Re: MJ Experton

I RECEIVED THE FOLLOWING E-MAIL FROM MJ EXPERTON CONTAINING HER PROPOSAL FOR CONTINUED REPRESENTATION OF YOU IN CONNECTION WITH ADMINISTRATIVE MATTERS.  YOU MAY RECALL THAT SHE NO LONGER WISHED TO DO THIS WORK BECAUSE, AMONG OTHER THINGS, SHE FELT THAT IT WAS BENEATH HER STATUS AS A PROFESSIONAL.  SHE ASKED THAT I FIND SOMEONE ELSE FOR YOU.  I TRIED TO HAVE YOUR NEW FRENCH TAX COUNSEL TAKE OVER THE WORK, BUT TAX COUNSEL'S FIRM REFUSED TO TAKE ON THAT WORK.

EXPERTON'S PROPOSAL WILL COST YOU 18,000 EUROS FOR ADMINISTRATIVE WORK ALONE.  HER INVOICE FROM AUGUST 2005 TO JUNE 2006 FOR ALL MATTERS, INCLUDING WORK ON FOCHAL LITIGATION, ONLY AMOUNTED TO 8,372 EUROS.

HOWEVER, HER KNOWLEDGE OR OUR ISSUES AND HISTORY PROBABLY MAKES IT WORTH WHILE TO KEEP HER ON, ESPECIALLY WHEN WE HAVE NO ONE ELSE TO HANDLE THESE MATTERS FOR YOU.

WHAT DO YOU THINK?  PLEASE ADVISE AFTER READING BELOW.

DARREN

From MJ Experton 12/18/06 e-mail to DKI:

Further to your mail of last week and in order to get back to a clear situation before the end of the year, I would like to know if you have found someone to take over Mr. Epstein’s French administrative matters.

If yes:

please provide name and telephone number as soon as possible, so I can take the necessary steps and make contacts on Wednesday when I am in Paris.

If no:

I would be ready to make the following proposal:

I will issue an invoice under the current conditions for the work done during the months of November and December 2006.

For the work to be done as from January 1st, 2007, I would issue a monthly invoice on a lump sum basis to cover the usual administrative follow up, expenses for one trip a month to Paris and normal costs for communication. I propose this monthly amount to be 1,500.00 euros for the year 2007, corresponding to approximately an average over the year of 4 to 5 hours per month at an averaged hourly rate of 300 euros. The list of administrative matters to be included in the « usual administrative follow-up » will include:

·                    Maintenance contracts and invoices concerning Mr. Epstein’s apartment at 22 avenue Foch,

·                    Relationship with condominium ownership (“copropriété”) at 22 avenue Foch, preparation and attendance of the annual general meeting (once a year),

·                    Matters relating to Valdson’s employment and French social charges for Mr. Epstein as employer.

Any extra work (i.e.: legal advise, litigation, translation work, etc.), not included in the usual administrative follow-up, would be charged on the basis of an hourly rate ranking between a minimum of 200 euros (i.e.: for translation) and a maximum of 400 euros (i.e.: for litigation), depending on the level of difficulty of the work to be done. This extra work and any exceptional costs and disbursements (such as, for example, dispatch by international courier, special trip to Paris specifically for Mr. Epstein, etc…) would be invoiced separately.

If appropriate, would you please let me know as soon as possible if you are in agreement with the above proposal.

Please note that I shall be away from Brussels from Friday December 22nd through Tuesday January 2^nd included. I would appreciate having all this matter settled before leaving.

Best regards and seasonal greetings.

Marie-Joseph Experton

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