Terms of Business
Our Terms of Business, details the basis upon which our fees are calculated, and sets out our commitment to achieve service excellence. Please read our Terms of Business carefully, and let us know if you have any queries. By instructing us you will be deemed to accept the following terms and conditions.
A. THE SERVICE WE PROVIDE
A:1 Instructions and exchange of information
We aim to offer all our clients an efficient and effective legal service. Our legal staff will endeavour to establish a close working relationship with you. As required by the Solicitors Code of Conduct, we will keep you informed of the work which we are carrying out including:-
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Identifying clearly your objectives in relation to the work to be done
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Giving you a clear explanation of the issues involved and the options available to you
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Agreeing with you the next steps to be taken
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Keeping you informed of progress
It is important to us that you feel at ease and confident with the advice which you are receiving, and with the work which we are carrying out for you. If there is anything which you do not fully understand at any time, or about which you are in any way uncertain or unhappy, please do not hesitate to raise this with us.
We can and will only act upon your instructions, and we cannot do anything to progress your matter unless your instructions are clear, precise, and above all, complete. If you are not sure whether something might be relevant to a particular problem, please tell us and let us decide. Whilst we reserve the right to accept and act upon telephone or email instructions, we are not obliged to do so unless corroborated by letter or fax.
If "our client" in a particular matter comprises more than one person, we reserve the right to accept instructions from any one or more person or persons on behalf of all the persons concerned, unless we receive specific written instructions to the contrary (in which case we may have to decline to continue to act in the matter). Each person for whom we are acting in the matter will be jointly and severally responsible for payment of all our fees.
By way of confirmation of your instructions and your agreement to our Terms of Business we will require you to complete and sign the proforma at the foot of our Client Care Letter and return it to us as soon as possible.
Where the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2008 apply to the work we undertake for you by instructing us to carry out that work, you agree that we will commence that work on your behalf and you acknowledge that on our commencing that work you will be incurring fees attributable to that work. When we commence work at your request you may not cancel your contract with us in relation to the work after it has begun under the Regulations and our fees for that work will be payable by you. Although we may endeavour to complete a particular matter by a particular time there is no time limit for the performance of our services.
A:2. Responsibility for your work
Every client of this firm is designated to one of the Partners, who are all fully qualified solicitors. The designated Partner is responsible for relations with that client, and is known as the Client Partner.
The Client Partner will not necessarily be the person who is responsible for the day to day conduct of a particular matter. You will be informed as soon as possible after receipt of your instructions of the name and status of the person who will be dealing with the day to day conduct of the matter (who might not necessarily be a solicitor), and of the Partner responsible for the handling of your work. If the identity of these persons should need to change (which will only happen in exceptional circumstances) we will let you know immediately.
If there is any aspect of our service with which you are unhappy, please raise this with the person dealing with the matter in the first instance, but if you are still concerned, please contact your Client Partner. In the unlikely event that there is a continuing problem, you should raise the matter with Mark Moseley, our Quality and Complaints Manager.
A:3. Office hours and appointments
Our offices are open from 8.45 am to 5.30 pm, Monday to Friday. Between 12.45 pm and 1.45 pm, many of our staff may be at lunch, although the offices remain open and our main switchboard is operative. Save in exceptional circumstances, we request that you make an appointment before calling to discuss your matter in person - this enables us to plan our working week and provide a more efficient service with the minimum of delay.
When telephoning, if the person dealing with your matter is unavailable, we encourage you to speak with his or her PA or Secretary, rather than suffer the inconvenience of having to telephone again. Our PAs/Secretaries will often be able to deal with routine enquiries, and will be able to take a message if a return call is requested. We endeavour to make any requested return telephone calls within 24 hours.
Messages can be left on the answer phone outside those hours and appointments can be arranged at other times when this is essential
A:4. Quality management standard (QMS)
As longstanding members of LawNet, the Federation of Independent Law Firms, Band Hatton LLP adopts ISO9001, an internationally recognised Quality Management Standard. Our administrative procedures and file management are externally audited twice yearly to ensure that the necessary standards are maintained. As part of this audit, the firm's records and files will be checked in a way which ensures that confidentiality is maintained. Your file will be made available for audit unless you specifically request otherwise. Details of the ISO 9001 Quality Management Standard, and its relevance to the highest standards of client care and service are available on request.
A:5. Questionnaires - survey and comments
At the conclusion of a transaction, we will usually send you a Client Satisfaction Questionnaire. There is naturally no obligation to answer this, but we do appreciate your assistance in completing this form, as it enables us to maintain a higher standard of client care and service.
A:6 Retention of files and storage of documents
We retain completed files for a minimum period of 6 years. Files may be destroyed after this period has elapsed. You are entitled to see or receive your file, if you wish.
