TERMS AND CONDITIONS OF BUSINESS

 

1. THE PEOPLE RESPONSIBLE FOR YOUR WORK

 

We will identify the solicitor who will have overall responsibility for the work carried out on your matter but other fee earners may from time to time assist when your solicitor is away from the office or if it is appropriate in the circumstances of your matter for parts of the work to be delegated. Your solicitor's secretary will be familiar with your matter and will be able to check progress on it and take messages.

 

If your solicitor is not able to continue to retain responsibility for your file we will write to let you know who is to have responsibility and why the change was necessary.

 

People who work within our Commercial Department include Duncan Reid and Paul Ingram, Commercial Law Partners; and Lowri Rees, Commercial Law Solicitor; Anne Smith a Partner specialising in Employment Law and Commercial Litigation and Huw Williams, a Partner specialising in Regulatory and Compliance issues.

 

People who work within our Family Department include Partner Sonia Bowen and Legal Executive Ruth Harris. Please note that most of the work will be carried out by these people. You should contact them if you have any queries.

 

People who work within our Civil Litigation Department include Anne Smith, who is a Partner; Huw Williams, who is a Partner; Legal Executive Ruth Harris and trainee solicitor Charlotte Powell.

 

People who work within our Criminal Department include Partners Huw Williams (Solicitor Advocate, Higher Courts – Criminal) and Anne Smith.

 

People who work within our Employment Department are Anne Smith , who is a Partner specialising in Employment Law and Huw Williams, who is a Partner.

 

The Wills, Gifts and Tax Planning Department is headed by Alun Jones and supported by David Bruce and Paul Ingram.

 

People who work within the Probate Department include Solicitors David Bruce and Paul Ingram who specialise in probate and administration.

 

People who work within our Conveyancing Department include Partners Alun Jones and Paul Ingram; Solicitor Lowri Rees; and Senior Partner Duncan Reid, all of whom specialise in conveyancing. Diane Ellis will be dealing with the firm's remortgages but if she is not available then Alun Jones or Paul Ingram should be able to assist with your enquiries.

 

2. OUR CONTRACT WITH YOU

 

These terms of business form the basis of our contract with you. If you have any queries on the terms please contact the person dealing with your matter immediately. You are requested to sign and return the copy supplied of this letter but if you do not do so and you continue to instruct us in the matter this will amount to acceptance of these terms. Unless otherwise agreed they will remain in force and apply to any future matters on which you instruct us.

 

You may terminate your contract with us at any stage by writing to us and although you will remain responsible for costs and expenses incurred before that date the contract between us in respect of the matter will end.

 

3. IDENTITY AND MONEY- LAUNDERING REGULATIONS

 

All new clients of the firm and those clients who last instructed us on a matter over ten years ago now have to supply a means of personal identity and residential identity at the start of a new matter. This means we will need to physically see you together with

 

1. Proof of your identity

•  your original Passport or

•  your Driving Licence which bears your photograph

 

2. Proof of your address

•  a Utility Bill (less than 4 months old) or

•  Bank Statement or

•  Social Security Benefit Book, etc.

 

These documents will be scanned and immediately returned to you.

 

Please also provide us with your:

•  National Insurance Number and

•  Date of birth

 

We are unable to accept payments from anyone in cash for whatever purpose above £500.00. Cheques should be made payable to “Harrisons Solicitors” and will need to reach us at least 6 clear working days before the monies are to be used to allow for bank clearance. Bank Transfers can be made to our client account, details of which can be provided upon request.

 

The law and regulations relating to money-laundering mean that where a financial transaction has to be reported to the National Criminal Investigation Service, a delay may occur in the process or in completion of the transaction, which we are not, by law, allowed to explain. These occasions are likely to be extremely rare, but should one occur in your matter, our liability to you or to any third party for loss or damage however it arises because of this delay, is specifically excluded from our relationship with you both in contract and in tort.

 

4. FEES AND EXPENSES

 

The hourly rates are reviewed annually and you will be notified of any change in the rate if that change will affect your matter.

 

Our charges are calculated in the main according to the time spent on your matter, the skills and specialised knowledge required and the priority you may ask us to give it. In transactions involving a substantial value or benefit, the value and importance of the work are also taken into consideration. Usually the most important of these factors is the time spent dealing with the matter. Some work is charged at certain time values, for example, straight-forward letters, telephone calls and e-mails are charged in units of 6 minutes and those received at 3 minutes. Longer letters and calls made and received will be charged on an actual time basis. The person dealing with your matter charges at an hourly rate, the current ones being set out below and are exclusive of VAT which will be added to the bill at the prevailing rate.

 

Senior Partner - £175.00

Partner - £165.00

Senior Solicitor - £150.00

Solicitor - £135.00

Legal Executive - £110.00

Trainee Solicitor - £ 75.00

Legal Assistant - £ 35.00

 

In matters which are litigated either through a court or tribunal we reserve the right to charge the time we spend on your matter at the rates from time-to-time allowed by the court or tribunal in any assessment proceedings therein.

 

Estimate of Costs

 

We always try to give an estimate of the costs of any matter as soon as possible. We are not always able to at the outset, but as soon as the issues involved are established we will write to you with an estimate of how many hours of work are likely to be necessary to complete a matter. You may wish to set an initial limit on the fees to be incurred above which we would not carry out work without your permission. A fixed fee can be agreed for matters which have a known and established process.

 

Estimates are subject to revision particularly where negotiations are on-going or arise in regard to certain topics within the transaction or where additional issues arise which have to be dealt with. The latter are problems which arise during progress on your file which are legal or practical points which were not foreseeable at the time when the initial instructions were given and which require additional time to resolve. The time we spend will be costed at the hourly rate of the Solicitor concerned and will be added to the original estimate.

