Lessons for legal services clients

1. Out-of-court settlement of consumer disputes

For those clients who are in the position of a consumer pursuant to Section 419 of Act No. 89/2012 Coll., The Civil Code, as amended, the Czech Bar Association is authorized by the Ministry of Industry and Trade of the Czech Republic to resolve consumer disputes out of court in the area of disputes between attorneys and consumers arising from contracts for the provision of legal services. The website of this authorized body is www.cak.cz.

2. Remuneration for the provision of legal services

The remuneration for the provision of legal services may be agreed upon as a contractual remuneration (set by agreement) or determined as an extra-contractual remuneration according to the so-called lawyer’s tariff (see below), in case no contractual remuneration has been agreed upon between the parties.

The contractual fee may be agreed by number of hours or other units of time (time fee), in which case the law firm is entitled to the agreed rate of time fee for each unit of time commenced. In addition, the contractual fee may also be agreed as a contingent fee (a fee based on the outcome of the dispute), or a flat fee or an action fee.

If a contractual fee has not been agreed with the client, the law firm is entitled to an extra-contractual fee for the provision of legal services, as determined by the Ministry of Justice Decree No. 177/1996 Coll., on lawyers’ fees and lawyers’ remuneration for the provision of legal services (Lawyer’s Tariff), as amended.

3. Termination of the contract for the provision of legal services

Pursuant to Section 20 of Act No. 85/1996 Coll., on Advocacy, as amended, the client is entitled to terminate the contract for the provision of legal services at any time, even without giving any reason.

4. Law firm insurance

In accordance with Section 24b of Act No. 85/1996 Coll., on Advocacy, as amended, the law firm is insured against liability for damages for which it is liable to the client. Proof of the firm’s insurance has been deposited in the relevant collection of documents of the Commercial Register.

5. Reimbursement of costs

Please note that pursuant to Section 1(2) of the Ministry of Justice Decree No. 177/1996 Coll., on lawyers’ fees and compensation for the provision of legal services (the Lawyer’s Tariff), as amended, the amount of the lawyer’s fee is determined in accordance with the provisions on non-contractual fees when determining the costs of proceedings, the compensation of which is awarded to the client by a court or other authority, unless otherwise provided for in the Lawyer’s Tariff.

JUDr. Ing. Ondřej Lichnovský,

Attorney-at-law and Managing Director of Specialis s.r.o., law firm

The document is effective from 1 January 2020