This document together with any other additional documents and other communications sent to you by us, contain the terms and conditions; these apply to the provision of our services to you. These are the standard terms under which you have engaged Rights Law Solicitors to represent you. No member of staff at Rights Law Solicitors has any authority to alter them other than in writing.

Unless you decide to withdraw your instructions, by writing to us immediately on receipt of our terms and conditions, you are continuing to give us instructions, therefore, you will be deemed to have accepted our terms and conditions despite whether the accompanying documents are signed and returned to us as applying to your current instructions and any which may arise on this or any separate matter in the future.

These General Terms supersede any earlier terms concerning our engagement that we may have provided to you. We reserve the right to amend these terms in the future to reflect changes in law or practice. In these General Terms headings are for convenience only and are not to be considered in construing the text.

We aim to ensure that your matter is quick, straightforward, and always provide you with an efficient and effective service.

Rights of third parties

Nothing in these terms confers any rights on any individual pursuant to the Contracts (Rights of Third Parties) Act 1999 (and any subsequent amendments) and we shall not be liable to any third party for any advice or service we provide to you unless otherwise agreed in writing by us. We may vary these terms without the consent of any third party.

Our fees and charges

We seek to be cost-effective and to charge reasonable and competitive fees. We believe it is important for our clients to appreciate how costs are calculated and for these to be clear guidelines as to what is expected of Rights Law Solicitors on the one hand and you the client on the other.

We charge fees for our knowledge, skills and for the effort we put in dealing with your case. Our fees are not linked to the outcome of your matter. Therefore, we cannot guarantee the outcome of your choice.

Our professional fees are exclusive of VAT and are based on a time element. Each client will normally be charged at an hourly rate, which is reviewed periodically. In assessing the time spent on the matter, the person with the responsibility for drafting the bill will consider the time involved in attending; writing letters, telephone attendance, consideration of documents, letters received and preparation. Letter and telephone calls are charged on the basis of a minimum of one-tenth of the hourly rate (i.e. six minutes called a unit) but letters and calls involving a large period will be charged accordingly. The time charged will also include travelling and waiting.

Each Consultant, Solicitor, Caseworker and Legal Executive’s time is charged at an hourly rate, which reflects overhead costs. Routine letters sent out and received by the Practice are charged at 6 minutes per page and telephone calls in 6 minutes units.

Details of our further rates will be notified to you from time to time and are always available on request. Subject to the value element our current rates are as follows:

Hourly rates

Uplift in our fees will depend on the value, complexity and risk involved in the case. In some cases, VAT may not be chargeable.

These rates may not be appropriate in very complex or urgent cases. Where it becomes apparent that such circumstances exist, we reserve the right to revise our rates accordingly.

Where the instructions of the client require that interviews take place or other work is to be carried out outside normal office hours, we reserve the right to increase our hourly rates.

In the event the matter is aborted for whatever reason we will charge proportionate fees for our services rendered.

If your fees and expenses are to be paid from another source e.g. a legal expenses insurer, another party involved, or an employer or otherwise, you agree that because our contract is with you, we reserve the right to require you to fund your matter in accordance with these terms and conditions.

Additionally, the hourly rate may be adjusted to reflect the value of the property or assets involved, unusual complexity, levels of responsibility, our exceptional value of work to you, working during unsociable hours or unusual speed applied to your matter and matters taking a prolonged period of time.

Disbursements

Our professional fee structure as noted above are not inclusive of disbursement, which we may have to incur, e.g., court fees, translation fees, expert’s fees etc. We may incur the same on the basis that we have been authorised by you. Disbursements must be paid by the client. In some cases, unless we are placed in funds, we will not instruct third party.

Payment on account

We reserve the right to request payments on account of anticipated fees and disbursements. Before we start working on the case, the client must pay full estimated disbursements and at least 60% of our estimated fees.

Invoice and payment

Invoices will be rendered by the firm when it is appropriate in ongoing matters. However, fees are payable whether the bill or invoices are rendered.

