Client Care Policy, Fees Terms & Agreement

Client Care & Engagement Statement / Agreement

ACTING FOR YOU.

This document/ letter/ Agreement sets out the only terms under which we will perform services for you.  By going ahead you accept to be bound by them in their entirerity.

This statement notice (and its terms), is legally binding, as it creates a legal relationship between us. If you are happy with what it says then we would love to begin working for you. If you are not happy with anything in it we cannot conduct any work for you until we have your consent to our client care terms and agreement in place. By proceeding, and giving us your instructions to act,  you are consenting that you agree to be bound by these conditions. A printed version can be obtained from us upon request. We reserve the right to decline to take on any case for any reason in our absolute discretion.

1. Scope of Work

We have agreed to provide you with the legal services agreed with you (and any additional services which may be outlined in an individual attachment to an engagement letter or by email). Our services will be provided according to what your objectives are, the issues involved and the options available to you, together with what we in our opinion, believe is the most appropriate action. Please tell us immediately if any letter issued to you and its attachment does not give a complete and accurate idea of the services you expect us to provide for you.

2. About Us

We provide a full legal advisory  service, from experienced, legal consultants and legal practitioners. We are staffed and supported by a range of highly trained and qualified legal professionals and we also have consulting associates, who are qualified and registered lawyers. According to the Institute of Paralegals, there are approximately 300+ similar service providers like us in the UK. However, we are not, and you should not assume, that we are a solicitor firm who are regulated by the SRA. We are a paralegal law firm/ alternative services provider. Our registered office address as is our main place of business, is located at Edward Street Chambers, 18 Edward Street, Blackpool, FY1 1AB, United Kingdom. Once we have taken on your case and we begin work, then the reference number for your matters will be sent to you.

Please quote your name & reference no. in all correspondence and any phone calls. We have chosen to follow the guidance rules and regulations of The Institute of Paralegals, who are based in London. All of the work we provide is done so under the full authority of The Legal Services Act (2007), which gives us permission, competence and ability to provide legal services directly to the public. We do so in a professional manner to the highest legal industry standards. We do not offer state Legal Aid, Immigration services or any other type of ‘reserved’ legal services or activity.

3. Your Details

In order to do our work properly for you, We will have to record and use the following information (with other information given by you) about you. You hereby give us your full agreement and authority to use this data for those specific purposes. Please tell us immediately if any of the information we hold is incorrect, incomplete or changes;

Client name

Client address

Client telephone number

Client Mobile

Client Work number

Client fax number (if available)

Client e-mail

Client nationality (only for the purposes of complying with residence status)

Client date of birth

Case details and notes, correspoondence, records, reports etc.

All correspondence and invoices for any work done will be addressed to the instructing client. We will only contact the named person unless authority exists for us to deal with an additionally named person. Any work done by us will be on behalf of the above-named client and no one else, and our only responsibility will be to look after the interests of the above named client and no one else. Unless instructed otherwise (and in writing by the named client) we will only give out information about this case to the above-named client. We will only accept instructions in this matter from the above-named client. To help us keep in touch, please let us know as soon as possible if you change your address, telephone number or e-mail so that we can keep our records up to date.

Should you wish, we would welcome hearing from you about any change to your contact details, even when this matter is finished, as that will ensure we can continue to send you information about us in the future which we hope will continue to be of interest and help to you. If you are added to any mailing list we hold, you will be able to opt-out or unsubscribe from it easily. We take your commencing work with us, as being your authority that you wish to be placed on our mailing list. You can write to us to remove it at any time.

4. Costs

Our Costs & Fee Structure:

We believe that Legal Services should be available to all, irrespective of whether you are a Business Client or a Personal Client and your ability to pay. We try to make our fees as affordable as possible, whilst taking into account that we are running a full-time business, with all the associated costs, including our Office costs, staff costs, professional insurances, utilities and Library of Legal Forms, Precedents and Resources and other costs. We will of course aim to beat any other legitimate legal services provider for Business Legal matters on a like for like basis.

