Terms and Conditions

To mitigate risks of loss and costs, we have written our general terms and conditions, together with correspondence and exchanges regarding the provision of legal services, to lay a foundation on which our clients will be provided with safe and reliable legal services. By agreeing to the work that will be advised by us throughout the service process, Client consents to our general terms and conditions. Under any circumstances, if any instruction to us by the Client has been carried out without a prior agreement signed by both parties, our general terms and conditions will be deemed to have been accepted.

Please discuss about any of these general terms and conditions if you have relevant inquiries or concerns.

Our service fees may be adjusted in accordance with the case files and discussions under the guidance of the Client, based on the reality and details of the matter. For clarification, these general terms and conditions are not legally binding documents or commitments to perform services as requested by the Client or as directed by any third party until a service contract is officially signed or legal action is undertaken by the Parties.

These general terms and conditions are an integral part of the Legal Service Proposal (or service agreement) that will be approved by the Client with the following terms and conditions:

1. Acceptance

These general terms comply with the conditions of service provision.

The terms and service proposal acceptance of the Client forms the terms and the conditions of the agreements between the parties.

By continuing to provide us with instruction after receiving the terms and service proposal, Client is believed to have accepted our services provision.

2. Our commitment

D.P.T Law Firm (D.P.T) is located in Ho Chi Minh City and our services would be provided depending on the factors of the work. 

3. Service commitment

We undertake all usual duties and responsibilities of a lawyer to a client, including duties of care and good faith and we will always act in Client’s best interests to the full extent of our skill and ability. We comply with the highest ethical and professional standards in our representation of clients as of required by the laws.

4. Our role                            

We have the usual lawyer’s legal capacity to act on behalf of the Client in all necessary cases or randomly as prescribed in our commitment. This includes the capacity to:

(i)    incur all expenses we consider necessary to properly handle this matter; and

(ii)   hire Vietnamese counsel and experts if necessary in good faith.

We may require Clients to enter into an agreement directly with Vietnamese counsel or other agents.

Any expenses which we incur while doing our role will be paid by the Client. We will obtain Client’s approval before incurring any extraordinary expenses, except in emergencies.

5. Personnel

If Clients have any concerns about the staffing of Client’s matter, please feel free to contact the person primarily responsible for Client’s matter.

6. Conflicts

We may act for any other client as our ordinary ethical obligations allow. We will consult Client if the partner primarily responsible for Client’s matter becomes aware of any new instruction that may conflict with Client’s current instructions. If a conflict of interest arises which prevents us from continuing to act for Client, we will cease acting for Client immediately. In that situation, we will help Client to find alternative legal representation.

7. Confidential Information

Subject to legal regulations and our Privacy policies, we will not disclose to any other client any confidential information or knowledge which we obtain from acting for Client. And, we will not disclose to Client any confidential information or knowledge which we obtain from acting for any other client.

8. Benefit from service

Unless otherwise specifically stated in our advice, any advice given by us during our engagement:

(i)   is given solely for Client’s benefit;

(ii)  may not, without our prior written consent, be:

       (a)  relied on the actions of any other person;

      (b)  disclosed except to persons who, in the ordinary process of Client’s business, have access to Client’s papers and records on the basis that they will make no further disclosure; or

       (c)  submitted to a government agency or other agency or quoted or referred to in a public document.

(iii)  is strictly limited to the matters stated in it and does not apply by implication to other matters; and

(iv)  is given at the date of that advice.

Unless Clients specifically request us to do so, we are not obligated to inform Clients of any changes in the law after the date of giving advice.

9. Fees

Client please feel free to discuss about our fees and expenses with us at any time. Unless otherwise agreed, we charge the service by reference to the time spent on Client’s matter by our professional team and in accordance with our preferential hourly rates which vary according to seniority. These rates are advised to Client separately and may be varied by us after one month’s notice.

Our fees will be determined according to the factors of the related work, complexity of the instruction, skill required, urgency and other relevant matters.

Many areas of the law and policy of Vietnam are undergoing significant changes as the country faces the challenge of economic reform. This means that government policy and interpretation often change without notice, and as a result, we and local counsel frequently spend considerable time determining the current state of law and practice. To do this, our professional team must consult with the government officials to determine the latest changes of law and policy. Of course, this takes time and may result in higher legal service fees than what Clients might expect if compared with the fees in jurisdictions with more developed and stable legal institutions.

10. Payments

In addition to our fees, we will charge for the costs incurred during the process of carrying out Client’s instruction. We believe that our requirements concerning expenses are simple and limited. We do not charge for the use of meeting rooms, paper processing, normal secretarial work or similar tasks. We do not charge for local telephone calls or local postage. Long distance call and international telephone calls and fax transmissions are charged at standard rates (telephone cost of call plus 15%), designed merely to recover our costs. Courier services and international postage are charged at cost. Any other additional costs which might be incurred, such as travel and accommodation, are also charged at cost.