Legal Aid/Free Legal Help/ Alternative mode of funding

We do not hold a contract with the Legal Aid Agency; therefore, we are unable to provide advice or services free of charge on a legal aid basis. If you have low income or receive social security benefits you may be entitled to advice and services free of charge. We suggest that you try finding a solicitors’ firm working on a legal aid basis. You may contact the Law Society to help you to find a solicitor firm working on a legal aid basis.  You may also contact advice charity organisations such as Citizens Advice Bureau, Community Links, Law Centre, Advice UK, Age UK, or Shelter who may help you free of charge or sign post you to an appropriate organisation.

You may also have the benefit of insurance for legal costs. This may be through your home insurance; specific legal insurance; trade union insurance or employer’s insurance. If you think that you do have an appropriate policy, please contact your insurance provider for more information about seeking assistance in this matter.

Fixed fees

We may agree on a fixed fee to act for you. Should this be the case, the above rates (hourly rates) will not apply unless further work needs to be carried out, in which case we will advise you in due course.

Our estimated fixed fees are exclusive of disbursements, and these are estimated on the assumption that your case is a simple, low risk and it will take minimum time to deal with the matter of its kind. However, our estimated fees may change when we have full information about your case or later developments in your case, depending on the case our fee are estimated on the factors such as the likely time to complete the matter, the value of the case, the complexity of the case, and the risk involved.

Money laundering regulations

The Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Money Laundering Regulations 2017 and Solicitors Regulation Authority guidance require us, along with all other solicitors, to undertake identity (including address) checks on a regular basis in respect of all clients; to ensure that each client, its business and its source of funds are known; to keep records of the identity and address checks for at least five years; to report to the authorities (without notifying the client) any suspicion of money laundering; if such a report is made, to cease acting for the client (without explaining why to the client) unless and until the authorities give consent to proceed or unless and until consent is deemed to have been given pursuant to certain statutory provisions. As a pre-condition to our acting for you we will require you to provide us certain information and documents (originals or certified copies) which will be specified separately.

This information and documents must be provided to us immediately following the request (unless specified otherwise) failing which we may have to cease to act and will consider whether the failure to provide the information/documents necessitates the making of a report to the authorities. We can delay implementing instructions until we are satisfied that funds received have originated from lawful sources and or earned through lawful means.

We accept no responsibility for any loss, damage or expense which may be suffered or incurred whether directly or indirectly or otherwise howsoever by any client or by any person or entity who or which has approached us with a view to becoming a client or who or which we understand wishes to become a client in any circumstances in which we have acted in compliance with what we consider to be our obligations pursuant to the Proceeds of Crime Act 2002, the Money Laundering Regulations or Solicitors Regulation Authority guidance and/or such other legislation, regulations or guidance as we may be obliged to comply with from time to time.

We do not encourage payments by third parties. If funds were paid by a third party for the services agreed for you and the matter gets aborted, you request refund/return of funds, until and unless we are satisfied that there is no financial irregularity or suspicious activity involved, we will not return the funds. We will make enquiries into sources of funding from other parties. We will only return funds to the original sender of those funds and not to any other designated person except in exceptional circumstances e.g., the death of the individual.

Proceeds of Crime Act

Some financial settlements with related persons and some financial matters may cause us to disclose your financial and personal circumstances under the Proceed of Crime Act 2002 and under other relevant regulations or legislations. We will render ourselves to comply with the applicable law and regulations.

If we become aware of or suspect money laundering, terrorist financing or existence of any proceeds of crime (whether from you or any other person), to enable us to continue to act for you without or ourselves committing an offence under the Act, we must report the irregularity (suspicious activity) to the national Crime Agency (NCA- www.nationalcrimeagency.gov.uk).

Identifying client

As per the Money Laundering Regulations we must carry out customers due diligence which involves the following:

• verify your client’s identity based on a reliable independent source (such as a passport)

• identify where there’s a beneficial owner who is not the client and take reasonable measures to verify their identity and to understand the ownership and control structure of a legal person, trust, company, foundation or similar legal arrangement.

• assess, and where appropriate obtain information on, the purpose and intended nature of the business relationship or transaction.

You are requested to provide us with documents to verify your identity and address, as set out below.

