General Terms and Conditions of Engagement and Power of Attorney

Information on Cost Minimization

Important Information on Cost Minimization. To ensure the most efficient and cost-effective handling of your legal matter, we kindly ask for your cooperation in avoiding these cost traps:

1. Incomplete or Delayed Information. New information, at best, leads to additional coordination and, at worst, to a complete re-evaluation of your legal matter, but in any case, to additional work.

Therefore, please provide us with all information regarding your legal matter immediately after engagement:

2. Insufficient Preparation for Appointments and Correspondence. A longer consultation appointment is significantly more cost-effective according to the Lawyers’ Fee Act than many short appointments. The same applies to correspondence.

Therefore, prepare well for consultation and coordination appointments and correspondence. The fewer appointments required, the more cost-effective the legal representation. Time you invest beforehand in considering and compiling your questions directly contributes to cost reduction.

3. Unnecessary Revision Cycles. We usually send correspondence and legal documents for approval in advance to ensure that your information has been processed correctly and your objectives properly formulated.

Please send us either an approval or your complete change requests as a reply. Here too: the more back and forth, the higher the costs.

4. Requesting Status Reports. If there are new developments in your legal matter, we usually inform you within three business days. Requesting status reports therefore only increases the communication effort.

You can entirely avoid these costs.

5. Overly Intensive Out-of-Court Steps to Avoid Legal Proceedings. In legal disputes, out-of-court costs are only very limitedly recoverable from the opposing party and thus also from legal protection insurance. The likelihood of having to bear out-of-court costs yourself is therefore high.

In judicial proceedings, however, most costs are to be reimbursed by the opposing party, provided they lose the legal dispute. Therefore, anyone who, despite a strong legal position, insists on further out-of-court settlement attempts to avoid legal proceedings usually achieves no cost savings, but precisely the opposite.

General Terms and Conditions of Engagement and Power of Attorney

of Harlander & Partner Rechtsanwälte GmbH, FN 467333f, P-Code P530376, hereinafter referred to as the Attorney.

1. Applicability

1.1. Basis of Mandates. The basis for all mandates and services of the Attorney, including all judicial, administrative, and other representation acts, are exclusively these General Terms and Conditions of Engagement and Power of Attorney, the powers of attorney based thereon, and the respective specific offers for the granting of a mandate, including any service descriptions or fee agreements of the Attorney pertaining to the powers of attorney or offers for the granting of a mandate.

1.2. Future Mandates. These bases automatically apply to all further mandates between the Attorney and the Client in their then-current version, starting from the first granting of a mandate, even if these bases are no longer explicitly referenced in future mandates.

1.3. Future Changes. Any future changes to the bases will be communicated to the Client in writing by the Attorney and shall be deemed agreed upon if entrepreneurs do not object within two weeks and consumers do not object within four weeks.

1.4. Supplementary Agreements. All forms of supplementary agreements, both before the granting of the mandate and during the ongoing mandate, require written form for their validity. This also applies to deviations from the written form requirement for entrepreneurs.

1.5. Contractual Components from the Client. Contractual components originating from the Client shall only become effective, even if known to the Attorney, if they are confirmed in writing by the Attorney with an explicit additional note covering these contractual components (such as “Service requirements / GTC accepted”). Otherwise, the Attorney expressly objects to the inclusion of contractual components from the Client.

1.6. Procedure in Case of Contradictions. In the event of contradictions between offers for the granting of a mandate, including associated service descriptions and fee agreements, the powers of attorney, and the Attorney’s General Terms and Conditions of Engagement and Power of Attorney, these shall apply in the order mentioned. The individual offers for the granting of a mandate therefore take precedence over all other contractual elements.

In the event of contradictions between contractual elements of the Attorney and contractual elements of the Client, all contractual elements of the Attorney shall take precedence.

1.7. Procedure in Case of Invalidity. Should individual provisions of the contract be invalid or unenforceable, an invalid provision in contracts with entrepreneurs shall be replaced by a valid provision that comes closest to the economic meaning and purpose of the invalid provision.

