Terms and Conditions
Bradley and Jefferies Commercial Solicitors
Terms of Engagement
General
1.These terms and the client care letter you will have received from us apply to all the services we will provide to you in respect of the matter detailed in that client care letter. If we are acting for more than one party in this matter you agree to be jointly and severally liable to us for our fees and disbursements in acting on your matter.
2. No changes to these terms shall be valid unless agreed in writing by a director of Bradley and Jefferies Commercial Solicitors.
Pricing
3.We have three normal methods of pricing for our services to clients, these are (i) fixed price quote, (ii) time spent or (iii) retainer terms. We will agree with you the preferred method for your matter and this will be confirmed in writing within your client care letter.
4.Where appropriate we will consider whether our fees and disbursements can be covered from any legal expenses insurance you may have. We do not normally accept instructions on matters where funding of fees is on a contingency or conditional fee basis. If your fees are to be met by a third party, you accept that in contracting with us you are liable to meet our fees and disbursements should the third party fail to meet all or any of our fees and disbursements.
5.On many matters we offer clients a fixed price promise. This is the amount you will pay us for meeting your instructions save where there is a material change in circumstances when we reserve the right to raise additional costs from you, subject to your prior authorisation or where a matter does not complete in which case we may charge a lower fee in accordance with clause 18 below.
6. In some matters it is difficult to predict the level of our involvement at the outset. We seek to keep you fully informed of the likely costs as the matter develops. In such matters we charge based on recorded time spent by fee earners on your matter in minimum units of 6 minutes.
7.Retainer terms are where we agree a regular monthly fee with you for a set range of services. This is designed to help clients budget for expected legal advice needs and is particularly appropriate for our employment documentation update service and commercial contracts update service. You can terminate retainer terms on three months written notice to us.
8.Our fees include all the work we carry out on your matter, including our anticipated travel costs, telephone costs, copying etc save that we reserve the right to raise additional fees where there are exceptional elements that we were not aware of at the outset of the matter.
VAT and disbursements
9. Our fees do not include VAT or any disbursements incurred on your behalf. We endeavour to give you advance notice of likely disbursements (such as search fees, counsel’s fees, stamp duty, registration fees etc.) and usually require you to put us in funds to meet any such disbursements before we incur them on your behalf.
10.You hereby give us full authority to incur such disbursements as we reasonably deem appropriate to successfully meet the scope of your instructions and to fully meet the cost of all such disbursements.
Third Party Fees and disbursements
11.In some matters you may need to meet the fees and other costs of another party. You agree to meet all such costs. If you are required to meet another party’s costs and expenses by order of a Court or Tribunal, failure to pay could have serious consequences for you and/or your business. We reserve the right to withdraw from acting for you on notice to you in writing in such circumstances. You will still be liable to meet our costs and expenses to that date.
Payment
12.Payment of our invoices is due within 30 days of the date of invoice.
13. Where payment is not made within our above 30 day terms, we reserve the right to charge interest at a rate of 4% over the base rate from time to time of Lloyds Bank plc from the due date to the date of payment in full. We are entitled to charge interest on the outstanding amount of our bill in accordance with article 5 of the Solicitors (Non-Contentious Business) Remuneration Order 2009.
14.Where we hold funds or other property for you, we reserve the right to deduct what is due to us from such sums or hold such property until we have received payment in full.
15.Where a matter has concluded and we hold money on your client account, we reserve the right to transfer client residual balances below £50 to a charity of our choice, if we are unable to return client money following attempt to do so. Should the funds be less than £4 we will return this amount to the last known address on our file via postage stamps.
16.Where we have requested payment prior to completion of a matter, we reserve the right to delay completion until our fees and disbursements have been met.
17.Where we receive funds for you at completion, we reserve the right to deduct our fees and disbursements from such sum before passing the balance to you.
18.Our fees and disbursements will be met by you, whether or not your matter is completed or successfully concluded. In such circumstances we will charge by hourly rate, even if a fixed fee promise was agreed, if this would be a lower cost to you.
Disputes over our Bills
19.You have the right to challenge certain aspects of our charges under Sections 70, 71 and 72 of the Solicitors Act 1974 for our invoice to be assessed by a Costs Judge. This is available in any matter, whether or not the Courts are involved in your matter.
If your challenge to our bill proves unsuccessful, we reserve the right to charge you for our costs in complying with Legal Complaints Service or Court requirements but this shall not extend to us having any right to charge you for handling your complaint.
Interest on your monies
20.We pay interest on monies held by us on your behalf in accordance with the Solicitors Accounts Rules. Interest will be paid from when we hold clear funds until the issue of a cheque or other means of payment. Interest is paid gross and it is for you to declare it to the Inland Revenue.
Deeds and Papers
21.We only retain your papers for so long as we deem appropriate following completion of your case after which they will be destroyed. We do provide storage for important documents at no cost for clients.
Third Party Contract Rights
22. These terms and your client care letter do not confer any rights or benefits on any third party.
Limitation of Liability
23. Our firm carries professional indemnity insurance in accordance with Solicitors Regulation Authority requirements giving clients cover of £3 million for any one claim for our negligence. We accept no liability for any loss or damage beyond the level of our insurance cover. If you have concerns that our cover is not adequate for your matter please raise this at the outset so that alternative arrangements can be discussed and agreed in writing.
Distance Selling
24.Your right to cancel your instructions under the Distance Selling Regulations 2000 shall not apply as our provision of services will have commenced during the 7day cancellation period. You also acknowledge and agree that the 30 day period for completion of our services under these Regulations shall not apply to your matter as in most legal matters it is impossible to complete the instructions in this timescale. We do give time estimates for matters and will review this on request and automatically on a periodic basis.
Money Laundering
25.We reserve the right to refuse payment of cash in excess of one thousand pounds. If you fail to provide us with appropriate proofs of identity as requested in our client care letter or evidence as to the origins of money or other assets, we reserve the right to cease acting for you forthwith.
26. You agree that we have no liability to you or any other party due to our need to comply with statutory or regulatory requirements or whilst we await clearance of funds.
Data Protection
26(i) Bradley and Jefferies Solicitors Limited are your Data Controllers and we will use personal data held by us to provide our services, for administration and customer care, for credit scoring, for marketing and to ensure that our offerings meet your needs. We will keep data for a reasonable period for these purposes. You hereby authorise us to share data with our service providers for the above purposes and may disclose data to comply with legal and regulatory requirements.
26(ii) We may share your data with business partners for marketing and may contact you with offers for services or further information subject to your ticking the box at clause 27 below.
26(iii) If you provide us with personal data of another party, then you warrant to us that you have obtained their consent.
26(iv) You are entitled to a copy of the information we hold on you in accordance with relevant legislation.