Acceptable forms of evidence of identification

One document from List A and two documents from List B

List A

Photographic ID such as:

• a valid signed passport or

• a valid HM Forces identity card with the signatory’s photograph or

• a valid UK Photo-card driving license or

• a birth certificate and marriage certificate (e.g., particularly useful for evidencing name changes)

• a current government-issued identity card/certificate with photograph (e.g., gun license)

• residence permit issued by the Home Office

• photographic registration cards for self-employed individuals and partnerships in the construction industry

List B

• a cheque guarantee card, credit card (bearing the MasterCard or Visa logo) American Express or Diners Club card, debit or multi-function card (bearing the Switch, Maestro or Delta logo) issued in the United Kingdom with an original account statement less than three months old.

• a receipted utility bill less than three months old.

• a council tax bill less than three months old.

• a council rent book or housing association rent card showing the rent paid for the last three months.

• a mortgage statement from another lender for the mortgage accounting year just ended.

• a benefit book or original notification letter confirming the right to benefits.

• a tax or utility bill or statement, or a certificate from a utility supplier confirming an arrangement to pre-pay for services.

• a recent bank or mortgage statement/passbook from an FCA-regulated lender.

• a confirmation from an electoral register that you live at the given address.

• a land registry confirmation of address.

• a local council or housing association rent card or tenancy agreement or

• a house or motor insurance certificate.

Identification of corporate bodies

• its name

• its company number or other registration

• the address of its registered office and, if different, its principal place of business

• Memorandum and Articles of Association

• Notification of proportion of shares held by the shareholders.

Unless the corporate body is a company listed on a regulated market, please verify:

• the law it’s subject to

• its constitution or other governing documents

• the names of the board of directors (or equivalent management body) and the senior persons responsible for its operations

In addition, all directors are required to comply with personal identification from Lists A and B above.

Payment of funds

We encourage our clients to make payments online or through bank transfer.  If any client chooses to pay by cheque, it must be payable only to ‘Rights Law Limited’. We do not accept funds received by cheque until the cheque is cleared, consequently the instructions can be delayed until funds are cleared.

The client holds sole responsibility to ensure that adequate funds are made available to us in good time to finalise the matter and to pay all fees and disbursements as soon as they become payable.

Unclear funds must be sent to us a minimum of five working days prior to them being required by us. We will give you as much notice as possible of when funds are required. It is the client’s duty to make sure we have cleared funds irrespective of the time scale.

We can receive cash only up to £500. If you wish to deposit cash direct into our bank account, please notify the person dealing with your case who will then advise our accounts department accordingly. Notify us in advance of the date you intend to deposit the funds directly into our bank account.

We do not allow anyone to pay any money into our bank account without prior written permission. If anyone is found circumventing this policy by depositing funds direct into our bank account without notifying us, we reserve the right to charge for any additional checks we deem necessary regarding the source of the funds and charge fees for the additional work which may have to do.

We may ask you to make a payment in advance in respect of fees or disbursements to be paid on your behalf. These, for example, will relate to search fees, land registry fees and money transfer fees.

We endeavor to send you an invoice for payment on account or as soon as the fee becomes payable depending on the complexity and the speed of the transaction. We appreciate that you will often not wish to be faced with one final bill. We may be able to agree with you to arrange payments in instalments. We would stress that this arrangement is only by agreement and prior to the account being sent to you.

Lien over documents

We reserve the right to retain possession of your case file until any outstanding payment has been fully paid.

Place and hours of business

Our normal business hours are from 9AM to 5PM, Monday to Friday. We are closed at weekends and on public holidays. However, if required urgent appointments can be arranged outside normal working hours.

Responsibility for work

At the commencement of any action on the client’s behalf, the client will receive a letter from us advising the client of the following:

1. The solicitor who is primarily responsible for the conduct of your case- they are named at the end of this document.
2. Another person who may be able to deal with the client’s queries and who will be pleased to take any message from the client.

We aim to offer all clients a friendly and efficient service. If, however, any difficulty should arise, the client should first raise the matter with the person supervising his/her case. In the unlikely event of further difficulties, the matter should be referred in writing to the Complaints Officer, as advised. Please see below for further details.