We further believe that our pricing and fee structure should be transparent, so you know in advance what your likely costs (or sometimes actual ones) are going to be. For instance, we may need to bring in an additional person, dependent on the case being handled. This enables you to budget appropriately and to avoid misunderstandings. As a general guide, the following rates are payable for our services:

If for any reason it is necessary for us to expedite work on your file due to Court deadline dates or other time limits, which would involve placing your work in priority to any other clients in order to meet deadlines (which may involve working evenings or weekends) we then have the discretion to charge a higher charge out rate.  You will usually be notified if this is the case and time permits.

These rates were reviewed and amended on 1st January 2021. We follow the national recommendations of various Legal Bodies and The Ministry of Justice Recommended rates, plus the average fees of other local and national  Law Firms and Legal Service Providers in setting our fees. We do not endorse or follow those of ‘fat-cat’ Law Firms or Solicitor Firms charging London Prices, which can often be £500-£750 per hour. Our fees are kept deliberately affordable and within reach of ordinary people.

Contract Work & Business Law:

Charged at an hourly rate or sometimes a fixed fee can be given. For example, a Sales Contract would typically cost £180 – £500. An simple NDA £150 and a Franchise Agreement would be £750. These are drafted and supplied following an extensive consultation with you, answers to a questionnaire and the information you give. Up to 3 regular edits or revisions are included. Additional charges may apply for additional edits, redrafts or change of details.

Debt Recovery, Court Claims, Civil Litigation Advice (Claims & Defending):

All work undertaken on your behalf will be charged on an hourly rate basis at the rates shown at the top of this page. Alternatively, a fixed fee quote may be given according to the complexity of the claim.

If outside assistance is required, Court fees and any representation costs or third-party fees (ie Expert Witnesses, Solicitor or Counsel’s fees) will be charged in addition. You will always be advised at each stage how much this is and such costs are always payable in advance, for us to pay on your behalf.

Our fee and services include; examining your case, reviewing documentation and advising on your prospects of success, undertaking appropriate searches , drafting a letter on your behalf.

Residential Conveyancing:

We charge for the Administration and client facing work for Conveyancing matters. We are not a Conveyancing firm, but work in close connection with a regulated Solicitor/ Conveyancer to deal with the more intricate and reserved activity parts of the process. Our charges start from £450.  The final quote will depend on the value of the property and the complexity of the transaction.  We have to warn you that there are some charges made by others which we will not be able to ascertain until we make the necessary enquiries and obtain your quote.  We will inform you as soon as possible if there are additional charges that need to be paid out.

For example, the obtaining of a management pack from the Freeholder when selling a leasehold property, advising on an Auction Pack contents, local searches etc. Once the  process commences, you will be introduced to the Solicitor/ Conveyancer, who will take over certain parts of your work at the appropriate time.

Residential Sale:

Property sale price                         Typical charges

£0 – £250,000                                     £750+VAT

£250,001 – £500,000                         £1,250+VAT

£500,001 – £800,000                         £1,750+VAT

£ 800,001 – £1,000,000+               £2,350+VAT .

Additional charges on a residential sale are approximately:

£200+VAT if the property is leasehold

£150+VAT for a Statutory Declaration/Arranging bespoke insurance

£150+VAT if you have a second mortgage or a Help to Buy loan

£30+VAT for each CHAPS transfer

Management packs are sometimes required when dealing with a leasehold property or a house on an estate.  These are obtained from the managing agents or the management company who will charge a fee.  Their fee can vary but you should budget on a fee of approximately £300.