You may be charged, at our discretion, for administrative costs of retrieving files from storage or releasing property deeds. We will make a charge if either you or a third party acting on your behalf requests information from your file, or requests your property deeds. We will notify you of our charges at that time.
We also have facilities for storing your Deeds and other important documents, such as your Will, and we are pleased to provide these services free of charge.
A:7 Commission received
Any commission that we receive as a result of acting for you will be applied to your benefit towards our fees for the work involved, and towards any other outstanding charges. Any balance will be paid to you.
This position may be affected if you have entered into a separate written agreement with us, which will deal with various matters including commission. This will only apply in a very limited number of cases.
A:8. Bank interest
Where applicable, we will account to you for interest earned on monies held on your behalf in accordance with The Solicitors Accounts (Deposit Interest) Rules. Such interest will be applied to your benefit towards our fees for the work we are carrying out for you, and any balance will be paid to you.
You will appreciate that monies in our general client account are held on immediate call, and therefore the interest on these monies will be less than might be achieved in an investment account. Full details of the circumstances in which interest is payable, and the rate we are able to pay, are available upon request.
If we hold money on which interest may be payable to you, we reserve the right either to deposit the money in a separate designated deposit account at a bank or building society, or to hold it in our general client account, unless we have your express instructions in appropriate circumstances.
B: FEES
B:1. How we calculate our fees
Our fees are calculated mainly by reference to the time spent working for you, which we record daily on our computer system. Different hourly rates will be charged according to the status of the person who handles the work for you and possibly according to the type of work involved. Information as to how much time has already been spent on your file or is likely to be spent for the matter to reach a conclusion and of the appropriate hourly rates is available upon request from the person responsible for the day to day handling of your matter, at any time during the course of the work which we carry out for you.
There may be other factors in addition to the time spent, which will affect the fees which we charge, for instance the importance and complexity of the matter, the value of the transaction and exceptional urgency.
With regard to telephone calls, emails and routine letters, we charge clients based on a percentage of our normal hourly rate for each telephone call and email (received or made) or letter (received or sent). These rates are available upon request.
Our hourly rates are reviewed each January. If your matter has not been concluded before the next review takes place, the rates might increase but we will advise you in writing of any variation in the charge rate.
Our objective is to ensure that the legal fees we charge are fair and reasonable. If you do not consider this to be the case then you should first of all discuss the matter with the partner responsible, but if you are still unhappy then contact our Client Care Manager, Mark Moseley.
You have the right to have your bill assessed by the Court under sections 70, 71 and 72 of the Solicitors Act 1974 within one month of the date of receipt of our invoice. We are entitled to charge interest on the oustanding amount of the bill in accordance with article 5 of the Solicitors' (Non-Contentious Business) Remuneration Order 2009.
In some limited areas of work you might have to pay the costs of a third party. When applicable we shall endeavour to obtain a firm figure, a clear estimate or an upper limit for such costs and to let you know when they are likely to be payable.
B:2. Estimates and fixed fee quotations
We are able in some instances to give you fixed fee quotations for certain types of work, eg. most residential property transactions, wills and undefended divorces.
We will provide you with a written estimate of our legal fees and detail any disbursement costs you will incur. The estimate is an indication of the likely overall costs for your individual matter. In some cases it is not possible to determine the likely overall costs at the outset; therefore, we will give you the best information possible at that time and keep you informed of all charges as the matter progresses at least every six months.
On occasion, we will ask clients to agree an upper limit for our legal fees, which you are liable to pay in full without any further authority. We will not exceed an agreed limit without your written instructions and agreement for a revised figure
B:3. Disbursements
"Disbursments" are payments which are made on your behalf so that work which we are doing for you can be carried out, eg. court fees, search fees. Disbursements will be shown separately on our invoice and will be charged in addition to our fees.
B:4. Value added tax
VAT will be charged on all professional fees and on some disbursements. Estimates and fixed quotations are given exclusive of VAT, which must be added. The current standard VAT rate is 17.5%. All estimates and quotations are necessarily subject to alteration (up or down) with any change in the rate of VAT.
B:5. Payments on account, interim bills
It is our normal practice to request payment of anticipated disbursements either upon receipt of your instructions, or as the matter continues, and we may also ask you to make payments on account of our anticipated fees.
We reserve the right to deliver bills at agreed intervals for the work carried out during the conduct of your matter, which enables you to keep track of the costs which you incur. Interim accounts of this nature may be for the whole or part of the costs appropriate for the work carried out to date.
Unless otherwise agreed, we shall tell you at regular intervals (not longer than six months) how much the costs are at that stage and estimated costs to the conculsion of the matter.
