About Us - Terms & Conditions

Our Aim

We aim to offer our clients quality legal advice with a personal service at a fair cost. In this document, we set out the basis on which we will provide our professional services.

Our commitment to you

We will:

REPRESENT your interests and keep your business confidential;
EXPLAIN to you the legal work, which may be required, and the prospects of a successful outcome;
MAKE SURE that you understand the likely degree of financial risk which you will be taking on;
ADVISE YOU if public funding might be available to you and discuss other forms of funding;
KEEP YOU regularly informed of the progress;
DEAL with your queries promptly, we will always try to return your telephone calls on the same day.

Our hours of business

The normal hours of opening at our offices are between 9.00am and 5.30pm on weekdays. Personal mobile telephones can be called (if you have been given a number) outside these hours and appointments can be arranged at other times if necessary.

People repsonsible for your work

The person responsible for dealing with your work will be Daniel Gearing who is a partner and solicitor. Our charge out rates are set out below. The secretary who may be able to deal with your queries and who will be pleased to take any message for you is Gill Parker. We will try to avoid changing the people who handle your work but if this cannot be avoided, we will tell you promptly of any change and why it may be necessary.
The partners with overall responsibility for your matter are Daniel Gearing, Hui Fong Chen and Mr Peter Sanders.
If you have any problem with the service we have provided for you then please let us know. We operate an internal complaints handling system which we will provide to you on request.

Charges and expenses

Our charges will be calculated by reference to the time spent by us on your matter. This will include meetings with you and others, reading and working on papers, correspondence, telephone calls, preparation of any detailed costs calculations and time spent travelling, if applicable
Routine letters and telephone calls made and received are charged at 1/10th the hourly rate. Letters and telephone calls, which are not considered routine, will be charged on a time basis
The current hourly rates are set out below. We will add VAT to these at the rate that applies when the work is done. At present, VAT is 17.5%.

Senior Partner	£300.00
Partners and Consultants	£250.00
Solicitors	£190.00
FILEX, Senior Executives	£150.00
Executives & Trainee	£120.00
Junior Executives	£90.00

These hourly rates will be reviewed periodically. We will inform you of any variation in the rate before it takes effect.
In addition to the time spent on your matter, we may take into account a number of factors including any need to carry out work outside our normal office hours, the complexity of the issues, the speed at which action has to be taken and any particularly specialist expertise which the case may demand. In particular, in property transactions, in the administration of estates and in matters involving a substantial financial value or benefit to a client, a charge reflecting, for example, the price of the property, the size of the estate, or the value of the financial benefit may be considered. Where a charge reflecting any value element is to be added we will explain this to you.
Solicitors have to pay out various expenses on behalf of clients ranging from Land or Probate Registry fees, court fees, experts’ fees, barristers’ fees etc. We have no obligation to make such payments unless you have provided us with the funds for that purpose. VAT is payable on certain expenses. We refer to such payments generally as ‘disbursements’. The costs for transferring money via the bank system (TT fee) is not a disbursement but is part of our fees.
If, for any reason, this matter does not proceed to completion, we will be entitled to charge you for work done and expenses incurred.
We will also provide you with an estimate of what we think your overall fees will be. This will be based on the information we have at the time. We will review this estimate periodically or if circumstances change. If at any time you want a breakdown of your fees or a revised estimate, please ask.