2. Power of Attorney and Mandate

2.1. Scope. In case of doubt, the power of attorney authorizes the Attorney to represent the Client in accordance with the law, conscience, and the specifically granted mandate, to the extent deemed necessary and expedient by the Attorney for the fulfillment of the respective specifically granted mandates. This may include, for example:

2.2. Mandate Reference. The granted power of attorney is not a general power of attorney, unless this is unequivocally desired by the grantor and accepted by the Attorney, but is tied to the specifically granted mandates. Outside of these mandates or after their termination, the granted power of attorney has no effect until a new specific mandate is granted. Without a specific mandate, the Attorney is therefore not authorized to perform any acts of representation based on the granted power of attorney.

3. Granting of Power of Attorney or Mandate

3.1. Offer by the Attorney. The basis for the authorization and the granting of the mandate is the respective specific offer of the Attorney for the granting of a power of attorney or a mandate. The Attorney’s offer is non-binding and without obligation. If the Client grants a power of attorney or a mandate, the Client is bound by it for one week from its receipt by the Attorney, unless otherwise stipulated by the power of attorney or mandate itself or the urgency of the matter.

3.2. Offer by the Client. If the Client exceptionally and unsolicitedly grants a power of attorney or a mandate directly to the Attorney, e.g., due to a regular business relationship or via a website form, the Client is bound for one week from the Attorney’s receipt of the mandate.

3.3. Acceptance by the Attorney. The Attorney is always entitled to refuse to accept a power of attorney or a mandate without stating reasons. The power of attorney or the mandate therefore only comes into effect upon acceptance of the power of attorney or the mandate by the Attorney.

Acceptance must generally be in writing, e.g., by confirming the granting of the power of attorney or mandate, unless the Attorney indicates acceptance of the mandate, e.g., by taking action visible to the Client based on the power of attorney or mandate.

A mere confirmation of receipt of the mandate, e.g., in the form of a website receipt confirmation, does not yet constitute acceptance of the mandate.

3.4. Receipt. If electronic communication means or an electronic order management system to which both parties have access are used for submitting offers and for acceptance, declarations made on working days, i.e., Monday to Friday, excluding Austrian public holidays, between 8:00 AM and 4:00 PM, shall be deemed received on the same day; declarations made outside these hours shall be deemed received on the next working day at 8:00 AM.

4. Client Due Diligence and Compliance

4.1. Client Due Diligence Measures. The Attorney is obliged, in view of the particularly high risk of money laundering (§ 165 StGB) or terrorist financing (§ 278d StGB), to examine all transactions with particular care in which he carries out financial or real estate transactions in the name and on behalf of the Client or participates in their planning or execution for the Client, and which concern the following:

4.2. Identity Verification. In the presence of one of the transactions listed in 4.1., the Attorney is obliged to ascertain and verify the identity of the Client and that of the beneficial owner. The Client undertakes to provide the data requested by the Attorney in a timely manner.

4.3. Verification. The Attorney will retain appropriate proof of the client’s verification based on legal provisions even after the completion of the mandate.

5. Termination of Power of Attorney or Mandate

5.1. Declaration of Termination. The power of attorney or the mandate can be terminated by the Attorney or the Client at any time without notice and without stating reasons. The Attorney’s claim to fees remains unaffected.

5.2. Automatic Termination. Upon completion of the commissioned services, the mandate is automatically terminated, or the Attorney’s power of attorney to act for the Client in this matter expires.

5.3. Transition Period. In the event of termination by the Client or the Attorney, the latter must continue to represent the Client for a period of fourteen days, to the extent necessary to protect the Client from legal disadvantages. This obligation does not apply if the Client revokes the mandate and expresses that they do not wish any further activity by the Attorney.

Thereafter, the Attorney is no longer obliged to represent the Client’s interests or to inform them, e.g., of a changed legal situation or changed circumstances.