If we need to change personnel supervising or working on a case, we shall notify you and explain the reason for such a change.

Equality and diversity

We are committed to promote equality and diversity in all its dealings with clients, third parties and employees and will not tolerate discrimination on grounds of: gender, marital status, sexual orientation, race, colour, nationality, religion, age, disability, HIV positivity, working pattern, caring responsibilities, trade union activity or political beliefs – or any other grounds.

In the interests of clients, we maintain professional indemnity insurance. In consideration of acting for clients, we restrict the liability for any claim to the maximum amount of the practice’s professional indemnity cover.

We are required to produce a written equality and diversity policy. Please contact us if you would like us to send you a copy of the policy.

Data protection and confidentially

You acknowledge that, to act for you and for the proper and effective management of your file, we will obtain information from you, including personal data. You further acknowledge that it may be necessary for us to transfer your information and data within this firm.

Under the Data Protection Act 1998, you are entitled to a copy of any personal information held by us on payment of a fee. We may hold and process your personal information by computer or otherwise. Your personal information is disclosed to our insurers, sub- contractors, and agents to the extent that they need this information in order to provide a service to you. Your personal information is held on an accounts database. We may use this information to send you information regarding our services that we think may be of benefit or of interest to you.

We use the information you provide primarily for the provision of our legal services to you and for related purposes, including updating and enhancing client records, practice management, statutory returns, and legal and regulatory compliance. Our duty of confidentiality and use of your information is subject to your instructions, the Data Protection Act 2018 and the General Data Protection Regulations (‘GDPR’). Please note that our work for you may require us to give information to third parties such as expert witnesses and other professional advisers. You have a right of access under data protection legislation to certain personal data that we hold about you.

An actual or potential conflict between your interests and the interests of another client of the firm, or the firm itself, may arise during our Engagement. If this situation arises during our dealings with you, we will discuss the position with you and determine the appropriate course of action. To protect your interest, our professional rules may require us to stop acting for you on that matter.

We confirm that we will deal with your information in accordance with our obligations under the Data Protection Act 1998 and the GDPR as detailed in our Privacy Policy.

Financial services

We are not authorised to provide financial services. If at any point you need services, we may have to ask you to contact someone who is regulated by the Financial Conduct Authority (‘FCA’), as we are not.

The Solicitors Regulation Authority (SRA), through the Law Society, is a designated professional body under Part 20 of the Financial Services and Markets Act 2000 (‘FSMA’). This means that firms authorised by the SRA may carry on certain regulated financial services activities without being regulated by the FCA if they can meet the conditions in section 327 of FSMA which means that limited financial services directly linked to the legal services which we provide can be carried out us under SRA regulation without separate authorisation from the FCA.

Limitation on liability

We do not accept liability for any loss or damage caused by negligence, non- performance, or breach of duty more than the level of our current insurance cover unless we have made a special arrangement with you at the outset of the matter.

Conditional fee agreements or Contingency fee agreements

If we conduct your matter on a conditional or contingency or agreement, additional terms would be included either within the associated documents, or, in a separately written agreement. This will first be explained to you and thereafter, signed by you. This agreement would replace any of the terms and conditions that are inconsistent with the new terms and conditions.

Initial consultation is not free.

We do not generally offer free initial interviews, although there are some restricted areas of work where we do. Unless our marketing materials say so, or we specifically confirm, otherwise, you should not assume that the first interview is free of charge.

Where we do offer free consultation, the purpose is simply to enable us to judge whether you have a matter which is worth investigating further, and to advise you whether it is worthwhile for you to invest your resources in it. The free initial interview is only an initial diagnosis which can take place on the telephone or at a meeting and will not be the subject of a charge to you.

Any advice given or comments made during the free initial interview must not be taken as final expert advice or opinion specific to your case as our view may change once we have received all the information and evidence related to your case.

The length of the free interview, and the amount and extent of advice that we give you free of charge is entirely within our discretion. The free service does not extend to any further work, consultation, clarification, or further advice of whatever kind. Any work we do following a free initial interview will be charged on a normal basis.

We retain the discretion to charge you for this free consultation if at the end of your case your opponent is liable to pay your fees which we have been unable to recover.

