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STATEMENT
OF TERMS
This statement explains the basis on which we shall carry out any instructions
you give us to act on your behalf.
If you ask us for advice,
that is asking us to act for you. If you are uncertain about exactly
what work we shall be doing for you, please discuss it with us directly
as soon as possible. Submitting an e-mail instruction to us or request
for our advice will bind you and us to these terms unless and until
we both agree to change them. The other contents of the web-site are
intended as general information only, and they do not form part of the
agreement between us.
All clients are entitled
to a proper application of our professional skills and proper attention
to what we are instructed to do for them. Our responsibility will be
to carry out those instructions in a professional manner. Please remember
that any instructions you send by e-mail will appear to us to be complete
and we will be entitled to act for you in reliance on them; their sufficiency
as instructions, and their accuracy will be your responsibility.
If you need to contact
us, there will be a designated lawyer responsible for what you have
asked us to do. For the occasions when that lawyer is not available,
then someone else in the office will be appointed to assist with any
enquiry and will consult an appropriate member of the firm if necessary.
If you do not know who the lawyer designated is, ask to speak to one
of the senior lawyers, who will find out for you. Please bear in mind
that we cannot always arrange to be available immediately or at short
notice, but will make sure that you and your work get the necessary
attention.
FEES
You will have been sent or (if this is your first contact with us) will
shortly receive a letter saying what work we shall be doing for you.
If we have already agreed a fee with you for that work, it is shown
in the letter or at the beginning of the paper equivalent of this Statement.
If we have not agreed a fee or if we do any work which is not included
in the work described in the letter, then our charges for the work will
be based on the time spent by members of our staff in carrying it out.
You will have received or seen on the web-site, or will be sent a list
of our current rates of charge, which will be reviewed annually and
any changes notified to you. The rate charged for each piece of work
will be the rate for the person who is responsible for the work at the
time of doing it. The rates do not include VAT, which will be added
on, nor do they include any charge for giving special priority to any
work. If special priority is needed, then we will agree with you separately
what that priority will cost. Where a fee has not been agreed, we will
estimate the likely total cost of the work, if you wish. You will understand
that we cannot guarantee the accuracy of any estimate given, because
your matter and the work involved will be unique.
PAYMENTS ON ACCOUNT
AND DISBURSEMENTS
We may ask you to agree or may have agreed that you will make a payment
or payments on account of our costs to enable us to start the work.
We may review that at any time and ask for further or increased payments
on account of costs which are to be incurred. That money remains yours
but can be used by us to pay disbursements on your behalf or set against
bills that are delivered. We will ask you to top up the amount to the
original figure if we have used a substantial amount of it. The interest,
if any, accrued on money we hold on account of costs, will remain ours,
except when it is accrued on money which we actually return to you.
If we ask you to let us have payment on account of costs, work on your
matter will be suspended until that money is received. If this is likely
to cause difficulty then you should speak about it to the designated
lawyer responsible. We may render interim bills for our work, both to
assist us and assist you in keeping track of the costs. At any time
during the work, if you request it, we will give you an estimate of
the amount of costs incurred up to date. If for any reason you ask that
no more work should be done, then we will deliver a bill for the work
done up to the date of that request. The fee for the work will then
be calculated at our hourly rates, subject to a maximum of the agreed
fee, if there is one. After a bill has been delivered to you it should
be paid within two weeks. After a month, interest will be added to unpaid
bills at the same rate as a court would allow on unpaid judgment debts.
You will understand that in the event of payment not being made, we
must reserve the right to suspend working for you or decline to act
any further and to render a further bill for work subsequently done.
QUALITY OF SERVICE
We seek to provide a high quality service to all our clients. If at
any time you are concerned about your case or wish to make any comments
on any aspect of our services to you, you should first of all speak
to the person designated as the Lawyer Responsible. If after that you
are still concerned, you should speak to the person designated in the
paper version of these terms as the Referral Partner. If that does not
resolve the matter, then you should write to the Referral Partner who
will write back as soon as possible.
AGREEMENT
If you agree that we should act on this basis, then you may continue
through the web-site and submit your instructions to us, in which case
you will be bound by these terms in what we do for you. We will then
send you, if you have not previously received it, two paper copies of
these terms and will ask you to sign one copy and return it to us. We
will have entered into an agreement which will mean that the terms of
charging set out above will have become fixed and your right in law
to challenge the amount of our fees may be restricted.
Batt Broadbent
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