6. Scope of Services, Mandate Processing, and Client’s Obligations to Cooperate

6.1. Place of Performance. The Per formance is the Attorney’s registered office.

6.2. Scope of Services. The scope of the granted mandate results from the written power of attorney or any other written service description of the Attorney.

6.3. Principles of Service Provision. The Attorney is entitled and obliged to conduct the granted mandate in accordance with the law and to represent the rights and interests of the Client towards everyone with diligence, loyalty, and conscientiousness to the extent necessary and expedient for the fulfillment of the mandate.

The Attorney is generally entitled to perform their services at their own discretion and to take all steps, in particular to use means of attack and defense in any way, as long as this does not contradict the granted mandate, their conscience, or the law. If the Client gives the Attorney an instruction, the compliance with which is incompatible with the principles of proper professional practice of the Attorney based on law or other professional regulations (e.g., the “Guidelines for the Professional Practice of Attorneys” [RL-BA] or the case law of the Appeals and Disciplinary Senates for Attorneys and Attorney Candidates at the Supreme Court and the former Supreme Appeals and Disciplinary Commission for Attorneys and Attorney Candidates [OBDK]), the Attorney must refuse the instruction. In case of imminent danger, the Attorney is entitled to take or refrain from an action not expressly covered by the granted mandate or contrary to an instruction given, if this appears urgently necessary in the interest of the Client.

6.4. Third-Party Services. The Attorney is entitled to perform the services themselves or to use the services of knowledgeable third parties (third-party service).

6.5. Third-Party Service in the Form of Sub-Authorization and Substitution. The Attorney may be represented by an attorney candidate employed by them or by another attorney or their authorized attorney candidate (sub-authorization). In case of impediment, the Attorney may transfer the mandate or individual partial acts to another attorney (substitution).

6.6. Agreed Third-Party Services. In the event that the provision of a service as a third-party service has been agreed upon with the Client (agreed third-party service), the Attorney is entitled to commission the third-party service at their own discretion, either in their own name or in the name of the Client, and either at their own expense or at the Client’s expense.

For agreed third-party services, the respective contractors are not vicarious agents of the Attorney.

Insofar as no special service descriptions or special terms and conditions have been agreed upon between the Attorney and the Client for these agreed third-party services, the service description of the third party shall apply in the case of commissioning the third party in the name of the Attorney, and in the case of commissioning in the name of the Client, the service description and the terms and conditions of the third party shall also apply to the Client.

Insofar as the term of agreed third-party services extends beyond the term of the related mandate of the Attorney, the Client shall, for third-party services commissioned in the name or on account of the Attorney, take over these third-party services in their own name and at their own expense after the termination of the mandate.

6.7. Divisible Services. For divisible services, the Attorney is entitled to perform partial services.

6.8. Expiry. The Client must collect all services ordered from the Attorney or documents/items handed over to the Attorney for processing within the deadline.

In the event that collection does not take place within the deadline, the Attorney is entitled to dispose of them after three months for contracts with entrepreneurs and after six months for contracts with consumers, but no later than after the expiry of any longer statutory retention period.

6.9. Rights to the Services. Generally, all rights to the agreed services belong to the lawyer.

The client is granted the right to use the services to the agreed extent after full payment of the agreed fee. In the event that the scope has not been agreed upon, this includes non-exclusive use for their own purposes, without the right to sublicense or transfer to third parties [or affiliated companies].

Any license terms for services or works of third parties that are components of the lawyer’s services or works must be observed by the client.

6.10. Right to the final product. The client only has a right to use the service in the agreed form as a final product, but not to the handover of the underlying materials, work aids, interim results, etc., necessary for the creation of the services. Unless otherwise agreed or if no statutory retention obligations exist, the lawyer also has no obligation to retain these underlying materials, work aids, interim results, etc., after completion of the work.

6.11. Obligation to return documents. Upon termination of the client relationship, the lawyer must return the client’s original documents upon request. The lawyer is entitled to retain copies of these documents.

If the client requests copies of documents again that they have already received, the costs shall be borne by the client.