Residential Purchases:

Property purchase price                     Our charges

£0 – £250,000                                     £900.00+VAT (from)

£250,001 – £500,000                         £1,300+VAT

£500,001 – £800,000                        £1,800+VAT – £2,400+VAT

£ 800,001 – £1,000,000+               £2,400+VAT – £2,800+VAT(+)

Typical additional charges on a residential purchase:

225+VAT if the property is leasehold

£150+VAT for a Statutory Declaration/Arranging bespoke insurance

£250+VAT if you have a second mortgage or a Help to Buy loan

£100+VAT if you have a Help to Buy ISA

£30+VAT for each CHAPS transfer (We do not charge for BACS payments)

£20+VAT for the Land Registry and Compliance charge (this may increase if you need additional Land Registry searches).

Charges for the searches for an average residential purchase will be approximately £360 including VAT.

When dealing with the purchase of leasehold properties it is quite common to have to enter into a Deed of Covenant with the Landlord or the Management Company as well as serving notice of the transaction on the landlord.  You should allow approximately £200 to deal with this.

Stamp Duty Land Tax (SDLT) will also be payable in some instances. can be calculated by visiting the following link:  https://www.tax.service.gov.uk/calculate-stamp-duty-land-tax/#/intro

Commercial Property Leases:

Please contact us for a competitive estimate. Our fees are fixed ones from £250 for a Lease Review and Report back, to £450 for a straightforward lease transaction which does not require registration. More complex or from the beginning leases (ie drafting your lease or negotiating a lease from the start) will be £500 – £850. Please note, that we only handle leases of under 7 years duration. For leases longer than this, you will require an SRA Regulated Solicitor to deal with it or a Licenced Conveyancer, as this is referred to as ‘Reserved Activity’.

Wills & Trust Drafting:

Starting price for a simple Will dealt with by one of our capable Practitioners:

1 person – £125, A couple – £350 (from).

Extra charges:

Having your Will written and signed within 3 days of your appointment – £50

Initial or multiple meetings or calls to take instructions (lasting more than 30 minutes in total) are charged at our hourly rates.

Fixed interest or Discretionary Trusts – From £1,200 – £1,400

To create and register a ‘tenancy in common’ of jointly owned property – £75 + Solicitor’s fee

Home visit (within the FY Postcode/s) £45

Advice regarding business, foreign assets, Inheritance Tax, Trust planning etc., are charged at the hourly rate.

Our fees for a simple Will are set at an affordable level. We believe that you should only pay for what services and advice you actually require.

Once we have had an initial conversation, we will let you know the likely cost of your Will. If you do not want to go ahead, there is no obligation on your part. Wills can be updated as often as you wish. The cost will reflect the nature of the change and any advice needed.  We will let you know the likely cost before going ahead.

Trust Management:

We can advise on various types of Trusts according to your needs and wishes. This ‘Trust Fund’ can be a specific nature, a Closed Trust, A Closed Discretionary Trust (sometimes known as a ‘handbag’ Trust). The costs are from £1,400. We also help to draft your Lasting Powers of Attorney (LPAs):

We can assist you with the process of establishing an LPA for Financial Matters & also for Personal Health Care. These will be deposited with the Office of the Public Guardian. A fee of £86 (currently) is payable to the OPG for this registration process.

There are two types of LPA

a) A Property and Affairs LPA enables your attorney(s) to make decisions on your behalf about your property and affairs, including paying your bills, collecting your income and benefits or selling your house subject to any restrictions or conditions. It does not allow your attorney(s) to make decisions about your personal welfare.

b) A Health & Welfare LPA allows your attorney(s) to make decisions on your behalf about your personal welfare, including whether to give or refuse consent to medical treatment on your behalf and deciding where you live.

fees are payable for 1 person for one type of LPA.

1 person for 1 LPA           £450

1 person for 2 LPSAs       £650.

A couple for 1 LPA           £750

A couple for 2 LPAs         £1300

Any and all charges may be subject to VAT at their current prevailing rate if applicable to your work. Non-UK or non-EU clients will not be charged VAT due to exemption from payment.

