Complaints and dispute settlement scheme for the legal profession

Our services are subject to the Dispute Settlement Scheme for the Legal Profession.

If you are dissatisfied with the quality of the services provided or the amount of an invoice, you may first submit your objections to our office. Our firm’s complaints procedure will serve as the guideline in this respect. A copy will be sent to you, should you request one. You are required to submit your complaint to our office within three months after the time when you became aware or could reasonably have been expected to become aware of the act or omission which constitutes the grounds for your complaint.

Our office will always provide you with written confirmation of a solution to the problem within four weeks of receiving the complaint. Should you be of the opinion that our office has failed to resolve your objections satisfactorily, you may submit a complaint to the Dispute Resolution Committee for the Legal Profession. This option is also open to you if our office has not dealt with your objections in writing within four weeks of submitting them. You may request the regulations of the Dispute Resolution Committee for the Legal Profession from:

Dispute Resolution Committee for the Legal Profession
Bordewijklaan 46 (2nd Floor)
2591 XR The Hague
Tel.:  +31 (0)70 310 5310

You may submit a complaint to the Dispute Resolution Committee for the Legal Profession at the above address within twelve months of our office’s written response. After this period, the option will lapse.

The Dispute Resolution Committee for the Legal Profession will rule on the matter in the form of an arbitration award, unless you submit the dispute in your capacity as a consumer and declare that you wish to have the dispute resolved by means of binding decision.

The Dispute Resolution Committee for the Legal Profession has the power to rule on complaints concerning the services provided by a lawyer and the amount of the invoice. In addition, the Dispute Resolution Committee for the Legal Profession is entitled to rule on claims for compensation up to a maximum sum of €10,000.00. You may only submit a claim involving a larger sum to the Consumer Complaints Board for the Legal Profession, if you confine the claim to €10,000.00 and explicitly waive the excess.

A ruling handed down by the Dispute Resolution Committee for the Legal Profession concerning the quality of services provided does not have evidential force in any legal proceedings before an ordinary court of law concerning a claim for compensation in excess of €10,000.00. This means that you may not rely on a ruling handed down by the Dispute Resolution Committee for the Legal Profession in any potential proceedings before an ordinary court of law concerning a legal claim for compensation in excess of €10,000.00.

Our firm may submit an unpaid invoice to the Dispute Resolution Committee for the Legal Profession for debt collection purposes.

The Dispute Resolution Committee for the Legal Profession will deal with a case in accordance with the regulations governing its work as applicable at the time when the relevant complaint is submitted to it.

The Dispute Resolution Committee for the Legal Profession will rule on a matter to the exclusion of an ordinary court of law. No appeal may be lodged against a ruling of the Dispute Resolution Committee for the Legal Profession.