1. Payment of invoices

Details of our bank accounts to which payments should be made appear on all our invoices or may be obtained from the Firm’s Accounts Department.

Mirkov Čivtelić & Jakšić does not accept payment in cash or by credit card.

Where minor exchange gains or losses arise as a result of our bills or disbursements paid on your behalf being settled in a currency other than the original billing currency, we will take such gains or losses to our profit and loss account. We reserve the right, however, to claim any material exchange losses from you.

Foreign withholding tax:

If any tax or amounts in respect of tax must be deducted, or other deductions must be made, from any amounts payable to us, you will pay such additional amounts as may be necessary to ensure that we receive a net amount equal to the full amount we would have received had payment not been made subject to tax or any other deduction.

Our VAT registration numbers in Serbia are 106872628, 108619998 and 106842359.

2. Disbursements and expenses

Disbursements: while acting for you, we are likely to incur expenses on your behalf which will be itemized on your bill. You agree to reimburse us for all usual costs, charges and other expenses reasonably incurred by us on your behalf or otherwise in connection with this matter. These may include, for example, Court fees, stamp duty and registration fees. We will, of course, advise you in advance of any unusual expenses or charges and seek your approval before incurring them whenever practicable.

Expenses: unless agreed otherwise, we will charge travel and subsistence expenses, transaction fees (including bank fees), courier fees, external copying and document production and other similar expenses necessarily incurred by the firm with third party providers in connection with this matter either at cost or at appropriate standard rates (which may include a fee or charge).

We reserve the right to charge secretarial overtime and to seek reimbursement of the cost of late-night travel arrangements where appropriate.

Telephone and fax – lengthy fixed line, international calls and significant mobile telephone expenses will be charged at cost, unless otherwise agreed. Mirkov Čivtelić & Jakšić may at its discretion charge a reasonable flat rate or lump sum to cover telephone calls made.

3. Client funds, payments on account and interest

Mirkov Čivtelić & Jakšić does not provide banking services and we will accept and hold client funds only to the extent necessary to undertake professional services for you or to hold money on account of anticipated costs and expenses, including our own.

Whenever we receive or hold money on your behalf for any reason, you agree that we may deduct from that money all sums that are due to us in respect of costs and expenses which have been incurred and/or invoiced to you on that matter and on any other matter upon which we are instructed by you.

4. Client identification documentation

The law requires solicitors, as well as banks, and others, to obtain satisfactory evidence of the identity of their clients. We should be grateful, therefore, if you would provide us with documents to verify your identity if you have not already done so. If we have not already discussed the requirements, details will be enclosed with the engagement letter or will be provided shortly. This applies to all new clients and, from time to time, to existing clients.

Lawyers and Trainees cooperating with Mirkov Čivtelić & Jakšić are under professional and legal obligations to keep the affairs of clients confidential. This obligation, however, is subject to a statutory exception: recent legislation on money laundering and terrorist financing has placed lawyers under a legal duty in certain circumstances to disclose information.

You agree that we will not be liable for any losses, costs, claims or penalties incurred by you as a result of our complying with these professional and legal obligations, even if this means that we are unable to carry out your instructions in a particular matter.

5. Information: disclosure and confidentiality

We will hold in strict confidence any confidential information obtained regarding you and your business and we will not disclose it to others without your permission except as may reasonably be necessary for the purposes of providing our services or as permitted or required by statute, regulation.

Our work may require us to give information to third parties such as expert witnesses and other professional advisers.

We will not act where we have a conflict of interests save with your consent in the limited circumstances.

6. Intellectual Property Rights

We retain all copyright and other intellectual property rights in all materials and know-how developed or created by us either before or in the course of carrying out any work for you, although you may freely distribute copies of these materials within your own organization, for the purposes of the matter for which we are engaged.

7. Correspondence by e-mail and other electronic material

Unless otherwise directed by you, we may correspond by e-mail or other electronic media. As with any other means of delivery, this carries with it the risk of inadvertent misdirection or non-delivery. It is the responsibility of the recipient to carry out a virus check on any attachments received. As internet communications are capable of data corruption, we do not accept any responsibility for changes made to such communications after their dispatch. For this reason, it may be inappropriate to rely on advice contained in an e-mail without obtaining written confirmation of it. All risks connected with sending commercially sensitive information relating to your business are borne by you and are not our responsibility. If you do not accept this risk, you should notify us in writing that e-mail is not an acceptable means of communication and also make sure that you do not use e-mail to communicate with us.

8. Outsourcing and file review

Sometimes we ask other companies or people to undertake document production or to provide secretarial services for us to ensure that work is done promptly. We will always enter into a confidentiality agreement with these outsourced providers and will use only reputable and trusted organizations and individuals.

From time to time, external firms or organizations may conduct audit or quality checks on our practice. These external firms or organizations are required to maintain strict confidentiality in relation to your files.

9. Storage of papers and deeds

After completing the matter, we are entitled to keep all your papers and documents while money is owing to us. After that we will return them to you at your request. We will not destroy documents you ask us to deposit in safe custody. Otherwise, we reserve the right to destroy papers five (5) years after delivery by us of a final invoice. This time limit also applies to documents held in electronic format. We will not, as a rule, retain paper copies of documents which are also held by us in scanned form or otherwise electronically unless you request us to or, in our view, original documentation should be retained despite the availability of electronic copies.

We will keep title documents in an appropriate place. If you subsequently ask us to procure and forward such deeds or other title documents to yourself or to another law firm or other person, in circumstances where we are not instructed to act for you, we will be entitled to charge a reasonable fee for the time involved in doing so. We may also be obliged to retain papers and information obtained to meet our obligations in relation to anti-money laundering as required by law.

10. Equality and Diversity

We are committed to promoting equality and diversity in all our dealings with clients, third parties and employees.

11. Administration

You are kindly asked to let us know as soon as possible:

– any change of name and/or address; and
– any change in invoicing details.

Notification should be sent to the person responsible for your work.

12. Professional and regulatory matters

Mirkov Čivtelić & Jakšić is an international network law firm which maintains our main office in Belgrade, and we cooperate with the lawyers specialized in intellectual property law in Albania, Bosnia and Herzegovina, Croatia, Montenegro, North Macedonia and Slovenia.

Mirkov Čivtelić & Jakšić is a law firm registered in Serbia with the registered address on Mišarska 8, 11000 Belgrade.

13. Jurisdiction

Our engagement will be governed by and construed in accordance with Serbian law. Any disputes or claims arising shall be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the Courts of Serbia to which you irrevocably submit, save that, at our election, we may institute proceedings and pursue a claim for unpaid fees against a client in his local jurisdiction and Court. We reserve the express right to seek and recover damages and costs as appropriate.