6.12. File destruction. The lawyer is obliged to retain the files for a period of five years from the termination of the mandate. If longer statutory periods apply for the retention obligation, these must be observed. The client agrees to the destruction of the files (including original documents) after the expiry of the retention period.

7. Client’s Duty to Cooperate

7.1. Client’s Duty to Cooperate. After the mandate has been granted, the client is obliged to immediately communicate to the lawyer all information, facts, services, and the like that could be relevant to the execution of the mandate, and to submit all necessary documents, records, evidence, and the like.

During the ongoing mandate, the client is obliged to immediately inform the lawyer of all changed, subsequently emerging, or newly arising circumstances that could be relevant to the execution of the mandate, as soon as they become known. The lawyer is entitled to assume the correctness of the information, facts, services, documents, records, evidence, and the like, provided that their inaccuracy is not obvious. If the lawyer carries out self-assessments of taxes based on the information provided by the client, they are in any case exempt from any liability towards the client.

7.2. Breach of the Duty to Cooperate. The client is liable for all damages arising from inadequate, delayed, or omitted cooperation by the client, and in particular also for the time spent by the lawyer and the fee due for it.

If the lawyer is held liable by third parties for a legal infringement in connection with information, facts, services, documents, records, evidence, and the like provided by the client, the client must also indemnify and hold the lawyer harmless and assist in defending against any third-party claims.

8. Communication with the Client

8.1. Communication Channels. The lawyer may communicate with the client in any manner deemed appropriate, in particular via the postal address, email address, and telephone number provided by the client to the lawyer.

8.2. If the client, for their part, uses other types of communication, addresses, or connections to communicate with the lawyer, the lawyer is also entitled to use these for communication with the client.

8.3. Receipt. Declarations by the lawyer shall in any case be deemed received if they were sent to the addresses or connections provided by the client at the time the mandate was granted or subsequently used by the client themselves.

8.4. Encryption. The lawyer is entitled to conduct communication with the client in unencrypted form.

8.5. Written Form. Declarations to be made in writing according to these terms of engagement may also be submitted via email.

9. Obligation of Confidentiality

9.1. Obligation of Confidentiality. The lawyer is legally obliged to maintain confidentiality regarding all matters entrusted to them and all other facts that have become known to them in their professional capacity, the secrecy of which is in the client’s interest.

9.2. Binding on Employees. The lawyer is entitled to engage all employees and third parties in the processing of matters within the framework of applicable laws and guidelines, provided that these employees and third parties have demonstrably been instructed about the legal obligation of confidentiality.

9.3. Release from Obligation in Case of Claims Against the Client. Only to the extent necessary for the pursuit of claims by the lawyer (in particular claims for the lawyer’s fee) or for the defense against claims against the lawyer (in particular claims for damages by the client or third parties against the lawyer), is the lawyer released from the obligation of confidentiality.

9.4. Release from Obligation due to Various Laws. In some cases, the lawyer is obliged by statutory provisions to provide information or reports to authorities without having to obtain the client’s consent; in particular, reference is made to the provisions on money laundering and terrorist financing, as well as to tax law provisions (e.g., Account Register and Account Inspection Act, GMSG).

9.5. Release from Obligation by the Client. The client may release the lawyer from the obligation of confidentiality at any time. The release from confidentiality by their client does not relieve the lawyer of the obligation to examine whether their statement is in the client’s interest. If the lawyer acts as a mediator, they must assert their right to confidentiality despite being released from the obligation of confidentiality.

10. Fees

10.1. Fee Agreement. As a rule, the fee is determined in the fee agreement concluded in writing at the time the mandate is granted or later.

10.2. Reasonable Fee. If no fee agreement has been made in an individual case, the lawyer is entitled to a reasonable fee. The approaches and calculation methods according to the Lawyers’ Tariff Act (RATG) and General Fee Criteria (AHK) are in any case considered reasonable.

