Terms of Business

Our legal services are solely for the use of our client and only for the purposes requested.

 

 

We may contact you by unencrypted email.  We cannot guarantee the security of information sent by email and it is possible that e-mails and attachments may be corrupted, intercepted or amended after they have been transmitted.  We exclude liability for any loss or damage caused if this happens.  We may monitor e‑mail communications.

 

Your files may be reviewed by a supervisor, a quality control organisation and/or our auditors.

 

 

We retain the copyright and all other rights in all documents issued by us; your rights are limited to the use of the documents for the purpose provided.

 

We will act as your legal adviser and it is not part of our role to give advice on the merits of investment transactions.  Any investment decision is for you to make and no communication by us should be treated as an invitation or inducement to you to engage in investment activity.

 

 

Hamlins LLP is registered under the Data Protection legislation and our Data Protection Officer is Victoria Stanborough.  We may use your data for administrative purposes and to inform you of client events, other activities and to send circulars containing updates/changes in law.  Any personal data which you send us relating to third parties is received on the understanding that you have complied with the provisions of the Act, and that the receipt by us of the data and any subsequent processing undertaken by us at your request will comply with the Act.

 

You may terminate our instructions at any time.  In some circumstances, we may decide that we ought to stop acting for you, but this would only be for a good reason.

 

 

We pride ourselves in providing an efficient service to our clients.  Unfortunately, there are occasions when matters do not proceed as we would wish, in which case it is important that any dissatisfaction is brought to our attention as soon as possible.  If you are not satisfied with the response from the Partner who is responsible for your matters or you would prefer not to bring up the matter with that person, then you should contact our Complaints Officer, Roy Brown.  Your complaint will be dealt with promptly and you will receive a written response.  If you are still dissatisfied then you may seek further help from the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors at Victoria Court, 8 Dormer Place, Leamington Spa, Warwickshire CV32 5AE.

 

 

We will store your file for the minimum period recommended by the Law Society, which is currently 6 years.  At the expiration of this period, we will destroy the file unless you have requested us in writing not to do so.  If you do request us not to destroy the file, we will write to you telling you that your file is available.  If it is not collected within 28 days we will destroy the file.  We may scan your papers and destroy the originals.

 

 

In common with other professional advisers, we are required to obtain certain information from clients as evidence of their identity.  If the identity of our client changes during a matter, we will have to suspend acting until the Money Laundering Regulations have been complied with by the new client.  If we suspect that any breach of the Money Laundering Regulations or other criminal law has occurred we will stop acting or suspend our services and the law prohibits us from telling you the reason.  It may be necessary for us to have detailed information about the ultimate ownership of any corporate client or the beneficiary of any trust we may not be able to continue to act until the information is received.  In any such case we exclude liability for any loss or damage suffered as a result.  We do not accept cash.

 

Our liability for the services we provide is subject to a cap.  Our liability is capped at £20 million.  If you consider that this limit is not sufficient for any of your matters, please contact us and we will consider whether the limit should be increased.  Any increase in the limit will only apply to that particular matter and will only be effective if it has been confirmed in writing and signed by a Partner.  Our liability for any indirect or consequential loss (including loss of profits) for which we are found to be liable is capped at £3million.

 

We will not advise on taxation or the taxation consequences of any matter unless specifically asked to do so and any tax advice we may give is given on the basis that you will obtain separate confirmatory advice from your usual tax advisers.  We exclude liability for taxation advice and the taxation consequences of any matter with the exception only of any written VAT and SDLT advice we give in a property transaction.

 

Our liability is limited to a just and equitable proportion of the total loss or damage after taking into account contributory negligence and the legal responsibility of any other person.

 

Hamlins LLP is a limited liability partnership and is solely responsible for all legal advice and legal services.  Any such advice and services given by individual partners and by our staff is given for and on behalf of Hamlins LLP and their personal liability is excluded.

 

 

These Terms of Business will apply to all matters which we undertake on your behalf and on behalf of any associated company and on behalf of any partnership or body corporate in which you have an interest.  We sometimes accept instructions from an individual acting in their personal capacity who later uses a company to enter into a transaction; the individual and the company will be jointly and individually liable for our fees.

 

 

We are registered with the FSA for the purpose of insurance contracts.  If we recommend any insurance contract we will not have carried out an analysis of the market; you are not obliged to accept the contract which we recommend and you are entitled to request details of all the insurance companies we have dealings with.

 

 

VAT and disbursements are payable in addition to all fee estimates, fixed fees and hourly rates.

 

Our charges will be based on the time spent dealing with your affairs, unless we agree to a fixed fee arrangement.  A time charge will include time spent at meetings, travelling, working on papers, correspondence, telephone calls, preparing itemised bills for assessment and internal discussions.  Routine correspondence and telephone calls are charged at units of one tenth of an hour.  Hourly charge-out rates are normally reviewed with effect from 1 May every year and if the matter has not been completed before the next review, the rates may rise.  Our current charge out rates are available on request.

 

The hourly rate is calculated to reflect the complexity, skill, novelty, value and importance to you.  It also takes into account the seniority and experience of the people acting for you.  The hourly rate is designed to cover only the work that we have been instructed to undertake.  If we are instructed to do additional work or the nature of the work substantially changes or requires urgent attention we may need to increase the hourly charge out rate, but we will discuss this with you at the time.