B:6. Liability for costs
In any litigation case, (and in certain other limited circumstances) you will have a potential liability for your own costs and those of any other party including:-
B:6:1 Your own costs even where an order for costs is made against your opponent
B:6:2 Your opponent's costs as well as your own if the case is lost
B:6:3 Your own costs even if the case is won where your opponent may not be ordered to pay or be capable of paying the full amount.
B:7 Abortive work
If for any reason we cease to represent you, or a transaction with which we are dealing on your behalf does not proceed, we reserve the right to charge for the work done up to date.
B:8 Payments of fees
B:8:1 All invoices must be settled within 28 days, and any invoices not paid within such time will attract interest at the rate of 2% above our Bank's base lending rate, calculated from the date of the invoice until the date of payment.
B:8:2 Unless otherwise agreed the person or persons to whom our Client Care letter is addressed is responsible for and guarantees payment of all our fees, charges and disbursements even if the Client is a company. If more than one party is to be responsible then all relevant parties should sign the Client Care letter and their liability will be joint and several, although continuing instructions from or on behalf of any person to whom the client care letter is addressed will be taken as acceptance of these terms and conditions and their liability (whether or not jointly and severally with others) to pay our fees, charges and disbursements. The full names and addresses of any additional guarantors should be given in writing and failure to do so will mean that the person/persons to whom the client care letter is addressed will be fully liable.
B:8:3 In property transactions (and certain similar transactions where monies are payable to another party upon the conclusion of the transaction) we shall invoice you and require payment of our fees (cleared funds) prior to legal "completion" taking place. Five working days must be allowed for cheques to clear.
B:8:4 When we are holding monies that are due to you, we reserve the right to deduct our fees and any other payments due to us before accounting to you for the balance.
B:8:5 We accept payment by personal cheque, or if you call into the office we will accept cash payment up to a maximum of £750.00. If you prefer to pay by credit or debit card, simply contact us with your card details. A charge may be made for credit card payments.
B:9 Updating costs information
We will keep you properly informed about costs as the matter progresses and, in particular, we shall where appropriate:-
B:9.1 Tell you (unless otherwise agreed) how much the costs are at regular intervals and discuss how you intend to fund these costs
B:9.2 Explain any changed circumstances which will or may affect the amount of costs, the degree of risk involved or the cost benefit of continuing with the matter
B:9.3 Inform you as soon as it appears that a costs estimate or agreed upper limit may or will be exceeded
B:9.4 If relevant, discuss with you your potential liability for any other party's costs and whether such payments may be covered by existing insurance.
B.10 Electronic Transfers
Please note that if it is necessary for monies to be electronically transferred to any bank account, a charge of £30 plus VAT will be made in respect of each transaction.
C: GENERAL
C:1. Personal Details - Data Protetion Act
Certain information which you give us during the conduct of your work, may be recorded on our computer to assist us in running our business efficiently. We are registered under the provisions of the Data Protection Act.
C:2 Anti-Money Laundering Regulations
Under the above we are required to satisfy ourselves as to the identity of all Clients. It will be necessary to ask you for personal identification (eg. your Passport). If any suspicions arise regarding money laundering we are obliged to report these to the appropriate authority and this will override our duty of confidentiality to you.
C:3 Liability for Loss
We shall not be liable for any loss arising from or connected with a deposit-taker (bank or building society) collapse. The Law Society has its own compensation scheme for its members investment business, so claims against solicitors in England and Wales should be referred to it. However if the solicitor is holding your money in a client account with an authorised deposit-taker that fails, then your claim is against the deposit-taker and you should refer this to the Financial Services Authority.
C:4 Clearance of Funds
If we have to make payments to another party on your behalf (eg. on completion of a property purchase, or settlement of a claim), we cannot do so until funds are "cleared" into our client account. 5 working days must be allowed for clearance of any cheques, (including building society cheques) deposited with us by you or anyone on your behalf, and 1 working day for clearance of bank drafts. These periods are governed by bank clearance times, and are outside our control.
C:5 Marketing
On occasion, we may write, email or telephone you with details of our services and information regarding changes in the law that may be of interest to you. If you do not wish to receive any marketing correspondence from us, please let us know in writing so that our records can be updated accordingly.
C:6 Copyright
Unless otherwise specifically agreed in writing, we retain the copyright of all written materials supplied to you. You may use the material for the matter in question, but if such materials are passed on or disclosed to third parties, we reserve the right to make a proper professional charge for the use of such materials, and to be indemnified by you for all expenses and losses incurred in enforcing our rights in respect of such materials.
C:7 Waiver/Prior Terms/Alterations
Our failure to enforce at any time or for any period any one or more of these terms shall not be a waiver of them or of the right at any time subsequently to enforce all applicable terms and conditions.
These terms supersede any prior agreement between us, whether oral or in writing. Any alterations to these terms are not valid unless confirmed in writing and signed by a Partner.