Specific Legal Work:

The cost of doing the work listed in your engagement letter or case will usually be an estimate as notified to you, based on the likely number of hours charged at an hourly rate (unless quoted as a fixed fee cost). We will always charge a fee which is fair and reasonable. For ease and simplicity, we charge in units of 5 minutes rounded up to the nearest unit of 5 minutes as appropriate. For example, if a telephone call lasts 15 minutes you will be charged for 15 minutes. If it were to last 17 minutes, you will be charged for 20 minutes.

Our Fees are based on the amount of time taken to complete the work required. However we may charge an additional amount if, for example, members of staff have to work outside normal working hours, or if your matter involves a complex, difficult or unusual aspect, or you are using a PAYG or phased stages payment arrangements. Any fees charged shall include things like advising you, meeting you and others, dealing with papers, correspondence, all telephone calls, text messages, instant online chat, skype meetings. Separate charges will apply for travelling and waiting time, etc.

For Tribunal work, we apply our standard charges plus any disbursements (payment out on your behalf such as reports or expert’s fees). If your claim is settled without Tribunal hearing, (commonly called an out of court settlement) then we reserve the right to apply our “Success Fee” which is 30% (thirty percent) of the value of any compensation or settlement amount.  You hereby agree that you agree to this fee which will be deducted from any funds we hold, or which will be invoiced separately.

Your matter will be handled by your named consultant whose time is usually charged at £150 per hour but please also refer to our table of fees above. We will estimate the time we think the matter will take approximately. If your work is done on a fixed fee basis, the cost will be notified to you in advance of work commencing. The situation may change if new matters come to light or unexpected problems or delays are encountered, further advice, consultation or meetings are required. If this happens then we will discuss them with you and gain your permission to continue before incurring any large additional costs in respect of additional work.

Fees will be taken from any retainer we have asked you to place with us (deposit against costs). We will not perform any work for you unless there is sufficient retainer/ deposit to cover the costs. You will be advised if you need to make a top-up of this retainer. It is difficult to estimate precisely how many hours of work will be necessary to complete the matter (unless a fixed fee arrangement is in place). In this case, our provisional estimate of the overall cost will be advised. We will of course notify you if this provisional estimate changes.

Where we give an estimate of fees, you will appreciate that this is only an indication and is not generally intended to be a fixed quotation. We reserve the right to revise the estimate at any time if it becomes apparent that we will have to spend more time on the matter than was originally envisaged, or the issues become more complex or other factors are discovered along the way. This figure does not include any third-party costs, court fees, registration charges or fees (commonly referred to as disbursements, which you will also have to pay). Please let us know if you want a breakdown of what these are likely to be.

If court or application fees have to be paid for your case, we cannot and will not progress your case until any such advised fees have been paid in advance. We will not incur any significant costs beyond the estimated figure without your prior approval. We may require you to confirm that approval in writing to avoid confusion. We may ask you for a retainer (deposit or payment in advance to commence work) which is held on account from your final costs, in order to commence the work for you. You will be notified if this is the case. You may place a limit (ie a maximum ceiling) on the amount of fees to be incurred without your prior approval. If you wish to do so, please tell us in writing.

Payment of & Liability for our Fees:

Please note that we will charge you for all the work we do regardless of whether the matter/action or case is successful or not. We are not providing and do not offer a ‘no win no fee’ service, nor any ‘conditional fee’ arrangement, or ‘free’ legal services. We shall also charge for, and you agree to pay for, the work we do whether or not the matter reaches completion or not or if you abadon the work. If you were to appoint alternative Lawyers or Legal practitioners to handle your case or work, then the costs you have incurred with us are still payable. No refunds or deductions will be given under any circumstances as a general rule. The quoted fixed fee may be reduced if the matter is not completed, but whether it is reduced or not will depend on the reasons for any non-completion and any reimbursement, and will be completely at our discretion unless failure has been clearly caused by our negligence. If you are using our Online Services or our App service, the fees and the service you can expect are shown on our website.