10.3. Cost Estimate. The client acknowledges that an estimate of the probable fee made by the lawyer, not expressly designated as binding, is non-binding and not to be regarded as a binding cost estimate (within the meaning of § 5 para 2 KSchG), because the extent of the necessary and sensible services to be rendered by the lawyer for the complete processing and settlement of the specific case cannot reliably be assessed in advance by their nature.

10.4. Fee Transparency. To ensure maximum fee transparency, Harlander & Partner Rechtsanwälte GmbH is therefore obliged to provide continuous interim billing. Interim billing must be carried out in particular upon the termination of out-of-court activities, the conclusion of oral hearings in court, the filing of appeals, and after several significant service steps. Significant service steps include, in particular, out-of-court demand letters and all main services generally eligible for a flat rate according to § 23 (1) RATG.

10.5. Additional Services. All services of the lawyer that are not expressly covered by the agreed fee will be remunerated separately.

10.6. Partial Services. The lawyer is entitled to bill for partial services already rendered.

10.7. Advance Payment for Costs. Cash disbursements such as court fees (e.g., flat fees), official fees, or expert costs must always be transferred in advance. Furthermore, the lawyer is entitled to demand reasonable advance fee payments at any time, at least to the amount of the next upcoming partial services.

In the event that advance payments for cash disbursements are not received at least three working days before the expiry of judicial or administrative deadlines, related actions (e.g., lawsuit, statement of defense, appeal) can no longer be guaranteed to be carried out on time. As long as an advance payment for costs already requested in the power of attorney is not received, or not at least seven days before the expiry of a possible deadline (e.g., statute of limitations, statement of defense, appeal), the mandate cannot be accepted.

10.8. Excess Cost Reimbursement. If the cost reimbursement amount obtained from the opposing party and collectable exceeds the fee agreed with the client, the cost reimbursement amount exceeding the agreed fee shall be due to the lawyer.

10.9. Taxes, Expenses, Cash Disbursements. The fee is understood to be ex-lawyer’s business premises or office. In addition to the fee, value-added tax to the statutory extent, necessary and reasonable expenses (e.g., for travel and accommodation costs, telephone, copies), and cash disbursements paid on behalf of the client (e.g., court fees) shall be added.

10.10. Legal Protection Insurance. The client’s notification of legal protection insurance and the lawyer’s obtaining of legal protection coverage do not affect the lawyer’s fee claim against the client and are not to be regarded as the lawyer’s consent to accept the insurance benefit provided by the legal protection insurance as their fee. If insurance coverage exists, the lawyer may obtain the coverage confirmation for the mandate. The coverage confirmation by the legal protection insurance means that the legal protection insurance covers costs in accordance with the client’s insurance contract. This does not automatically mean that full cost coverage is provided. Many insurance contracts do not remunerate certain services, or only partially, or only up to a cap, or only after the completion of specific procedural stages. The coverage confirmation therefore does not necessarily mean that every single necessary or sensible service step is covered without deduction or at all. The invoice recipient is always the client as the lawyer’s mandator. If the client’s insurance has confirmed coverage, the lawyer will additionally send the invoice to the client’s insurance for payment. Amounts that are not covered by the insurance, either legitimately or illegitimately, due to the insurance conditions, such as deductibles of the insured, VAT for those entitled to input tax deduction, or services not covered, not fully covered, or not immediately covered by the insurance, must be paid by the client.

10.11. Cost Reimbursement by the Opposing Party. The client must initially bear the lawyer’s fee even in proceedings where the opposing party may or will be obliged to reimburse costs. The lawyer in no case guarantees that the costs can be recovered from the opposing party, because the recoverability of costs cannot reliably be assessed in advance by its nature.

Likewise, the lawyer in no case assumes the risk of the recoverability of costs.

10.12. Approval. In contracts with entrepreneurs, a fee note submitted to the client and properly itemized shall be deemed approved if the client does not object in writing within fourteen days (receipt by the lawyer is decisive) of receipt.

11. Payment

11.1. Due Date and Payability. The lawyer’s invoices are due without any deduction from the invoice date and, unless otherwise agreed, are to be paid upon order for distance selling transactions and otherwise within fourteen days of receipt of the invoice. The performance of services generally only takes place after full payment.

