I can take your case on from start to finish in the same way a firm of solicitors do
I can take your case on from start to finish in the same way a firm of solicitors do
1.1. We will discuss with you at the commencement of your matter how your instructions will be funded and where appropriate how you intend to pay our fees. The basis upon which it has been agreed that we will charge you will be confirmed in writing.
1.2. Any work conducted outside of the agreed fee structure will be charged on a quantum meruit basis.
1.3. There are 2 bases of charges which may be referred to in our engagement terms. They are "Fixed Fee" and "Time Basis".
1.4. Fixed fee
This will be a stated fixed amount for an agreed level of work. The fee must be paid before the work starts e.g drafting a legal advice, drafting a winess statement, or attending court.
Not that if i am attending court the fee does not cover given you teleophon or wtitten advice sie on the issues reralting to thge heraining in the days/. week before the court date. I will be at court 1 hityr befoire the hearing and that allows us todisuss the case. Any other time taken up will have to be paid for.
1.5. Time basis
Our charge will be calculated by reference to all time spent on the matter. This will include meeting you and where appropriate others, considering, preparing and working on papers, correspondence, making and receiving telephone calls, research, internal consultations and travelling. Such time is recorded and charged in minimum of six minute units at the hourly rates applicable . Regatribng emeils in ouyt they are Where less than six minutes is taken on a matter, a full unit of six minutes will be charged. You will be notified by letter of the rates chargeable by fee-earners dealing with your matter. These rates are exclusive of VAT. Charging rates will be reviewed from time to time and you will be notified of any changes as soon as reasonably possible.
1.6. Estimates
Unless you are being charged on a fixed fee, any indication of fees is an estimate only (whether stated to be an estimate or quotation). Any fixed fee or estimate will only apply to the work covered by your initial instructions and we reserve the right to vary the estimate or our fee if the scope or nature of those instructions changes. Whilst we will endeavour to ensure that estimates are as accurate as possible the actual fees that are incurred will be subject to factors outside our control and you should therefore treat any estimate as a guide only. We cannot guarantee that the final charge will not exceed the estimate. We will be entitled to charge for all time spent even if it transpires that our estimates understate the level of fees properly incurred in the matter. We will let you know if our initial estimate is likely to be exceeded and provide an updated estimate at the same time.
1.7. Upper limits
You are entitled to set an upper limit on the firm’s costs, which may be reached without further authority. Fees in excess of that limit may only be incurred with your specific further authority.
1.8. Costs updates
On all matters that are being charged upon a standard basis or time basis, we will, at intervals of no longer than every 6 months, update you as to the current costs position.
1.9. Contingency fees
Unless expressly agreed otherwise, no work is undertaken on a contingent basis and with the exception of fixed fees our fees are payable in full whether or not the proposed matter is completed.
1.10. Publicly funded work
We do not undertake work which is publicly funded (LEGAL AID). Should it appear to us that any work that you may instruct us to undertake is eligible for public funding, we will advise you of this and the implications thereof.
1.11. Legal expenses insurance
1.11.1. Insurance policies, credit cards and other financial and employment related products often provide as part of the product legal expenses insurance cover. The terms of the cover will vary but may include cover for part or all of your own legal fees. They will often cover you against you opponent's legal fees in the event that you agree or are ordered to pay them.
1.11.2. The terms of the policies normally include strict reporting requirements particularly with regard to early notification of the matter on which you require assistance. You may be denied cover if you do not make a claim at the outset of the matter. It may therefore important if you intend to rely on legal expenses insurance that you identify its existence and make a decision as to whether or not you intend to rely upon it as soon as possible.
1.11.3 It is your responsibility to clarify whether or not you have the benefit of legal expenses insurance and if so then to advise us of this fact. You should check your household and other insurance policies, credit cards, other financial products and employment related schemes to see if they provide cover for our fees and notify us if applicable.In all such instances where you advise us that you have cover from a third party, we shall consider the terms of the cover and advise you whether we are prepared to continue our retainer on the basis of third party cover.
1.11.4. Should it be appropriate for you to take out such cover, you will be specifically advised of this need.
1.12. Expenses and disbursements
1.12.1. We shall be entitled to charge a fee for:
1.12.2. We will also charge separately for sums incurred or to be incurred by us on your behalf (‘disbursements’) such as travel expenses, courier fees and computer search fees.