To clarify, all work is payable and there shall be no refunds. Legal Services Work is classed as ‘bespoke work’ directly attributable to you and your circumstances. Therefore such services are exempt from the Distance Selling Regulations and are not eligible for automatic cool-off, cancellation or refunds. By proceeding with us you hereby agree that you will not attempt to circumvent any payments made or due or ask for any refund or chargeback from your payment provider (ie bank transfer, credit/debit card, paypal, Apple Pay etc). We always puruse our rights in the event of non-payment of fees (including debt collection agencies or court action) and reserve the right to charge interest and a late payment charge on overdue amounts at the rate of 10%.

Important Note regarding Fees and cancellation/ Termination:

If we decide that we cannot continue work on your case or work being provided, or if we feel the client is abusive or too difficult to work with, we have the right to terminate the service. In those events, appropriate payment at our usual cost/s shall be charged up to the point of our termination of service. This applies even if you terminate the service or work being undertaken yourself. Under no circumstances will any fees be refunded in respect of Conveyancing services, Estate Administration, Trust Work, Tribunal or Court Work or Lease work unless we are clearly negligent in our duties. Once work begins, no refund will be made if a matter does not reach completion, either Party backs out or because you change your mind. We will always charge for the time taken or at our discretion, retain the entire fee/s.

5. Payment of Our Fees

It is normal practice to ask clients to make an advanced payment (commonly known as a payment on account) for costs and disbursements likely to be incurred in the near future. This is a policy which is in line with almost every other legal practice, Solicitor’s firm or other legal provider in the UK. It is a standard condition. It will be very helpful if you can pay such requests promptly, but if there is any difficulty, please let us know as soon as possible. If we require any retainer (deposit against future costs), we will inform you. This sum will be credited to your account with us and used to pay for costs expended upon your behalf and work to be done by us. We shall deliver bills to you at regular intervals or on request, for the work we do. This should also help you to budget for our costs. We hope you understand that in the event of any payment not being made, we reserve the right to refuse to do any more work for you (either permanently or temporarily). We must also reserve the right to charge for unpaid work already done. We also reserve the right to deuct our costs and fees from any funds we hold on your behalf, or an Estate’s funds, before sending you any owing balance. Please feel free to discuss this point with us if you want to understand it in more detail.

Our bills are normally due on demand. Should we give you extra time to pay (at our discretion) this will usually be within 14 days of your receiving them. Interest can be charged on unpaid bills after 14 days. As outlined, we reserve the right to charge interest at 10% on all late payments. Please also note that after ending our contract with you, we are entitled to keep, and you expressly agree, all papers and documents and any winnings or recovered funds we may hold for You, until all Your outstanding bills have been paid.

6. Contact Person

A dedicated link person shall have overall responsibility for the supervision of the services we provide to you. You will be given details of that person.

7. Working on Your Case

Once your case is underway we will keep in touch with you, usually by email or telephone as it progresses. We can give you regular updates without any charge for this service. Any important letters or documents that need to be sent can first be shown to you for approval should you ask. We will endeavour to answer/return your telephone calls and emails promptly. However because of work commitments, both in and out of the office, time with clients, spending time with clients, during the day, your call may not be returned or email answered immediately. The aim is to reply to all calls and messages within 48 hours, but that is just an aim and not a guarantee. Please do not visit our offices without arranging it first. We simply cannot see people without an appointment. We will endeavour to update you with regards to the progress of your case at least once every 28 days (or sooner as need be). Unless matters are urgent, usually not much happens within 14 days or longer. There will be occasions where this may not be appropriate, and we will try to contact you sooner.

Please be aware, that sometimes we have no news or report back for you, especially if we are awaiting process from a third party, or if any Government or Local Authorty restrictions or ‘Lockdowns’ are in place. We will always contact you the moment there are any developments. Also, kindly be aware that tempting as it may be to constantly phone, text or email us to ask about progress with your case, even if you have a fixed fee project, We are obliged to charge you for the additional time taken to handle your extra calls, emails or letters and answering your messages if we consider them to be beyond a ‘fair use’ level or overly intrusive.