Taxes and expenses

None of our fixed fees, rates, estimates, or charges include VAT, nor do they include any expense payments which we need to make on your behalf. Written estimates may specify the amount of VAT, and/or additional expenses.

We are entitled to charge, in addition to the actual cost to us, for obtaining documents with regulatory authorities and for exceptional amounts of copying, courier services, faxes, postal charges or telephone charges.

By instructing us, you are giving us the authority to incur and pay expenses for the proper conclusion of the matter including search fees, for the instruction of experts, counsel, company or local agents, travelling expenses, costs regarding the verification of your identity, costs incurred in complying with any regulatory requirements, and any other services we believe to be reasonably required.

Fees and expenses of third parties

In some situations, you may be required to pay the fees and expenses of another individual or body involved in your case. Such fees are payable in addition to your own fees and expenses.

Collection of our fees and charges

If we needed to take any action against you for collection of our fees and expenses, the entire cost of investigating and taking appropriate action together with any additional expenses will be chargeable to you on our normal charging basis.

Payments

If we have received payments on account of fees and expenses from you, we will regularly review and inform you of any changes in our original estimate for costs of the matter, and invoice you for the value of the work undertaken.

Any failure by you to pay any sum required on account, or to pay any invoice in accordance with our normal terms for payment, entitles us either not to start work or to stop work on your matter and stop implementing your instructions until payment in full is received.

Payment of all invoices is due within 5 working days of delivery. If any other payment due or required is not made, a final account will be sent for payment in accordance with our normal terms.

If we are holding any money, papers or other property on your behalf, whether in relation to this or any other matter, we shall be entitled to deduct what is due to us from that money or to retain any property or papers until payment is made.

Where our work relates to a property or corporate transaction, an invoice may be raised following the making of a binding contract and payment required prior to completion of the contract.

We reserve the right not to complete the transaction until the clearance at our bank of the amount due and expenses including any sums we are contractually bound to pay to others. In a conveyancing transaction where we require payment from you for completion of the matter, we may postpone completion until we are in receipt of cleared funds and accept no liability for any loss arising from delay in the clearance of funds which is not attributable to us.

Unless otherwise specifically agreed with you at the beginning of your matter, our fees and expenses will be payable whether the matter is successfully concluded, or the transaction completed.

Fees recovered

Whilst you are primarily liable to us for payment of your fees and expenses, if you are entitled to the reimbursement by some other party of fees and expenses incurred, the value of the reimbursement is reached either by agreement or assessment by the Court. It is rare for this sum to be sufficient to reimburse you in full. The assessment process requires that we devote time and work towards recovering monies on your behalf, and unless otherwise agreed, this will be charged on the same basis as for the rest of your matter.

Your acceptance of these Terms and Conditions also signifies your agreement that you are liable to pay our charges and expenses at the rates agreed with you and not as limited by s.74 (3) Solicitors Act 1974, and not by reference to any of the principles concerning fees and expenses laid out in the Civil Procedure Rules 1998 as amended.

Interest payments

Any money received on your behalf will be held in our client account and is subject to minimum amounts and periods of time as detailed in the Solicitors’ Accounts Rules 1998. Interest runs from the date that the funds clear to the date of issue of any cheque or other method of payment. Different considerations apply when payments in and out are not made by cheque. So, for example, the relevant periods would normally be:

• from the date when we receive incoming money in cash until the date when the outgoing cheque is sent;

• from the date when an incoming telegraphic transfer begins to earn interest until the date when the outgoing cheque is sent;

• from the date when an incoming cheque or banker’s draft is or would normally be cleared until the date when the outgoing telegraphic transfer is made or banker’s draft is obtained.

The level of interest you can expect to receive, referred to as a payment in lieu of interest earned, will be based on the advertised interest rate(s) payable by Barclays bank on the relevant amount, as if it had been held separately in a designated client account in your name. If the amount calculated is less than £85 then no interest will be paid as our administrative costs would exceed this amount. Interest rates can be located via the following link.

https://www.barclays.co.uk/help/savings-and-investments/interest-rates/interest-calculated/

If sums of money are held in relation to separate matters for you, we will treat the money relating to the different matters separately but there may be cases when the matters are so closely related that they ought to be considered together.