Payment arrangements

Property transactions. We will normally send you our bill following the exchange of contracts. Payment is required prior to completion for purchases and at completion on a sale. If sufficient funds are available on completion we will deduct our charges and expenses from those funds.
Administration of Estates. We will normally submit an interim bill at regular stages during the administration, starting with the obtaining of a Grant. The final account will be prepared when the Estate Accounts are ready for approval. A percentage is usually charged on top of the hourly rate.
Other cases or transactions. It is normal practice to ask clients to pay money on account of the charges and expenses which are anticipated. This helps clients in budgeting for costs as well as keeping them informed of the legal expenses which are being incurred. If such requests are not met with prompt payment, delay in the progress of a case may result. In the unlikely event of any bill or request for payment not being met, this firm reserves the right to stop acting for you further.
Payment is due to us within 14 days of our sending you a bill. Interest will be charged on a daily basis at 8% per annum where payment is not made within 30 days of delivery of the bill.
Payment can be made by cheque with an authorised banker’s card, cash or by credit or debit card at our discretion. If payment is made by credit card, then we will add an additional 3% to the total amount being paid to cover the additional costs we incur by providing this service. This additional fee will be added to our fees.
We are obliged to report undeclared income or income from the proceeds of crime by duties imposed under money laundering regulations. Our policy is not to accept any payment in cash in excess of £1,000 from any person over a 30 day period. You will be asked to produce evidence of your identity and your address for each matter we do for you.
We will charge our usual hourly rate for each letter sent or telephone call made to you requesting payment of fees. In the event we pursue you through the Courts to recover our fees and are successful, you agree to pay our legal costs as if we had instructed solicitors to act on our behalf and regardless of any provision which may prevent us recovering costs (for example if the claim is allocated to the small claims track).

The risk of litigation

We will advise you of the risks of initiating any claim. In assessing the benefit of commencing any litigation we will advise you of whether the likely outcome will justify the expense or risk involved in litigation. There is a risk that you will be liable for costs even if you are successful in your claim. This is explained further below.
We will advise you whether it is in your interests to engage the services of a Barrister to act as an advocate on your behalf
There are various ways of funding litigation. We will advise you as to your options. In some cases, insurance companies will pay your legal fees. It is your responsibility to check if you have eligible insurance for your legal costs. In other matters, litigation insurance may be available to protect you. We do not accept act where fees are paid by the public funding office.

Other parties' charges and expenses

In some cases, you may be entitled to a contribution towards your fees from another person. It is important that you understand that in such circumstances, the other person may not be required to pay all the charges and expenses which you incur with us. You have to pay our charges and expenses initially and any amounts recover will be a contribution towards them. If the other party is in receipt of public funding no costs are likely to be recovered. You also need to be aware that the other party may not have any assets to meet any financial obligation he or she has to you.
You will also be responsible for paying our charges and expenses of enforcing a judgment in your favour and seeking to recover any costs that the court orders the other party to pay to you.
If you are unsuccessful, you may be ordered to pay the other party’s legal charges and expenses in addition to our charges and expenses. Arrangements can be made to take out insurance to cover liability for such risks. Please discuss this with us if you are interested in this possibility.
The costs benefit analysis will be reviewed as the matter continues.

Interest payment

Any money received on your behalf will be held in our Client Account. Subject to certain minimum amounts and periods of time set out in the Solicitors’ Accounts Rules, interest will be calculated and paid to you at the current rate. The period for which interest will be paid will normally run from the date(s) on which funds are received by us until the date(s) of issue of any cheque(s) from our Client Account. You agree that we may charge a fee of £35 plus vat when calculating the amount of interest and managing the money
Where you borrow money from a lender in a property transaction, we will ask the lender to arrange that the loan cheque is received by us a minimum of 4 working days prior to the completion date. If the money can be sent by bank transfer, we will request that we receive it the day before the completion. This will enable us to ensure that the necessary funds are available in time for completion. The lender may charge interest from the date of issue of the loan payment.

Financial services

Sometimes a case may involve some investment. We are not authorised by the Financial Services Authority and so may refer you to someone who is authorised to provide any necessary advice. However, we can provide certain limited services in relation to investments, provided they are closely linked with the legal services we are providing to you, as we are regulated by the Solicitors Regulatory Authority (SRA).
We are included on the register maintained by the Financial Services Authority so that we can carry on insurance mediation activity, which is broadly the advising on, selling and administration of insurance contracts. This part of our business including arrangements for complaints or redress if something goes wrong, is regulated by the SRA. The register can be accessed via The Financial Services Authority website at www.fsa.gov.uk/register
The Law Society is a designated professional body for the purposes of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000, but responsibility for the regulation and complaints handling has been separated from the Law Society’s representative functions. The SRA is the independent regulatory body of the Law Society and the Legal Complaints Service is the independent complaints handling body of the Law Society.