11. Invoice

Although we establish reports monthly, we reserve the right to establish reports less frequently or more frequently. We will also issue an report on completion of Client’s matter. We invoice, and if the clients are overseas, please pay in USD. Clients in Vietnam shall pay in Vietnamese Dong as required by the laws.

12. Unpaid Bills

If any of Client’s bills are unpaid, we may: not perform any further work for Client until all unpaid bills are fully settled; retain any of Client’s papers, documents or files until all unpaid bills are fully settled; and to charge interest on any unpaid amount after 30 days from the date the invoice is given to Client, applying the current lending rate offered by the banks we chose, on the day the Client’s invoice becomes overdue, for 12-month loans denominated in the same currency as that in which we have quoted our charge-out rates to Client, plus 2%.

13. Third parties

Client must pay our invoices whether or not the Client have a right to reimbursement or recovery from a third party; whether or not any third party seeks an assessment of any of our invoices; and whether or not Client receive any invoice from a third party.

14. Termination

Either Client or we may terminate the services at any time. If either party terminates the services, our statements and warranties are still maintained and Client must pay us for all work we have done and all expenses we have incurred up to the date of termination.

15. Force Majeure

Neither party shall be liable for delay or failure to perform the service agreements between the parties in case of force majeure such as fire, natural disaster, war, epidemic, unilateral legal act, delay by a third party, a fundamental change in objective circumstances or a change in law. If either party encounters such circumstances, they shall promptly notify the other of such force majeure and the consequences that may arise in the performance of the service provision. If the force majeure condition occurs within thirty (30) consecutive days, each party have a right to terminate the services by giving written notice to the other. We will discuss service fees on the basis of actual performance of work by our firm in the event of termination mentioned in this clause.

16. Retention of Documents

Client may leave papers to which Client has the ownership rights after conclusion of Client’s matter. However, we destroy our files 5 years after a matter is completed. If Client do not retrieve Client’s papers within that period, we have the right to destroy Client’s papers along with the archived documents required by Vietnamese Law.  Please note we will add Value Added Tax to our bills, as required by Vietnamese Law. Our fee and disbursements do not include any tax which may be imposed upon our services, fees or disbursements in any jurisdiction, and our fee and disbursements shall be paid after the deduction of such tax(es). Invoices must be paid upon receipt.

We may require Client to send us an amount to cover costs, or to provide guarantees for our expenses and fees. In that case, we will assume, upon receiving of Client’s payment, we assume that Client has the right to withdraw that money to pay our fees and expenses, as they become due. This money is held by us in our bank account. The Client will not be entitled to interest on this amount.

17. Dispute Settlement

Any dispute arising from the performance of this service provisions shall first be resolved through mediation between all parties in the spirit of cooperation and goodwill. In the event that mediation is unsuccessful within thirty (30) days from the date on which a party submits a written request for a dispute, the dispute shall be submitted by us to a competent court in its jurisdiction of Vietnam to solve.

18. Compensation and Reimbursement of Expenses

Nowithstanding of the attached terms and conditions, D.P.T shall not be liable to (i) reimburse the Client under any separate fee agreement with any other service provider or third party for the Client’s instruction not provided by us described in the service proposal, (ii) reimburse Client for all reasonable expenses (including reasonable fees and expenses of counsel and other experts) and (iii) indemnify, defend and hold harmless Client and any of the officers, directors, employees and agents of the Client (the “Indemnified Persons”) from and against any and all losses, damages, liabilities, claims, actions, suits, costs, expenses, disbursements (including the reasonable fees and expenses of counsel), taxes and penalties of any kind and nature whatsoever (collectively, “Expenses”), to the extent that such Expenses arise out of or are imposed upon or asserted at any time against such Indemnified Persons with respect to the performance of any duties contemplated by the Client’s instruction, the creation, operation or termination of the Service; provided, however, that D.P.T shall be required to indemnify any Indemnified Person for any Expenses which are legally confirmed as a result of the willful misconduct, bad faith or gross negligence of D.P.T. In that case, to the fullest extent permitted by law, the Expenses reimbursed and/or compensated by D.P.T shall not exceed the total fees and costs which D.P.T may received from the Client in reality. The Expenses to be incurred by an Indemnified Person shall, from time to time, be advanced by the Client or on behalf of the Client before the final resolution of any matter when the Client receives a commitment from or on behalf of the Indemnified Person to repay such amount if it is determined that the Indemnified Person is not entitled to be indemnified under this provisions.