We will account for interest at the conclusion of the matter but might in some cases we consider it appropriate to account for interest at intervals throughout.

No interest will be paid on money held for payment of a disbursement, and on an advance from you to fund a payment on your behalf.

In matters of conveyancing, where a lender is involved, we will ask for funds in advance of the completion date to ensure that we have funds available on completion day. The lender may charge interest from the date of issue of their loan amount.

Signing statement of truth

The Civil Procedure Rules 1998 (“CPRs”) and other procedural rules require some documents prepared before or during the proceedings to be verified by a statement of truth on the part of the signatory of the document that it is believed that the facts set out are true. Lack of truth may subject the signatory to proceedings for contempt of court which may result in a fine or prison sentence. Where we sign such statements on your behalf, we will be certifying only that which we believe the facts stated to be true and we will not under any circumstances be certifying them as true within our knowledge. If you are a limited company or another body, your instructions will act as your authority to any person giving us those instructions on your behalf to make statements of truth on your behalf.

Documents related to the matter

The CPR’s require you to search for, locate and disclose originals or copies of documents relating to the matter. It is a condition of our acting in your matter that you will let us have all the documents relating to your matter as we may from time to time require you to produce. If you fail to comply with any such requirement, we may stop acting for you further in that matter and other matters, and you will be liable to pay fees and disbursement as set out in these terms.

Compliance with the requirements of the court

From time to time, the Court/Tribunal may ask you directly or through us to attend hearings or meetings arranged in connection with your matter, or to take certain steps or produce written or other materials relating to the matter.   Failure to comply may result in your matter being delayed, adjourned, rejected or some financial penalty being imposed on you. In the event of your failure to comply or non-cooperation with us to enable us to comply, we reserve the right to stop acting for you further in that matter and other matters, and you will be liable to pay fees and disbursements as set out in these terms.

Other fees and expenses

The Court has power to order parties in litigation matters to pay the fees and expenses of their opponent as the case progresses. Failure to pay may result in you not being able to participate further in the matter, or financial penalties being imposed, or steps being taken by your opponent to enforce the order for payment by seeking the seizure and sale of your assets or an attachment of part of your earnings, or taking steps to make you bankrupt or put you into liquidation. In that event, we reserve the right to stop acting for you further in that matter and other matters, and you will be liable to pay fees and disbursements as set out in these terms.

Settlement of dispute before or during proceedings

Before allowing you to claim or defend any proceedings, or to continue to claim or defend them. The Court may require you to satisfy the steps you have taken to settle the dispute with your opponent. If you fail to make a reasonable settlement regarding the dispute, a financial penalty may be imposed upon you by the court. Although we will occasionally and as appropriate, raise with you the possibility of such a settlement, the primary responsibility for protecting yourself against such financial penalties is yours and not ours.

Mortgage arrangements

In conveyancing matters, we have a duty of care to your mortgage lender (if any). By agreeing to these terms, you consent and authorise us to disclose to them any information they require which is held by us regarding your proposed borrowing.

It is your responsibility to comply with the terms and conditions of any mortgage offer letter.

If you are repaying an existing mortgage, please enquire from your lender whether there is any redemption or penalty fee for early repayment.

Local searches and environmental searches

In conveyancing matters we use an agency for searches, which is usually more efficient and less expensive. The agency is covered by adequate insurance. Occasionally a lender will require that we make a search direct of the local authority and this may result in an additional cost to you.

We are not qualified to give you advice on the result of Environmental searches, and we will refer you to the appropriate agency should you have any queries as a result of entries on a search.

Stamp duty land tax

In conveyancing matters, we aim to complete all returns prior to completion of the matter but occasionally these are sent by post after the completion. There are strict guidelines for payment of duty (currently 14 days). If payment is not made on time through your delay HM Revenue & Customs (‘HMRC’) will charge interest and/or penalty which is payable by you. The HMRC may raise queries on any tax returns up to nine months after the submission date.