As your case progresses, it may be helpful to get some assistance from other professionals outside. For example, we might need to involve additional experts who can advise on, and help deal with, certain aspects of your issue, or it may become appropriate to instruct a solicitor or barrister to advise or to represent you in particular court proceedings. We will let you know if it seems appropriate to seek this further assistance and let you have details of who is to be involved. Usually, any advice from these sources will be given in writing, though a meeting between all of us may be arranged if appropriate. You will be responsible for their fees (in addition to our costs), although we will not incur these additional fees without your prior approval.

8. Communication, Suggestions and Complaints

We aim to offer an efficient and effective service to you, and we are confident that we will do so. However, if you are unhappy with any aspect of our service we cannot resolve it between ourselves, then you can always raise the matter as a complaint in writing within 21 days of any dissatisfaction. We have a formal complaints handling system which will be used if we cannot resolve matters to your satisfaction. An explanatory note about the complaints handling system is available upon request. You will not be charged for time spent handling any complaints. If you are unhappy with the response to your complaint, you can ask for a full review and reply from a Director of the Company, who will investigate matters for you and give their ruling on matters. Such decision is final and binding.

We aim to resolve such complaints as quickly and professionally as possible. In order to assist us with the smooth handling of your case, you will need to provide us with full instructions and respond to our requests for information, documents, etc as quickly as reasonably possible.

Communications from us:

We are able to communicate with you by e-mail as well as by post, fax, and telephone. Unless you tell us otherwise, we will assume that you are happy for us to communicate by e-mail, even though email communications are generally not considered as secure as letters sent through the post. You give your consent for us to contact you by email, text, whatsapp message, video-call, other technology based mediums and mail, unless you opt-out of this contact permission. You should take note that all correspondence is sent by the usual method of either first or second-class postage. We will not use registered or recorded mail unless we feel the special circumstance warrants this, or you specifically request recorded delivery and/or use of couriers. You will be responsible for the costs of such extra postage or carriage costs. At no time will we ever be held responsible for any misdirected, delayed or lost mail.

9. Legal Documents and Case Papers

Until your case is resolved, it is extremely important that you keep safe all and any documents, photos, reports, computer/ data files and papers that could be in any way, possibly relevant to your case. It is equally important for the good handling of your case that we get to see those document, files and papers as soon as possible. If you have not already done so, kindly let us know what items, if any, you have as soon as soon as you can. Once your case has ended then an important question is what to do with any legal documents (court papers, contracts, property ownership documents and leases, etc.) and your case papers (copies of correspondence, file notes etc). You will own all the relevant legal documents and case papers relating to your file. The only case papers you will not own are those created by us for our own internal use in dealing with your matter or copies we have to retain on file by law.

When your case ends you will need to consider whether or not you wish to take possession of your legal documents and case papers. We recommend that you do, because we cannot keep your file indefinitely. We will keep your file for five years at most or twelve years for contentious matters. However please note that security/storage issues may at some point force us to copy all old files electronically and dispose of the physical versions after copying. This agreement gives us the authority to destroy your legal documents and case papers automatically without discussing the matter with you further. It is very important that when we finish your case, that you consider whether you want to take your documents and case papers (we may retain an electronic scanned version of them). If you choose to leave them with us you can still ask for them at any time, subject to the above five-year maximum retention policy and the possibility that we may only have retained scanned copies, not the originals.

We reserve the right to keep and record copies of all documents and case papers returned. If it becomes necessary to retrieve papers or other items from storage in relation to continuing or new instructions to act on your behalf, then we would not normally charge for getting them.