 

 

Any estimate is not intended to be fixed unless expressly stated to be so.  Any agreement to charge a fixed fee is only binding if it is confirmed in writing and signed by a Partner.   A fixed fee will cover only the work that we have been specifically instructed to undertake.  If we are instructed to do additional work or the nature of the work substantially changes or requires urgent attention we will make additional charges.

 

 

We may request payment of a reasonable sum on account of the costs and disbursements that are likely to be incurred on your behalf.  We may deliver bills to you from time to time throughout the course of the matter.  Please let us know if you wish to set a limit on the costs which may be incurred after which we must refer back to you for further authority.

 

All bills should be settled within one month of receipt. Interest may be charged on bills that are not paid within one month.  Interest will be charged on a monthly basis at the rate of 8 per centum per annum or, if higher, at 4% above bank base rate prevailing at the time. If you do not pay the bill and we take steps for recovery, you will have to pay the additional costs we incur.  If any invoice remains unpaid for three months, it is our policy to sue for payment.

 

If any bill is not paid or if a request for payment on account is not complied with, we may stop acting for you at which point we will submit a bill for the full amount of work  that has been done.

 

We are entitled to settle our bills from monies held on your behalf and to retain your papers and documents until all our bills have been settled.

 

If your matter does not proceed to completion, a reasonable fee for the work carried out will be payable.

Instalment arrangements or agreements to defer payment are only effective if they are in writing and signed by a Partner; they will become ineffective if any instalment is not paid on the due date.  Even if we agree an instalment arrangement or deferred payment, interest will be charged on the balance outstanding at bank base rate prevailing at the time.

 

 

If you have any query on your bill you should first contact the fee earner dealing with your matter or the Partner who is your usual contact.  Please notify us of your concern within one month of receiving the bill; if you do not, you will be deemed to have approved and accepted the bill.

 

If you are dissatisfied with our bill you have the right to challenge our fees by asking us to obtain a Remuneration Certificate from The Law Society. The Certificate will either say that our fee is fair and reasonable, or it will substitute a lower fee.  If you want us to obtain a Remuneration Certificate, you must ask us to do so in writing within one month of receiving the bill.  If you ask us to obtain a Remuneration Certificate then you must first pay half our fee shown on the invoice, all the VAT shown on the invoice and all the disbursements shown on the invoice; you can ask the Office for the Supervision of Solicitors (at Victoria Court, 8 Dormer Place, Royal Leamington Spa, Warwickshire, CV32 5AE) to waive these requirements but you would have to show that exceptional circumstances apply to your case.  You may also be entitled to have our charges reviewed by the Court and we can provide you with further details.

 

 

If you are dissatisfied with our bill you have the right to ask the Court to review our charges.  This is called Detailed Assessment.  Please let us know if you would like further details.

 

 

If you win your litigation case, you may be entitled to a contribution towards your costs.  You may also be able to claim interest on those costs.  If any of part our fees have not been paid on account, we may retain any interest received against that part of the fees that have not been paid.

 

It is impossible to gauge what proportion of your costs may be recoverable from your opponent but we will re-coup as much of your outlay as possible.  The amount of recovery may be governed by which “track” your case falls in to.  This is a complex subject which we will explain further if you wish.

 

Whether your opponent is able to pay or not, you are primarily responsible for paying our bills and we are entitled to request you to pay our bills before any costs are recovered from your opponent.  Even if you are successful, the other party may not be ordered to pay all your charges and expenses or they may not have the means to pay the costs; if this happens you will have to pay the balance of our charges and expenses.  If the other party is legally aided or becomes so during the proceedings, you may not get back any of your costs, even if you win the case.  You will also be responsible for paying the costs and expense in trying to recover any charges and expenses that the Court orders the other party to pay.

 

Any monies we recover from the other party will be first applied to payment of our own costs or held in anticipation of any charges that may arise.

 

 

The Court may order you to pay the other party's legal costs; for example, if you lose the case or decide to withdraw from the proceedings.  These costs will be payable in addition to our costs.

 

The Court has the power to order that a party pays their opponent’s costs if the party fails to comply with an order that is made during the proceedings.  These costs are due within 14 days of the date of the order.

 

 

Calculating the costs payable by one party to another is dealt with under a process known as “Summary Assessment” or “Detailed Assessment”.  Summary Assessment is quick and cheap but whatever type of Assessment is required you will be responsible for the costs we incur in the process.  As with the case itself, the Court may order one party to bear the costs of the process incurred by the other party.

 

 

In addition to privately funding your case there are other methods of paying for litigation.  First, there are conditional fee arrangements; if we agree to act for you under a conditional fee arrangement you will receive an agreement and a separate letter explaining the additional terms and conditions and you will only pay our fees if we are successful.  Secondly, there is insurance; please tell us if you have an insurance policy which will cover you for legal expenses.  It may be possible to take out a policy of insurance now to cover your opponent’s costs in the event that you lose; this is called After the Event Insurance.

 

We do not provide a service for clients who fund their litigation by a Public Funding Certificate (Legal Aid).  If you feel that you qualify or may qualify in the future, please let us know and we will refer you to a firm who will be able to act for you and apply for a Public Funding Certificate.