11.2. Flat Rate Billing. In the case of flat-rate billing, this covers all services necessary for the execution of the agreed services. Excluded are the costs of unforeseeable events, additional costs due to non-contractual cooperation by the client, and additional costs due to hidden defects in provided services.

11.3. Time and Material Billing. In the case of time and material billing, billing is based on actual effort. Time and material billing applies when the estimated effort is indicated as approximate, probable, or estimated.

11.4. Joint and Several Liability. If a mandate is granted by several clients in a legal matter, they are jointly and severally liable for all resulting claims of the lawyer. In contracts with consumers, this only applies if the lawyer’s services from the mandate are not divisible and were not clearly rendered exclusively for a specific client.

11.5. Direct Payment. All expenses and cash disbursements incurred in the performance of the mandate may, at the lawyer’s discretion, also be forwarded to the client for direct settlement.

11.6. Legal Protection Insurance. The lawyer is not obliged to claim the fee directly from the legal protection insurance, but may demand the entire remuneration from the client.

11.7. § 19 RAO. The lawyer is entitled to deduct from the cash received for the client the sum of their expenses and earnings, to the extent that these are not covered by advances received, but is obliged to settle these immediately.

If the correctness and amount of the claim are disputed, both the lawyer and the client are entitled to request the committee of the bar association to amicably settle the dispute. In this case, however, the lawyer is also authorized to deposit the cash received by them with the court up to the amount of the disputed claim, but at the same time, if the requested amicable settlement has been unsuccessful, obliged to prove the correctness and amount of the latter.

The lawyer has a statutory lien on the deposited amount for their claim arising from the representation.

11.8. § 19a RAO. If costs are awarded or amicably agreed to the client in proceedings before a court, another public authority, or an arbitration tribunal, the lawyer who last represented the client has a lien on the client’s cost reimbursement claim for their own and their predecessors’ claims for reimbursement of cash disbursements and remuneration for representation in these proceedings.

If the client was last represented by several lawyers, this lien belongs to the first-named lawyer.

If the full costs are not received from the cost debtor, the last lawyer must distribute the received amount among themselves and the previous lawyers according to the cost amounts due to them and the other lawyers.

11.9. Assignment. In contracts with entrepreneurs, the client’s cost reimbursement claims against the opposing party are assigned to the lawyer upon their creation, up to the amount of the lawyer’s fee claim. The lawyer is entitled to notify the opposing party of the assignment at any time.

11.10. Prohibition of Set-off and Retention by the Client. Entrepreneurs are not entitled to set off their own claims against the lawyer’s claims, unless the client’s claim has been acknowledged in writing by the lawyer or legally established. A right of retention in favor of entrepreneurs is excluded.

11.11. Default in Payment. If the client defaults on payment, they must in any case pay default interest to the lawyer at the statutory rate of 4%.

If the client is responsible for the default in payment, for contracts with entrepreneurs, the statutory interest rates applicable between entrepreneurs, but at least 9% per annum, and for contracts with consumers, interest at a rate of 9% per annum, must be paid. The client must also bear all costs and expenses associated with the collection of the claim and all other costs necessary for appropriate legal action. Further statutory claims remain unaffected.

11.12. Continued Default in Payment. After an unsuccessful reminder to the client, setting a grace period of at least seven days, the lawyer may immediately declare all services and partial services already rendered, including those within the scope of other mandates granted by the client, as due and temporarily suspend the provision of unpaid services until full payment of all outstanding remuneration claims.

After a second unsuccessful reminder to the client, setting a further grace period of at least seven days, the lawyer is entitled to withdraw from all mandates and, in addition to payment for services already rendered, to demand compensation for lost profit.

11.13. Installment Payment. If the attorney and the client conclude an agreement for payment in installments, it is agreed that the entire remaining debt becomes due in the event of late payment of even one installment.

12. Liability

12.1. General Limitation of Liability. The liability of the attorney, except in the case of personal injury, is limited to the legally required minimum liability insurance amount as the maximum amount.