Complaints against us

Informal complaint

We are committed to provide our clients with the highest quality services. Many of our clients has confirmed their experience of receiving exceptionally outstanding services from us. If, however, you are not satisfied with any aspect of our services to you, please let us know as early as possible so that we can ensure that no such thing happens again which makes you unhappy.

You can complain to us if you are not satisfied with the manner your case is being dealt with, costs for the services provided to you or any other matter for which you are not satisfied.

If you have a concern or a complaint, please contact the individual dealing with your case as soon as you become aware of the issue so that it can be addressed without further delay, please be clear on what the issue is and how you would like it to be resolved. If, however, you do not feel comfortable in doing so, or, you do not receive a satisfactory response, you may use our formal complaint procedure set out below.

Formal complaint

If you are unhappy with the outcome of informal, you can make a formal complaint in writing. You can send your written complaint for the attention of ‘Compliance officers for legal practice’. You can send your written complaint by post or by email at info@rightslawsolicitors.com

Please note the following:

• You must provide your name and contact details.

• Be clear on what your complaint is about and how you would like it to be resolved.

• Tell us your all concerns which you would like us to address.

• Tell the reason of your complaint in detail and provide any supporting documents or evidence (if applicable).

• Even though you may be very unhappy and frustrated, please be assured that we do take complaints very seriously and all reasonable effort will be made to satisfactorily resolve your all issues or concerns – so please keep calm and be polite.

• Keep in mind that we do need some time to investigate and resolve your complaint.

• In the unlikely situation that you are still unhappy with the outcome of your formal written complaint you will have an opportunity to take your complaint to higher stage by reporting to the Legal Ombudsman.

What happens after a complaint is made?

We expect to conclude your formal written complaint within 8 weeks from the date when we receive the complaint. However, subject to complexity of the issues which you have raised we may take longer to conclude with comparison to a straightforward complaint. We shall notify you if need more is needed to complete our investigation.

Likely time scale to deal with a normal complaint is as follows:

1. Within 7 days we will acknowledge receipt of your complaint and based on initial consideration of your complaint and a quick review of your file records, we may ask you to provide more information or evidence in support of the issues which you have raised.
2. We will then investigate your complaint. This would involve passing your complaint to the member of staff concerned with the conduct of your case and communicating the issue to them. Please note that the process may take longer depending on factors such as staff absences or if we are waiting for yourself to provide any clarification or further evidence that we request from you.
3. Thereafter, we will contact you to discuss your complaint. If necessary, you will be invited to a meeting to resolve your complaint and resort to any solutions which would be carried out within 14 days, along with an acknowledgement letter.
4. You will then be sent a detailed reply to your complaint, including suggestions of how to resolve the matter or any solutions agreed upon.

What to do if we cannot resolve your complaint?

If we are unable to resolve your complaint, you can seek help from the Legal Ombudsman, who will look at your complaint independently. This will not affect how your case is handled by us. However, before the Legal Ombudsman accepts your complaint for investigation, they will check that you have attempted to resolve your complaint with us first. If you have, then you can take your complaint to the Legal Ombudsman:

• Within six months of receiving a final response to your complaint; and

• No more than six years from the date of the act/omission causing the complaint; or

• No more than three years from when you should reasonably have known there was a cause for complaint.

If the Legal Ombudsman thinks your complaint involves a breach of the Solicitors Regulation Authority’s (‘SRA’) Code of Conduct, they will refer your case to the SRA. The Ombudsman is trained to recognise matters of dishonesty and breaches of the SRA Code of Conduct and other legal regulatory bodies (such as the Bar Standards Board and CILEx Regulation) to report such cases for investigation.

Contact information of the Legal Ombudsman is as follows:

Website: www.legalombudsman.org.uk/make-a-complaint

Telephone number: 0300 555 0333

Email: enquiries@legalombudsman.org.uk

Postal address: PO Box 6806, Wolverhampton, WV1 9WJ

When to report to the SRA

If you have complained to us alleging breach of the SRA Code of Conduct and you are not satisfied with our final response, you can report direct to the SRA. Examples of a breach of the SRA Code of Conduct include:

• Dishonesty

• Fraud

• Discrimination

Contacting the SRA

Download Report Form from the link below:

https://www.sra.org.uk/consumers/problems/report-solicitor/

Once you have completed the Report Form send it to the SRA, with supporting documents, by email to report@sra.org.uk or post to:

Solicitors Regulation Authority

The Cube

199 Wharfside Street

Birmingham

B1 1RN

Challenging our bill of costs

If you believe that fees we have charged you are unreasonably excessive, you can complain to us using our complaint procedure set out above.  If you are unhappy with our final response, you can make an application to the Senior Courts Costs Office for ‘detailed assessment’ of the bill.

