Backhouse Jones - Our Terms & Conditions
Miscellaneous Matters - 2008
These terms set out the basis upon which we will act for you. They are of general application. We set out in a separate Engagement Letter specific terms applying to the particular matter on which you have instructed us, including, for example, details of who is responsible for your work and their hourly rate and the amount of any payment on account required before we start work on the matter. The Engagement Letter and these terms should be read together.
1. People responsible for your work
We set out in the Engagement Letter the name of the individual with day to day responsibility for dealing with the matter, and the name of the supervising Director responsible. From time to time, where appropriate or necessary, we may involve other fee-earners and if so, we will tell you their names and (if appropriate) their hourly rate. We try to avoid changing the people responsible for your work but if that becomes necessary, we will inform you promptly of any change. At all times we endeavour to carry out work at an appropriate level in terms of skill and cost.
2. Charges, expenses and VAT
Hourly Rate
Our charges are primarily based on the time spent dealing with a matter. Time spent on your affairs will include any meetings with you and perhaps others, travelling to and from meetings, considering, preparing and working on papers, research, correspondence, making and receiving telephone calls and attending court hearings.
We will charge you at the rates set out in the table below for time spent by relevant fee-earners in carrying out work on a matter (unless different rates are specified in the Engagement Letter accompanying these terms). Our rates will be reviewed periodically and we will notify you in writing of any increased rates.
| Fee - Earner | Hourly Rate |
|---|---|
| Director/Senior Fee Earners | £210.00 plus VAT |
| Consultant | £210.00 plus VAT |
| Assistant Solicitor | £165.00 - £180.00 plus VAT |
| Trainee Solicitor | £100.00 plus VAT |
| Support Staff | £70.00 plus VAT |
We operate an electronic time recording system. This allows us to bill our work accurately and promptly and provides up-to-date statements of work-in-progress. Time is recorded in units of six minutes.
We always aim to charge a fair and reasonable fee for the work being carried out. This means in some cases time spent will not be the only consideration and there will be other factors to consider. These include the complexity of the matter, the amount of specialised knowledge required, the speed at which action must be taken and the importance or financial value of the matter to you, the client. If appropriate, any additional charging basis will be specified in the Engagement Letter.
If our charges are not to be based on time spent, and a different charging arrangement is to apply instead, this will be set out in the Engagement Letter.
Disbursements
There may be certain other expenses, including payments we make on your behalf (called “disbursements”) such as search fees, Counsel fees and court fees which you will have to pay. VAT is payable on certain disbursements. Photocopying carried out in the course of our work is not included in our charges. Occasional copies will not be charged for otherwise copies are currently charged at 20 pence plus VAT, per sheet.
Estimates
We will always try to provide an estimate of the likely overall cost of the matter, if we will be charging on an hourly basis, including the likely amount of any disbursements. Any estimate will be given in good faith based on current information when the estimate is given. An estimate is subject to revision and is not a contractual commitment on our part to carry out the work for that amount. We will let you know straightaway if at any time it appears our charges are likely to exceed any estimate. We may need to revise our estimate if extra unforeseen work becomes necessary – for example, due to an unexpected complexity or difficulty arising or material change in your circumstances. In that case, we will not incur any extra costs without your agreement.
Payments on Account
It is our normal practice to ask you to make a payment on account towards our charges or expected disbursements either at the outset or as the matter progresses. Any payment on account of our charges or expected disbursements will be held in a client account, separate from our own money pending our notification to you that it is being credited against charges or disbursements incurred.
Court Hearings/Public Inquiries/Tribunal Hearings
It is our policy in matters which involve a court hearing/public inquiry/tribunal hearing to ask you to pay all previous interim bills prior to the hearing or inquiry taking place. If you fail to do so, we reserve the right to decline to act for you at the hearing/enquiry.
If we are successful in litigation and if you are also awarded costs, any bills we send to you should still be paid within our normal terms. Any costs then recovered will be sent to you as soon as they are received by way of reimbursement.
Though a court may make an award of costs, you are still primarily responsible for our account within our normal terms. A cost award is an order that the unsuccessful party in litigation pay a contribution towards the legal costs of the successful party. Even if a costs order is made in your favour, it is unlikely you will recover more than 2/3rds of your legal costs – it is entirely in the discretion of the court as to how much is awarded. It can also take many weeks or even months to recover money from court. Some courts do require solicitors to provide lots of information about a case when a costs assessment is made. This can involve time-consuming work for us and it may be necessary for us to submit to you a further account to cover the work that we undertake in this regard. This work will normally be charged for at our hourly rates.
General
We will add VAT to our charges and disbursements (where applicable) at the rate which applies when the work is done or disbursements incurred. At present, VAT is 15.0%.
If this firm does not complete the work, we will charge you for the work done and disbursements incurred.
3. Bills
To enable you to budget, we will normally invoice you monthly or at other periodic intervals, as we consider appropriate, before final completion of the work.
We are committed to providing an effective and responsive service to clients. In return, we request prompt payment of both interim and final costs bills and disbursement bills. All our bills are due for payment on presentation. We will be entitled to charge you interest on all unpaid bills at 10% per annum accruing on a daily basis (from one month of the date of delivery of the bill in non-contentious matters and from date of delivery of the bill in contentious matters). If you fail to pay our bills on time, we reserve the right to stop acting for you.
Please contact the fee-earner responsible for your matter straightaway if you have any query about a bill.
4. Storage of papers and deeds
"After completing the work, we are entitled to keep all your papers and documents whilst money is owing to us. We will normally keep our file of papers (except for any of your papers which you ask to be returned to you and for which we may charge you postage) for a minimum of six years from the date of the final bill. We will not destroy documents you ask us to deposit in safe custody.
We do not make a charge for retrieving stored papers or deeds in response to continuing or new instructions to act for you.
5. Termination
You may terminate your instructions to us in writing at any time. For example, you may decide you cannot give us clear or proper instructions on how to proceed, or you may lose confidence in our work.
We are entitled to keep all your papers and documents while money is owing to us.
We will decide to stop acting for you only with good reason and on giving you reasonable notice.
If you or we decide that we will stop acting for you, you will pay our charges on an hourly basis and disbursements or as stated in any separate correspondence.
6. Your queries, concerns and comments
6.1 Queries, concerns or complaints
We are confident that we will give you a high quality service in all respects. However, if you have any queries or concerns about our work for you or wish to make a complaint, please raise the matter first with the person having day to day responsibility for the matter. If that does not resolve the issue to your satisfaction or you would prefer to speak to somebody else, please contact either the supervising Director responsible or if you prefer, the firm’s client care Director, Ian Jones.
Your comments
We are constantly striving to improve the quality of our service. Therefore we would welcome and value any comments whatsoever, good or bad, verbally or in writing, which you can give us at any time regarding the service provided. We certainly regard this feedback as key to our future success.
7. Money Laundering Regulations 2003
To enable us to comply with the Money Laundering Regulations, we are required to obtain evidence of clients’ identity.
Our identification procedures are set out in the appendix. Please ensure you have the necessary evidence of identity available so we can comply with the Regulations and accept instructions or continue to act for you.
Cash Payments
As part of our anti-money laundering procedures, it is now our policy not to accept any cash payments from clients over £5,000.00, except with a specific agreement with one of the Directors. Please arrange for alternative methods of payment to be used such as cheque or bank transfer.
Exclusion of Liability
Any liability we may have to you in contract or negligence arising out of our compliance with the Money Laundering Regulations 2003 and related anti-money laundering legislation is hereby excluded.
8. Agreement
The Engagement Letter sets out the basis upon which you accept our terms.
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Dated: 4 December 2008