The minimum liability insurance amount is currently EUR 2,400,000.00 for law firms in the form of a limited liability company and EUR 400,000.00 for attorneys.

The maximum amount includes all claims against the attorney for incorrect advice and/or representation, such as, in particular, claims for damages and price reduction. This maximum amount does not include claims by the client for reimbursement of the fees paid to the attorney. Any deductibles do not reduce the liability.

The maximum amount refers to one insured event. If there are two or more competing injured parties (clients), the maximum amount for each individual injured party must be reduced in proportion to the amount of the claims.

When a law firm is commissioned, this general limitation of liability also applies in favor of all attorneys working for the company (as its shareholders, managing directors, employed attorneys, or in any other function).

In the case of contracts with consumers, this general limitation of liability only applies if the liability is not based on gross negligence or intent on the part of the attorney.

12.2. Limitation of Liability to the Mandate Relationship. The attorney is only liable to his client, not to third parties. The client is obliged to expressly point out this circumstance to third parties who come into contact with the attorney’s services due to the client’s actions.

12.3. Limitation of Liability for External Services. The attorney is only liable for the fault of selection for third parties (in particular, external experts) commissioned with individual sub-services within the scope of the service provision with the knowledge of the client, who are neither employees nor shareholders.

12.4. Exclusion of Liability for Foreign Law. The attorney is only liable for knowledge of foreign law if there is a written agreement or if he has offered to examine foreign law. EU law is never considered foreign law, but the law of the member states is.

12.5. Transfer of Risk. When sending objects or documents to entrepreneurs, the risk always passes to the client as soon as the attorney has handed them over to the transport company. The shipment is generally not insured, unless the client has commissioned the attorney in writing with the insurance at his expense.

12.6. Obligation to Give Notice of Defects. After handover or after requesting an interim acceptance by the attorney, entrepreneurs must accept the handed over or to be accepted services in writing within fourteen days in any case (“release”) or give written notice of any defects.

In the event of an interim acceptance, the attorney can only continue working after the interim acceptance (“release”) has taken place. In the event of late acceptance or prior use of the services, the services are automatically deemed to have been accepted by the entrepreneur.

Hidden defects or damages that only occur after the expiry of fourteen days, but within open guarantee, warranty, or compensation periods, must also be reported by entrepreneurs within fourteen days of becoming recognizable.

The entrepreneur’s notice of defects must describe the defect or damage in detail and comprehensibly. The entrepreneur must enable the attorney to take all measures necessary to investigate and remedy the defects or damage.

If the entrepreneur does not give notice of the defects in good time, the assertion of guarantee, warranty, and compensation claims is excluded.

12.7. Unavoidable or Unforeseeable Events. Unavoidable or unforeseeable events – in particular, the client’s default in fulfilling his obligations and delays that are unforeseeable for the attorney at the attorney or his contractors – extend deadlines or postpone dates by the duration of the unavoidable and unforeseeable event plus the duration of the organizational measures necessary in such a case. The attorney must inform the client of this in writing.

12.8. Grace Period. Failure to meet deadlines or dates only entitles the client to assert claims if the client has granted the attorney a reasonable grace period in writing, but at least fourteen days.

12.9. Limitation / Preclusion. Unless the law already provides for shorter limitation or preclusive periods, all claims by entrepreneurs against the attorney shall lapse if they are not asserted in court before the expiry of the deadline, for warranty within six months of the provision of services and all other claims, in particular for damages, within six months of knowledge of the damage and the person of the damaging party or the other event giving rise to the claim, but no later than three years from the damaging or claim-giving event.

13. Prohibition of Solicitation

13.1. Prohibition of Solicitation. The client may not solicit employees of the attorney. This agreement shall remain in effect for three years beyond any termination of the mandate. In the event of a breach of this obligation, a contractual penalty in the amount of one gross annual salary of the employee shall be paid for each violation.