However, in other circumstances we may make a charge, based on the time spent and costs incurred in retrieving your stored documents and case papers and forwarding them to you. We might also charge for reading correspondence and any other work necessary to comply with your instructions on this issue. You will be required to pay for any postage or transportation costs in advance of our sending your files to you. Please note that can take up to 14 working days to retrieve your stored documents and/or case papers. Please also note that we do not offer a safe custody deposit service. Scanned documents are retained in file form relevant to your reference number, in either a securely locked away ‘hub’ or ‘cloud’ storage facility. If your documents and/or case papers contain important items then you are very strongly advised to take them once your matter is completed. We do not accept responsibility for loss arising to you from the loss of or damage to documents or other items held by us after the completion of your case. In any event we will not release any file to you if you still owe us any money. You will have to discharge that before we will transfer or release the case file/s or records. Your rights are not affected by this policy.

10. Confidentiality

We will always treat your affairs as strictly private and confidential. However please note that in certain limited circumstances, the law obliges us to notify the authorities if we have suspicions that serious criminal activity is taking place or about to take place. This obligation does not cover past criminal activities, in respect of which we can advise in complete confidence. The one exception to this is where we have reason to believe that money-laundering, historic or current child abuse, fraud, homicide or terrorism activities are taking place or have occurred. In such circumstances we would be legally obliged to notify the authorities about our suspicions. We will also release information if we are forced to do so by a relevant court order.

11. Data Protection

The Data Protection Act requires us to advise you that we hold your details on our database and that we may use these details, from time to time, to send you information which we think will be of interest and help to you. We are compliant with the GDPRs (General Data Protection Regulations) and will use your data in the way indicated earlier in these Client Care Terms of Business.

12. Liability Cap and Oher Indemnities

Please note that We always cap our liability whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise in respect of any claim or a series of claims which are related, expenses, legal fees and any other costs howsoever arising, at £1,000 (one thousand pounds).

By proceeding with us you agree that our cap on liability is fair and reasonable having regard to all of the circumstances which were, or ought reasonably to have been, known to you or in your contemplation at the time of any engagement or provision of services by us. It is of course open to you to seek to obtain legal services elsewhere without such limitation.

13. Disclaimer

Our company alone will be responsible for the provision of the services under this agreement. You therefore agree that you will not bring any claim in respect of or in connection with any engagement for the services we provide whether in contract, tort (including negligence), breach of statutory duty or otherwise against any Director, member or employee or consultant or of any company which is connected with us. Any remedies available to you exclude liability for indirect losses flowing from a breach of duty by a member of Our staff. The types of losses excluded include (but are not limited to) loss of business or profits, loss of goodwill and loss of opportunity). In all cases, whether in contract or tort, you hereby agree that you have one year from the date of awareness of a loss to bring a claim subject to a long-stop of two years from the cause of action accruing. This exclusion does not apply to any liability which cannot be excluded under the law of England and Wales.

14. Ending This Agreement

You may end (i.e. terminate) this agreement and your instructions to us at any time, in writing.  However please note that there are certain situations by law where whatever the reason, we cannot abdicate or surrender our responsibilities. If cancelling our services you do not need to have or give any reason or advanced warning, although we would like to know if it has been as a result of any obvious misunderstanding or if our service has fallen short of your expectations so we can improve things for the future. Upon receiving a termination notice from you we will automatically issue a bill to you in respect of any unbilled time costs, expenses and disbursements owing to us. Your termination of this agreement and instructions does not automatically cancel any unpaid bills or work done but not yet billed for, or fees you owe us. Any retainer or deposit or other funds with us, will be returned to you usually within 10 days of termination of our Agreement, less any fees or expenses you still owe us.

Equally, we are also entitled to terminate this agreement at any time and for any reason without advance warning or giving any reason. If we do so then we will notify you in writing. The main reasons we normally stop acting for a client are when they do not pay our bills; if we can no longer assist them as they need; if we cannot get clear or proper instructions on how to proceed or where the client is abusive, unreasonable or too difficult to work with.

15. Governing Law and Jurisdiction

The laws of England & Wales shall govern the terms of our relationship with you and our Terms of Business (“Ts&Cs”), and you hereby agree that any dispute arising out of this will be subject to the exclusive jurisdiction of the English Courts.

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