1.12.3. Unless agreed otherwise we will expect all disbursements to be paid in advance.At the outset of a matter we will advise you of the disbursements that are likely to be incurred and their likely timescale.Should you fail to pay disbursements when requested, we shall be entitled to determine the retainer with immediate effect.
1.13. VAT
All fees and expenses are exclusive of VAT which will be charged where applicable at the appropriate rate.
2. 1. Payment on account of fees
2.1.1. In some circumstances, particularly litigation matters, we may request a payment on account of our fees, expenses and disbursements.If a payment is requested, we reserve the right not to act or continue acting for you until payment has been made.
2.1.2. In litigation matters we require you to put us in funds for the estimated total costs of that hearing at least 3 days before the hearing if sooner. If the required payment is not paid we may immediately cease acting for you on that matter and any other matters on which we are then acting and we will not be obliged to atted the heraing.
2.2. Delivery of invoices
2.2.1. Invoices relating to fixed and agreed fees will be delivered when they are due for payment.
2.2.2. In all other types of work we are entitled to deliver invoices from time to time for all work carried out to the date specified in the bill. Such bills are ‘statutory bills’, upon which we are entitled to sue in default of payment. The interval between bills will in most circumstances be between 4-6 weeks. A final invoice will also be sent at the conclusion of all matters.
2.2.3. Our invoices are payable on delivery.If email is the normal method of communication between us, sending an invoice by email will constitute valid delivery of that invoice.
2.2.4. In the event of any invoice not being paid on delivery we shall be entitled not to undertake any further work on your behalf until the invoice is paid in full.If the invoice remains outstanding for 28 days we shall be entitled to terminate the retainer and/or charge interest as specified below.
2.3. Payment of fees
2.3.1. Payment of our charges may be made by cheque, BACS money transfer, banker’s draft, 2redit or debit card (not American Express). We cannot accept any payment in cash above £25 in respect of our fees or for any other purpose
2.3.2. You agree where money is held in our client account on your behalf or on behalf of a trust, that when we send a bill to you or the authorised trustee(s) for work that has been done we are entitled as soon as the bill is delivered to transfer sufficient monies to settle the bill from our Client Account to the firm’s office account. You further agree that we may make such transfers even where the bill is disputed on the basis that we will immediately re-credit the client account with any monies found by our complaints department or other proper authority to be in excess of the sums that are properly payable under the bill.
2.3.3. In the event of monies being paid to the credit of your client account when there are outstanding fees or other sums due to us, you agree and authorise us to forthwith transfer funds equivalent to the amount of the debt due to us from your client account to the credit of our office account and thereby discharge your debt. If the funds held are less than the full amount of the debt, then you agree to us transferring to our office account the entirety of the funds on your client account in part settlement of the debt.
2.4. Interest payable on overdue fees
We will charge interest on any amount remaining overdue by 28 days or more. Failure to pay invoices in accordance with our terms of business is analogous to an unauthorised overdraft. Accordingly the rate of interest we will charge on overdue amounts is 15% per annum with interest compounded on each quarter date. We may at our absolute discretion discount the interest rate in individual cases. Such discount will only apply if you receive written notification thereof.
2.5. Objecting to our bill
If you object to any bill you cannot withold fees but you are entitled to apply to the court for an assessment of the bill.
3.1. Without prejudice to any other rights or remedies we may have we shall have a general and particular lien (a right to retain documents or other items) over any of your property coming into our possession or under our control as security for all amounts and liabilities of whatever sort due or becoming due to us from you. The lien may be enforced by sale by auction or private treaty of all or any part of your property in our possession.
3.2. If for any reason we permit you or any other person to have possession or use of any property subject to the above lien, it shall be held at all time subject to that lien and shall be returned to us immediately upon request.
4.1. We are constantly reviewing and upgrading our e-mail technology to ensure that we can communicate with you as effectively as possible by e-mail with the minimum risk of virus infection.However, e-mail carries some inherent risks, namely potential lack of security and lack of authenticity.Further, where sender and recipient use different internet service providers, there can be no guarantee of prompt transmission and incompatibility may also create delivery problems.Notwithstanding these potential problems, the vast majority of e-mail communication is secure and prompt. We are nevertheless required to advise you of these potential risks.
4.2. If you ask us to communicate by e-mail or send us an e-mail, you will be deemed to have accepted the inherent risks in e-mail communication and we shall have no liability for any losses arising from such risks.
