Conditions
Delivery of services: Engaging a lawyer involves obligations of resource and due diligence. These obligations can only be met in a spirit of collaboration and to the extent that the client provides the lawyer in a timely fashion with all the information required to defend the client’s interests. The engagement entails compliance with the laws governing the legal profession as well as with the rules and recommendations issued by the Ordre français des avocats at the Brussels Bar to which the lawyer belongs.
The lawyers of the Altea firm always work as a team. Your case is jointly managed by both a partner and an associate lawyer. This allows us to continuously improve the quality of our work, reduce the costs of a case, increase our availability and reduce our response times.
Altea’s lawyers work on the basis of the payment of provisions in advance for the costs and services involved in a case. Any remaining balance in favour of the client on a paid provision is reimbursed at the end of the case according to the final statement of fees and costs.
The client receives a detailed breakdown of the case fees whenever an additional payment is requested, as well as upon request.
The lawyers try, as far as possible, to evaluate the cost of the case at the time it is opened.
All payments are made to the account of Altea International SRL IBAN BE70 3631 0968 6125 (BIC: BBRUBEBB), ING Bank, with the case reference or client name as the payment communication.
Rates are subject to indexation and may be adjusted annually.
- The price of a single consultation (or successive single consultations), outside a case opened with the firm, is a fixed price:
- 275 € for a duration of approximately 30 minutes;
- 475 € for a duration of approximately 1 hour.
- Within an open case, the calculation of lawyers’ fees is, as a rule, made by counting hours worked (recorded in 5-minute increments).
The basic hourly rate applied is:
- between 150 € and 210 € excl. VAT per hour for private clients or non-profit associations;
- and between 170 € and 230 € excl. VAT per hour for companies and public bodies.
The hourly rate set is communicated when the case is opened. It will be higher if, for instance, the case requires a high level of specialisation or an urgent intervention.
The client is informed that they may, if they wish, contribute to limiting costs and fees, in particular by preparing complete, well-organised and well-named files in good time, with clear notes, by avoiding sending several questions or documents in separate emails, by avoiding the lawyer needing to send reminders concerning unpaid fees or missing information, etc.
Exceptionally, and provided that this is confirmed in writing by the lawyer at the opening of the case, a flat fee per phase of the procedure may be proposed in simple or repetitive proceedings.
Standard costs relating to the operation of the Altea law firm will be passed on at a flat rate as follows: +10% excl. VAT of fees (services). Extraordinary costs such as any translation fees, National Register searches or travel expenses are not included in this flat rate and are re-billed to the client separately.
Disbursements (court bailiff fees, court listing fees, etc.) advanced by the lawyer on behalf of the client are re-billed to the client (without VAT).
By accepting these general terms and conditions through the opening of a case, the client accepts electronic invoicing.
In the event of non-payment when due, provisions and statements of fees automatically and without prior notice bear interest at a rate of 10% per annum, and the client will be liable for the costs of registered mail and other expenses incurred to recover the sums due. Where instalment payments have been expressly authorised, the late payment of one agreed monthly instalment entails the immediate enforceability of all sums due.
If a client meets the conditions to qualify for free legal aid, they are informed thereof. Save in rare exceptions, the partners do not work on a “pro deo” basis. Information on access thresholds for legal aid and on lawyers working pro deo can also be found through the legal aid offices of each Bar: https://avocats.be/fr/bureaux-daide-juridique-baj. Any client engaging Altea’s services acknowledges having received information on access to legal aid prior to the opening of the case, and having received from the lawyer all the information on legal aid that they wished, such that it is knowingly and before the conclusion of the contract that the client has waived the benefit of statutory legal aid. Acceptance of the general terms and conditions through the opening of a case entails waiver of free legal aid.
A client with legal protection insurance is invited to verify directly with the insurer the conditions of its intervention for the full or partial payment of the fees and costs of a consultation or case. As legal protection insurers refuse any coverage of VAT where the client is VAT-registered and may deduct it, VAT-registered clients who can deduct VAT and who benefit from legal protection coverage are personally liable for the payment of VAT to the firm. To facilitate the firm’s accounting and to avoid any difficulty in recovering VAT from a VAT-registered client, any provision request or final invoice is sent for payment directly by Altea to the client, who is then solely responsible for obtaining reimbursement of the provisions and fees paid (excl. VAT) from the legal protection insurer. A receipted invoice will be sent upon receipt of payment so that the client may obtain reimbursement from the insurer concerned.
