generally prevented from undertaking an assignment if there is a conflict of interest between you and any of our clients in general. Even if we check for any conflicts of interest before we undertake an assignment, it may happen that we discover that there is a conflict of interest due to a later event. Should this occur, we must ensure, observing the Code of Conduct of the Swedish Bar Association.

Actions

When an assignment has been completed or otherwise terminated, we will archive (at our office, or with a third party and in paper or electronic form) essentially all documents and work results created within the assignment. The documents and work results will be archived during the period that in our opinion is required by the nature of the assignment, but never for a shorter period than that required by law or the Code of Conduct of the Swedish Bar Association.

Termination of the assignment

You can terminate the cooperation with us at any time by a request in writing which states that Elmzell shall be withdrawn from the assignment. However, you must pay for the services we have performed and for the costs we incurred until the assignment ended.

Legislation and the Code of Conduct of the Swedish Bar Association state in what circumstances we are entitled or obliged to refuse or resign from an assignment. This may be the case, for example, in the event of unsatisfactory client identification, suspicions of money laundering or terrorist financing, conflicts of interest, non-payment, lack of instructions or if trust between us no longer exists. If we resign from the assignment, however, you must pay for the services we performed and for the costs we incurred until the resignation. In any case, the assignment ends when it is completed.

Applicable law and dispute

These terms and all issues surrounding them and / or for our assignment shall be interpreted in accordance with Swedish law. If you are a consumer, a dispute in connection with the assignment shall be tried by a Swedish district court. In these cases, you also have the opportunity to contact the Consumer Disputes Board, https://www.advokatsamfundet.se/Konsumenttvistnamnden/.

Otherwise, a dispute in connection with the assignment shall be finally settled by arbitration in accordance with the Arbitration Rules for the Stockholm Chamber of Commerce's Arbitration Institute. The seat of the arbitration shall be Stockholm, the language shall be Swedish, and all information that emerges during the arbitration as well as such decisions or arbitration awards issued in it, shall be covered by confidentiality.

However, Elmzell has the right to bring an action regarding overdue claims in courts that have jurisdiction over you or any of your assets.