Storage of papers and documents

After completing the work, we are entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is money owing to us. We will keep your file of papers for you in storage for not less than 1 year. After that, storage is on the clear understanding that we have the right to destroy it after such period as we consider reasonable or to make a charge for storage if we ask you to collect your papers and you fail to do so. We will not of course destroy any documents such as Wills, Deeds, and other securities, which you ask us to hold in safe custody.
If we retrieve papers or documents from storage in relation to continuing or new instructions to act in connection with your affairs, we will charge £40.00 plus VAT for such retrieval. We may also charge for reading, correspondence or other work necessary to comply with your instructions.

Termination

You may terminate your instructions to us in writing at any time but we will be entitled to keep all your papers and documents while there is money owing to us for our charges and expenses. If at any stage you do not wish us to continue doing work and/or incurring charges and expenses on your behalf, you must tell us this clearly in writing.
If we decide to stop acting for you, for example if you do not pay an interim bill or comply with the request for a payment on account, we will tell you the reason and give you notice in writing.

Identity and disclosure requirements

We are entitled to refuse to act for you if you fail to supply appropriate proof of identity and authority (if you are acting on behalf of a company or other persons/legal entities).
We are not allowed to disclose information about your affairs without your authority. By signing these terms and returning it to us you authorise us to disclose to the other parties in the transaction and, if applicable to all other parties in the chain of transactions and their agents and advisers, all information which we have in relation to your involvement in the transaction including any related sale or mortgage and other financial arrangements and wishes as to dates for exchange and completion. You may withdraw this authority at any time but if you do so you should appreciate that we will inform the other party or parties and their agents or advisers that this authority has been withdrawn.
You agree that we may use personal information provided by you in order to conduct appropriate anti fraud checks. We will validate name, address and other personal information supplied by you. By accepting these terms and conditions you consent to such checks being made and for us to keep a record of that information. In performing these checks personal information provided by you may be disclosed to a registered Credit Reference Agency which may keep a record of that information. You can rest assured that this is done only to confirm your identity, that a credit check is not performed and that your credit rating will be unaffected. All information provided by you will be treated securely and strictly in accordance with the Data Protection Act 1998.

Limited companies

When accepting instructions to act on behalf of a limited company, we will require a Director and/or controlling shareholder to sign these terms and conditions on behalf of the company. A board authority may also be required. Your signature to these terms will also act as your personal guarantee in respect of all charges and expenses you or the company incur with us. If the company fails to meet our fees or fails to pay any outstanding invoices, we will be entitled to stop acting and to require immediate payment of our charges on an hourly basis and expenses from you personally.

Communication between you and us

Our aim is to offer all our clients an efficient and effective service at all times. Our clients and our staff are of first importance to us. We hope that you will be pleased with the work we do for you. However, should there be any aspect of our service with which you are unhappy, please raise your concern in the first place with Daniel Gearing at the Harold Wood Office or ask for a copy of our Complaints Procedure.
We may communicate with you by any method we see fit which may include email and fax. In such circumstances, we cannot be responsible for the security of information sent by email or fax.
Your particulars are held on our database. We may, from time to time, use these details to send you information, which we think might be of interest to you.

Terms and conditions of business

Unless otherwise agreed, and subject to the application of our current hourly rates, these Terms and Conditions of Business shall apply to any future instructions given by you to this firm and no other terms will apply unless confirmed by us in writing.
Although your continuing instructions in this matter will amount to an acceptance of these Terms and Condition of Business, we are entitled to stop any work on your matter until we receive a signed copy of these terms from you.

This firm maintains professional indemnity insurance in accordance with the rules of the Solicitors Regulation Authority. Details of the insurers and the territorial coverage of the policy are available for inspection at our offices.