Procedural costs and solvency of the third party: The client is informed that the law provides that, in the event of judicial proceedings resulting in an unfavourable decision, the losing party is ordered to pay the other party a procedural indemnity set according to the value of the dispute, as well as other costs (expert fees, court listing fees, etc.). In the event of success, if the other party does not voluntarily comply, the decision must be the subject of enforcement measures, the costs of which must be advanced by the client. The limited solvency of the debtor party may compromise the chances of recovery, for which the lawyer cannot be held responsible.
Third-party account: Funds that the lawyer may be required to receive on behalf of the client or on behalf of third parties will transit through the lawyer’s third-party account opened with ING Bank under IBAN BE03 6304 2639 5184 and subject to the supervision of the Bar (Ordre).
Protection of your personal data and your privacy: Altea attaches great importance to the protection of your privacy and to the security of the processing of your personal data. Any processing of personal data is carried out in compliance with the provisions resulting from the legal texts applicable in matters of privacy protection in relation to the processing of personal data. More information is available on our website www.altea.be under the “confidentiality” section.
Use of artificial intelligence (AI) tools: The firm Altea International may, in a controlled manner, make use of artificial intelligence solutions in order to optimise its internal organisation and to increase its productivity (in particular for the preparation, formatting, summarisation and structuring of information and documents).
This use is exclusively intended to increase responsiveness, to improve service quality, and to contribute to cost reduction for the benefit of the client. It never has the effect of replacing the analysis, expertise, legal reasoning, strategic judgement or professional responsibility of the firm’s lawyers, who in any event retain control of the case and the decisions taken therein.
No confidential data is transmitted in an unsecured manner. Where the use of an AI tool is contemplated, the firm implements appropriate security measures and ensures that the data processed is limited to what is strictly necessary, in compliance with professional secrecy and applicable data protection requirements.
Any written document, opinion, letter, deed or document produced and/or sent by the firm to the client or to a third party is subject to systematic human review and validation. The firm thereby guarantees that its communications and outputs are scrupulously verified and accurate, and that they reflect the human added value of the firm, derived from the contextualisation of applicable legal texts, case law and concrete practice.
Prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing: The lawyer complies with their legal obligations regarding the identification of the client or their representative. The latter undertake to spontaneously provide all documents enabling their identity to be established and authorise the lawyer to make a copy thereof. The obligations of the lawyer and the client derive more specifically from the provisions of the Law of 18 September 2017 on the prevention of money laundering and terrorist financing and on the limitation of the use of cash. The information to be provided by the client varies depending on whether the client is a natural person, a legal person or a representative. The client informs the lawyer as soon as possible and spontaneously of any change in their situation and provides proof thereof.
Where the nature of the case (assistance to the client in the preparation or execution of transactions such as the purchase or sale of buildings or commercial enterprises; management of funds, securities or other assets belonging to the client or their representative; opening or management of bank accounts, savings accounts or portfolios; organisation of contributions necessary for the incorporation, management or administration of companies; incorporation, management or administration of trusts, companies or similar structures; or interventions in the name and on behalf of the client in any financial and real estate transactions) or where the particular situations provided for by the aforementioned Law of 18 September 2017 (country of origin, identification difficulties, unusual relationship between client and lawyer or nature of the transactions, public personality or similar) require the lawyer to exercise enhanced vigilance, the client undertakes to answer any question from the lawyer enabling the lawyer to comply with their legal obligations regarding the fight against money laundering and terrorist financing.
Where the lawyer assists the client in their defence in court or where the lawyer provides the client with legal advice (assessment of the client’s legal situation), the lawyer is bound by strict professional secrecy.
The law requires the lawyer to inform the President of the Bar (bâtonnier) as soon as the lawyer becomes aware, outside their mission of legal defence or legal consultation, of facts that they suspect to be linked to money laundering or terrorist financing. The bâtonnier, as guarantor of professional secrecy, transmits the declaration of suspicion to the C.T.I.F. (Cellule de traitement des informations financières) where applicable.
By making an advance payment to open a case with Altea, the client acknowledges having read these general terms and conditions of engagement of the firm, having received a copy thereof, and agrees with their content and the limitation of liability they entail, as well as expressly authorises the firm to make use of the client’s personal data.
From 6 May 2026
Legal notices:
Nature of services: Lawyer Activities / NACEBEL 2008 Code: 69101.
Professional liability insurance: ETHIAS Insurance Company, voie Gisèle Halimi 10, 4000 Liège (Tel: 04/220.31.11). Geographic coverage: worldwide except for the United States of America and Canada.
Indelicacy Insurance (Assurance Indélicatesse): ETHIAS Insurance Company, voie Gisèle Halimi 10, 4000 Liège (Tel: 04/220.31.11). Geographic coverage: worldwide.