When to apply

This must be done within one month of getting the bill. If you do not you could still apply within a year of getting the bill, however, the court may ask you to pay part or all of what you owe upfront. You will get back what you have overpaid if the judge agrees you have been charged too much.

You might also be able to apply if you have already paid our bill or it has been over a year since you got it. You can only do this in special circumstances, and you must explain what these are when you apply.

How to Apply

You would need to fill in 3 copies of the Part 8 claim form (N208) and pay court fee which currently is £59. You can send a cheque made payable to ‘HMCTS’ with all 3 copies of your completed form and a copy of the bill to the Senior Courts Costs Office TM 7.12 Royal Courts of Justice London WC2A 2LL.

We suggest that you seek independent legal advice before you take this matter to the court.

Termination of instructions

You may terminate your instructions in writing at any time by writing to the person dealing with your matter.We may decide to cease acting for you only with good reason, non-exhaustive list of likely reasons is as follows:

• You behave in an abusive or offensive manner with us.

• You do not pay our fees and disbursements as agreed.

• You fail to give clear instructions to enable us to deal with your matter.

• You fail to provide us with your proof of identity, proof of address and proof of your authority to instruct us.

• You provide us with false or misleading information with intent that we unknowingly use it in support of your case.

• You require us to do something which is unlawful.

• You require us to do something which is in breach of our professional rules and ethics.

• You fail to comply with the court/tribunal directions or other legal requirements related to your case.

• You fail to cooperate with us to enable us to comply with the court/tribunal direction or other legal requirements related to your case.

We will give you reasonable notice in any situation where will cease to act for you. If you, or we, decide that we will no longer act for you, we will charge you for the work we have done and, where appropriate, will charge fees and disbursements incurred in transferring the matter to another adviser upon your request.

We will not (to the extent permitted by the applicable rules of professional conduct) release your papers, evidence, or property to you or any third party until you have paid all outstanding fees and disbursements.

Communication

You may choose the method that we communicate with you. Many papers have to be sent by normal post but otherwise we will be happy to use fax or email. We cannot, however, be responsible for the security of correspondence or documents sent by any method. If receiving communication by email, we recommend that you install a virus checker. We do not accept the service of documents by email unless we give you specific authorisation.

Consumer protection

If the contract that we have made with you is not ‘in person’ then the Consumer Protection (Distance Selling) Regulations 2000 may apply. Please note that the period of time for concluding the legal services we intend to provide to you may exceed thirty days and you have the right to cancel this contract for services. To do so you must give us written notice within seven working days (the ‘Cancellation Period’) starting from the day after you receive these terms. If you wish us to commence work before the expiry of the Cancellation Period you must let us know but if so you will then lose your right to cancel.

Storage of papers, deeds, and other items

Following the conclusion of a transaction or case, the firm will retain the client’s file of papers and electronic files and records for up to six years and after this period we will destroy them as we consider reasonable. The firm will archive the file if you do not wish to take your file of papers. We will give 14 days’ notice before we archive/store the file.

In addition, we will keep paper and electronic files and records for up to six years and after this period we will destroy them as we consider reasonable. We do not destroy deeds, wills, or security that you ask us to place in safe custody. Currently we do not make a charge for this service, however, we reserve the right to do so in an appropriate case.

Where store files of papers, deeds, wills, or securities are to retrieve, the firm will charge £150.00 to cover our administration charges. However, the charge may be more in particular circumstances based on the time and effort it may take.

Governing Law and Jurisdiction

The law of England and Wales will apply to any interpretation of this agreement and exclusive jurisdiction over any dispute is given to the courts of England and Wales.