14. Data Protection

14.1. Purpose of Processing. The attorney processes the client’s data exclusively for the purpose of fulfilling the order placed by the client in accordance with the law and the order, exclusively in accordance with the law or in accordance with the order (mandate) placed by the client.

14.2. Legal Bases of Processing. The legal bases for the processing of the client’s data are

14.3. Worldwide Processing. In the event that data is processed by the attorney in a third country, the attorney will use special data security measures, such as, in particular, the encrypted transmission and storage of data.

14.4. No Obligation to Consent / Place an Order. The client has no obligation to give consent (in the case of criminal convictions and criminal data or in the case of special categories of personal data) and to place the order (mandate). However, failure to give consent or failure to place the order (mandate) would mean that the order (mandate) cannot be accepted by the attorney.

14.5. Right to Withdraw Consent. The client has the right to withdraw his consent at any time. In the event of withdrawal, the processing will be discontinued, unless there is another legal basis. The lawfulness of the data processed until the withdrawal is not affected by the withdrawal.

14.6. Storage Period. The client’s data will be stored by the attorney at least for the duration of any tax law storage obligations, i.e. generally up to seven calendar years after the end of the order (mandate), and may also be stored beyond that until all obligations arising from the order (mandate) have expired.

14.7. Obligation to Maintain Confidentiality. Disclosure to Other Recipients. The client’s data is subject to the agreed or strict legal attorney’s obligation to maintain confidentiality and the legal protection of personal and company-related data. The client’s data will only be passed on, apart from the transfer to shipping service providers in the case of sending documents, to banks in the case of transfers, to tax advisors in the context of accounting, to other attorneys in the case of substitute representation, and to authorities and courts, on the basis of a legal basis or otherwise in coordination with the client.

14.8. Legal and Event Information. In the event that the client consents to the sending of legal and event information by the attorney, the attorney processes the client’s personal data on the basis of the consent to the sending of legal and event information until the client’s revocation or objection.

14.9. Right to Withdraw Consent or to Object to Direct Marketing. The client has the right to withdraw his consent at any time or to object to the use of his data for the purpose of direct marketing. In the event of withdrawal, the processing will be discontinued, unless there is another legal basis. The lawfulness of the data processed until the withdrawal is not affected by the withdrawal. In the event of an objection, the client’s personal data will no longer be processed for the purpose of direct marketing.

14.10. Rights of the Client / Rights of the Data Subject. The client has the right to information, correction, and deletion of his personal data, the right to restriction of data processing, the right to data portability, and the right to lodge a complaint with the data protection authority.

15. Deposit Insurance

15.1. Trust Accounts of the Attorney. The attorney maintains his trust accounts with Salzburger Sparkasse Bank AG. The attorney has signed the information sheet according to § 37a BWG for these trust accounts. The general security ceiling for deposits according to the Federal Act on Deposit Insurance and Investor Compensation in Credit Institutions (Deposit Insurance and Investor Compensation Act – ESAEG, BGBl I 117/2015) also includes deposits on these trust accounts.

15.2. Deposits of the Client. If the client also holds deposits with Salzburger Sparkasse Bank AG, these must be included together with the trust funds in the maximum coverage amount of currently €100,000.00 per depositor, and there is no separate deposit insurance.

16. Final Provisions

16.1. Applicable Law. The legal relationships between the client and the attorney are exclusively subject to Austrian law, excluding the international conflict of laws rules. The provisions of the UN Convention on Contracts for the International Sale of Goods do not apply.

16.2. Dispute Resolution. The conciliation body for consumer transactions (www.verbraucherschlichtung.or.at) acts as an out-of-court dispute resolution body in disputes between attorneys and consumers. The attorney is not obliged to involve this body for dispute resolution or to submit to it and decides on participation in a dispute resolution procedure on a case-by-case basis.

16.3. Place of Jurisdiction. The competent Austrian court in Salzburg is agreed as the place of jurisdiction for all disputes between the attorney and entrepreneurs. However, the attorney is also entitled to bring an action at the general place of jurisdiction of the attorney and the entrepreneur.