C:8 Proper Law
These Terms of Business will be governed by English Law.
C:9 Addresses
Please advise us of any change of address in writing, as soon as possible. We will treat your last known address (or in the case of a Company your registered office) as your address for service of any formal notice or documents.
C:10 Ability to Pay and Source of Funding
You might have the benefit of legal expenses insurance (for example as part of your motor or household insurance). It is your responsibility to check whether you have such insurance and to bring it to our attention so that we may consider it with you. It is your responsibility to make a claim under any legal expenses insurance policy or to pay us to make a claim on your behalf. You will remain liable for any costs that are not covered and paid in full by an insurer under such a policy. Where applicable (mainly in cases of claims and other litigation), we shall discuss with you how, when and by whom any costs are to be met and consider:-
C:10.1 Whether your liability for your own costs can be covered by insurance
C:10.2 Whether your liability for a third party’s costs can be covered by insurance (whether pre-paid or after the event) including in every case where a conditional fee or contingency agreement is proposed
C:10.3 Whether your liability for costs (yours or another’s) may be covered by your employer or trade union or some other body or organisation.
C:11 Cost-Benefit and Risk
Where applicable, we shall discuss with you whether the likely outcome of the matter on which you have instructed us will justify the expense or the risk involved including (if relevant) the risk of having to bear your opponent’s costs.
C:12 Disability Discrimination Act 1995
As part of our compliance with the above, if you need to visit us and if you think there might be circumstances giving rise to difficulties of access to or within our offices please let us know and we shall be happy to discuss mutually convenient alternative arrangements such as meeting you at your office or home.
C:13 Limitation of Liability
We believe that the limitations on our liability as set out in this agreement are reasonable having regard to the availability and cost of professional indemnity insurance and possible changes in its availability and costs. We are, however, happy to discuss this limit with you if you consider it insufficient for your purposes and will investigate options for providing further cover, which may be at extra cost.
We will perform our obligations to you with reasonable skill and care.
We accept liability without limit for the consequences of fraud by Band Hatton LLP or any of its partners or employees within the course of practice and for any other liability which we are not permitted by law or rules of professional conduct to limit or exclude. If any part of this agreement (including provisions as to amount or time limits) which seeks to exclude, limit or restrict liability is found by a court to be void or ineffective on the grounds that it is unreasonable or does not accord with any professional obligation, the remaining provisions shall continue to be effective. We do not seek to reduce our liability below the minimum prescribed by the Solicitors Regulation Authority, which is £3 million for an incorporated practice.
We will not be liable to the extent caused by the provision of false, misleading or incomplete information or documentation or due to the acts or omissions of any person other than us, except where, on the basis of the enquiries normally undertaken by solicitors within the scope of this agreement, it would have been reasonable for the solicitor to discover such defects.
The total aggregate liability of Band Hatton LLP, its partners and employees to you (and where we are instructed jointly by more than one party, all of you collectively and in total and also including anyone claiming through you) arising from or in connection with this agreement (including any addition or variation to the same) shall not exceed £10 million.
You agree that you will not bring any claims or proceedings against our individual partners or employees. This clause shall not operate so as to exclude any liability, which a partner, or employee, is not permitted by law or rules of professional conduct to limit or exclude. This clause is intended to benefit such partners and employees who may enforce this clause pursuant to the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 ("the Act"). Notwithstanding any benefits or rights conferred by this agreement on any third party by virtue of the Act, the parties to this agreement may agree to vary or rescind this agreement without any third party’s consent. Other than as expressly provided in this agreement, the provisions of the Act are excluded.
Proceedings in respect of any claims against us must be commenced within 3 years after you first had (or ought reasonably to have had) both the knowledge for bringing an action for damages and the knowledge that you had a right to bring such an action and in any event no later than 6 years after any alleged breach of contract, negligence or other cause of action. This provision expressly overrides any statutory provision, which would otherwise apply; it will not increase the time within which proceedings may be commenced and may reduce it.
If we are liable to you either jointly or jointly and severally with any other party: we shall only be liable to pay you the portion, which, due to our fault, is found to be fair and reasonable. We shall not be liable to pay you the portion which is due to the fault of another party (irrespective of any limitation provision which may apply to the liability of such other party); and any sum due from us to you shall be reduced by the proportion for which another party would have been found liable if either: you had also brought proceedings or made a claim against them; or we had brought proceedings or made a claim against them under the Civil Liability (Contribution) Act 1978 or any similar enactment under any other relevant jurisdiction.
We shall not be liable for any loss arising from or connected with our compliance with any statutory obligation, which we may have, or reasonably believe we may have, to report matters to the relevant authorities under the provisions of any anti-money laundering or other legislation, which may apply from time to time.
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