 

5. PAYMENT OF FEES AND EXPENSES

 

All bills of costs are due for payment within 30 days of their delivery. This does not depend on the result of your matter or whether or not any transaction is completed. After this period we reserve the right to charge interest at the rate payable on judgment debts which is presently 8% per annum. Money on account is usually requested for searches and other expenses that are required before commencing work on the matter (known as disbursements). We can also accept payments by Debit Card (there is no administration charge for Delta, Solo or Switch) or Credit Card but please be aware that Visa/Mastercard payments incur a 2.075% administration charge and American Express payments incur a 3.35% administration charge for all disbursements and also for payment of bills of costs over 30 days old.

 

Interim bills will normally be submitted if the matter or transaction lasts for more than two months. You can agree with us for more regular interim bills i.e. monthly or quarterly if you prefer. When we first see a client we usually ask for money on account for costs and expenses before commencing work on your matter.

 

If an interim bill is not paid or a payment of account is not paid within a reasonable time then we reserve the right not to act further in the matter. We may also be entitled to retain the papers and documents relating to the case until our account is paid in full.

 

If you have or anticipate any difficulty whatsoever in paying for the costs of your case please raise them with us at the earliest opportunity. We can then discuss ways in which we may be able to help you with the issue.

 

In many property transactions the bill for our charges and expenses is normally discharged from monies held on completion and we will reserve sufficient from those funds to settle the bill before accounting to you for the balance.

 

A detailed analysis of any individual bill in terms of the time spent and the letters and telephone calls, e-mails and attendances can be given to you on request.

 

6. FUNDING OF YOUR MATTER

 

These terms of business, and the letters containing our costs estimates, give as much information as is available at the time of your instruction regarding the likely cost of the matter. You should not instruct the firm to carry out work or continue on work if you have any difficulty in funding the charges. Most commercial and property cases are not eligible for Legal Help or Public Funding but you should always consider whether you have other sources of funding to cover the costs and expenses of the matter including your house insurance or contents insurance, legal expenses insurance policies or your membership of certain bodies and unions which may have funding available for you to claim. If you become aware that such funding is available please let us know immediately, as we should carry out no further work until the funding and the terms of it have been investigated. It is usual for it to be a condition of such help that the funding provider wishes to choose the solicitor instructed and that the funding is not retrospective.

 

In commercial and business transactions it is possible that one party to an agreement may be required to pay the other party's costs and expenses and these terms need to be agreed and your instructions to us on the issue made clear.

 

7. WHAT TO DO IF YOU ARE DISSATISFIED

Please tell the person dealing with your matter if you feel that you are not receiving the service that you hoped for. We need to know if you are dissatisfied. We will try to put it right and will look into the complaint promptly and thoroughly. Please mention it first to the person looking after your matter. You do not need to put your complaint in writing but can do so if you wish, explaining the action you want us to take. We will then discuss it with you and let you know or write to you as to what we will be doing about it. If you are not satisfied with that response then please speak to our Senior Partner Duncan Reid and raise the problem with him. He will investigate the problem independently of the person dealing with your case.

We will at all times deal with your dissatisfaction in accordance with our complaints handling procedure, a copy of which is available upon request.

 

If you are still not satisfied with the response to that investigation you can get help from the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors and we can supply you with details or one of their leaflets if required.

 

8. LIABILITY

 

Except in respect of claims for death or personal injury resulting from negligence or as otherwise prohibited by law, our liability for loss or damage (direct, indirect or consequential) including all loss of profit or business arising out of any single claim, event or series of related claims or events (including claims based on negligence) shall not exceed £3,000,000.00.

 

If we correspond with you by e-mail we shall take all reasonable precautions to protect the security of the correspondence. However, we do not guarantee the security of e-mails sent or received and will not accept any liability arising out of the use of e-mail in your matter.

 

Under the Data Protection Act 1998 we undertake to hold any personal data relating to you whether supplied by you or by a third party, in accordance with the above Act and the terms of our registration under it.

 

9. ADDITIONAL SERVICES

 

We will keep the file of papers relating to matters and transactions (except for any that you ask to be returned to you) for not less than six years on the understanding that we have your authority to destroy the file and those papers after that.

 

We are happy to store your deeds and property papers, wills, powers of attorney and other securities in our strongroom or storage facilities and will hold these to your order.

 

Any deeds or documents in permanent storage impose on us a cost implication and we can only at present not charge for this service whilst you remain a client of this firm and use our services. Consequently if you do use our strongroom facilities but you or your successors then remove the documents and do not use our services then we reserve the right to charge a fee up to a maximum of £25.00 plus VAT for each year or part of a year from the date when the deeds or documents were placed in our custody. If you do not agree with this arrangement please contact us straight away otherwise we shall assume your acceptance of these terms.

 

If during this transaction you need advice on investments, we may have to refer you to someone who is authorised by the Financial Services Authority. We are not authorised by the Financial Services Authority. However, 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 Solicitors Regulation Authority. The register can be accessed via the Financial Services Authority website at www.fsa.gov.uk/register.

 

We may, therefore, be able to provide certain limited investment services where these are closely linked to the legal work we are doing for you. We have a panel of independent financial advisors from which we can recommend an advisor who can give you independent and specific advice on issues that arise in your case This may be in matters of life insurance, pensions or the investment of the proceeds of a sale of a property or business or the receipt of damages or settlements from any proceedings in which you have been involved.

 

If you have any problem with the service we have provided for you then please let us know. We will try to resolve any problem quickly and operate an internal complaints handling system to help us to resolve the problem between ourselves. If for any reason we are unable to resolve the problem between us, then we are regulated by The Solicitors Regulation Authority, which also provides a complaints and redress scheme as mentioned above.