05 judgments on legal service contract disputes

Article 513 of the Civil Code 2015 of Vietnam provides for service contracts as follows:

" Contract for services means an agreement between parties whereby a service provider performs an act for a client which pays a fee for that act"

Service contract disputes are conflicts and disagreements related to the implementation or non-performance of the rights and obligations agreed by the two parties are recorded in the content of the contract.

Service contracts include construction service contracts, design consultancy service contracts, insurance service contracts, advertising services.

Legal services are also a typical category of service contract disputes."

Below is a summary of 05 judgments on legal service contract disputes, please read together.

1. Judgment No. 21/2021/DS-ST dated February 26, 2021 on legal service contract dispute

- Trial level: First instance

- Trial agency: People's Court of My Tho City, Tien Giang Province

- Summary of the case content: Mr. Le Hong P signed a legal service contract with Attorney Nguyen Minh Hoang H. According to the agreement, Ms. Hoang H acts as the authorized representative for Mr. P's mother to participate in initiating lawsuits in land use right disputes at People's Courts at all levels. Ms. H assured that the Court will accept Ms. X's lawsuit request, if not, Ms. H will refund the service fee of VND 70,000,000. Mr. P gave Ms. Ha VND 20,000,000 on the date of signing the contract and gave another VND 50,000,000 on March 31, 2014, Ms. H received enough money and signed. Ms. H then received an additional VND 1,500,000 for the appeal procedure. However, the People's Court of Tien Giang province tried the first instance, did not accept Ms. X's request to initiate a lawsuit, Ms. H received money for the appeal procedure but did not appeal leading to the expiration of the appeal period. After that, Mr. P repeatedly asked Mrs. H to pay back VND 70,000,000 but Mrs. H evaded not to pay him. Therefore, Mr. P initiated a lawsuit to request the Court to resolve to force Ms. H to return VND 70,000,000 as agreed in the signed legal service contract.

- Decision of the Court: Accept the lawsuit petition of Mr. Le Hong P. Force Mrs. Nguyen Minh Hoang H to pay Mr. Le Hong P the amount of 60,000,000

2. Judgment 62/2020/DS-ST dated 28/09/2020 on legal service contract disputes

- Trial level: First instance

- Trial agency: People's Court of Phuoc Long District, Bac Lieu Province

- Summary of the case contents: Ms. Le Thi Đ and Mr. Bui Van S signed a legal service contract to request the enforcement of the judgment on land use right dispute. Specifically, the company will make a request for judgment execution and participate in the enforcement process of the Civil Judgment Enforcement Department of Phuoc Long district with a remuneration fee of VND 15,000,000. Up to now, the Company has completed its obligations under the contract in May 2018 but Ms. D and Mr. S have not yet paid remuneration to the Company. The company has contacted Ms. Đ and Mr. S to pay the remuneration, Ms. Đ has pledged to pay off the debt on August 22, 2018 and December 3, 2018 but did not comply with the commitment.

- Decision of the Court: Accept the lawsuit petition of M. Law Company Limited. Force Mrs. Le Thi Đ and Mr. Bui Van S are obliged to pay M Law Company Limited the amount of VND 19,929,166

3. Judgment No. 53/2021/DS-PT dated February 24, 2021 on legal service contract dispute

- Trial level: Appeal

- Trial agency: Ben Tre Provincial People's Court

- Summary of the case content: Lawyers Office B and Mr. Lien Vi L have signed a legal service contract with the content that the Office will appoint employees to represent Mr. L to participate in loan dispute proceedings. Implementation time: Fromthe date of signing the contract until the final settlement of the case. On March 13, 2012, Mr. L paid expenses to the office in the amount of VND 10,000,000, remuneration is 05% of the results achieved as soon as the office is executed, Mr. L paid remuneration to the office corresponding to the rate of each judgment execution. Now, the petitioning Office requests Mr. L to pay the remuneration of VND 262,428,000

- Decision of the Court: Accept a part of the lawsuit petition of Attorney B's Office. To charge Mr. Lien Vi L with the obligation to pay remuneration to the Attorney's Office B inthe amount of 168,368,000 VND

4. Judgment on legal service contract dispute and promise of reward No. 186/2021/DS-PT

- Trial level: Appeal

- Trial agency: People's Court of Dak Lak province

- Summary of the case contents: D Law Company Limited and Mr. Nguyen Khac T, Bui Thi L1 signed a legal service contract. Up to now, the company has repeatedly contacted and requested Mr. T to perform the obligation to pay the service fee and remuneration as committed but Mr. T still refuses to pay as agreed in the legal service contract. Therefore, D Law Company Limited requests the People's Court of KB district to settle: Force Mr. Nguyen Khac T to transfer ½ of the land plot area or pay ½ of the land plot value at the market price at the time the People's Court of KB district determines the property value for the land plot No. 76

- Decision of the Court: Accept a part of the plaintiff's lawsuit claim. Force Mr. Nguyen Khac T to pay the Law Firm the amount of 169,850,561 VND. Force the Law Firm to pay Mr. Nguyen Khac T 01 identity card and 01 household registration book (both original) in the name of Mr. Nguyen Khac T

5. Judgment No. 03/2020/DS-PT dated February 11, 2020 on legal service contract dispute

- Trial level: Appeal

- Trial agency: People's Court of Ba Ria-Vung Tau Province

- Summary of the case content: Mr. Nguyen Van C and Mr. Luong Duc C1 signed a legal service contract with the content: "Mr. C1 requested Mr. C to advise, gather records, write applications, authorized representatives in land acquisition.Since the date of signing the legal service contract and the authorization contract, the plaintiff Mr. C has made an application and directly participated in the settlement of complaints at the competent authorities at all levels. Therefore, Mr. C requests the defendant Mr. Luong Duc C1 to pay Mr. C 50% of the land area in the area of 2000 m2 of land that Mr. C1 is recognized, according to the legal service contract

- Decision of the Court: Recognizing the agreement of the involved parties

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