5.1. The right to cancel is designed to act as a ‘cooling off’ period and provide the purchaser with an opportunity to change their mind.
5.2. It’s important to note that under the law consumer purchaser can change their mind for any reason. For the 14-day cancellation right to apply two conditions must be initially met:
5.3. Unless you indicate otherwise you agree we can start work straight away and so you will waive your rights to the 14 days cooling off period. if you do then decide to cancel within 14 days you accept we can bill you for work done up to that date.
6.1. Our obligations:-
6.1.1. By virtue of the legislation and regulations we are required to:
6.1.2. Failure by us to comply with these obligations may result in a criminal prosecution against us.To enable us to comply with our duties we may ask for evidence of identity and we may ask you detailed questions concerning the source of any relevant funds.
6.2. Electronic due diligence
We may make use of internet-based searches of extant databases to help ascertain your identity and any money laundering risks. Personal information and identification documentation that you provide may be disclosed to a credit reference agency, which may keep a record of that information and documentation. Unless you contact us after being advised how to access these terms to inform us that you object to the use of such searches it will be deemed that you consent to their use.
6.3. Reporting obligations
We are professionally and legally obliged to keep your affairs confidential. However, we may be required by statute to make a disclosure to the National Crime Agency where they know or suspect that a transaction may involve money laundering or terrorist financing. If we have any concerns about the legitimacy of the funds or the legitimacy of the matter, we are obliged to either terminate the retainer or make a notification to the authorities. Such a disclosure is required under the legislation and is an exception to our normal duty of confidentiality. Accordingly we shall not be liable for any loss that you may suffer as a result of our complying with any statutory or regulatory provisions, even if it ultimately transpires that no offences were being committed.
You agree not to make our work available to third parties without our written permission.
8.1. You may terminate your instructions by writing to us at any time.
8.2. The firm is entitled to determine its retainer for good reason, and without prejudice to the generality of the foregoing we shall be entitled to terminate our retainer if you instruct us to take any course of action which we advise is inappropriate, you decline to accept our advice, we consider that the potential outcome does not justify the expense being incurred or that it is not in your best interests for us to continue to act, you are in breach of your responsibilities under clause 5 above, you make unwarranted complaints about the firm or the level of service, or it is evident to us that the necessary mutual trust and confidence no longer subsists.
8.3. Further, we may terminate the retainer in the event of any of our accounts being outstanding for more than 28 days.
8.4. We will give you such notice as is reasonable in the circumstances to determine the retainer, but such notice shall be no longer than 28 days.We shall have no liability to undertake any work or actions on your behalf once the period of notice has terminated. We will release papers relating to your matter once all fees for which you have become liable have been paid by means of cleared funds.
9.1. Internal complaints
9.1.1. We are committed to providing a professional, efficient, and courteous service to all our clients. If you feel that we have failed to achieve an acceptable standard of service, or if you have concerns regarding an invoice, you should let us know.
9.1.2. Making a complaint will not affect how we handle your matter.
9.1.3. If you have a complaint about the service we have provided, you should in the first instance contact the person dealing with the matter so that they can try to resolve any issues for you. This is usually the person named in the engagement letter we sent to you at the start of your matter.
9.1.4. If that person fails to resolve matters in a satisfactory manner, or you feel uncomfortable about making your complaint to the person dealing with the matter, then you should raise a formal complaint with us.
We may transfer all rights and obligations under any contract with you to any successor to the firm in the context of its business in the event that such a successor, whether it be a partnership, limited liability partnership, or body corporate takes on the business of Wilsons Solicitors LLP. By continuing to instruct us having been notified of these Terms of Business you agree to the future novation of any contract you have with us in favour of the successor entity.
11.1. Except for clause 6.1 (no claims to be made against individual partner and employees of the firm) which is intended to benefit partners and members of staff, no person other than a contracting party may enforce any provisions of our engagement by virtue of the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999.
11.2. The firm and you or other contracting party may agree to rescind or vary the engagement terms without reference to any third party.
If all or any part of any individual provision of the retainer between us and you is or becomes illegal, invalid or unenforceable in any respect then the remainder of the terms of the retainer will remain valid and enforceable.
These terms and our engagement letter(s) form the entire agreement between us and you as to the terms of our appointment by you, to the exclusion of all other correspondence and discussion.
This agreement is governed by English Law and by accepting these terms you submit to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.
If you have any queries with regard to these Terms and Conditions please ensure that you raise them with us.
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